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Good afternoon, everyone.

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I would like to call the business meeting of the governing board of the South

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Florida Water Management District to order today, September 10th,

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2026.

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I'm gonna ask, um, Colonel Roman, if she would

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say the pledge of allegiance, as you stand and look at the flag today,

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I hope that you will join me and remembering

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the nearly 3,000 people, civilians, and first

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responders, who perished 25

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years ago tomorrow morning, and may God bless their souls and their families.

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I pledge allegiance...

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To the fire of the United States of America, and

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to the Republic, which expands one nation,

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under God, indivisible, with liberty

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and justice, or all.

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My chair is stuck.

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Uh, Vicer Wagner's not gonna be able to join us today.

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We have Mr. Bergeron and Mr. Martinez, uh, participating remotely.

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Are they both on, Mr. Bergeron?

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No, I'm here, uh, Mr. Chairman.

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Good afternoon, Ms. Martinez.

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I'm here as well, Mr. Turner.

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Great.

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Thanks.

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For those board members who are here, I'm gonna ask that you make sure your

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microphone is on, and you speak into the mic, so online attendees

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can hear you, for those board members who are on Zoom.

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I can't see you when you raise your hand, so if you want to speak or ask a question, just

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please call out your name, and I'll acknowledge you to speak.

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Members of the public on Zoom, who wish to address the board,

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may use the raise your hand feature.

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If members of the public are having any trouble and need help,

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please go to the website, sfwmd.gov, and

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click the ask us button at the top of the page.

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If you're using a phone, and you'd like to comment, please press star

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9, to raise your hand, and star 6, to mute or unmute.

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And as a courtesy to others who wish to speak, members of the public are asked to comment only once.

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On a topic, we will take public comment first

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from those who are here in person and submitted a comment card.

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That'll be followed by those with raised hands on Zoom.

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After today's business meeting, we are going to host a public hearing on

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fiscal year, 2026, 2027, tentative avlorum,

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millage rates, non evlorum tax rules, and tentative budget

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at exactly 515.

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The Zoom meeting link will remain the same.

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Okay, I'm supposed to tell you, we can't start the budget meeting early or late, so we won't.

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We're going to go to employee recognitions with Mr. Bartlett.

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Thank you, Mr. Chair.

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All right, our September 2026, employee

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of the month is Luis Castro, building maintenance mechanic scene.

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Now...

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We have amazing folks here on campus at the

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water management district, and we often recognize all the work they're doing,

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and I can tell you they wouldn't

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be able to do without Luis Castro, he is,

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I would call, an unsung hero on campus here, because he

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is in charge of making sure this building keeps functioning

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here at the water management district.

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And without that, how do we

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get our job done, right?

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So this is Luis's job?

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So he has recently over saying we've all been in older buildings

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and had to replace the air conditioning unit.

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Well, that's a whole different level when you're talking about this building and

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he helped to get that replaced.

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Also, we very much depend on generators.

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He helped us with getting the generators replaced and involved in

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that is removing an underground storage tank that

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was holding the fuel before.

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So he went to above ground, a much safer way to store fuel.

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And then he's always there for all the communication equipment

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upgrades that we do as well.

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But he's got skills.

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himself.

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He will repair things.

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He'll fix things.

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He'll jump on those types of things that you don't

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need to contract out and get those done.

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And so when he does that, he saves us money.

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And he does it frequently, and just recently he saved us over $20,000,

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which I very much appreciate.

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So he gets called on quite

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frequently in this building.

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Um, he gets the job done.

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He's always there.

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And a most recent experience we had here at the water management

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district, you may recall the earthquake in Cuba and that

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sent a vibration through South Florida.

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Well, we felt that here at the water management district building, it

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did rattle, and everyone got kind of nervous.

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Luis was here that day and he went around to all

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the key points in the buildings, both buildings, everything on site,

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make sure there was no damage, everything was fine.

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So everyone's nerves went down after

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that reverberation came through.

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He's, we get a lot done because he gets a lot done.

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And so we wanted to recognize an unsung hero

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at the district as the September employee of the month.

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Congratulations, Luis Castro.

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All right.

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Our September 2026, team of the month is the Big

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Cypress Basin, structure, maintenance, and heavy equipment team,

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consisting of Francisco Achivevedo,

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Mike Barber, William Coochie,

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Michael Cueto, Mark Doyle, Caesar,

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Caesar, Forte, Armando Ramirez,

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Paula Rizardini, Mako, Touché,

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Dan Walsh, and Ray Willis.

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So, this team is located over on the

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West Coast in our big Cypress basin, and they basically

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stepped up to help facilitate better sustainable

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recreational access on district properties.

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And we very much value

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that sustainable recreational access to this team

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and bodies that value by making changes, that facilitate that.

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And in particular, they did 3 projects out west.

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They installed a new parking lot at the Pickyon

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Strand project that just came online where you can park 60

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cars up to 60, not one person, people come and visit, okay?

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But get people there, get them hiking,

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biking, whatever they want to do out of picking and strand, they can

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do it now because there's a place to park.

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And we could get those people out there.

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we all recall, well, most of

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you recall, acquiring the green heart of the Everglades, right?

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And when we acquired that, there was a huge public sentiment

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about recreational access to Greenheart.

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Well, this team jumped in and facilitated that.

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They put in a one mile hiking trail, and then they created the

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new parking lot south of US 41 and an area where

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people can park and launch their kayaks and canoes.

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I'd only put the parking lot in.

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They put the canoe launch, and they rebuilt the seawall around

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that area too, to make sure that it was safe.

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And then finally, this year, they put in

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an expanded parking lot at Bird Rookery Swamp.

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This is a very highly recreated area, visited

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by people from Naples and, you know, anywhere along

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that coastline over there.

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And it basically outgrew the parking capacity.

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So they expanded the parking lot on their own without us having to contract it out.

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These efforts, all 3 saved the district $350,000.

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So he didn't have to contract that.

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That money is was our funds, big Cypress funds, that

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can be put back into our infrastructure.

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So they stepped up.

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went beyond their current jobs and their current job duties

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to build these recreational areas, and that's why they're our September

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team of the month.

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Thank you.

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Huh?

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You're walking up there?

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Yeah, you are, right?

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Nice to see you again.

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How you doing?

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Good, good to see you.

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Thanks.

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Thank you, sir.

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Thank you, sir.

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Thanks.

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Thank you.

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Thanks.

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Thank.

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Thank you so much.

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Hey, there you go.

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You can stress.

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Why?

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You're welcome.

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Thanks so much.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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You're welcome.

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You're welcome.

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Congratulations.

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Thank you.

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Thank you, man.

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Thank you.

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Thanks, guys.

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You doing good, man.

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All right, Mr. Chair, we have a 45

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year service anniversary to talk about here.

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We got John J.T. Burns,

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heavy equipment operator, lead at the West Palm Field Station.

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JT.

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Now, JT came to us in 1981,

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and he's a second generation district employee.

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His father, Tommy Burns, was at the Fort Lauderdale

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Field Station, and talked to JT about

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how awesome it is to work at the water management district.

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And this is Tommy Burns's wife right here.

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And uh...

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Gotcha.

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We're all good over there.

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That's JT's mom.

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So, uh, so he started in 81 and veg management

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in Fort Lauderdale, uh, worked in that for 8 years

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and then went to Canal and Levy, where he became a crew chief,

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taking care of our flood control system.

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And then in 2004, he went to West Palm

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Beach and was a lead operator making sure that our canals

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and levees are all clear and worked properly.

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Now, South Florida absolutely

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depends on people like JT.

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Without those people, JT

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in particular, out there working to keep the canals functioning,

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keep the culverts functioning, keep the levees intact, it

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would not work for anybody, right?

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And he was there and he's been working in West Palm

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putting culverts in.

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You know, it's all about flood control and water management, which does

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not happen without JT.

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And he is experienced.

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He's been doing this a long time and knows how to do

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it right and professionally.

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And not only does he know how to do it right and professionally,

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but he is also passing that knowledge along to all

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the folks out there at West Palm Beach Field Station

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and probably beyond that even.

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And because we need,

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that's just a cornerstone.

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That is a cornerstone of our employees

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is out there making sure that these things function

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and are maintained well.

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And JT brings that to us, and

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he's bringing it to all the folks that he's

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around with the experience.

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I mean, he knows all the types of equipment.

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He knows how to tell people how to do it.

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And he's just someone that everyone looks up to.

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Everyone looks up to at these field stations.

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Um, He's been here for 45 years.

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I think he's ready to spend time with his family.

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He's very much a family man.

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So he's retiring next year, and normally I would

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challenge him to try to reach 50, but I agree with the idea of

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spending time with your family.

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So I'm not gonna do that to you, JT.

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I'm just gonna stand up here and absolutely thank you for

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your 45 years of service.

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Thank you, JT.

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Yeah absolutely.

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Oh, it does.

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Yeah.

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There we go.

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Just 5 more minutes.

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get

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go good.

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favorite?

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say great probably.

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All right.

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tell me.

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It's very entertaining if you want to.

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Thank you, guys.

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In the hall

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Well, thank you very much for that, Drew.

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We'll move now to our agender revisions.

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If there are any, are there any changes to the agenda?

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There are none, Mr. Chairman.

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And I will poll the board members now, um, for abstentions,

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and I'll start with Mr. Spots, would you have?

261
00:17:06,567 --> 00:17:07,467
I have an unjair.

262
00:17:07,467 --> 00:17:08,801
Thank you, Mr. Hurl.

263
00:17:08,801 --> 00:17:11,670
I'm sorry, Mr. Stanley.

264
00:17:11,670 --> 00:17:12,300
I have none.

265
00:17:12,300 --> 00:17:13,467
Uh, per one?

266
00:17:13,467 --> 00:17:14,133
I have none.

267
00:17:14,133 --> 00:17:14,834
Sputler?

268
00:17:14,834 --> 00:17:15,400
I have none.

269
00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:16,234
No, surely?

270
00:17:16,234 --> 00:17:16,701
I have none.

271
00:17:16,701 --> 00:17:18,601
Thank you, Mr. Bergeron.

272
00:17:18,601 --> 00:17:19,634
None.

273
00:17:19,634 --> 00:17:21,634
Thanks, Mr. Martinez.

274
00:17:22,501 --> 00:17:22,767
Thanks.

275
00:17:22,767 --> 00:17:25,834
Unfortunately, all the Big Cypress Basin people just left, because

276
00:17:25,834 --> 00:17:28,400
now it's time for the Big Cypress Basin Border Port.

277
00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:30,133
There's, there's one left.

278
00:17:30,133 --> 00:17:32,367
There's one left.

279
00:17:32,367 --> 00:17:33,501
Thank you, Mr Chair.

280
00:17:33,501 --> 00:17:38,100
This is the big cypresspace and board summary for August 28, 2026.

281
00:17:38,100 --> 00:17:41,334
Lisa Keeler, our basin administrator, announced

282
00:17:41,334 --> 00:17:44,334
that the final public hearing for the corkscrew watershed

283
00:17:44,334 --> 00:17:47,400
initiative will be held on September 30th

284
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:51,200
at 1 p.m. at the basin's administrative office.

285
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,334
This three year study was designed to identify potential

286
00:17:54,334 --> 00:17:57,400
projects that could help restore the historical hydrology

287
00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,400
of the Audubon's corkscrew,

288
00:18:00,701 --> 00:18:03,701
swamp sanctuary, while also balancing

289
00:18:03,834 --> 00:18:07,330
flood control concerns for downstream areas.

290
00:18:07,330 --> 00:18:10,167
The initiative involved an extensive modeling effort

291
00:18:10,167 --> 00:18:14,367
conducted in partnership with technical working groups comprised

292
00:18:14,367 --> 00:18:19,000
of representatives from numerous local agencies across the West Coast.

293
00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,167
We are excited to present the findings and the results,

294
00:18:22,167 --> 00:18:26,667
and hopefully advance several projects in the coming years.

295
00:18:26,667 --> 00:18:29,834
Lisa also provided an update on the bird rookery swamp

296
00:18:29,834 --> 00:18:31,467
boardwalk replacement project.

297
00:18:31,467 --> 00:18:34,501
Although conditions have been dry across the

298
00:18:34,501 --> 00:18:37,868
west coast over the past several months, the favorable

299
00:18:37,868 --> 00:18:41,167
weather has allowed us, and the contractor

300
00:18:41,167 --> 00:18:42,234
to work ahead of schedule.

301
00:18:42,234 --> 00:18:45,434
We are currently anticipating that the project will

302
00:18:45,434 --> 00:18:47,400
be completed before the end of the year.

303
00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:53,670
at which time we look forward to celebrating with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

304
00:18:53,670 --> 00:18:56,100
Next, Rick Bauer, science supervisor from Land

305
00:18:56,100 --> 00:18:59,801
Resources, followed with an update on the Crew Marsh Restoration

306
00:18:59,801 --> 00:19:03,234
Project, covering last year's vegetation

307
00:19:03,234 --> 00:19:06,834
reduction, and prescribed fire treatments, along

308
00:19:07,670 --> 00:19:10,968
with restoration research as well as planned future work.

309
00:19:10,968 --> 00:19:14,534
Lastly, Candy Heater presented the basin's fiscal

310
00:19:14,534 --> 00:19:17,534
year 2026, 2027 Miligian budget for approval,

311
00:19:17,968 --> 00:19:21,670
and the board approved the continued military rate

312
00:19:21,670 --> 00:19:23,467
of .0978 for fiscal year 2026,

313
00:19:24,868 --> 00:19:27,868
2027, requesting that the governing board

314
00:19:27,868 --> 00:19:32,701
to lovey ad valorum taxes within the big Cypress basin.

315
00:19:32,701 --> 00:19:36,133
And the board also approved the fiscal year 2026,

316
00:19:36,133 --> 00:19:38,133
2027 based budget of $23,648,374

317
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:47,330
and submitted it to the governing board for inclusion in the district's budget.

318
00:19:47,330 --> 00:19:50,701
We closed out the meeting with technical and staff reports, and

319
00:19:50,701 --> 00:19:55,000
our next meeting is going to be October 23rd, 2026 at 11 AM.

320
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:59,801
And Mr. Chair, that concludes my report, subject to the board's questions.

321
00:19:59,801 --> 00:20:01,434
Thanks very much, Colonel Roman.

322
00:20:01,434 --> 00:20:04,667
Does anyone have any comments or questions?

323
00:20:04,667 --> 00:20:07,330
Thank you for that report.

324
00:20:07,330 --> 00:20:11,267
We'll move now to the approval of the minutes from our August 13th, 2026 meeting.

325
00:20:11,267 --> 00:20:14,330
Does anyone have any changes they'd like to make to those minutes?

326
00:20:14,330 --> 00:20:17,801
If not, does anyone want to make a motion to approve those minutes?

327
00:20:17,801 --> 00:20:18,634
The move?

328
00:20:18,634 --> 00:20:19,601
So I have a motion?

329
00:20:19,601 --> 00:20:20,300
And I have a second.

330
00:20:20,300 --> 00:20:21,968
Is there a further discussion?

331
00:20:21,968 --> 00:20:22,767
Hearing none.

332
00:20:22,767 --> 00:20:23,834
We'll call that question.

333
00:20:23,834 --> 00:20:24,934
Mr. Spotswood.

334
00:20:24,934 --> 00:20:25,267
Yes?

335
00:20:25,267 --> 00:20:26,667
Thank you, Mr. Steinlein.

336
00:20:26,667 --> 00:20:27,000
Yes.

337
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:27,868
I'm gonna vote.

338
00:20:27,868 --> 00:20:28,467
Yes.

339
00:20:28,467 --> 00:20:28,934
Coron?

340
00:20:28,934 --> 00:20:29,167
Yes.

341
00:20:29,167 --> 00:20:29,834
Mr. Butler?

342
00:20:29,834 --> 00:20:30,200
Yes?

343
00:20:30,200 --> 00:20:31,100
Mr. Hurley?

344
00:20:31,100 --> 00:20:31,968
Yes.

345
00:20:31,968 --> 00:20:33,534
And Mr. Bergeron.

346
00:20:33,534 --> 00:20:33,968
Yes?

347
00:20:33,968 --> 00:20:35,968
Mr. Martinez?

348
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:36,367
Yes.

349
00:20:36,367 --> 00:20:38,767
Facts, that passes unanimously.

350
00:20:39,834 --> 00:20:44,534
moving right along to the executive director's report with Mr. Bartlett.

351
00:20:44,534 --> 00:20:46,434
Thank you, Mr. Tara.

352
00:20:46,434 --> 00:20:49,601
Well, I'd like to start out by congratulating Alligator Ron

353
00:20:49,601 --> 00:20:52,200
Bergeron for his reappointment to the board.

354
00:20:52,200 --> 00:20:55,601
We all very much appreciate his experience in

355
00:20:55,601 --> 00:20:59,330
the Everglades, so happy to have him back

356
00:20:59,330 --> 00:21:01,968
on the board and reappointed.

357
00:21:01,968 --> 00:21:05,367
Follow that up with potentially, arguably, more exciting news.

358
00:21:05,367 --> 00:21:08,868
And that is that Jack Walter

359
00:21:08,868 --> 00:21:12,400
Spotswood was born into this world last Saturday,

360
00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,734
new son of Robert Spotswood Jr.

361
00:21:15,734 --> 00:21:17,501
So congratulations.

362
00:21:17,501 --> 00:21:22,901
That's why he looks a little fatigued today.

363
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:26,234
So on to more serious matters.

364
00:21:26,234 --> 00:21:29,400
We did update and provided for you and

365
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:32,534
there's copies for the public, a new

366
00:21:32,534 --> 00:21:36,901
quarterly update for our stormwater treatment areas and their quarterly performance.

367
00:21:36,901 --> 00:21:39,667
And if you look at it, they're doing well.

368
00:21:39,667 --> 00:21:42,667
They're all within the regulatory limits as we stand here.

369
00:21:42,667 --> 00:21:45,901
But it also has a description of some of the activities

370
00:21:45,901 --> 00:21:49,267
that are going on out of the stormwater treatment area.

371
00:21:49,267 --> 00:21:54,234
So that's available for anyone who wants to take advantage of it.

372
00:21:54,234 --> 00:21:56,400
Uh, let's say an update.

373
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,800
So last July 20, uh, 25,

374
00:21:59,868 --> 00:22:03,330
The governor with the Department of Army signed the landmark

375
00:22:03,330 --> 00:22:06,701
agreement to expedite the EAA reservoir and

376
00:22:06,701 --> 00:22:08,200
the Blue Shanty flowway.

377
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,600
And actually, a year

378
00:22:11,200 --> 00:22:13,934
ago today, we broke ground on the blue shanty flowway.

379
00:22:13,934 --> 00:22:17,670
And then in July, we were at

380
00:22:17,670 --> 00:22:20,234
that project, which is ahead of schedule and looking really good,

381
00:22:20,234 --> 00:22:23,434
to sign the agreements for the district to

382
00:22:23,434 --> 00:22:27,670
start building of infrastructure with federal dollars.

