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South Florida Water Management District
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Our mission: To safeguard and restore South Florida's water resources and ecosystems, protect our communities from flooding, and meet the region's water needs while connecting with the public and stakeholders.
The South Florida Water Management District is a regional governmental agency that manages the water resources in the southern half of the state, covering 16 counties from Orlando to the Florida Keys and serving a population of 9 million residents. It is the oldest and largest of the state's five water management districts. Created in 1949, the agency is responsible for managing and protecting water resources of South Florida by balancing and improving flood control, water supply, water quality and natural systems.
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Effects of Flow Regulation on Shallow-Water Habitat Dynamics and Floodplain Connectivity
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Our study examined the effects of flow regulation on the spatiotemporal availability of shallow habitat patches with slow current velocity (SSCV patches) and floodplain inundation in the unregulated Yellowstone River and the regulated Missouri River in Montana and North Dakota. We mapped representative sites and used hydraulic models and hydrograph data to describe the frequency and extent of floodplain inundation and the availability of SSCV habitat over time during different water years. In the Yellowstone River the distribution, location, and size of SSCV patches varied but followed an annual pattern that was tied to the snowmelt runoff hydrograph. There was less variation in patch distribution in the Missouri River, and the pattern of habitat availability was influenced by flow regulation. Regulated flows and their effects on channel mor- phology and patterns of vegetation establishment resulted in 3.0–3.5 times less area of inundated woody vegetation during normal and dry years in the Missouri River compared with the Yellow- stone River. The differences we observed in SSCV patch dynamics between rivers may have implications for fish populations and community structure through affecting the survival of early life stages. At a larger scale, the smaller area of vegetation inundated in the Missouri River suggests that nutrient cycling and the ecological benefits associated with a moving littoral zone are reduced by the altered flow and sediment regime in that river. Accurate assessments of the effects of flow alteration and successful efforts to restore riverine ecosystems will require consideration of physical and biotic processes that operate at multiple spatial and temporal scales.
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Floodplain Prioritization Tool
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The Floodplain Prioritization Tool helps decision-makers identify critical opportunities for floodplain protection and restoration in the Mississippi River Basin. It is an interactive, web-based mapping tool.
Users can prioritize different criteria (e.g., water quality, wildlife habitat, and human exposure to flooding) on the map to see where floodplain restoration and conservation is likely to have the greatest impact. Developed by The Nature Conservancy and partners.
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