Projected Performance of the New Rainfall-Based Water DeliveryPlan for the Everglades Shark Slough

摘要

As part of federal and state of Florida efforts to provide more natural waterflows to the Everglades, a new Rainfall-Based Water Management Plan wasdeveloped for the Everglades' Shark Slough. This new operating plan, along withseveral new water control structures, was designed to improve the spatial andtemporal distribution of water deliveries and hydrologic conditions in Shark Slough,the main waterway of Everglades National Park. The new plan is scheduled toreplace the current plan which has been in effect since 1985. A key component of thenew plan is a new Rainfall-Driven Formula which estimates the flow targets inresponse to recent and real-time weather conditions.This paper provides an overview of the new Rainfall-Based Water Management Planwith more detailed discussions of analyses that compares the expected performance ofthe new plan with the current plan. Simulations using the South Florida WaterManagement Model (SFWMM) provided estimates of the improvement in Evergladesflows and hydropatterns. The new rainfall plan is to be implemented through the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers Combined Structural and Operational Plan (CSOP) for theModified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park Project (MWD) and the C-111 Canal Project. Implementation is currently scheduled for the year 2010. The newrainfall plan is a practical and meaningful interim step toward hydrologic andecosystem restoration that is proposed by the Comprehensive Everglades RestorationPlan (CERP).