383
00:22:27,670 --> 00:22:30,367
And part of that agreement was to build the final pump

384
00:22:30,367 --> 00:22:32,300
station for the EAA reservoir.

385
00:22:32,300 --> 00:22:35,534
So after that was signed in July, August 17th,

386
00:22:35,534 --> 00:22:38,634
part of that process as we send a solicitation package

387
00:22:38,634 --> 00:22:40,567
to Colonel Bowman.

388
00:22:40,567 --> 00:22:43,200
And he reviews it at Jacksonville.

389
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:46,334
And we cannot go forward until we

390
00:22:46,334 --> 00:22:47,400
get the approval of that.

391
00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:50,467
And yesterday after noon, we got the approval

392
00:22:50,467 --> 00:22:54,234
of that solicitation package for the last pump station for

393
00:22:54,234 --> 00:22:55,601
the EAA reservoir.

394
00:22:55,601 --> 00:22:57,901
And that is that's great.

395
00:22:57,901 --> 00:22:59,200
So now we can solicit.

396
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,200
So we're putting that package together and hopefully we'll get that out next week

397
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,133
and hopefully have a contract to sign.

398
00:23:06,133 --> 00:23:09,267
We'll bring it to the board, hopefully November, sign the contract by

399
00:23:09,267 --> 00:23:12,467
the end of the year, to get the seepage, it's

400
00:23:12,467 --> 00:23:15,434
a seepage pump station to control seepage out of the reservoir and provide

401
00:23:15,434 --> 00:23:17,734
flood control for the neighbors.

402
00:23:17,734 --> 00:23:20,968
That's the final pump station for the EAA reservoir.

403
00:23:20,968 --> 00:23:23,667
Um, so that uh, that is progressing.

404
00:23:23,667 --> 00:23:27,567
Got that approval yesterday, so that was exciting.

405
00:23:27,567 --> 00:23:30,667
Yesterday, um, we joined the governor

406
00:23:30,667 --> 00:23:34,330
at the C23 Estuary Discharge Diversion

407
00:23:34,330 --> 00:23:35,634
ribbon cutting.

408
00:23:35,634 --> 00:23:38,634
And that is a project that we don't often talk about, but it's

409
00:23:38,634 --> 00:23:40,267
a really critical project for the St.

410
00:23:40,267 --> 00:23:41,334
Lucie estuary.

411
00:23:41,334 --> 00:23:43,334
And that project is designed.

412
00:23:43,334 --> 00:23:46,734
The flood control system for the C23 canal was

413
00:23:46,734 --> 00:23:48,667
designed to provide flood control for St.

414
00:23:48,667 --> 00:23:52,000
Lucie and Martin County by taking that water and discharging it into the St.

415
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:54,400
Lucie estuary directly, no treatment.

416
00:23:54,400 --> 00:23:57,534
This diversion project takes that water

417
00:23:57,534 --> 00:24:00,534
and moves it to the C44 reservoir for storage and

418
00:24:00,534 --> 00:24:03,634
treatment so that it gets that before impacting

419
00:24:03,634 --> 00:24:04,901
any ecosystems.

420
00:24:04,901 --> 00:24:07,767
So if no water comes out of that canal to the St.

421
00:24:07,767 --> 00:24:10,767
Lucy estuary, it is protected.

422
00:24:11,234 --> 00:24:13,534
We put together this graphic for you.

423
00:24:13,534 --> 00:24:15,434
And this is when it came online.

424
00:24:15,434 --> 00:24:18,400
In the middle of May, 2026.

425
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,634
So it was discharging, the C23 canal was

426
00:24:21,634 --> 00:24:22,934
discharging harmfully to the St.

427
00:24:22,934 --> 00:24:25,534
Lucie estuary until it came online.

428
00:24:25,534 --> 00:24:28,701
And we've been able to use this project to divert all water necessary

429
00:24:28,701 --> 00:24:32,300
that was otherwise gonna get discharged from the estuary over

430
00:24:32,300 --> 00:24:33,901
to the C44 reservoir.

431
00:24:33,901 --> 00:24:37,330
So it's one that we don't talk about much, but it makes a

432
00:24:37,330 --> 00:24:38,901
big difference for the folks that live around St.

433
00:24:38,901 --> 00:24:41,167
Lucie estuary, because that's a big canal.

434
00:24:41,167 --> 00:24:42,667
And so there's a lot.

435
00:24:42,667 --> 00:24:46,334
5000000000 gallons have already been diverted from the St.

436
00:24:46,334 --> 00:24:47,334
Lucie estuary.

437
00:24:47,334 --> 00:24:50,400
And we have a water quality monitoring

438
00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,434
station right there at that estuary discharge, and you can

439
00:24:53,434 --> 00:24:56,567
see the difference in it, between when it's discharging and when it's not.

440
00:24:56,567 --> 00:24:59,634
So, it's a meaningful project that I just wanted

441
00:24:59,634 --> 00:25:03,267
to highlight with my executive director's report.

442
00:25:03,267 --> 00:25:06,467
So I want to finish my report because we're in budget

443
00:25:06,467 --> 00:25:09,701
season, adopting a budget, um, to talk,

444
00:25:09,701 --> 00:25:11,801
give you an update on the district efficiency team.

445
00:25:11,801 --> 00:25:14,801
So we established this District Efficiency team about

446
00:25:14,801 --> 00:25:17,834
a year and a half ago, and they're put together to

447
00:25:17,834 --> 00:25:21,200
facilitate improvements in district processes, to create,

448
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,801
make it more effective and efficient and help us get our job done.

449
00:25:24,801 --> 00:25:27,567
Um, There's a portal.

450
00:25:27,567 --> 00:25:30,734
folks on staff can submit ideas.

451
00:25:30,734 --> 00:25:32,100
We've gotten over a 100 of them.

452
00:25:32,100 --> 00:25:35,701
This team facilitates looking through them and

453
00:25:35,701 --> 00:25:38,701
processing them and engaging IT

454
00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:40,868
and other resources to make them happen.

455
00:25:40,868 --> 00:25:44,267
So I want to give you a report out on some of the things they've done.

456
00:25:44,267 --> 00:25:47,267
They have already implemented systems

457
00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:50,400
to automated budget uploads, payroll

458
00:25:50,567 --> 00:25:52,967
processing, automate employee onboarding,

459
00:25:53,801 --> 00:25:58,200
automate income tax processing, and automate leave administration.

460
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:00,701
These were all done manually, right?

461
00:26:00,701 --> 00:26:04,300
By people in the administrative services division, uh,

462
00:26:04,300 --> 00:26:07,100
just doing it transaction by transaction.

463
00:26:07,100 --> 00:26:09,868
Now that's automated using computing systems.

464
00:26:09,868 --> 00:26:12,868
They have created new systems to develop and

465
00:26:12,868 --> 00:26:16,767
train employees more effectively and efficiently and efficiently.

466
00:26:16,767 --> 00:26:19,934
And this includes safety training and computer systems

467
00:26:19,934 --> 00:26:23,434
training in areas that are critical to us like SAP,

468
00:26:23,434 --> 00:26:26,767
GIS, and then new systems like power BI,

469
00:26:26,767 --> 00:26:29,467
and of course, the evolving suite of AI tools.

470
00:26:29,467 --> 00:26:32,534
We now have a way to train these

471
00:26:32,534 --> 00:26:35,634
employees, really kind of online through different methods

472
00:26:35,634 --> 00:26:38,100
and means that it can be put together very quickly.

473
00:26:38,100 --> 00:26:43,167
you know very little contracting out of this training at this point.

474
00:26:43,167 --> 00:26:47,267
We are on the precipice of launching new systems to streamline recruitment.

475
00:26:47,267 --> 00:26:50,267
Purchase card processing, contract management and

476
00:26:50,267 --> 00:26:53,267
documentation and bank statement reconciliation.

477
00:26:54,670 --> 00:26:55,601
This one was a big effort.

478
00:26:55,601 --> 00:26:58,968
When you think about all the transactions that

479
00:26:58,968 --> 00:27:02,734
we use using purchase cards, all through our field stations,

480
00:27:02,734 --> 00:27:05,934
our IT shops, our sampling and

481
00:27:05,934 --> 00:27:08,934
laboratory crews, lot of transactions

482
00:27:09,567 --> 00:27:11,000
done with that credit card.

483
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:13,300
And they have to be documented.

484
00:27:13,300 --> 00:27:16,400
The paperwork has to be filed, the paperwork has to be audited, the

485
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:19,601
paperwork has to be reconciled, automated.

486
00:27:19,601 --> 00:27:20,834
That used to be done manually.

487
00:27:20,834 --> 00:27:24,734
We used to be able to only audit a sample.

488
00:27:24,734 --> 00:27:28,267
Now with this automation, honestly, you can audit 100%, right?

489
00:27:28,267 --> 00:27:31,334
So it's, that's the one

490
00:27:31,334 --> 00:27:34,501
that I am particularly excited about, because I've seen the transaction

491
00:27:34,501 --> 00:27:37,501
workload that that involves picking

492
00:27:38,634 --> 00:27:41,834
up new processes to really try to try to streamline

493
00:27:41,834 --> 00:27:45,968
and organize and produce a South Florida environmental report.

494
00:27:45,968 --> 00:27:48,834
That's a big thing we do and we have to do every march.

495
00:27:48,834 --> 00:27:51,968
So these efforts, I just want to brag on that team and brag on

496
00:27:51,968 --> 00:27:55,234
the things they've been accomplished and really kind of conclude with

497
00:27:55,234 --> 00:27:57,234
why we do this, right?

498
00:27:57,234 --> 00:28:00,334
And you've seen this graph before.

499
00:28:00,334 --> 00:28:02,167
So we've updated it.

500
00:28:02,167 --> 00:28:06,834
And this basically, let me see if I can get over here.

501
00:28:06,834 --> 00:28:10,100
So this is over the last 15 years, right?

502
00:28:10,100 --> 00:28:12,500
We have reduced RFTEs, 17%.

503
00:28:14,334 --> 00:28:17,667
We have reduced our operating budget, 12%.

504
00:28:17,667 --> 00:28:20,734
Things are more expensive, but we've been able to get that efficiency in

505
00:28:20,734 --> 00:28:25,734
place because we've been innovative over that time frame, and we continue to be.

506
00:28:25,734 --> 00:28:28,167
But that's less expenses, right?

507
00:28:28,167 --> 00:28:29,968
But we're producing more.

508
00:28:29,968 --> 00:28:32,368
Our environmental resource permitting

509
00:28:33,670 --> 00:28:35,767
has gone up 43% over this time frame.

510
00:28:35,767 --> 00:28:38,901
Our critical infrastructure to maintain has gone

511
00:28:38,901 --> 00:28:42,968
up 58% over this time frame, mostly in our stormwater treatment areas.

512
00:28:42,968 --> 00:28:46,434
The land we manage has gone up 82%

513
00:28:46,434 --> 00:28:47,634
during that time.

514
00:28:47,634 --> 00:28:51,670
And now, with the incredible public focus on

515
00:28:51,670 --> 00:28:54,330
building new infrastructure and managing contracts

516
00:28:54,330 --> 00:28:57,234
to build that new infrastructure, our contract management

517
00:28:57,234 --> 00:29:00,834
and infrastructure building has gone up 600%.

518
00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:03,400
over that time frame.

519
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:07,400
While reducing expenses, right?

520
00:29:07,634 --> 00:29:10,968
So, I just wanted to leave that with you as we contemplate

521
00:29:10,968 --> 00:29:13,534
adopting another effective and efficient budget.

522
00:29:13,534 --> 00:29:15,934
Thank you, Mr. Chair.

523
00:29:17,330 --> 00:29:18,133
Thank you, Mr. Bartlett.

524
00:29:18,133 --> 00:29:21,733
We get a taller executive director.

525
00:29:21,968 --> 00:29:22,834
Very well done.

526
00:29:22,834 --> 00:29:27,467
Does anyone have any questions or comments for Mr. Barlow?

527
00:29:27,467 --> 00:29:29,670
Don't let you height limit you.

528
00:29:29,670 --> 00:29:29,834
Let's make it taller.

529
00:29:29,834 --> 00:29:31,767
There you go.

530
00:29:31,767 --> 00:29:33,300
Keep going.

531
00:29:33,300 --> 00:29:35,467
I've got a quick question.

532
00:29:35,467 --> 00:29:36,300
Early.

533
00:29:36,300 --> 00:29:39,300
On the C 23 canal, you

534
00:29:39,601 --> 00:29:43,670
know, historically, when we get real dry, ag interests

535
00:29:43,670 --> 00:29:46,133
along that canal sometime have a tough time getting their

536
00:29:46,133 --> 00:29:47,767
water allocation.

537
00:29:47,767 --> 00:29:51,670
Well, this will we be able to reverse the flow and

538
00:29:51,670 --> 00:29:53,200
provide water when we actually need water there?

539
00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:56,501
No, it is a one way direction, right?

540
00:29:56,501 --> 00:29:58,501
And so the other reservoirs that are built.

541
00:29:58,501 --> 00:30:00,100
They'll be able to bring it down.

542
00:30:00,100 --> 00:30:03,100
Yeah, so what the secondary process on the

543
00:30:03,100 --> 00:30:06,234
C23 and 24 canals is the new reservoirs

544
00:30:06,234 --> 00:30:07,367
that are in the plan.

545
00:30:07,367 --> 00:30:08,501
They're just not built yet.

546
00:30:08,501 --> 00:30:12,330
But that's where you can just pump the extra water in those for the dry season.

547
00:30:12,330 --> 00:30:13,000
Great.

548
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:13,234
you.

549
00:30:13,234 --> 00:30:14,567
Yep.

550
00:30:14,567 --> 00:30:16,334
Anyone else?

551
00:30:16,334 --> 00:30:18,000
Thank you, Ms. Bartlett.

552
00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:21,501
Well, moving now to general, our 1st public comment period.

553
00:30:21,501 --> 00:30:24,567
If you're here to comment on a specific agenda item, we ask, I don't think, or

554
00:30:24,567 --> 00:30:27,667
any, we ask that you hold your comment until we reach that item, the

555
00:30:27,667 --> 00:30:30,801
comment period is for general comments, not related to agenda items, and we

556
00:30:30,801 --> 00:30:33,701
appreciate your helping and running an efficient meeting on that.

557
00:30:33,701 --> 00:30:36,834
We're talking about efficiency today, public comment, and consent agenda

558
00:30:36,834 --> 00:30:39,901
items, that's 13, or I'm sorry, that's 12 on the agenda.

559
00:30:39,901 --> 00:30:43,434
The public had an opportunity to provide written comments prior to this meeting.

560
00:30:43,434 --> 00:30:45,734
We did not receive any e comments.

561
00:30:45,734 --> 00:30:48,100
Are there any general public comments?

562
00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:51,300
Yes, Mr. Chairman, we'll begin with Ben Olsen,

563
00:30:51,300 --> 00:30:53,700
followed by Newton Cook.

564
00:31:02,634 --> 00:31:06,100
Good afternoon, Governing Board, executive director and staff.

565
00:31:06,100 --> 00:31:09,501
The speech is gonna be far more positive than my second speech today.

566
00:31:09,501 --> 00:31:12,701
This speech is about warp and the feeder canal basin water quality program,

567
00:31:12,701 --> 00:31:15,868
and, you know, if I could tell myself two years ago that I

568
00:31:15,868 --> 00:31:18,634
was going to say that I'd be speaking about a warp speech as positive.

569
00:31:18,634 --> 00:31:20,167
I'd probably think I was brainwashed.

570
00:31:20,167 --> 00:31:22,868
But, um, I wanna say this wholeheartedly.

571
00:31:22,868 --> 00:31:25,868
I believe not only myself, but the other landowners are beginning to

572
00:31:25,868 --> 00:31:27,667
see a light at the end of the tunnel.

573
00:31:27,667 --> 00:31:30,000
And just to clarify, there's still a lot of work to be done.

574
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:33,670
And we aren't there yet, but to steal a line from governing board

575
00:31:33,670 --> 00:31:35,934
member Alligator Ron, I do believe we are heading in the right direction.

576
00:31:35,934 --> 00:31:39,200
Just to start with last month, I mentioned to you that the Seminole

577
00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,300
tribe had invited the landowners to a meeting before the land steward meeting,

578
00:31:42,300 --> 00:31:45,300
and I'm happy to report that not only was that a successful and productive

579
00:31:45,300 --> 00:31:48,767
meeting, but I think that it was a critical step in rekindling generations

580
00:31:48,767 --> 00:31:51,901
of ties between the tribe and their neighbors, the landowners

581
00:31:51,901 --> 00:31:54,467
of the West Feeder Basin and the L28 gap.

582
00:31:54,467 --> 00:31:57,534
What I saw was a genuine desire from tribe staff to engage with us, and

583
00:31:57,534 --> 00:32:01,434
there was an understanding that more tribal members would be included in the conversation with us moving forward.

584
00:32:01,434 --> 00:32:04,601
And as many of the landowners and staffers joked there.

585
00:32:04,601 --> 00:32:07,300
We just work on this together, we'll have it whipped immediately.

586
00:32:07,300 --> 00:32:10,667
The more pressing meeting, however, the Land Steward meeting itself happened last Thursday,

587
00:32:10,667 --> 00:32:13,934
and I want to start by saying, thanks to all

588
00:32:13,934 --> 00:32:15,133
the staff for hosting us together.

589
00:32:15,133 --> 00:32:18,801
I'm sure there were a lot of questions going into this and a little bit of a concern.

590
00:32:18,801 --> 00:32:22,267
But I think it's safe to say everyone agreed that the format of having all entities

591
00:32:22,267 --> 00:32:25,767
represented together was not only possible, but quite cooperative and productive.

592
00:32:25,767 --> 00:32:28,801
Going to the meeting, I had a ton going on, which I'll speak

593
00:32:28,801 --> 00:32:31,868
about in the next comment period, but I wanted to give you a short perspective of my

594
00:32:31,868 --> 00:32:34,701
up the meeting from my perspective.

595
00:32:34,701 --> 00:32:37,801
Unfortunately, some analysis I intended to have done

596
00:32:37,801 --> 00:32:39,367
prior to the meeting didn't get finished.

597
00:32:39,367 --> 00:32:42,467
I am just one man, and I forget that at times, I don't have a staff,

598
00:32:42,467 --> 00:32:43,968
and I have to triage.

599
00:32:43,968 --> 00:32:46,968
So, um, I was looking over what

600
00:32:46,968 --> 00:32:49,601
I had done before the meeting and sometimes I find myself a bit foolish.

601
00:32:49,601 --> 00:32:52,968
When I did the historical flow pass from the West Feeder Basement Report,

602
00:32:52,968 --> 00:32:54,901
I skipped over some pretty critical sections.

603
00:32:54,901 --> 00:32:57,901
I had focused at the time just on Kissimmee Billy Road and

604
00:32:57,901 --> 00:33:00,934
the lard can section line, I skipped over the 2 miles in between,

605
00:33:00,934 --> 00:33:04,367
where I believe the Kissimmee Billy Strander sloop actually was.

