FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Nov. 1, 2012
DEP KICKS OFF WATER QUALITY RESTORATION EFFORTS FOR THE SUWANNEE RIVER BASIN
~State's
12th comprehensive plan and stakeholder commitment promote action now~
TALLAHASSEE – Today in Live Oak,
the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is holding the first
stakeholder meeting to begin hammering out the Suwannee River Basin Management
Action Plan. The plan will plot the course for restoring the
Suwannee River and the unique spring systems that feed it, with activities
throughout a watershed covering more than one million acres in Suwannee,
Gilchrist, Levy, Dixie, Lafayette, and Madison counties.
Together with the recently
adopted action plan for the nearby Santa Fe River Basin, the Suwannee basin management action plan will
guide projects and activities to restore watersheds encompassing more than two
million acres in the North Florida heartland.
The
water quality restoration goals – or “total maximum daily load” – adopted for
the Suwannee Basin require a 35 percent reduction in nitrogen concentrations. Reducing nutrients will cut down on the growth
of algae and reinvigorate the river and springs. The plan now underway
will lay out targeted actions to reduce nutrients, an implementation schedule
and the resources necessary to succeed.
“The Department has a sense of urgency to find the best solutions for
each affected waterbody,” said DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard. “The
Department is focused on measurable progress in restoration. We want
results. The Suwannee River initiative is a great example of what can be
accomplished through state, local and private partnerships.”
Reducing nutrient discharges to
the Suwannee River will improve water quality and habitat and sustain the
fishing and recreation for which the area is justly famous. The plan will
set forth a phased approach to implementing agricultural and urban best
management practices, better stormwater infrastructure and management, and
reusing treated wastewater for irrigation and other beneficial purposes rather
than discharging it into the watershed. It also will call for ongoing
water quality sampling that will allow stakeholders to continuously improve our understanding
of pollutant sources and impacts, adjust strategies as needed and measure
success.
The Suwannee River Partnership (www.suwannee.org) and its
coalition of some 60 governments, businesses, and industries already have
invested time, money, and good faith reducing nutrient levels in the Suwannee
and its springs, paving the way for the plan. For example, the Department, in
cooperation with the Suwannee River Water Management District, has underwritten
nearly $1 million for a fertilization/irrigation retrofit project, with more
funding anticipated for other identified needs. In addition, the Florida
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services teamed with the United States
Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service to
collectively invest more than $20 million over the last seven years on a
variety of best management practices for agricultural grower and producer water
quality and water savings.
“Today
marks an important beginning in our collective efforts to protect and restore
the waters of the Suwannee Basin,” said Ann Shortelle, Suwannee River Water Management
District Executive Director. “We look forward to working with our
stakeholders throughout the basin to improve water quality in the Suwannee
River and springs.”
“The Suwannee River Basin Management Action Plan represents the
culmination of many years of coordinated effort to partner with all the
regions’ stakeholders to develop and implement programs to restore and protect
the springs, the main channel of the river and its estuary,” said Rich Budell,
director of Office of Agricultural Water Policy. “The Florida Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services is committed to continuing that partnership
with the SRWMD, DEP, the local agricultural community and many others as we embark on the next
phase of assuring that the unique natural resources of this area are protected
for generations to come.”
When
this restoration plan is finalized, the Department will have adopted a total of
12 basin management action plans, covering 100 waterbody segments. Nine
additional restoration plans currently are in development covering 59
additional waterbody segments.
For more information about the Department’s water quality protection and restoration programs visit: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/watersheds/bmap.htm.
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