Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project

Principal Investigator: Molly Wood Project Personnel: Pamela Telis, John Shelton and Eddie Simonds Project Summary

Summary

The objectives of this project are 1) to improve water quality in tributaries and discharges to Lake Okeechobee, 2) to increase storage capacity for watershed runoff and lake water, and 3) to enhance and restore wetlands in the watershed.

The greater Lake Okeechobee Watershed project, one of the components of CERP, has a monitoring network that will provide a long-term record of streamflow and water quality data, and will allow evaluation of multiple restoration activities in the Lake Okeechobee watershed.

The Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project includes four separable elements including North of Lake Okeechobee Storage Reservoir, Taylor Creek/Nubbin Slough Storage and Treatment Area, Lake Okeechobee Watershed Water Quality Treatment Facilities, and Lake Okeechobee Tributary Sediment Dredging. These components were combined for an opportunity to generate a more efficient design of the components and address the interdependencies and tradeoffs between the different components.

a) North of Lake Okeechobee Storage Reservoir (A).
This separable element includes an above ground reservoir and a 2,500-acre stormwater treatment area. The total storage capacity of the reservoir is approximately 200,000 acre-feet and is located in the Kissimmee River Region, north of Lake Okeechobee. The specific location of this facility has not been identified, however, it is anticipated that the facility will be located in Glades, Highlands, or Okeechobee Counties.

b) Taylor Creek/Nubbin Slough Storage and Treatment Area (W).
This separable element includes an aboveground reservoir with a total storage capacity of approximately 50,000 acre-feet and a stormwater treatment area with a capacity of approximately 20,000 acre-feet in the Taylor Creek/Nubbin Slough Basin.

c) Lake Okeechobee Watershed Water Quality Treatment Facilities (OPE).
This separable element includes two reservoir-assisted stormwater treatment areas and plugging of select local drainage ditches.

d) Lake Okeechobee Tributary Sediment Dredging (OPE).
This separable element includes the dredging of sediments from 10 miles of primary canals within an eight-basin area in the northern watershed of Lake Okeechobee. The initial design assumes that the dredged material will contain approximately 150 tons of phosphorus.

Project Summary

• 2003