606
00:33:04,367 --> 00:33:07,601
And so I was looking at that before the meeting, but

607
00:33:07,601 --> 00:33:11,300
when looking at the modeling that staff put together with Chen Moore.

608
00:33:11,300 --> 00:33:14,434
The modeling showed the area I'm speaking about had more of a flow than originally

609
00:33:14,434 --> 00:33:16,000
believed in the 1st rounds of modeling.

610
00:33:16,000 --> 00:33:18,100
Since I couldn't provide the analysis physically.

611
00:33:18,100 --> 00:33:21,133
I instead explained where I felt culverts needed to be moved and modeled,

612
00:33:21,133 --> 00:33:24,868
and where we should take water from to avoid flooding privately on panther habitat.

613
00:33:24,868 --> 00:33:26,901
I don't intend to bury you in the weeds on this.

614
00:33:26,901 --> 00:33:28,767
The point I'm making is while I was discussing this.

615
00:33:28,767 --> 00:33:32,634
I was able to look up, engage the temperature from all individuals in the room.

616
00:33:32,634 --> 00:33:34,701
I'm not one to beat around the bush, I'll be direct.

617
00:33:34,701 --> 00:33:38,100
It was incredibly refreshing, to be able to not only engage your staff,

618
00:33:38,100 --> 00:33:41,167
but tribal staffers in other agencies positions as well as we spoke,

619
00:33:41,167 --> 00:33:44,334
and just to be clear, I didn't take any nods, disagreements, or disagreements, rather,

620
00:33:44,334 --> 00:33:47,334
I took them as genuine considerations of alternatives, that we can

621
00:33:47,334 --> 00:33:50,801
work together to overcome all issues to

622
00:33:50,801 --> 00:33:53,934
critically regarding critically pristine habitat while also finding solutions

623
00:33:53,934 --> 00:33:55,601
to make both tribes whole.

624
00:33:55,601 --> 00:33:58,734
And there are certainly more hurdles to overcome, particularly Region 3 and

625
00:33:58,734 --> 00:34:02,330
how water will be distributed down the line, but I believe meetings like the Land Steward

626
00:34:02,330 --> 00:34:05,330
meeting with all entities at the table are the only path forward.

627
00:34:05,330 --> 00:34:07,167
So again, I deeply appreciate staff.

628
00:34:07,167 --> 00:34:10,367
You guys for allowing us to be at the table as

629
00:34:10,367 --> 00:34:12,467
well as travel representatives for joining us.

630
00:34:12,467 --> 00:34:15,701
Thank you, Mr. Butler, for asking a few months ago for us to have that meeting.

631
00:34:15,701 --> 00:34:17,000
It really was a successor.

632
00:34:17,000 --> 00:34:17,367
Thank you.

633
00:34:17,367 --> 00:34:18,734
Thank you Mr. Olsen.

634
00:34:18,734 --> 00:34:25,334
Next, we'll hear from Newton Cook, followed by Mark Perry.

635
00:34:30,267 --> 00:34:33,901
Thank you, Newton Cook, United Waterfalls, of Florida.

636
00:34:33,901 --> 00:34:35,701
Great day yesterday.

637
00:34:35,701 --> 00:34:40,100
I think a lot of you were there.

638
00:34:40,100 --> 00:34:42,701
Good to see water moving.

639
00:34:42,701 --> 00:34:43,968
Good to see water moving.

640
00:34:43,968 --> 00:34:45,634
That's what we have to do.

641
00:34:45,634 --> 00:34:49,000
And moving it to a right place.

642
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,400
Uh, C 44, and, uh...

643
00:34:54,701 --> 00:34:57,901
He does have some duck on it on it.

644
00:34:57,901 --> 00:35:00,301
So, anyway, uh, ducks

645
00:35:01,601 --> 00:35:05,667
eating starts in two weeks, and I always like to think,

646
00:35:05,667 --> 00:35:09,567
the district and the FWC, and all the

647
00:35:09,567 --> 00:35:13,234
staff from top to bottom, and I always think about the

648
00:35:13,234 --> 00:35:16,300
young, most of the time, young ladies who do the

649
00:35:16,300 --> 00:35:18,300
check stations.

650
00:35:19,567 --> 00:35:23,670
They're up at 2:00 in the morning, they get to the check station,

651
00:35:23,670 --> 00:35:26,167
a little before 4:00, they open the gates, and

652
00:35:26,167 --> 00:35:29,300
they're looking at anywhere from 30

653
00:35:29,300 --> 00:35:31,300
to 50...

654
00:35:33,434 --> 00:35:35,434
duck hunters, who...

655
00:35:36,934 --> 00:35:41,434
Alright, let's just say, can sometime be a little rowdy.

656
00:35:41,434 --> 00:35:44,834
as they scrambled to get out to the marsh, and

657
00:35:44,834 --> 00:35:47,200
it is a bit of a chase.

658
00:35:47,200 --> 00:35:50,267
You're chasing daylight for one, and then you're also chasing a

659
00:35:50,267 --> 00:35:54,434
guy in front of you, you've got a boat, you might be faster than yours.

660
00:35:54,434 --> 00:35:58,234
These people never get the credit that

661
00:35:58,234 --> 00:36:04,234
they should get, and they're there until dark that night.

662
00:36:04,234 --> 00:36:05,968
And they get paid nothing.

663
00:36:05,968 --> 00:36:07,801
Incidentally nothing.

664
00:36:07,801 --> 00:36:10,167
But they're all starting out for careers.

665
00:36:10,167 --> 00:36:12,567
And the, uh, environmental,

666
00:36:14,601 --> 00:36:16,601
and management area.

667
00:36:17,100 --> 00:36:19,500
So bless them all.

668
00:36:20,501 --> 00:36:23,734
Lake O still in great shape.

669
00:36:23,734 --> 00:36:26,901
We're not getting enough rain to hurt it, and we're getting just enough to get a little slow

670
00:36:26,901 --> 00:36:30,434
rise, that's going to get the vegetation going,

671
00:36:30,434 --> 00:36:33,667
and I think we're going to get through this whole year without a storm, and

672
00:36:33,667 --> 00:36:38,334
if we get that done and not stir the muck up, we

673
00:36:38,334 --> 00:36:41,400
could go into next year, which would be going into the 3rd year,

674
00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:44,400
with a reasonably good habitat

675
00:36:46,667 --> 00:36:49,667
for the fish and ducks, and for all the people

676
00:36:49,667 --> 00:36:52,868
who come for vacation, and spend time on the,

677
00:36:52,868 --> 00:36:54,467
lake.

678
00:36:54,467 --> 00:36:58,601
The problems we have on the lake, there's too much spring.

679
00:36:58,601 --> 00:37:02,670
Somehow another, we've got to get off this idea that Florida

680
00:37:02,670 --> 00:37:05,567
is Disneyland, and has to have a lot of open water.

681
00:37:05,567 --> 00:37:08,567
We are a semi tropical environment here,

682
00:37:08,567 --> 00:37:11,667
have you ever been anywhere in that type of a tropical

683
00:37:11,667 --> 00:37:14,801
environment, all the lakes and rivers and everything

684
00:37:14,801 --> 00:37:19,200
are covered, impacting you fly over it, look down, not even though there's water there.

685
00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:22,334
And we've got to quit doing that here because it is destroying

686
00:37:22,334 --> 00:37:25,334
our habitats, and our wildlife.

687
00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:30,133
And I recommended that we cut the spraying budget for 50% for every year.

688
00:37:30,133 --> 00:37:33,133
So if people concentrate on what needs to be done, and

689
00:37:33,133 --> 00:37:34,200
not like Disneyland.

690
00:37:34,200 --> 00:37:34,934
Thank you.

691
00:37:34,934 --> 00:37:36,868
Thank you, Mr. Cook.

692
00:37:36,868 --> 00:37:39,968
Next, we'll hear from Mark Perry, followed by Ryan

693
00:37:39,968 --> 00:37:42,968
Rossi, who is on Zoom.

694
00:37:44,367 --> 00:37:44,868
Thank you.

695
00:37:44,868 --> 00:37:47,100
Good afternoon, governing board.

696
00:37:47,100 --> 00:37:48,667
It was a good day yesterday.

697
00:37:48,667 --> 00:37:51,834
Of course, at the New River Lagoon South Project,

698
00:37:51,834 --> 00:37:54,934
where we made that connector canal from the

699
00:37:54,934 --> 00:37:58,000
C 23 basin down to the C 44 basin, and that

700
00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:01,601
really helps to kind of connect those basins,

701
00:38:01,601 --> 00:38:05,670
particularly this time, because we haven't finished the C 23,

702
00:38:05,670 --> 00:38:08,133
24 reservoir SDA projects, which will help store

703
00:38:08,133 --> 00:38:09,334
water in that basin.

704
00:38:09,334 --> 00:38:12,501
But now in the interim time, we could move that water down

705
00:38:12,501 --> 00:38:14,133
through this connect canal.

706
00:38:14,133 --> 00:38:15,100
So it's a great project.

707
00:38:15,100 --> 00:38:18,734
It was part of the IRL South plan and I'm glad we're moving forward on that.

708
00:38:18,734 --> 00:38:21,567
It connects us in that estuary.

709
00:38:21,567 --> 00:38:22,467
That St.

710
00:38:22,467 --> 00:38:25,567
Lucy River estuary, as you know, is really

711
00:38:25,567 --> 00:38:27,801
key, as is all estuaries around.

712
00:38:27,801 --> 00:38:30,868
If you take it out from Jacksonville down to Pensacola

713
00:38:30,868 --> 00:38:34,267
trip around a state, you're going about 1200 miles.

714
00:38:34,267 --> 00:38:37,434
But we have over 8,400 miles of tidal

715
00:38:37,434 --> 00:38:39,534
shorelines all along our coast.

716
00:38:39,534 --> 00:38:42,734
A lot in the Gulf and in the Atlantic, uh,

717
00:38:42,734 --> 00:38:45,734
they're hit by Barrier Islands, where all the creeks and streams and

718
00:38:45,734 --> 00:38:48,767
tributaries and rivers, all come down and and the

719
00:38:48,767 --> 00:38:52,801
marshes interact with the ocean through the inlets and passes.

720
00:38:52,801 --> 00:38:56,434
And that interaction in that estuary, that forms that estuary,

721
00:38:56,434 --> 00:38:59,567
that mixture of that salt and fresh water, which is so vital

722
00:38:59,567 --> 00:39:01,767
for our ecology in our state.

723
00:39:01,767 --> 00:39:04,767
And our fishery, over 95% of

724
00:39:05,567 --> 00:39:09,200
all the commercial recreational fisheries depend on those estuaries,

725
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:12,868
in those juvenile stages, or some stages of their lifecycle.

726
00:39:12,868 --> 00:39:13,767
That's a lot.

727
00:39:13,767 --> 00:39:17,133
There's a lot of dependence upon these estuaries.

728
00:39:17,133 --> 00:39:21,434
Not only those habitats they produce and everything, but they create buffers.

729
00:39:21,434 --> 00:39:24,434
The storm buffers, like the mangrove shorelines and

730
00:39:24,434 --> 00:39:27,434
the salt marshes, create that storm buster, some storm

731
00:39:27,434 --> 00:39:29,300
surge that comes into our coastlines.

732
00:39:29,300 --> 00:39:32,701
And they also create a lot of habitat,

733
00:39:32,701 --> 00:39:36,434
of course, for our fish and shellfish, but also that, you

734
00:39:36,434 --> 00:39:39,601
know, those nursery areas are really key for

735
00:39:39,601 --> 00:39:40,801
unique species.

736
00:39:40,801 --> 00:39:45,300
You know, like are dolphins or manatees, charismatic megafauna.

737
00:39:45,300 --> 00:39:48,367
But it's also key to those, uh, particularly like,

738
00:39:48,367 --> 00:39:51,434
um, small to sawfish and really unique animals.

739
00:39:51,434 --> 00:39:54,834
We have such a biodiversity of dependence

740
00:39:54,834 --> 00:39:56,100
upon estuaries.

741
00:39:56,100 --> 00:39:59,334
So September's estuaries month, we're celebrating

742
00:39:59,334 --> 00:40:01,734
that national estuaries week later on this month.

743
00:40:01,734 --> 00:40:05,367
But just remember, estuaries around the coast.

744
00:40:05,367 --> 00:40:07,234
Appalachicola Bay, Rookery Bay.

745
00:40:07,234 --> 00:40:08,601
We have some national preserves.

746
00:40:08,601 --> 00:40:11,868
We have unique Tampa Bay and the Indian River

747
00:40:11,868 --> 00:40:15,133
Lagoon, you know, it's just, I can go on and on.

748
00:40:15,133 --> 00:40:17,133
There's these tremendous estuaries.

749
00:40:17,133 --> 00:40:20,167
All of Florida Bay, the Everglades coming into Florida Bay is

750
00:40:20,167 --> 00:40:21,868
that 10,000 islands.

751
00:40:21,868 --> 00:40:24,934
I mean, just such a unique areas that

752
00:40:24,934 --> 00:40:27,133
are just key to our state.

753
00:40:27,133 --> 00:40:30,133
So I hope we do everything we can to protect them

754
00:40:30,133 --> 00:40:33,133
and keep on this, these B

755
00:40:33,133 --> 00:40:36,200
maps and this TMDLs to get those right in

756
00:40:36,200 --> 00:40:39,601
these watersheds, particularly the 2 estuaries on each coast.

757
00:40:39,601 --> 00:40:42,000
Thank you and I appreciate your work on it.

758
00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,801
Thank you, Mr. Perry.

759
00:40:43,801 --> 00:40:51,100
Next, we'll move over to Zoom, and we have Ryan Rossi.

760
00:40:52,968 --> 00:40:55,368
Please unmute, Mr. Rossi.

761
00:40:56,334 --> 00:40:57,330
Sorry about that.

762
00:40:57,330 --> 00:40:57,601
Can you hear me?

763
00:40:57,601 --> 00:40:59,330
We hear you.

764
00:40:59,330 --> 00:41:03,167
Okay, thank you, um, and thank you for the opportunity to, uh, give comment today.

765
00:41:03,167 --> 00:41:06,634
Um, good afternoon to everybody protecting,

766
00:41:06,634 --> 00:41:09,767
uh, South Waters, uh, South Florida's water supply,

767
00:41:09,767 --> 00:41:13,834
um, is simply our, uh, environmental responsibility.

768
00:41:13,834 --> 00:41:17,133
Um, it's essential to our communities,

769
00:41:17,133 --> 00:41:22,100
to our homes, our businesses, our ecosystem, our quality of life.

770
00:41:22,100 --> 00:41:25,400
And I know that, you know, our region has experienced,

771
00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:29,167
uh, prolonged drought conditions now at this point, uh,

772
00:41:29,167 --> 00:41:30,434
for months and months.

773
00:41:30,434 --> 00:41:35,133
We've tried to navigate our way through this very hot and dry summer.

774
00:41:35,133 --> 00:41:38,701
Um, I, it's good news that we're starting to see, you

775
00:41:38,701 --> 00:41:42,534
know, more sustained rainfall, uh, at this point, actually, it's raining right now where I am.

776
00:41:42,534 --> 00:41:45,534
And so I think that that should help be

777
00:41:45,534 --> 00:41:49,000
a welcome relief to improving drought conditions in some areas.

778
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,300
Um, but as I've said many times, uh, before it's

779
00:41:52,300 --> 00:41:55,434
gonna take more than, you know, uh, uh, a

780
00:41:55,434 --> 00:41:56,734
couple of days of rain.

781
00:41:56,734 --> 00:42:00,934
Hopefully, it's gonna be more sustained than that to reverse what's

782
00:42:00,934 --> 00:42:04,000
what we've been dealing with, you know, for longer than that.

783
00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:05,934
in parts of South Florida, especially.

784
00:42:05,934 --> 00:42:08,934
Um, These effects are certainly

785
00:42:08,968 --> 00:42:11,968
visible at Lake Okeechobee, um, which

786
00:42:11,968 --> 00:42:15,330
is one of the most important components of South Florida's water system.

787
00:42:15,330 --> 00:42:18,200
Um, as of today, I think the lake is around 11

788
00:42:18,200 --> 00:42:21,267
feet, which is still about 3 feet below, more, uh,

789
00:42:21,267 --> 00:42:24,200
3 feet below, its historical average for this time of year.

790
00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:27,434
Um, there's certainly some benefit to that.

791
00:42:27,434 --> 00:42:28,934
We've heard people speak to that before.

792
00:42:28,934 --> 00:42:32,100
But we have to hope that we don't

793
00:42:32,100 --> 00:42:35,234
continue in these prolonged drought conditions, and we do get the rain.

794
00:42:35,234 --> 00:42:38,834
We need to replenish the lake and prevent,

795
00:42:38,834 --> 00:42:40,367
you know, some other issues from happening.

796
00:42:40,367 --> 00:42:43,634
Uh, that's why conservation remains so important,

797
00:42:43,634 --> 00:42:46,734
um, even when we are getting rain, every

798
00:42:46,734 --> 00:42:49,968
gallon we save today strengthens our ability to withstand tomorrow's

799
00:42:49,968 --> 00:42:52,868
dry conditions, and I'm sure we'll experience dry conditions again.

800
00:42:52,868 --> 00:42:56,200
We can all help by following local

801
00:42:56,200 --> 00:42:59,200
watering schedules, using water efficient

802
00:42:59,400 --> 00:43:02,934
appliances, simple stuff at home, limiting

803
00:43:02,934 --> 00:43:07,167
unnecessary irrigation, and avoiding that kind of water waste.

804
00:43:07,167 --> 00:43:10,300
So, uh, rainfall may provide temporary

805
00:43:10,300 --> 00:43:13,601
relief, but conservation provides long term resilience,

806
00:43:13,601 --> 00:43:16,634
and that's why protecting our supply, as I've always

807
00:43:16,634 --> 00:43:19,934
said, requires action from from you all, uh,

808
00:43:19,934 --> 00:43:23,901
from our government businesses, um, and certainly by every resident.

809
00:43:23,901 --> 00:43:27,000
Um, we need to continue to treat water as

810
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:30,267
the precious, limited resource that it is, and

811
00:43:30,267 --> 00:43:35,167
that will only serve to benefit the rest of South Florida communities in general going forward.

812
00:43:35,167 --> 00:43:39,767
So I appreciate the time to make that comment, and we'll talk to you next time.

813
00:43:39,767 --> 00:43:41,100
Thank you, Mr. Rossi.

814
00:43:41,100 --> 00:43:44,601
Mr. Chairman, we have no additional public comments.

815
00:43:44,601 --> 00:43:46,670
Well, thank you all very much for your comments.

816
00:43:46,670 --> 00:43:48,367
We're gonna move now to board comment.

817
00:43:48,367 --> 00:43:51,667
And if Mr. Spotswood is awake, which he is.

818
00:43:51,667 --> 00:43:53,434
Congratulations to you, and we'll start with you.

819
00:43:53,434 --> 00:43:54,300
Thank you.

820
00:43:54,300 --> 00:43:57,767
Um, I, uh, uh, you know, Drew

821
00:43:57,767 --> 00:44:01,734
and staff, I'm sorry I wasn't able to be at the ribbon cutting yesterday, but really, really, uh, cool.

822
00:44:01,734 --> 00:44:04,767
I was watching through social media, and other, and seeing what was going on,

823
00:44:04,767 --> 00:44:07,834
and, um, you know, kudos to all the folks that

824
00:44:07,834 --> 00:44:11,267
were here before that paved the way and got that project going and done,

825
00:44:11,267 --> 00:44:14,267
um, really, really big accomplishment.

826
00:44:14,567 --> 00:44:21,968
Um, the only other thing I have to add is there's no way we're getting through this season without a hurricane.

827
00:44:21,968 --> 00:44:23,133
Thank you for saying that.

828
00:44:23,133 --> 00:44:24,667
Styling it out.

829
00:44:24,667 --> 00:44:26,367
I love the balance.

830
00:44:26,367 --> 00:44:28,767
Um, Mr. Chair, no

831
00:44:29,400 --> 00:44:32,400
comment other than, um, uh,

832
00:44:32,400 --> 00:44:35,400
congratulating Ron for being reappointed.

833
00:44:36,300 --> 00:44:39,534
I think we, I know I am a stronger

834
00:44:39,534 --> 00:44:43,330
board member with your, uh, experience and,

835
00:44:43,330 --> 00:44:47,934
uh, insight, uh, and, uh, appreciate your continued service.

836
00:44:47,934 --> 00:44:49,000
Thanks, Mr. Stanley.

837
00:44:49,000 --> 00:44:49,834
Colonel Roman.

838
00:44:49,834 --> 00:44:50,701
Thank you, Miss...

839
00:44:50,701 --> 00:44:51,467
Thank you, Mr. Chair.

840
00:44:51,467 --> 00:44:54,701
I have a couple of items this morning.

841
00:44:54,701 --> 00:44:58,000
First of all, I had the opportunity to attend

842
00:44:58,000 --> 00:45:01,000
the environmental permitting summer school.

843
00:45:01,670 --> 00:45:05,267
that's hosted by the Florida Chamber of Commerce.

844
00:45:05,267 --> 00:45:08,367
And it was a great conference,

845
00:45:08,367 --> 00:45:10,834
and so many of our stakeholders.

846
00:45:10,834 --> 00:45:13,834
Really appreciate the access to

847
00:45:14,667 --> 00:45:18,330
us when we're in these in when

848
00:45:18,330 --> 00:45:21,670
we put ourselves out there for those opportunities.

849
00:45:21,670 --> 00:45:23,670
And Drew, Jen

850
00:45:24,501 --> 00:45:27,567
Smith, and Mara Cruz were a part of

851
00:45:27,567 --> 00:45:30,567
panels, and really did a

852
00:45:30,601 --> 00:45:33,667
tremendous job in representing the district, and I just wanted to

853
00:45:33,667 --> 00:45:37,801
give all three of you a shout out, 'cause it takes an extra effort.

854
00:45:37,801 --> 00:45:39,534
When you've got your regular job, right?

855
00:45:39,534 --> 00:45:41,868
And then you're preparing for this and then you're on the road.

856
00:45:41,868 --> 00:45:44,868
So, great job on that.

857
00:45:45,330 --> 00:45:48,601
Um, it was wonderful to see the, uh,

858
00:45:48,601 --> 00:45:52,133
big Cypress Basin, uh, field station team recognized today.

859
00:45:52,133 --> 00:45:55,133
Uh, I have a soft spot in my heart

860
00:45:55,133 --> 00:45:58,534
for all field station teams, but that

861
00:45:58,534 --> 00:46:01,734
one in particular is like at the top of the list, and

862
00:46:01,734 --> 00:46:04,734
Drew, um, shared some very

863
00:46:04,901 --> 00:46:07,301
important, uh, accomplishments by

864
00:46:07,968 --> 00:46:10,167
by these, these guys and gals.

865
00:46:10,167 --> 00:46:13,300
And I just want to tell

866
00:46:13,300 --> 00:46:16,400
you a little bit more, if I could, about the green heart of

867
00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:18,200
the Everglades.

868
00:46:18,200 --> 00:46:20,767
I was out there on my third visit.

869
00:46:20,767 --> 00:46:23,968
to our work out there with land

870
00:46:23,968 --> 00:46:27,667
management and getting it prepped for the

871
00:46:27,667 --> 00:46:29,000
public recreation.

872
00:46:29,000 --> 00:46:31,400
And this is our 11,000,

873
00:46:32,534 --> 00:46:35,767
roughly 11,000 acres that we acquired, a

874
00:46:35,767 --> 00:46:38,767
couple years back, that we put into,

875
00:46:38,767 --> 00:46:40,767
um, protected management,

876
00:46:42,133 --> 00:46:45,133
protected conservation and management, and

877
00:46:45,234 --> 00:46:48,467
Mayor Cruz and her team, her legal

878
00:46:48,467 --> 00:46:53,267
team, were instrumental, and putting together the management plan.

879
00:46:53,267 --> 00:46:56,400
And uh, Rory Feeney was instrumental

880
00:46:56,400 --> 00:47:00,100
in putting together the land management piece of that.

881
00:47:00,100 --> 00:47:03,267
And this is an incredible acquisition

882
00:47:03,267 --> 00:47:06,267
that this district was able to make.

883
00:47:06,267 --> 00:47:10,367
And one part of it has this

884
00:47:10,367 --> 00:47:13,634
dilapidated little shack, an old septic tank,

885
00:47:13,634 --> 00:47:16,340
a failed seawall, trees

886
00:47:16,834 --> 00:47:20,167
that were rotten and dying and falling

887
00:47:20,167 --> 00:47:24,334
into the water in this pristine environment

888
00:47:24,334 --> 00:47:29,234
of grasslands and part of the Everglades off of 41.

889
00:47:29,234 --> 00:47:32,667
So, there's no real money

890
00:47:32,667 --> 00:47:37,467
yet for improvements to Greenheart of the Everglades.

891
00:47:37,734 --> 00:47:40,968
And the Big Cypress Basin field

892
00:47:40,968 --> 00:47:44,334
station team said, We can do it in house.

893
00:47:44,334 --> 00:47:47,334
They told Rory Feeney that they could do it in house,

894
00:47:47,334 --> 00:47:50,400
and they could get it started to a point where we could bring

895
00:47:50,400 --> 00:47:53,634
it to the public sooner rather than later.

896
00:47:53,634 --> 00:47:57,801
And so what those guys did was

897
00:47:57,801 --> 00:48:02,133
remove the seawall, like you heard Drew say, the trees, were getting it ready.

898
00:48:02,133 --> 00:48:06,000
We're working on a very fine line for a budget.

899
00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:09,000
And, they did it in

900
00:48:09,767 --> 00:48:12,868
conjunction with providing training for new employees

901
00:48:12,868 --> 00:48:14,601
of their field station.

902
00:48:14,601 --> 00:48:17,300
So it was a training opportunity.

903
00:48:17,300 --> 00:48:20,601
It was a, you know, recreational

904
00:48:20,601 --> 00:48:24,434
opportunity moving forward for the community and our public.

905
00:48:24,434 --> 00:48:27,968
It was a land management opportunity.

906
00:48:27,968 --> 00:48:31,100
I mean, I can't be prouder of the folks like

907
00:48:31,100 --> 00:48:35,467
this that we get to serve with every day in the district because

908
00:48:35,467 --> 00:48:38,467
They went, like Drew said, above and

909
00:48:38,467 --> 00:48:40,367
beyond what their normal jobs are.

910
00:48:40,367 --> 00:48:43,634
So, uh, it was great to see them recognized at

911
00:48:43,634 --> 00:48:45,601
at the governing board level.

912
00:48:45,601 --> 00:48:48,400
So I just wanted to add that little bit to it.

913
00:48:48,400 --> 00:48:52,801
Um, I listened in on the Lostman Slough,

914
00:48:52,801 --> 00:48:55,201
um, presentation or meeting.

915
00:48:56,133 --> 00:48:58,000
And it was it was excellent.

916
00:48:58,000 --> 00:49:02,200
And I've got to get a give a shout out to Mark Cook.

917
00:49:02,200 --> 00:49:03,701
Wow.

918
00:49:03,701 --> 00:49:06,701
He had some incredible, uh,

919
00:49:07,167 --> 00:49:11,670
information about bird nesting and how Losman's,

920
00:49:11,670 --> 00:49:14,234
the slew and the eco tone and how this all fit

921
00:49:14,234 --> 00:49:17,834
together, and represented the district so

922
00:49:18,330 --> 00:49:21,133
well, and had so much great information, and

923
00:49:21,133 --> 00:49:24,267
Drew, if in the future, there's an opportunity for the governing

924
00:49:24,267 --> 00:49:27,367
board to hear some of that presentation on a smaller

925
00:49:27,367 --> 00:49:30,801
scale, uh, just so that that we know, uh,

926
00:49:30,801 --> 00:49:33,601
what's going on and why that's so important, but excell

927
00:49:33,601 --> 00:49:33,901
ent.

928
00:49:33,901 --> 00:49:37,330
And if you haven't been out with Mark Cook.

929
00:49:37,330 --> 00:49:38,601
I've had the privilege to be with him.

930
00:49:38,601 --> 00:49:42,734
And to go out with him on his census out there.

931
00:49:42,734 --> 00:49:45,901
Uh, see if you can find time to,

932
00:49:45,901 --> 00:49:51,534
to, to join him because he has a lot of uh, knowledge to share.

933
00:49:51,534 --> 00:49:52,734
Great job, Mark.

934
00:49:52,734 --> 00:49:54,100
Appreciate it.

935
00:49:54,100 --> 00:49:57,400
In each of our monthly packets, there's a, um,

936
00:49:57,400 --> 00:50:01,000
update on the Northern Everglades estuaries,

937
00:50:01,467 --> 00:50:03,400
uh, protection program.

938
00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:06,400
And I wanted to highlight that in this month's

939
00:50:06,400 --> 00:50:08,800
interagency spotlight, there's

940
00:50:09,868 --> 00:50:12,868
an item for us to

941
00:50:13,670 --> 00:50:14,234
reach out.

942
00:50:14,234 --> 00:50:17,534
We did a request for proposals for

943
00:50:17,534 --> 00:50:20,601
projects in the Avon Park Air Force

944
00:50:20,601 --> 00:50:23,834
Range, disperse water management projects, and the Sentinel

945
00:50:23,834 --> 00:50:28,200
Landscape boundary in Osceola Highlands and Okeechobee Counties.

946
00:50:28,200 --> 00:50:30,801
And so that's in this report.

947
00:50:30,801 --> 00:50:33,968
Um, for those that are looking for opportunities

948
00:50:33,968 --> 00:50:36,667
to do disperse water management projects.

949
00:50:36,667 --> 00:50:40,501
I'm a strong supporter of these projects.

950
00:50:40,501 --> 00:50:43,968
Please contact the district and get

951
00:50:43,968 --> 00:50:46,968
yourself in line to compete for one of those

952
00:50:46,968 --> 00:50:49,368
efforts with our team.

953
00:50:49,434 --> 00:50:52,868
And by the way, this continues to be an excellent report.

954
00:50:52,868 --> 00:50:56,467
So hats off to those that are pulling that together.

955
00:50:56,467 --> 00:50:59,868
Um, I want to also congratulate

956
00:50:59,868 --> 00:51:02,268
um, our budget team.

957
00:51:03,334 --> 00:51:06,467
You know, candy and Joey Maytock in

958
00:51:06,467 --> 00:51:09,467
particular, they do this double.

959
00:51:09,667 --> 00:51:12,868
They do all of the budget work for the

960
00:51:12,868 --> 00:51:16,701
district and for the governing board and setting this military.

961
00:51:16,701 --> 00:51:18,801
They also do it for the basin.

962
00:51:18,801 --> 00:51:21,968
So they're doing double duty, and we couldn't really move forward

963
00:51:21,968 --> 00:51:24,934
without them, and they're just doing a tremendous job.

964
00:51:24,934 --> 00:51:28,434
And I, frankly, I don't know how they do it.

965
00:51:28,434 --> 00:51:31,567
Uh, because they are keeping up

966
00:51:31,567 --> 00:51:34,801
with, with so much to keep us straight with, with everybody

967
00:51:34,801 --> 00:51:36,534
in the numbers and the dollar.

968
00:51:36,534 --> 00:51:38,834
So, so thank you for that.

969
00:51:38,834 --> 00:51:42,667
And I'd like to congratulate Mr. Bergeron on his reappointment.

970
00:51:42,667 --> 00:51:45,767
It's great that I'll be able to, and all of us to

971
00:51:45,767 --> 00:51:49,670
be able to stay together, and to serve together, going forward.

972
00:51:49,670 --> 00:51:52,300
And lastly, I would like to give a shout out to,

973
00:51:52,300 --> 00:51:55,300
um, Honorable Adam Tell, who,

974
00:51:56,367 --> 00:51:59,501
uh, joined us, uh, the district and the corps, and joined

975
00:51:59,501 --> 00:52:02,667
us for the Picayon Strand ribbon cutting for those of you who were

976
00:52:02,667 --> 00:52:04,801
there, you remember meeting him.

977
00:52:04,801 --> 00:52:07,901
And, um, he really supported this,

978
00:52:07,901 --> 00:52:11,000
uh, one of its kind initiative between

979
00:52:11,000 --> 00:52:14,234
the state of Florida, and the federal government,

980
00:52:14,234 --> 00:52:17,367
the U.S. Army, uh, to, uh, really,

981
00:52:17,367 --> 00:52:19,767
uh, go about, uh,

982
00:52:22,000 --> 00:52:25,267
helping share monies and share efforts with getting

983
00:52:25,267 --> 00:52:28,267
Everglades restoration projects done more quickly and

984
00:52:28,267 --> 00:52:29,601
cutting the red tape.

985
00:52:29,601 --> 00:52:32,701
And he even came out with his own initiative, building

986
00:52:32,701 --> 00:52:34,567
infrastructure, and less paperwork.

987
00:52:34,567 --> 00:52:37,801
But he's moving on to bigger and better things,

988
00:52:37,801 --> 00:52:42,234
it looks like, but he's been a supporter of ours, and I'd like to give him a shout out.

989
00:52:42,234 --> 00:52:45,667
And, uh, thank him for his efforts to provide

990
00:52:45,667 --> 00:52:48,968
more flexibility between, uh, the South Florida water

991
00:52:48,968 --> 00:52:51,968
management district and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when he was

992
00:52:51,968 --> 00:52:55,000
serving as assistant secretary for civil work.

993
00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:56,200
So that's all I have.

994
00:52:56,200 --> 00:52:57,701
Thank you, Mr. Chair.

995
00:52:57,701 --> 00:52:58,601
Thank you, Colonel.

996
00:52:58,601 --> 00:53:00,601
Ms. Butler.

997
00:53:01,400 --> 00:53:03,100
Thank you, Mr. Chair.

998
00:53:03,100 --> 00:53:06,100
To begin with, I'll echo my other board member

999
00:53:06,100 --> 00:53:10,300
comments, congratulations, Mr. Bergeron, on your reappointment.

1000
00:53:10,601 --> 00:53:13,767
And, um, you know, glad to see you

1001
00:53:13,767 --> 00:53:16,834
were, yeah, you, you, you were new, you were back

1002
00:53:16,834 --> 00:53:19,834
on new guy status, and I would encourage you to, we need to

1003
00:53:19,834 --> 00:53:24,330
look at that little bird down there, and let's make sure to prioritize Blue Shanty.

1004
00:53:24,330 --> 00:53:27,000
So um, I would encourage you to

1005
00:53:27,000 --> 00:53:31,334
do that as a new board member there.

1006
00:53:31,334 --> 00:53:33,334
The, um, uh...

1007
00:53:36,901 --> 00:53:40,133
Um, you know, yesterday's event with um, governor

1008
00:53:40,133 --> 00:53:43,501
there, uh, C 23 Diversion Canal, Estuary Diversion Canal.

1009
00:53:43,501 --> 00:53:46,634
What that will do allow us to

1010
00:53:46,634 --> 00:53:49,634
fully utilize the C44 Reservoir.

1011
00:53:50,167 --> 00:53:53,434
And, um, you know, efficiencies being the word, that's efficiencies

1012
00:53:53,434 --> 00:53:56,934
and getting water moved, but it's also the, the, the, the

1013
00:53:56,934 --> 00:53:58,834
water quality, the protections of the estuary.

1014
00:53:58,834 --> 00:54:00,567
That's neat to see that on board.

1015
00:54:00,567 --> 00:54:03,767
As Mr. Hurley asked on the question, you know, certainly,

1016
00:54:03,767 --> 00:54:07,367
you know, I mean, those are discharges that are, they're meant to be discharges.

1017
00:54:07,367 --> 00:54:10,367
They're not, you know, I remember that was a big issue when we were

1018
00:54:10,367 --> 00:54:13,467
talking that canal was making sure we weren't robbing water from one

1019
00:54:13,467 --> 00:54:16,534
from one basin and sent it to another that could be used for water

1020
00:54:16,534 --> 00:54:19,901
supply purposes, but these are water going down there's

1021
00:54:19,901 --> 00:54:21,934
water that is otherwise be heading out.

1022
00:54:21,934 --> 00:54:24,670
So that's glad we finally got all that worked out.

1023
00:54:24,670 --> 00:54:27,868
And great, great, great project, and I don't know what's that.

1024
00:54:27,868 --> 00:54:29,367
that's in the 90s.

1025
00:54:29,367 --> 00:54:31,634
Um, yeah, I don't know if the goal is.

1026
00:54:31,634 --> 00:54:31,868
Yeah.

1027
00:54:31,868 --> 00:54:32,767
We'll see.

1028
00:54:32,767 --> 00:54:33,901
We see how the year winds up.

1029
00:54:33,901 --> 00:54:35,100
Yeah.

1030
00:54:35,100 --> 00:54:36,968
Yeah, yeah.

1031
00:54:36,968 --> 00:54:41,768
completions or milestones or ribbon cuttings or groundbreakings.

1032
00:54:43,534 --> 00:54:46,634
With that, also, Governor referenced it yesterday,

1033
00:54:46,634 --> 00:54:49,968
but, um, uh, and I missed the August board meeting.

1034
00:54:49,968 --> 00:54:53,334
But, um, you know, the announcement on uh,

1035
00:54:53,334 --> 00:54:56,934
phosphorus reductions in the EA, uh, at 65%

1036
00:54:56,934 --> 00:55:00,267
for this last year, um, uh, congratulations

1037
00:55:00,267 --> 00:55:02,267
and kudos to the farmers down there.

1038
00:55:02,267 --> 00:55:05,434
Again, that's above and beyond.

1039
00:55:05,434 --> 00:55:09,701
Those are doing things that, uh, doing BMPs that, uh,

1040
00:55:09,701 --> 00:55:11,567
they make a real difference.

1041
00:55:11,567 --> 00:55:14,534
And, um, and they, um, you

1042
00:55:14,534 --> 00:55:17,534
know, to go above and beyond a 25%, it takes

1043
00:55:17,534 --> 00:55:23,300
the pressure off the STAs and, um, Lord knows we need that.

1044
00:55:23,300 --> 00:55:26,434
With that being said, you know, I don't know if we've talked about

1045
00:55:26,434 --> 00:55:28,801
it, but just situational awarenesses.

1046
00:55:28,801 --> 00:55:31,801
Um, where citrus over the

1047
00:55:31,801 --> 00:55:35,434
years has gone through, um, gone through their deal with the Cillod,

1048
00:55:35,434 --> 00:55:37,200
and what it's done for citrus screening.

1049
00:55:37,200 --> 00:55:39,133
I hate to make that comparison.

1050
00:55:39,133 --> 00:55:42,968
I'm not making that comparison, but I'm sounding the alarms and I'm just making sure everybody's aware.

1051
00:55:42,968 --> 00:55:45,968
Um, when it comes to um, when

1052
00:55:45,968 --> 00:55:49,000
it comes to other farming aspects, crop growing, whether it be

1053
00:55:49,000 --> 00:55:52,133
grasses or sugar cane, or other crops,

1054
00:55:52,133 --> 00:55:55,234
the mealy bug is a pest that uh, that has

1055
00:55:55,234 --> 00:55:58,300
really taken on full force here in the last couple months has come kind

1056
00:55:58,300 --> 00:56:01,767
of out of nowhere, fun, one that we've never had to deal with before.

1057
00:56:01,767 --> 00:56:05,334
And it is causing some pretty major issues.

1058
00:56:05,334 --> 00:56:09,670
You know, it'd be interesting to see, um,

1059
00:56:09,670 --> 00:56:12,200
You know, It has popped up all of a sudden,

1060
00:56:12,200 --> 00:56:14,701
it's popped up and it's popped up all over the place.

1061
00:56:14,701 --> 00:56:18,330
Um, we're seeing some major reductions, major crop losses,

1062
00:56:18,330 --> 00:56:21,670
uh, when it comes to, uh, uh, you know,

1063
00:56:21,670 --> 00:56:24,670
when it comes to sugarcane, when it comes to grazing grasses.

1064
00:56:24,670 --> 00:56:27,567
Uh, likes to live in the thatch, really jumps

1065
00:56:27,567 --> 00:56:30,968
onto the Bahia grass, limpographs, and

1066
00:56:30,968 --> 00:56:34,801
um, and it's, uh, it is somewhat controllable.

1067
00:56:34,801 --> 00:56:38,330
But one of the Mother Nature's way of controlling

1068
00:56:38,330 --> 00:56:39,133
it is water.

1069
00:56:39,133 --> 00:56:42,167
And getting that water table up and preventing the

1070
00:56:42,167 --> 00:56:45,300
adult lava from going down and coming through this drought.

1071
00:56:45,300 --> 00:56:46,434
It has been a tough one.

1072
00:56:46,434 --> 00:56:49,667
And, um, so it's it's refreshing

1073
00:56:49,667 --> 00:56:50,934
to finally get some rainfall.

1074
00:56:50,934 --> 00:56:52,734
Hopefully that's going to help on controlling this bug.

1075
00:56:52,734 --> 00:56:55,968
It'll be interesting to see how it progresses into years to come.

1076
00:56:55,968 --> 00:56:59,267
But so keep an eye out for it because it, um,

1077
00:56:59,267 --> 00:57:02,267
you know, when it comes to agriculture when it comes to food production.

1078
00:57:02,267 --> 00:57:06,167
It's one that, um, you know, we need to keep an eye on.

1079
00:57:06,167 --> 00:57:09,767
Um, With that being said, um,

1080
00:57:10,968 --> 00:57:14,834
Uh, moving on today, uh, on my way down.

1081
00:57:14,834 --> 00:57:16,330
Canal Point.

1082
00:57:16,330 --> 00:57:19,330
DEP, they're um, solicitations

1083
00:57:19,400 --> 00:57:22,400
for in Lake Okeechobee Projects.

1084
00:57:22,434 --> 00:57:25,767
Um, that's going on this spring and this summer.

1085
00:57:25,767 --> 00:57:28,767
C and Shoreline, held a kind of a

1086
00:57:28,767 --> 00:57:31,801
kickoff event today this morning, 10 o'clock,

1087
00:57:31,801 --> 00:57:35,100
and stop by there for their innovative

1088
00:57:35,100 --> 00:57:37,500
technology on pumping, uh,

1089
00:57:38,601 --> 00:57:42,467
sediment out of Laker Kochobee, running it through a process through a polymer.

1090
00:57:42,467 --> 00:57:44,534
It's uh, you know, it's kind of neat.

1091
00:57:44,534 --> 00:57:48,000
They've got a cascading waterfall of muck.

1092
00:57:48,000 --> 00:57:51,000
And, um, and then putting the polymer in with it,

1093
00:57:51,000 --> 00:57:54,330
and, and kind of getting that sediment to settle

1094
00:57:54,330 --> 00:57:55,901
out, putting in these big old bags.

1095
00:57:55,901 --> 00:57:59,100
They got a football field worth of... filter bags

1096
00:57:59,100 --> 00:58:02,334
that they pump this into and they sequester

1097
00:58:02,334 --> 00:58:05,501
that sediment in those filter bags, and then the

1098
00:58:05,501 --> 00:58:07,601
clear water moves its way on out.

1099
00:58:07,601 --> 00:58:10,601
Um, Again, today was really

1100
00:58:10,601 --> 00:58:12,334
the 1st official day of pumping there.

1101
00:58:12,334 --> 00:58:15,434
But they had done kind of some experiment, you know,

1102
00:58:15,434 --> 00:58:19,234
leading up to it here, and I think they pumped, they said, for 300 and something minutes.

1103
00:58:19,234 --> 00:58:20,434
I'd call it 5 hours.

1104
00:58:20,434 --> 00:58:23,901
And in 5 hours, they pulled out, uh,

1105
00:58:23,901 --> 00:58:25,901
£260 of phosphorus and

1106
00:58:27,670 --> 00:58:29,670
£1,200, 12 or £1,300 of nitrogen.

1107
00:58:30,968 --> 00:58:34,267
So, you know, and this is a pay for performance contract.

1108
00:58:34,267 --> 00:58:35,534
It's exciting to see.

1109
00:58:35,534 --> 00:58:38,834
Well, all these projects happen in Lake Okechobee.

1110
00:58:38,834 --> 00:58:41,868
Um, you know, I wish them the best of

1111
00:58:41,868 --> 00:58:45,000
luck, and I encourage you to check out, uh, check out

1112
00:58:45,000 --> 00:58:46,901
this, uh, you know, seeing Shoreline.

1113
00:58:46,901 --> 00:58:49,501
And of course, these other projects that are happening in Lake Okechobee.

1114
00:58:49,501 --> 00:58:52,601
Um, yeah, they're working on the east side of the lake, kind of where

1115
00:58:52,601 --> 00:58:55,667
that deeper area where all the sediment begins to pile

1116
00:58:55,667 --> 00:58:58,901
up at, and um, and then they're able to take that sediment

1117
00:58:58,901 --> 00:59:02,330
out of the filter bags after they pull it out, and they're

1118
00:59:02,330 --> 00:59:04,834
going to truck it to a neighboring farm.

1119
00:59:04,834 --> 00:59:07,901
Um, and it will be used as a soil amendment, uh,

1120
00:59:07,901 --> 00:59:10,901
much like um, other innovative projects like the agriculture

1121
00:59:10,901 --> 00:59:12,634
project where it actually pumps it directly.

1122
00:59:12,634 --> 00:59:15,734
This will be trucked to the farm and used

1123
00:59:15,734 --> 00:59:17,834
and recycle those nutrients.

1124
00:59:17,834 --> 00:59:20,901
Um, and they've kind of got, uh, got some things set up so you're

1125
00:59:20,901 --> 00:59:24,868
not seeing the the metals or other undesirables in this muck.

1126
00:59:24,868 --> 00:59:27,467
So it's it's exciting to see.

1127
00:59:27,467 --> 00:59:30,501
But I want to tell them congratulations on a great project and wish

1128
00:59:30,501 --> 00:59:32,367
them the best of luck.

1129
00:59:32,367 --> 00:59:34,467
That's my report for today.

1130
00:59:34,467 --> 00:59:35,701
Thanks, Mr. Butler.

1131
00:59:35,701 --> 00:59:37,701
Mr. Hurley.

1132
00:59:39,300 --> 00:59:43,634
Just like to just like to echo everybody's comments on yesterday's event.

1133
00:59:43,634 --> 00:59:46,901
You know, it's pretty neat to see how,

1134
00:59:46,901 --> 00:59:49,901
what, a 7 or 8 mile canal can

1135
00:59:49,901 --> 00:59:52,901
leverage so much existing and feature infrastructure to give us

1136
00:59:52,901 --> 00:59:55,367
a lot more flexibility and capacity.

1137
00:59:55,367 --> 00:59:56,434
So that was really, really cool.

1138
00:59:56,434 --> 00:59:58,634
We used to farm along C23.

1139
00:59:58,634 --> 01:00:02,567
So I'm really aware of how it kind of it's

1140
01:00:02,567 --> 01:00:04,670
feast or famine, it always seems like.

1141
01:00:04,670 --> 01:00:07,234
And when it's feast too much water, then obviously our

1142
01:00:07,234 --> 01:00:09,767
friends at the estuary pay for it.

1143
01:00:09,767 --> 01:00:13,167
So, really glad to, and the graphics

1144
01:00:13,167 --> 01:00:19,167
you showed, Drew, of how much water has been diverted, that's amazing.

1145
01:00:19,167 --> 01:00:20,133
I mean, it really is.

1146
01:00:20,133 --> 01:00:23,400
Because it's been pretty wet here on the east coast.

1147
01:00:23,400 --> 01:00:26,400
So that's really exciting.

1148
01:00:26,567 --> 01:00:30,367
Um, you know, to the staff that puts on those ribbon cuttings.

1149
01:00:30,367 --> 01:00:33,534
I know it's, takes a lot of work, and they did an exceptional

1150
01:00:33,534 --> 01:00:34,701
job, and it was a great event.

1151
01:00:34,701 --> 01:00:37,801
So I'm a very appreciative of them.

1152
01:00:37,801 --> 01:00:41,200
Um, that's all I have.

1153
01:00:41,200 --> 01:00:43,200
Thanks, Mr. Bergeron.

1154
01:00:46,434 --> 01:00:47,501
Can you hear me?

1155
01:00:47,501 --> 01:00:48,734
We can.

1156
01:00:48,734 --> 01:00:50,567
Okay.

1157
01:00:50,567 --> 01:00:53,868
Well, first of all, uh, I

1158
01:00:53,868 --> 01:00:57,334
just want to say, I said every uh, board meeting,

1159
01:00:57,334 --> 01:01:01,534
it's an honor to sit with my fellow board members and

1160
01:01:01,534 --> 01:01:04,534
and our staff, uh, a

1161
01:01:05,330 --> 01:01:08,901
very big honor, and I do want to thank the governor for my

1162
01:01:08,901 --> 01:01:10,100
reappointment.

1163
01:01:10,100 --> 01:01:13,267
I look forward to the next 4 years.

1164
01:01:13,267 --> 01:01:16,867
Um, In the next 4 years, For

1165
01:01:17,734 --> 01:01:20,134
the 1st time since 1915,

1166
01:01:21,701 --> 01:01:25,901
down at the Tamamee Trail, completed in 1928.

1167
01:01:26,200 --> 01:01:29,200
Uh, we could accomplish the

1168
01:01:29,534 --> 01:01:33,367
natural flow of water to Florida Bay, 2.5

1169
01:01:33,367 --> 01:01:36,434
to 30000 acre feet of water unrestricted

1170
01:01:36,434 --> 01:01:39,434
with no cumulative backups, uh,

1171
01:01:39,734 --> 01:01:42,734
natural flow by gravity, ridge, and flow.

1172
01:01:42,734 --> 01:01:44,934
It's going to be very exciting.

1173
01:01:44,934 --> 01:01:48,467
I want to thank our staff and grew that

1174
01:01:48,467 --> 01:01:51,667
meet once a month, with our federal

1175
01:01:51,667 --> 01:01:55,267
partners, to make sure that everything

1176
01:01:55,534 --> 01:01:58,901
necessary for that water to flow under the bridges,

1177
01:01:58,901 --> 01:02:03,868
under the road that will be completed very shortly in the next few months.

1178
01:02:03,868 --> 01:02:06,934
Uh, That'll be a great day for the Everglades and

1179
01:02:06,934 --> 01:02:10,100
the greatest benefit uh, to projects that

1180
01:02:10,100 --> 01:02:13,100
we started uh, 26 years ago.

1181
01:02:13,534 --> 01:02:16,601
So it's very exciting times.

1182
01:02:16,601 --> 01:02:20,734
Uh, I was at the ribbon cut in.

1183
01:02:20,734 --> 01:02:25,100
It was a great honor to be there on the C 23,

1184
01:02:25,100 --> 01:02:28,100
um, celebrating the completion of the C

1185
01:02:28,100 --> 01:02:31,100
23 and uh, canal estuary discharge

1186
01:02:31,567 --> 01:02:33,567
diversion project.

1187
01:02:33,734 --> 01:02:36,667
Reducing harmful discharges to the St.

1188
01:02:36,667 --> 01:02:39,670
Lucie estuaries, uh, a

1189
01:02:40,734 --> 01:02:43,734
great project, uh, stormwater treatment.

1190
01:02:46,670 --> 01:02:49,267
This will help out our estuaries

1191
01:02:49,267 --> 01:02:51,667
in that geographical area.

1192
01:02:52,267 --> 01:02:55,300
Um, I do want to thank our staff that's been

1193
01:02:55,300 --> 01:02:58,667
working very hard with the models to make sure in

1194
01:02:58,667 --> 01:03:02,267
the Western Everglades that we uh,

1195
01:03:03,670 --> 01:03:07,200
protect the natural environment of the tribal lands,

1196
01:03:07,200 --> 01:03:10,367
the natural environment of the big cyclist preserve and

1197
01:03:10,367 --> 01:03:13,834
the natural environment of private property owners.

1198
01:03:13,834 --> 01:03:16,834
Uh, extremely important, and I

1199
01:03:17,501 --> 01:03:21,701
want to thank Ben Olsen, uh, what

1200
01:03:21,801 --> 01:03:25,100
that young man is, is the future in regards

1201
01:03:25,100 --> 01:03:28,767
to his hard work working with our staff, uh,

1202
01:03:28,767 --> 01:03:32,100
on making sure at the end of the day, uh,

1203
01:03:32,100 --> 01:03:35,634
that we're truly restoring the Western Everglades.

1204
01:03:35,634 --> 01:03:37,634
Um, I do.

1205
01:03:40,701 --> 01:03:43,968
Want to say that Florida can be the example to

1206
01:03:43,968 --> 01:03:47,334
the rest of the world that we can have

1207
01:03:47,334 --> 01:03:50,334
jobs and economical growth, plan

1208
01:03:50,400 --> 01:03:53,400
growth, and we can have

1209
01:03:54,334 --> 01:03:57,701
a quality of life for future generations.

1210
01:03:57,701 --> 01:04:00,634
Uh, you've heard me say this before.

1211
01:04:00,634 --> 01:04:02,734
We can send someone to the moon in a rocket ship.

1212
01:04:02,734 --> 01:04:06,267
We should be able to save our planet, and

1213
01:04:06,267 --> 01:04:10,868
I can't tell you how honored I am to be apart,

1214
01:04:10,868 --> 01:04:14,367
uh, with my fellow board members to achieve that for

1215
01:04:14,367 --> 01:04:16,934
all our citizens in Florida.

1216
01:04:16,934 --> 01:04:20,167
And I think, That's about all,

1217
01:04:20,167 --> 01:04:23,300
and I just want to say I'm

1218
01:04:23,300 --> 01:04:26,367
looking forward to serving the next 4 years, and I want

1219
01:04:26,367 --> 01:04:30,868
to thank all our stakeholders that are always there.

1220
01:04:30,868 --> 01:04:34,100
We've got the greatest stakeholders

1221
01:04:34,100 --> 01:04:37,901
in the world to make sure we're accomplished all this.

1222
01:04:37,901 --> 01:04:42,200
So thank you very much, uh, Mr. Cheryl.

1223
01:04:42,200 --> 01:04:43,501
Thank you, Mr. Bergeron.

1224
01:04:43,501 --> 01:04:45,501
Mr. Martinez.

1225
01:04:46,934 --> 01:04:48,300
Thank you, Mr. Chair.

1226
01:04:48,300 --> 01:04:52,934
Very quickly, uh, again, uh, congrats to Ron.

1227
01:04:52,934 --> 01:04:56,133
Um, looking forward to uh, working

1228
01:04:56,133 --> 01:05:00,434
with you for the next 4 years, continuing our work,

1229
01:05:00,434 --> 01:05:03,334
and to my colleague, Mr. Spotswood.

1230
01:05:03,334 --> 01:05:06,467
You know, Robert, I'm not sure how old you are, or should I say how

1231
01:05:06,467 --> 01:05:09,968
young you are, but as a grandfather of three,

1232
01:05:09,968 --> 01:05:13,300
My friend, little kids are a young man's game, so,

1233
01:05:13,300 --> 01:05:16,767
uh, I hope you got your game, um,

1234
01:05:16,767 --> 01:05:19,467
your game up to date.

1235
01:05:19,467 --> 01:05:21,670
I could only imagine what that must be like.

1236
01:05:21,670 --> 01:05:23,467
But congratulations, my friend.

1237
01:05:23,801 --> 01:05:26,834
Um, and Mr. Butler, I know

1238
01:05:26,834 --> 01:05:31,701
about the Millie Bug, I deal with it in my backyard all the time.

1239
01:05:31,701 --> 01:05:34,734
Um, so, uh, I hope, uh, I

1240
01:05:34,734 --> 01:05:37,701
hope we can get that under control.

1241
01:05:37,701 --> 01:05:39,670
Nothing else, Mr. Chairman.

1242
01:05:39,670 --> 01:05:41,670
Thanks, Mr. Martinez.

1243
01:05:41,534 --> 01:05:43,133
Mr. Spotsman.

1244
01:05:43,133 --> 01:05:46,133
Um, yeah, actually, I meant to bring up the mealy bug,

1245
01:05:46,133 --> 01:05:47,501
and Ben, thanks for doing so.

1246
01:05:47,501 --> 01:05:50,100
Drew, I wasn't sure if we had any...

1247
01:05:50,100 --> 01:05:51,400
I grew up in Key West.

1248
01:05:51,400 --> 01:05:52,267
We dont got a lot of grass.

1249
01:05:52,267 --> 01:05:55,234
Um, so grazing grass, but I asked about the grasses

1250
01:05:55,234 --> 01:05:58,534
that are around our embankments and levees, and, you know, what kind of potential

1251
01:05:58,534 --> 01:06:02,330
impacts might we at the district see as a result of the mealy bug, if any.

1252
01:06:02,330 --> 01:06:08,767
I was just curious if we had any updates in that regard.

1253
01:06:08,767 --> 01:06:12,501
So we are seeing, um, in the Kalusahachie

1254
01:06:12,501 --> 01:06:15,701
basin, the mealy bug is impacting some of our projects.

1255
01:06:15,701 --> 01:06:17,701
Um, We,

1256
01:06:18,701 --> 01:06:22,330
uh, the land management team is looking at, you

1257
01:06:22,330 --> 01:06:25,234
know, it's more increased mowing right now that

1258
01:06:25,234 --> 01:06:28,567
would support, uh, reducing the mealy bug,

1259
01:06:28,567 --> 01:06:30,670
um, spreading of that.

1260
01:06:30,670 --> 01:06:34,100
So, mowing more often, helps to reduce that.

1261
01:06:34,100 --> 01:06:35,901
And that's all we have at this time.

1262
01:06:35,901 --> 01:06:42,868
We don't have any additional amendments or anything that we can do.

1263
01:06:42,868 --> 01:06:44,234
Thanks for that question.

1264
01:06:44,234 --> 01:06:47,334
At the risk of sounding somewhat redundant, I'd like to

1265
01:06:47,334 --> 01:06:50,467
thank the governor very much for hosting yesterday's

1266
01:06:50,467 --> 01:06:52,367
event in Martin County.

1267
01:06:52,367 --> 01:06:55,501
It was wonderful to see him, and the amount of support he

1268
01:06:55,501 --> 01:06:57,834
gives this organization is incredible.

1269
01:06:57,834 --> 01:07:01,834
And that support comes from his time, and his

1270
01:07:01,834 --> 01:07:04,968
attention, and also his appointments, and I'm thrilled

1271
01:07:04,968 --> 01:07:07,300
that Ron Bergeron has been reappointed.

1272
01:07:07,300 --> 01:07:10,300
He's been a great board member in my estimation, and

1273
01:07:10,300 --> 01:07:12,334
I share with you, Mr. Steinley.

1274
01:07:12,334 --> 01:07:15,400
I've learned a lot from Alligator Ron, and I thank

1275
01:07:15,400 --> 01:07:19,934
Alligator Ron for sharing his wisdom with us.

1276
01:07:19,934 --> 01:07:22,167
One thing that's a little bit sad for me.

1277
01:07:22,167 --> 01:07:25,167
I don't think anyone's mentioned this yet, is that we lost or not

1278
01:07:25,167 --> 01:07:28,167
lost, but we had a really good employee retire recently,

1279
01:07:28,167 --> 01:07:31,501
and that's Phil Flood, who works on the West Coast.

1280
01:07:31,501 --> 01:07:34,133
I don't know, some of you over there here may not know him well.

1281
01:07:34,133 --> 01:07:37,133
I know him very well, and everyone on the West Coast knows them very well,

1282
01:07:37,133 --> 01:07:38,934
because he's an institution.

1283
01:07:38,934 --> 01:07:42,670
Not only is, yeah, the perfect last name for his job, but

1284
01:07:42,670 --> 01:07:45,670
he was a very, very good employee for the district.

1285
01:07:45,670 --> 01:07:48,670
Um, and had been there for decades, and

1286
01:07:48,670 --> 01:07:51,234
always represented the district well, was

1287
01:07:51,234 --> 01:07:54,234
a, always remembered that the public,

1288
01:07:54,234 --> 01:07:58,901
that this is a public agency, and, um, help people out.

1289
01:07:58,901 --> 01:08:03,701
And I know the county commissions over on that coast, and the

1290
01:08:03,701 --> 01:08:06,701
councilmen and all the elected officials really relied

1291
01:08:06,701 --> 01:08:09,701
on him to get answers from the district, and we're going to miss

1292
01:08:09,701 --> 01:08:13,601
him, and I wish him only the best in his retirement.

1293
01:08:13,601 --> 01:08:16,834
I'd also like to congratulate acting secretary, Tell,

1294
01:08:16,834 --> 01:08:20,133
on his recent nomination or appointment, I guess.

1295
01:08:20,133 --> 01:08:23,434
By the President, he's definitely a person who likes to get things done.

1296
01:08:23,434 --> 01:08:25,701
I think the Army's gonna get some more done.

1297
01:08:25,701 --> 01:08:29,000
Now, I hope we can continue to work with him in his new capacity and

1298
01:08:29,000 --> 01:08:32,467
look forward to working with his replacement, when

1299
01:08:32,467 --> 01:08:34,267
they are appointed.

1300
01:08:34,267 --> 01:08:36,300
And that's all I have.

1301
01:08:36,300 --> 01:08:38,000
We will move now to consent.

1302
01:08:38,000 --> 01:08:43,100
Is there any board member who wants to move an item of consent to discussion?

1303
01:08:43,100 --> 01:08:46,501
If not, is there any public comment on consent?

1304
01:08:46,501 --> 01:08:47,701
Yes, Mr. Chairman?

1305
01:08:47,701 --> 01:08:51,301
We have one from Mark Perry.

1306
01:08:58,100 --> 01:08:59,100
Hi, Governing Ward.

1307
01:08:59,100 --> 01:09:01,534
Thank you again, Mark Perry, Florida Oceanographic.

1308
01:09:01,534 --> 01:09:03,534
One on item 17.

1309
01:09:03,767 --> 01:09:06,934
Basically, it's a C 23, 24, uh,

1310
01:09:06,934 --> 01:09:09,934
South Reservoir phase one, the 4.5

1311
01:09:09,934 --> 01:09:13,670
mile canal that you're replacing that there's

1312
01:09:13,670 --> 01:09:16,601
one culvert you're replacing, and I brought with me this map that

1313
01:09:16,601 --> 01:09:19,634
actually is a district map that I got back in

1314
01:09:19,634 --> 01:09:21,567
1998 from Tommy Stroud.

1315
01:09:21,567 --> 01:09:24,200
And that overlays the St.

1316
01:09:24,200 --> 01:09:27,300
Lucie River basin with a soberlay,

1317
01:09:27,300 --> 01:09:30,667
and you see the shaded areas for the Alpata, Cypress Creek,

1318
01:09:30,667 --> 01:09:33,901
and Palmar, those natural areas, and then the reservoirs in black.

1319
01:09:33,901 --> 01:09:36,133
Not quite the right configuration for South.

1320
01:09:36,133 --> 01:09:39,200
Let me flip this over way over.

1321
01:09:39,200 --> 01:09:41,167
I want to thank you, Jen, for holding that.

1322
01:09:41,167 --> 01:09:43,634
The van of white here, so...

1323
01:09:43,634 --> 01:09:46,667
But I want you to notice that here C 23, C

1324
01:09:46,667 --> 01:09:49,667
24, and it hooks up to C 25, and all

1325
01:09:49,667 --> 01:09:52,501
these little red dots that you see there are PCs.

1326
01:09:52,501 --> 01:09:54,167
And they ask Tommy, what are those?

1327
01:09:54,167 --> 01:09:55,501
They're project coverts.

1328
01:09:55,501 --> 01:09:58,901
And all those little project coverts enter into works

1329
01:09:58,901 --> 01:10:02,267
of the district, C 23, C 24, and C 25,

1330
01:10:02,267 --> 01:10:04,234
draining all these areas into that.

1331
01:10:04,234 --> 01:10:07,400
If you look real close at this map, you'll see all these little blue

1332
01:10:07,400 --> 01:10:11,133
lines, little tiny blue lines, which are laterals,

1333
01:10:11,133 --> 01:10:14,501
and those laterals are all the little ditches that

1334
01:10:14,501 --> 01:10:17,901
are on all the farmlands, all the lands in here that actually drain

1335
01:10:17,901 --> 01:10:21,167
into those project coverts that drain into that.

1336
01:10:21,167 --> 01:10:24,200
Reason I point this out, is that kind of one you're replacing right

1337
01:10:24,200 --> 01:10:27,667
over in here, is an example of those kind of project

1338
01:10:27,667 --> 01:10:30,734
culverts that are put in, these canals

1339
01:10:30,734 --> 01:10:33,734
built back in 1949 to 1962, were

1340
01:10:34,267 --> 01:10:37,634
built primarily to drain that area, and primarily

1341
01:10:37,634 --> 01:10:40,968
for the agricultural interest there to have that land use.

1342
01:10:40,968 --> 01:10:41,534
And that's great.

1343
01:10:41,534 --> 01:10:44,868
But we end up with this drainage all coming into works

1344
01:10:44,868 --> 01:10:47,934
of the district, and now we're having to make sure we store

1345
01:10:47,934 --> 01:10:51,000
it, treat it, before it goes out either through the

1346
01:10:51,000 --> 01:10:52,300
Connect Canal, to the St.

1347
01:10:52,300 --> 01:10:54,400
Lucie, Southwark, or the St.

1348
01:10:54,400 --> 01:10:55,434
Lucie Northwark.

1349
01:10:55,434 --> 01:10:59,400
So I just want you to be aware that there's a lot of infrastructure

1350
01:10:59,400 --> 01:11:00,634
that's already in place.

1351
01:11:00,634 --> 01:11:04,467
But these 298 districts that you see here are

1352
01:11:04,467 --> 01:11:05,968
phasing out pretty much.

1353
01:11:05,968 --> 01:11:08,968
We've kind of taken over the one Troop Indian town with

1354
01:11:08,968 --> 01:11:12,167
the C44 project, and a lot of the North St.

1355
01:11:12,167 --> 01:11:12,634
Lucie.

1356
01:11:12,634 --> 01:11:14,901
We kind of try to work with those 298 districts.

1357
01:11:14,901 --> 01:11:17,834
They were embedded many years ago in the legislature.

1358
01:11:17,834 --> 01:11:21,200
So, uh, just I appreciate you being aware of them.

1359
01:11:21,200 --> 01:11:25,100
We're all in favor of moving ahead, of course, with the South

1360
01:11:25,100 --> 01:11:26,667
Reservoir project.

1361
01:11:26,667 --> 01:11:30,000
It's longer term on the integrade delivery schedule.

1362
01:11:30,000 --> 01:11:31,330
We know that.

1363
01:11:31,330 --> 01:11:32,901
It's going to take a long time to get that done.

1364
01:11:32,901 --> 01:11:36,133
But again, that connect canal does help in

1365
01:11:36,133 --> 01:11:39,901
the interim before we get the C4 C 2324.

1366
01:11:39,901 --> 01:11:42,901
It helps to move that water from those canals out to

1367
01:11:42,901 --> 01:11:45,567
the C 44, which is operational, right?

1368
01:11:45,567 --> 01:11:46,868
So we're good for that.

1369
01:11:46,868 --> 01:11:47,968
Thanks.

1370
01:11:47,968 --> 01:11:49,133
Thank you, Dan, away.

1371
01:11:49,133 --> 01:11:50,167
Appreciate it.

1372
01:11:50,167 --> 01:11:51,234
Banner Reynolds.

1373
01:11:51,234 --> 01:11:52,267
you.

1374
01:11:52,267 --> 01:11:52,501
Thanks.

1375
01:11:52,501 --> 01:11:53,567
Thank you, Mr. Perry.

1376
01:11:53,567 --> 01:11:58,300
Mr. Chairman, we have no additional public comments on concern.

1377
01:11:58,300 --> 01:11:58,667
Great.

1378
01:11:58,667 --> 01:11:59,934
Uh, thanks for that comment.

1379
01:11:59,934 --> 01:12:00,567
I appreciate it.

1380
01:12:00,567 --> 01:12:02,334
Um, let's see.

1381
01:12:02,334 --> 01:12:05,667
Can I have a motion to second and approve and

1382
01:12:05,667 --> 01:12:07,000
a second to approve, uh, consent?

1383
01:12:07,000 --> 01:12:07,968
So moved.

1384
01:12:07,968 --> 01:12:08,968
I have a motion.

1385
01:12:08,968 --> 01:12:09,467
Okay.

1386
01:12:09,467 --> 01:12:10,300
I have a motion in a second.

1387
01:12:10,300 --> 01:12:12,000
Is there further discussion?

1388
01:12:12,000 --> 01:12:15,100
Hearing none, I'll call the question, Mr. Spotswit?

1389
01:12:15,100 --> 01:12:15,334
Yes.

1390
01:12:15,334 --> 01:12:16,467
Mr. Steinley?

1391
01:12:16,467 --> 01:12:16,934
Yes.

1392
01:12:16,934 --> 01:12:17,667
I'm gonna vote.

1393
01:12:17,667 --> 01:12:18,434
Yes, Colonel Roman?

1394
01:12:18,434 --> 01:12:18,634
Yes.

1395
01:12:18,634 --> 01:12:18,934
Yes.

1396
01:12:18,934 --> 01:12:19,601
Mr. Butler?

1397
01:12:19,601 --> 01:12:20,601
Mr. Hurley?

1398
01:12:20,601 --> 01:12:21,334
Yes.

1399
01:12:21,334 --> 01:12:23,234
And Mr. Bergeron?

1400
01:12:23,234 --> 01:12:23,734
Yes.

1401
01:12:23,734 --> 01:12:25,834
Thank you, Mr. Martinez.

1402
01:12:25,834 --> 01:12:26,534
Yes.

1403
01:12:26,534 --> 01:12:27,670
Thanks.

1404
01:12:27,670 --> 01:12:29,670
That passes unanimously.

1405
01:12:30,968 --> 01:12:35,667
We'll move now to technical reports, which is...

1406
01:12:35,667 --> 01:12:40,934
item 22, and that's Mr. Middick and Dr. Armstrong.

1407
01:12:40,934 --> 01:12:42,467
All right, thank you, Mr. Chair.

1408
01:12:42,467 --> 01:12:45,968
So we'll start where we always do, talking about the rainfall.

1409
01:12:45,968 --> 01:12:49,667
You can see over the last couple months, we've had some below average rainfall.

1410
01:12:49,667 --> 01:12:52,901
We've talked a lot about that in the past, so

1411
01:12:52,901 --> 01:12:56,200
far, the month of September is off to a pretty decent start.

1412
01:12:56,200 --> 01:12:59,267
And as we get later on in the

1413
01:12:59,267 --> 01:13:04,634
presentation, I'll talk a lot more about what the future may or may not hold.

1414
01:13:04,634 --> 01:13:07,667
But overall, for the wet season to date,

1415
01:13:07,667 --> 01:13:10,767
you can see we're still about three inches, three

1416
01:13:10,767 --> 01:13:15,434
and a half inches below normal, or about 88% of normal.

1417
01:13:15,434 --> 01:13:18,868
With the southern part of the system being

1418
01:13:18,868 --> 01:13:21,268
the driest down there.

1419
01:13:22,334 --> 01:13:24,330
Looking at the upper chain of lakes.

1420
01:13:24,330 --> 01:13:27,000
You can see since the last time we met, East Lake

1421
01:13:27,000 --> 01:13:30,434
and both West Lake have reached or gone above their

1422
01:13:30,434 --> 01:13:31,801
regulation schedules.

1423
01:13:31,801 --> 01:13:34,934
For Eastlake, we've started managing that lake to

1424
01:13:34,934 --> 01:13:38,100
achieve that slow rise up to its winter pool up

1425
01:13:38,100 --> 01:13:42,667
here so it'll continue to rise up with these rains that you see here at the top.

1426
01:13:42,667 --> 01:13:45,734
For Westlake, we have increased some of the flows

1427
01:13:45,734 --> 01:13:49,133
out of Westlake, down into Lake Kissimmee.

1428
01:13:49,133 --> 01:13:52,567
So what we're doing there is we got it leveled,

1429
01:13:52,567 --> 01:13:54,167
but we're gonna keep it.

1430
01:13:54,167 --> 01:13:57,167
run parallel just slightly above the

1431
01:13:57,167 --> 01:14:00,234
regulation schedule as we continue to rise again up to

1432
01:14:00,234 --> 01:14:04,670
its winter pool with hopefully the rainfall

1433
01:14:04,670 --> 01:14:06,000
here out into the future.

1434
01:14:06,000 --> 01:14:09,100
For Kissimmee, very different from where we were last month

1435
01:14:09,100 --> 01:14:10,167
when we were here.

1436
01:14:10,167 --> 01:14:13,934
You can see it started accumulating not only this direct rainfall,

1437
01:14:13,934 --> 01:14:17,670
but some of those flows coming down from Westlake into

1438
01:14:17,670 --> 01:14:20,834
Kissimmee, Cypress Hashin, and all group, but

1439
01:14:20,834 --> 01:14:24,133
it'll continue to rise up through that schedule, and we'll start increasing

1440
01:14:24,133 --> 01:14:27,200
flows down the river as we start moving

1441
01:14:27,200 --> 01:14:33,200
across into those different zones of the increment one schedule.

1442
01:14:34,100 --> 01:14:37,567
So, even though we had some rainfall, and

1443
01:14:37,567 --> 01:14:39,000
the lakes are starting to fill up.

1444
01:14:39,000 --> 01:14:41,267
The floodplain is still fairly dry.

1445
01:14:41,267 --> 01:14:44,534
Most of the water that's on the floodplain now

1446
01:14:44,534 --> 01:14:46,330
is rainfall driven.

1447
01:14:46,330 --> 01:14:49,000
There's only 140 CFS coming

1448
01:14:49,000 --> 01:14:50,701
through S 65A.

1449
01:14:50,701 --> 01:14:54,330
We were waiting for those stages

1450
01:14:54,330 --> 01:14:57,100
in Kissimmee to get up to the point where we will start

1451
01:14:57,100 --> 01:14:58,901
discharging in order to increase.

1452
01:14:58,901 --> 01:15:01,968
The mean depth on the floodplain remains the

1453
01:15:01,968 --> 01:15:04,367
same at a third of a foot.

1454
01:15:04,367 --> 01:15:07,467
And you can see that is quite a difference from what we

1455
01:15:07,467 --> 01:15:10,667
experienced last year with all the blues that

1456
01:15:10,667 --> 01:15:11,968
are across the floodplain.

1457
01:15:11,968 --> 01:15:14,968
So, or just, uh, waiting

1458
01:15:14,968 --> 01:15:16,968
for the rains.

1459
01:15:17,501 --> 01:15:20,767
And what we can see in the supper graph

1460
01:15:20,767 --> 01:15:22,934
is the flows that we have been going through.

1461
01:15:22,934 --> 01:15:26,701
It's been pretty low for most

1462
01:15:26,701 --> 01:15:30,200
of the summer, you see, there's a little tiny uptick at the very end.

1463
01:15:30,200 --> 01:15:33,200
We're now at an 7 day

1464
01:15:33,200 --> 01:15:35,200
average of 240 CFS.

1465
01:15:36,234 --> 01:15:39,734
And that's reflective of the rains that have been in the watershed.

1466
01:15:39,734 --> 01:15:42,767
One thing that I would like to point out is even though

1467
01:15:42,767 --> 01:15:45,901
the DO concentrations are still in

1468
01:15:45,901 --> 01:15:48,767
the good range for aquatic fauna.

1469
01:15:48,767 --> 01:15:51,901
What you are seeing is over the summer,

1470
01:15:51,901 --> 01:15:53,868
we have started to decline.

1471
01:15:53,868 --> 01:15:57,934
And this is primarily due to increase in temperature.

1472
01:15:57,934 --> 01:16:01,534
And it's also due to potentially some stagnation,

1473
01:16:01,534 --> 01:16:03,701
since we've had such low flow for so long.

1474
01:16:03,701 --> 01:16:06,701
So we're keeping a close eye on it, especially

1475
01:16:06,701 --> 01:16:10,400
as the flow into the river starts to uptick.

1476
01:16:10,400 --> 01:16:13,534
We are expecting further decline in DO

1477
01:16:13,534 --> 01:16:17,200
as the nutrients start to load into the river.

1478
01:16:17,200 --> 01:16:22,667
So we're keeping an eye on that as it comes down.

1479
01:16:22,667 --> 01:16:26,534
So looking at how water's moved around the northern portion of the system, um,

1480
01:16:26,534 --> 01:16:29,701
you can see so far, the total inflows, this water year

1481
01:16:29,701 --> 01:16:32,767
is 192,000, with the majority of it being within the

1482
01:16:32,767 --> 01:16:35,834
last month, with some of those rains, um, that have

1483
01:16:35,834 --> 01:16:37,868
started building on the east coast.

1484
01:16:37,868 --> 01:16:41,100
There's been just shy of 63,000 acre feet,

1485
01:16:41,100 --> 01:16:44,634
has moved back into Lake Okechobee from the C 44 Basin.

1486
01:16:44,634 --> 01:16:47,634
Think someone referenced it earlier in the comments.

1487
01:16:47,634 --> 01:16:50,767
It's not only that water that has been down the

1488
01:16:50,767 --> 01:16:53,267
new infrastructure that you just celebrated yesterday.

1489
01:16:53,267 --> 01:16:56,267
But also that direct rainfall over

1490
01:16:56,267 --> 01:16:57,334
the basin itself.

1491
01:16:57,334 --> 01:17:01,534
So we just recently switched operations around for the reservoir.

1492
01:17:01,534 --> 01:17:04,767
We've got sufficient water in the reservoir at this time, so

1493
01:17:04,767 --> 01:17:07,767
now we're allowing a little bit more of that proportional flow to

1494
01:17:07,767 --> 01:17:10,901
flow back to Lake Okechobee, given the levels of the lake.

1495
01:17:10,901 --> 01:17:14,234
But all of that means there hasn't been any discharges either, basin

1496
01:17:14,234 --> 01:17:17,300
or lake water, from the C44 canal to

1497
01:17:17,300 --> 01:17:20,767
the estuary, and only slight amounts of water,

1498
01:17:20,767 --> 01:17:23,767
less than 20,000, less than 30,000 acre

1499
01:17:24,670 --> 01:17:27,267
feet, coming out of the upper East Coast basins.

1500
01:17:27,267 --> 01:17:30,267
Over on the west coast, just a

1501
01:17:30,267 --> 01:17:33,501
little shy of 200,000 acre feet, and total have

1502
01:17:33,501 --> 01:17:37,200
been moved to the Clusahachie estuary, about 25,000

1503
01:17:37,200 --> 01:17:42,734
acre feet of that, having originated back in Lake Okechobee.

1504
01:17:42,734 --> 01:17:46,267
So I'm going to show you the next 2 graphics, like always, but really later

1505
01:17:46,267 --> 01:17:49,567
on in the presentation, I'll have a little bit more discussion about

1506
01:17:49,567 --> 01:17:52,801
forecasts on the lake and some other things given

1507
01:17:52,801 --> 01:17:55,133
the El Nino that we've talked about in the past.

1508
01:17:55,133 --> 01:17:58,734
But real quick, this is the usual projections

1509
01:17:58,734 --> 01:18:01,734
that you see every month, it's this dotted red

1510
01:18:01,734 --> 01:18:04,767
lines or all of the dotted lines, actually, that

1511
01:18:04,767 --> 01:18:06,868
are the climate and form scenarios.

1512
01:18:06,868 --> 01:18:09,934
So you can see sort of that bump that occurs as

1513
01:18:09,934 --> 01:18:13,834
we get out into the dry season, we start talking about that El Nino.

1514
01:18:13,834 --> 01:18:16,934
So looking at the past couple months, just comparing

1515
01:18:16,934 --> 01:18:20,000
where we were in August for the red dotted

1516
01:18:20,000 --> 01:18:23,300
line to where we are in September, for that red

1517
01:18:23,300 --> 01:18:25,167
dotted line really hasn't changed that much.

1518
01:18:25,167 --> 01:18:28,701
What you'll see is the big change in the solid

1519
01:18:28,701 --> 01:18:31,934
red line from August to September.

1520
01:18:31,934 --> 01:18:35,167
That is using the historical information.

1521
01:18:35,167 --> 01:18:38,534
It is not considering our climate forecast

1522
01:18:38,534 --> 01:18:41,868
and that sort of thing, with our new updated

1523
01:18:41,868 --> 01:18:43,334
tool and our updated approach.

1524
01:18:43,334 --> 01:18:46,367
But again, like I said, I'll come back to this later on in the

1525
01:18:46,367 --> 01:18:50,567
presentation and talk a little bit more.

1526
01:18:51,601 --> 01:18:55,300
So looking at the month of August, we've seen a

1527
01:18:55,300 --> 01:18:58,434
pretty significant increase in the amount of inflow to

1528
01:18:58,434 --> 01:19:02,434
the lake, but as we've also seen some outflow.

1529
01:19:02,434 --> 01:19:05,567
And overall, we've increased the flow

1530
01:19:05,567 --> 01:19:08,801
into the lake or we've had a net flow into the lake of

1531
01:19:08,801 --> 01:19:10,801
100,000 CFS, which resulted

1532
01:19:11,801 --> 01:19:13,801
in a whopping .06

1533
01:19:15,133 --> 01:19:17,133
feet increase in stage.

1534
01:19:17,133 --> 01:19:20,300
So we're not seeing any major

1535
01:19:20,300 --> 01:19:23,133
stage increases, which is actually fine.

1536
01:19:23,133 --> 01:19:26,901
It's helpful for the SAV as it's starting to grow in.

1537
01:19:26,901 --> 01:19:30,300
Most of that flow, as you can see, came

1538
01:19:30,300 --> 01:19:33,300
in at the later part of the month,

1539
01:19:33,300 --> 01:19:36,300
mostly through the storm events and with a

1540
01:19:36,300 --> 01:19:39,200
little bit of increased flow.

1541
01:19:39,200 --> 01:19:42,200
And the stage that you

1542
01:19:42,234 --> 01:19:46,200
see here, uh, it's been pretty stable from,

1543
01:19:46,200 --> 01:19:49,801
since July, there is a small uptick here.

1544
01:19:49,801 --> 01:19:52,968
We are just at around 11 feet

1545
01:19:52,968 --> 01:19:54,968
and NGVD 29.

1546
01:19:55,434 --> 01:19:58,434
We are a foot and a quarter of, excuse

1547
01:19:58,434 --> 01:20:01,667
me, a foot and a 3rd below the ecological envelope,

1548
01:20:01,667 --> 01:20:04,767
and we are just above our lowest

1549
01:20:04,767 --> 01:20:07,670
level that we had in 2011.

1550
01:20:07,670 --> 01:20:10,667
The Western Marsh remains very dry.

1551
01:20:10,667 --> 01:20:14,501
about 2 feet below the surface of the water.

1552
01:20:14,501 --> 01:20:17,670
So we're waiting for water to come there.

1553
01:20:17,670 --> 01:20:20,667
So, the lake is pretty good.

1554
01:20:21,670 --> 01:20:24,200
And as far as water quality throughout

1555
01:20:24,200 --> 01:20:26,367
the lake, we are doing well.

1556
01:20:26,367 --> 01:20:29,767
The chloroform concentrations throughout the lake are

1557
01:20:29,767 --> 01:20:31,567
fairly low for this time of year.

1558
01:20:31,567 --> 01:20:33,967
The dissolved inorganic nitrogen

1559
01:20:35,300 --> 01:20:37,501
is quite low and that's good.

1560
01:20:37,501 --> 01:20:40,567
Most of that has been taken up with the new SAV.

1561
01:20:40,567 --> 01:20:43,634
We've also got some algobiomass that is taking

1562
01:20:43,634 --> 01:20:46,634
up that DIN and keeping

1563
01:20:46,634 --> 01:20:50,801
it low and turbidity has been low primarily through lack of storms.

1564
01:20:50,801 --> 01:20:55,000
One thing that I did want to point out is the shaded bars.

1565
01:20:55,000 --> 01:20:58,133
So these are the bars that represent the same time

1566
01:20:58,133 --> 01:21:01,300
period for the past 4 years, and you

1567
01:21:01,300 --> 01:21:03,300
can compare that.

1568
01:21:03,467 --> 01:21:07,367
These are, these conditions that we currently have are very typical for

1569
01:21:07,367 --> 01:21:11,968
um, for the lake at this time of year.

1570
01:21:11,968 --> 01:21:15,267
Moving on to the owl gold discussion, we

1571
01:21:15,267 --> 01:21:18,400
have continued to have a moderate

1572
01:21:18,400 --> 01:21:20,734
concentration across the lake.

1573
01:21:20,734 --> 01:21:24,434
It comes, and it goes, depending on how much cloud

1574
01:21:24,434 --> 01:21:26,667
cover we've got, and what's going on.

1575
01:21:26,667 --> 01:21:29,701
But what we have been seeing is this

1576
01:21:29,701 --> 01:21:31,701
persistent area, where

1577
01:21:32,701 --> 01:21:35,701
the algol concentrations have remained

1578
01:21:35,701 --> 01:21:37,330
somewhat elevated.

1579
01:21:37,330 --> 01:21:40,133
And then we do have a few little hot spots along

1580
01:21:40,133 --> 01:21:41,868
the southern shore.

1581
01:21:41,868 --> 01:21:45,767
But for the most part, we're not seeing any anything

1582
01:21:45,767 --> 01:21:46,868
concerning.

1583
01:21:46,868 --> 01:21:49,868
These are normal satellite images.

1584
01:21:50,834 --> 01:21:54,167
And we did a Algol survey, just last

1585
01:21:54,167 --> 01:21:55,968
week, September one and two.

1586
01:21:55,968 --> 01:21:58,000
We have those results back.

1587
01:21:58,000 --> 01:22:02,200
We are starting to see an increase in algobiomass,

1588
01:22:02,200 --> 01:22:05,367
especially in the poles out area, which

1589
01:22:05,367 --> 01:22:08,434
is, right here, we've got

1590
01:22:08,434 --> 01:22:09,634
a nice little bump.

1591
01:22:09,634 --> 01:22:11,734
Here's the results for those.

1592
01:22:11,734 --> 01:22:16,601
Those are all well above the bloom concentration of 40 micrograms per liter.

1593
01:22:16,601 --> 01:22:19,834
But one thing that I do want to point out is that

1594
01:22:19,834 --> 01:22:23,367
it is a mixed community of different types of algae

1595
01:22:23,367 --> 01:22:25,767
and not microsystem dominated.

1596
01:22:26,200 --> 01:22:29,901
And even though we do have some toxin detection.

1597
01:22:29,901 --> 01:22:32,901
Those are cylinder spomopsin toxins,

1598
01:22:33,200 --> 01:22:36,501
which the recreational value for that of

1599
01:22:36,501 --> 01:22:38,334
is of concern is 15.

1600
01:22:38,334 --> 01:22:41,400
So we are well, well below the

1601
01:22:41,400 --> 01:22:43,400
recreational threshold.

1602
01:22:43,567 --> 01:22:45,601
For that particular toxin.

1603
01:22:45,601 --> 01:22:49,000
We also have a couple of other areas that are,

1604
01:22:49,000 --> 01:22:52,000
um, a little elevated L001

1605
01:22:52,501 --> 01:22:55,000
up here in the north has a little bit of a bloom.

1606
01:22:55,000 --> 01:22:58,300
But again, it's a mixed community throughout the,

1607
01:22:58,300 --> 01:23:01,300
um, the lake, and it is not,

1608
01:23:01,300 --> 01:23:03,300
uh, primarily microsystem.

1609
01:23:03,567 --> 01:23:08,330
It's a nice mix of alcohol communities.

1610
01:23:08,330 --> 01:23:10,200
Ah, it is working.

1611
01:23:10,200 --> 01:23:12,330
Can you cut the sound on that?

1612
01:23:12,330 --> 01:23:14,433
So, um, the, the,

1613
01:23:15,334 --> 01:23:18,934
uh, Lakes and Rivers team has gone out, and,

1614
01:23:18,934 --> 01:23:21,200
so anyway, I can, okay, there we go.

1615
01:23:21,200 --> 01:23:21,801
Sorry about that.

1616
01:23:21,801 --> 01:23:25,267
Um, the Lason Rivers folks have done their submerged

1617
01:23:25,267 --> 01:23:27,267
aquatic, um, survey.

1618
01:23:27,667 --> 01:23:30,734
And we are very happy to report that

1619
01:23:30,734 --> 01:23:33,968
we have seen an increase in total acreage compared

1620
01:23:33,968 --> 01:23:38,467
to last year of 2000 acres, which is a 7% increase.

1621
01:23:38,467 --> 01:23:41,834
And a lot of that is due to our vascular plants,

1622
01:23:41,834 --> 01:23:46,334
vascular plants, or like valison area, which is tape grass, or southern Naiad.

1623
01:23:46,334 --> 01:23:50,330
And those primarily live in the northwestern

1624
01:23:50,330 --> 01:23:51,167
part of the shore.

1625
01:23:51,167 --> 01:23:54,167
And then, uh, in the south end is

1626
01:23:54,167 --> 01:23:57,300
more of the macro algae, which uh, dominates

1627
01:23:57,300 --> 01:23:58,734
theirs primarily Cara.

1628
01:23:58,734 --> 01:24:02,200
And we've seen an expansion of the vascular

1629
01:24:02,200 --> 01:24:05,267
plants here into fish eating bay.

1630
01:24:05,267 --> 01:24:07,167
And that is fantastic to see.

1631
01:24:07,167 --> 01:24:10,467
That area got hit pretty hard with Hurricane Irma

1632
01:24:10,467 --> 01:24:12,467
back in 2017.

1633
01:24:12,467 --> 01:24:16,534
And we haven't seen a lot of vascular plants in that area.

1634
01:24:16,534 --> 01:24:19,000
But what we're seeing now is this expansion.

1635
01:24:19,000 --> 01:24:22,767
And it is all recruitment, native recruitment.

1636
01:24:22,767 --> 01:24:25,834
It is not the planning efforts that we did earlier this year.

1637
01:24:25,834 --> 01:24:29,367
In fact, when they went out to plant, they saw that there

1638
01:24:29,367 --> 01:24:31,501
was these bachelor plants already there.

1639
01:24:31,501 --> 01:24:35,634
So we're really happy to see that area is starting to recover.

1640
01:24:35,634 --> 01:24:39,801
The other thing that we're seeing is that the Kira

1641
01:24:39,801 --> 01:24:42,968
is moving northward, which is unusual,

1642
01:24:42,968 --> 01:24:46,670
normally it can prefers to have more of a PD substrate,

1643
01:24:46,670 --> 01:24:49,667
underneath of it, which is what is typical on the southern part of the lake.

1644
01:24:49,667 --> 01:24:52,667
But is now moving up into an area that is more

1645
01:24:52,667 --> 01:24:54,601
of a sandy, rocky bottom.

1646
01:24:54,601 --> 01:24:57,400
So that's kind of curious, but also really good to see.

1647
01:24:57,400 --> 01:25:00,534
So overall, we're seeing an increased coverage

1648
01:25:00,534 --> 01:25:03,834
in our SAV within the lake,

1649
01:25:03,834 --> 01:25:07,000
um, and it's at its highest concentrations that

1650
01:25:07,000 --> 01:25:10,000
it has been for total coverage since 2015.

1651
01:25:10,000 --> 01:25:13,000
So that is great news.

1652
01:25:13,367 --> 01:25:14,534
Moving on to the St.

1653
01:25:14,534 --> 01:25:15,267
Lucie.

1654
01:25:15,267 --> 01:25:18,267
This figure is slightly reorganized

1655
01:25:19,000 --> 01:25:21,801
from what you're used to seeing, but hopefully it'll make it a little bit easier.

1656
01:25:21,801 --> 01:25:25,167
Um, we are looking at daily

1657
01:25:25,167 --> 01:25:28,334
flows here on this graph, and you can see that

1658
01:25:28,334 --> 01:25:31,501
we've had a pretty consistent uh, amount of

1659
01:25:31,501 --> 01:25:33,901
flow from the title basin and from the St.

1660
01:25:33,901 --> 01:25:36,801
Lucy over the past 30 days.

1661
01:25:36,801 --> 01:25:40,434
We've had an average of 719 CFS

1662
01:25:40,434 --> 01:25:45,634
coming into the estuary with most of that coming from the title basin.

1663
01:25:45,634 --> 01:25:49,200
On the bottom here, we have maps for the 14 day salinity

1664
01:25:49,200 --> 01:25:52,267
gradients, and it pretty much looks the

1665
01:25:52,267 --> 01:25:55,901
same between August 6th and September 5th.

1666
01:25:55,901 --> 01:25:58,934
The gradients were pretty much where they were.

1667
01:25:58,934 --> 01:26:01,934
And for the indicators, salinity

1668
01:26:02,634 --> 01:26:05,801
is in the optimum range for oysters at

1669
01:26:05,801 --> 01:26:08,901
HR one site and US one, which the

1670
01:26:08,901 --> 01:26:11,901
optimum salinity is from 10 to 25.

1671
01:26:11,968 --> 01:26:15,330
And then at the A1 A Bridge, we're just slightly over

1672
01:26:15,330 --> 01:26:19,901
it at 26.6 and that's in the upper stress range.

1673
01:26:19,901 --> 01:26:22,234
The oysters in the St.

1674
01:26:22,234 --> 01:26:25,934
Lucie are doing quite well this year, as far as recruitment is concerned.

1675
01:26:25,934 --> 01:26:28,934
Salinity has been in the optimal range

1676
01:26:28,934 --> 01:26:31,267
for those oysters for almost a year now.

1677
01:26:31,267 --> 01:26:34,267
And so we're seeing really good recruitment rates

1678
01:26:34,267 --> 01:26:37,267
coming in, even though we have had a drop in the

1679
01:26:37,267 --> 01:26:38,634
recruitment in August.

1680
01:26:38,634 --> 01:26:39,234
This is normal.

1681
01:26:39,234 --> 01:26:45,133
And we do can expect to continue to see recruitment throughout the fall.

1682
01:26:45,133 --> 01:26:48,167
Moving over to the Kalusahachi, you can see

1683
01:26:48,167 --> 01:26:49,801
the same setup on the slide.

1684
01:26:49,801 --> 01:26:53,434
We've gotten a couple of storm

1685
01:26:53,434 --> 01:26:56,567
events over there over the past month, and that has

1686
01:26:56,567 --> 01:26:59,701
resulted in a significant increase in flow to

1687
01:26:59,701 --> 01:27:00,701
that estuary.

1688
01:27:00,701 --> 01:27:04,901
Over the past 30 days, we've had 2595

1689
01:27:05,334 --> 01:27:08,434
CFS with an equal distribution between the

1690
01:27:08,434 --> 01:27:11,767
title basin and the C 43 basin.

1691
01:27:11,767 --> 01:27:15,400
And so, as a result, the 14 day salinity

1692
01:27:15,400 --> 01:27:18,400
gradient has moved downstream compared

1693
01:27:18,701 --> 01:27:21,968
to where it was last year, which is what we want to see.

1694
01:27:21,968 --> 01:27:25,100
We're starting to see the gradient in

1695
01:27:25,100 --> 01:27:27,567
where we consider the optimum zone.

1696
01:27:27,567 --> 01:27:30,901
And as a result, our indicators

1697
01:27:30,901 --> 01:27:33,968
are mostly in the optimum range in the upper

1698
01:27:33,968 --> 01:27:36,968
estuary and in the mid estuary, and we're

1699
01:27:36,968 --> 01:27:39,968
in the stressful range down here for oysters,

1700
01:27:39,968 --> 01:27:43,868
which is where it typically is in that area.

1701
01:27:43,868 --> 01:27:45,901
And for oyster recruitment.

1702
01:27:45,901 --> 01:27:49,000
Again, we're seeing good recruitment numbers throughout the

1703
01:27:49,000 --> 01:27:51,000
areas we monitor.

1704
01:27:52,000 --> 01:27:56,267
One thing you'll notice is that the recruitment

1705
01:27:56,267 --> 01:27:59,330
and Cape Coral is lower, then shell point.

1706
01:27:59,330 --> 01:28:00,167
And this is normal.

1707
01:28:00,167 --> 01:28:03,567
The shell, the spat prefer higher salinities

1708
01:28:03,567 --> 01:28:06,934
when they're settling out, but the salinity criteria

1709
01:28:06,934 --> 01:28:08,868
that we use is for adult oysters.

1710
01:28:08,868 --> 01:28:12,167
So even though we got higher numbers here,

1711
01:28:12,167 --> 01:28:15,133
it is higher likelihood that these will actually

1712
01:28:15,133 --> 01:28:18,267
survive, and these may become predated.

1713
01:28:18,267 --> 01:28:21,567
So, um, so even though the, no,

1714
01:28:21,567 --> 01:28:24,567
the numbers are lower in Cape Coral, they're still really good numbers,

1715
01:28:24,567 --> 01:28:29,167
as those are the ones that are likely to make it.

1716
01:28:29,167 --> 01:28:33,200
So looking at how water's moved around the southern portion of the system, you

1717
01:28:33,200 --> 01:28:36,200
can see there's been about 192,000 acre feet

1718
01:28:36,200 --> 01:28:39,133
has been moved into the Everglades itself.

1719
01:28:39,133 --> 01:28:42,133
Now, they're just less than 120,000 acre feet

1720
01:28:42,133 --> 01:28:45,234
down into Everglades National Park inclusive of some of that return

1721
01:28:45,234 --> 01:28:48,534
seepage, but the big number that you see there.

1722
01:28:48,534 --> 01:28:51,767
377,000 acre feet is the runoff coming off

1723
01:28:51,767 --> 01:28:54,767
the lower east coast and going to either Biscayne Bay

1724
01:28:54,767 --> 01:28:58,133
or the intercoastal waterway from those afternoon rains

1725
01:28:58,133 --> 01:29:02,333
that have started picking up just recently.

1726
01:29:03,734 --> 01:29:06,767
And as you saw in your flyer in your handbook, this

1727
01:29:06,767 --> 01:29:10,467
is the current conditions for the STAs, and

1728
01:29:10,467 --> 01:29:14,834
we had, for this water year so far, 156,000

1729
01:29:14,834 --> 01:29:17,834
acre feet coming in with 9500

1730
01:29:18,567 --> 01:29:19,901
acre feet coming from the lake.

1731
01:29:19,901 --> 01:29:23,167
Most of that inflow went to STA

1732
01:29:23,167 --> 01:29:25,167
2 and also STA 34.

1733
01:29:27,670 --> 01:29:29,467
STA 56 is starting to

1734
01:29:30,670 --> 01:29:33,467
see some inflow, but it is still quite low.

1735
01:29:33,467 --> 01:29:36,534
Uh, and the good news story here, as

1736
01:29:36,534 --> 01:29:39,667
Drew mentioned, is we are within compliance

1737
01:29:39,667 --> 01:29:42,901
within the STAs that we have enough

1738
01:29:42,901 --> 01:29:44,634
flow to report on.

1739
01:29:44,634 --> 01:29:48,670
We're still waiting on outflow from STA 56 in

1740
01:29:48,670 --> 01:29:50,330
order to be able to do that calculation.

1741
01:29:50,330 --> 01:29:53,200
The other thing that I wanted to point out is the inflow

1742
01:29:53,200 --> 01:29:57,330
concentrations for each of these STAs, minus

1743
01:29:57,330 --> 01:30:00,234
56, is all below 100, which is what we really like to

1744
01:30:00,234 --> 01:30:03,534
see for us to be able to have the proper performance

1745
01:30:03,534 --> 01:30:06,634
for these estuary, for these STAs,

1746
01:30:06,634 --> 01:30:09,634
excuse me, STA 56, that basin

1747
01:30:10,670 --> 01:30:13,701
does tend to have higher inflow rates, and 143

1748
01:30:13,701 --> 01:30:16,567
is fairly typical for that basin.

1749
01:30:16,567 --> 01:30:19,601
And with the recent, well, rain events that

1750
01:30:19,601 --> 01:30:24,667
we've seen are stages are at or above target stage.

1751
01:30:24,667 --> 01:30:26,300
And here are the W.

1752
01:30:26,300 --> 01:30:27,000
Maps for that.

1753
01:30:27,000 --> 01:30:30,901
One thing that I would like to point out is 56.

1754
01:30:30,901 --> 01:30:34,330
Last time I showed you this map, we had a lot of

1755
01:30:34,330 --> 01:30:38,000
yellows and reds in the flow A 4 and 5.

1756
01:30:38,000 --> 01:30:40,801
And you can see now, we're looking at a lot of blues.

1757
01:30:40,801 --> 01:30:42,801
So that STA.

1758
01:30:43,200 --> 01:30:45,000
is starting to get filled up.

1759
01:30:45,000 --> 01:30:48,670
We've been holding that water purposefully in order to

1760
01:30:48,670 --> 01:30:51,534
rehydrate before we discharge any water, and

1761
01:30:51,534 --> 01:30:54,634
we're now at the point where we're thinking that we might have

1762
01:30:54,634 --> 01:30:57,767
enough water in there to keep it hydrated,

1763
01:30:57,767 --> 01:31:00,767
have good water quality in the outflow, and have a properly

1764
01:31:00,767 --> 01:31:02,767
functioning STA.

1765
01:31:02,968 --> 01:31:06,801
We do have 2 flowways that are offline.

1766
01:31:06,801 --> 01:31:10,601
One is in STA one West, here,

1767
01:31:10,601 --> 01:31:13,634
that is for some vegetation management activity, and

1768
01:31:13,634 --> 01:31:16,701
then for STA one East Central Flowway.

1769
01:31:16,701 --> 01:31:20,167
That is the flowway that had been leveled

1770
01:31:20,167 --> 01:31:23,467
and now we're in the growing phase.

1771
01:31:23,467 --> 01:31:26,701
So we're not sending flow through that, um, flow

1772
01:31:26,701 --> 01:31:30,334
way so we can let the vegetation grow in.

1773
01:31:30,334 --> 01:31:32,534
Moving down to the Everglades.

1774
01:31:32,534 --> 01:31:35,634
We are starting to see some water there.

1775
01:31:35,634 --> 01:31:38,834
So compared to last month, you'll see some more blues on

1776
01:31:38,834 --> 01:31:41,868
that map, which we'd like to see, but

1777
01:31:41,868 --> 01:31:45,133
it has been inconsistent across the board.

1778
01:31:45,133 --> 01:31:47,501
Weve got some areas that are starting to get a little drier.

1779
01:31:47,501 --> 01:31:50,634
For example, STA, excuse me, water

1780
01:31:50,634 --> 01:31:54,634
conservation area one has gotten a little drier than it was last month.

1781
01:31:54,634 --> 01:31:57,901
We do still have a data issue

1782
01:31:57,901 --> 01:32:00,868
in this area here, so take the

1783
01:32:00,868 --> 01:32:03,267
data there with a grain of salt.

1784
01:32:03,267 --> 01:32:06,267
Um, and then the other thing that I wanted to point

1785
01:32:06,267 --> 01:32:09,467
out is that the, um, the

1786
01:32:09,467 --> 01:32:12,934
slew connections are much improved to the park.

1787
01:32:12,934 --> 01:32:16,534
But we did have a fire,

1788
01:32:16,534 --> 01:32:18,133
17,000 acre fire.

1789
01:32:18,133 --> 01:32:19,834
It was called the chipmunk fire.

1790
01:32:19,834 --> 01:32:23,834
August 20th, I believe, is when it was 1st noted.

1791
01:32:23,834 --> 01:32:27,901
And, uh, it was in a slough that had a lot of water.

1792
01:32:27,901 --> 01:32:29,901
So we were actually thinking that that fire.

1793
01:32:29,901 --> 01:32:33,200
My provide some benefit to that area, uh,

1794
01:32:33,200 --> 01:32:36,434
in cleaning out, like, the canopy and opening up the water

1795
01:32:36,434 --> 01:32:40,340
for more, uh, paraphytin type growth.

1796
01:32:40,534 --> 01:32:43,734
And compared to what the normal conditions

1797
01:32:43,734 --> 01:32:46,734
are, the 20 year average, as you can see across the board,

1798
01:32:46,734 --> 01:32:50,267
we're still quite dry compared to where we are normally

1799
01:32:50,267 --> 01:32:54,300
at this time of year, but the good news story here is this area.

1800
01:32:54,300 --> 01:32:57,934
We are now back up into the 30th,

1801
01:32:57,934 --> 01:33:00,634
40th percentiles for those areas.

1802
01:33:00,634 --> 01:33:05,834
So we are improving in our hydrological condition there.

1803
01:33:05,834 --> 01:33:09,467
So, taking a closer look at each of the areas

1804
01:33:09,467 --> 01:33:11,133
where our stage gauges are.

1805
01:33:11,133 --> 01:33:14,534
So this map here is just a blowup

1806
01:33:14,534 --> 01:33:17,667
of the map I just showed you, you can see the drier areas

1807
01:33:17,667 --> 01:33:21,670
here, and these are the relevant dryness

1808
01:33:21,670 --> 01:33:23,434
compared to where we are normally.

1809
01:33:23,434 --> 01:33:26,901
Each of the areas is well below the 10th percentile

1810
01:33:26,901 --> 01:33:29,301
but increasing in stage.

1811
01:33:29,400 --> 01:33:32,400
And this is a situation

1812
01:33:32,534 --> 01:33:35,300
that we're probably going to continue to see for a while.

1813
01:33:35,300 --> 01:33:37,700
The, um, a foresight

1814
01:33:38,634 --> 01:33:40,434
is pretty flat at this point.

1815
01:33:40,434 --> 01:33:43,667
We are seeing a slight uptick, but it's still kind

1816
01:33:43,667 --> 01:33:45,234
of within the noise there.

1817
01:33:45,234 --> 01:33:48,234
Well, the site 17 and site

1818
01:33:48,300 --> 01:33:50,300
7 are increasing.

1819
01:33:50,767 --> 01:33:54,767
And this here is where you can see it dried out.

1820
01:33:54,767 --> 01:33:57,834
We had, we were doing nicely with stage and then we had to dry out

1821
01:33:57,834 --> 01:34:01,801
period, but it seems to be now reversing.

1822
01:34:01,801 --> 01:34:04,801
And looking at Conservationary 3 A.

1823
01:34:05,200 --> 01:34:08,667
This also is well below the 10th

1824
01:34:08,667 --> 01:34:10,968
percentile in all of the areas.

1825
01:34:10,968 --> 01:34:14,000
And again, they're all on the uptick,

1826
01:34:14,000 --> 01:34:16,000
especially at site 63.

1827
01:34:17,133 --> 01:34:20,601
And you will see that, uh,

1828
01:34:20,601 --> 01:34:23,601
this is where we are, and this is where we want to

1829
01:34:23,601 --> 01:34:24,868
be in September.

1830
01:34:24,868 --> 01:34:27,868
And if you look over here, this is

1831
01:34:27,868 --> 01:34:31,100
the tip, the tip of that, uh, triangle is the target.

1832
01:34:31,100 --> 01:34:34,501
And it is above the maximum uh,

1833
01:34:34,501 --> 01:34:36,200
projection on the position analysis.

1834
01:34:36,200 --> 01:34:39,200
So highly unlikely that we're going to hit

1835
01:34:39,200 --> 01:34:41,567
that target in a couple of months.

1836
01:34:41,567 --> 01:34:44,701
But, uh, what we might be able

1837
01:34:44,701 --> 01:34:45,968
to hit is this one.

1838
01:34:45,968 --> 01:34:49,133
This target is at the P 75,

1839
01:34:49,133 --> 01:34:52,300
which means that there's about a 25% chance we might actually meet

1840
01:34:52,300 --> 01:34:53,701
that target.

1841
01:34:53,701 --> 01:34:56,734
And so we might actually get some nesting in

1842
01:34:56,734 --> 01:34:58,801
the Alley North colony.

1843
01:34:58,801 --> 01:35:01,968
And where this is also important, is that

1844
01:35:01,968 --> 01:35:05,634
we need to keep what water we can into the

1845
01:35:05,634 --> 01:35:08,801
water conservation area too, A, because

1846
01:35:08,801 --> 01:35:12,100
that will serve as the foraging area for any

1847
01:35:12,100 --> 01:35:15,200
nesting that occurs in the Alley North colony, because there's

1848
01:35:15,200 --> 01:35:18,434
not going to be enough foraging capability right

1849
01:35:18,434 --> 01:35:22,467
in that area, because it's still going to be fairly dry more than likely.

1850
01:35:22,467 --> 01:35:25,467
So another reason why we need to keep water

1851
01:35:25,467 --> 01:35:28,467
in the upper part of the system so that we

1852
01:35:28,467 --> 01:35:31,634
can provide foraging for these birds

1853
01:35:31,634 --> 01:35:35,200
if and when they do nest.

1854
01:35:35,200 --> 01:35:39,000
And lastly, moving down to Florida Bay, we have seen some

1855
01:35:39,000 --> 01:35:42,670
rain coming into this area, and there has been

1856
01:35:42,670 --> 01:35:45,234
a slight uptick in the stages at the Taylor

1857
01:35:45,234 --> 01:35:48,367
Slough bridge, which is great, and Salinity has gone

1858
01:35:48,367 --> 01:35:51,667
down in all areas throughout the bay.

1859
01:35:51,667 --> 01:35:54,670
However, we are at

1860
01:35:55,501 --> 01:35:58,534
the hypersalinity range, in the eastern and

1861
01:35:58,534 --> 01:36:01,734
well above in the central and western regions.

1862
01:36:01,734 --> 01:36:04,734
So, more water into Florida

1863
01:36:04,834 --> 01:36:09,000
Bay would help us get those salenities back down.

1864
01:36:09,000 --> 01:36:13,800
And that's all I have, Mr. Mitnik.

1865
01:36:15,200 --> 01:36:15,734
All right.

1866
01:36:15,734 --> 01:36:19,330
So, looking at how the water levels in the conservation

1867
01:36:19,330 --> 01:36:22,400
area, starting up here, um, water conservation area one,

1868
01:36:22,400 --> 01:36:25,767
you can see it's starting to get some of those direct rainfall levels

1869
01:36:25,767 --> 01:36:28,868
are starting to rise up as well within its schedule in

1870
01:36:28,868 --> 01:36:31,801
the in the intermediate zone between the top of the schedule.

1871
01:36:31,801 --> 01:36:34,801
We'll try to let that continue to rise up in conjunction with

1872
01:36:34,801 --> 01:36:36,534
the corps of engineers.

1873
01:36:36,534 --> 01:36:38,300
Area two, similar story.

1874
01:36:38,300 --> 01:36:41,467
It had been above schedule, then with some of the drier weather crossed

1875
01:36:41,467 --> 01:36:44,634
over, went below schedule, but now the direct rainfalls brought it up.

1876
01:36:44,634 --> 01:36:47,801
We'll probably coordinate with the core and look to manage that

1877
01:36:47,801 --> 01:36:50,868
rise up as well, to get up to

1878
01:36:50,868 --> 01:36:52,200
its peak of the schedule.

1879
01:36:52,200 --> 01:36:55,367
Area 3 has been pretty consistently below its

1880
01:36:55,367 --> 01:36:58,501
schedule for the last several months, but it's

1881
01:36:58,501 --> 01:37:01,534
got a little bit of an uptick, a little bit of increase as

1882
01:37:01,534 --> 01:37:05,667
we start to see that direct rainfall materialize,

1883
01:37:05,667 --> 01:37:08,968
plus the rains coming off of the EAA

1884
01:37:08,968 --> 01:37:12,200
getting processed through, the storm water treatment areas are starting to pick up,

1885
01:37:12,200 --> 01:37:15,330
especially within the last week, week and a half .

1886
01:37:15,330 --> 01:37:18,200
So we'll start to see those levels increase as

1887
01:37:18,200 --> 01:37:21,567
those inflows make it into the conservation areas.

1888
01:37:21,567 --> 01:37:24,634
Southern portion of the system, um,

1889
01:37:24,634 --> 01:37:27,667
continue to meet the Tamiami Trail flow formula,

1890
01:37:27,667 --> 01:37:30,801
moving that water out of Area 3 down into the

1891
01:37:30,801 --> 01:37:33,367
Everlays National Park, South Day conveyance system.

1892
01:37:33,367 --> 01:37:36,734
Last month, I talked about that one pump station we had a problem with, but

1893
01:37:36,734 --> 01:37:39,801
I think we've got that fixed and it's back in service, but we're

1894
01:37:39,801 --> 01:37:42,834
continuing to manage South Day conveyance system,

1895
01:37:42,834 --> 01:37:44,467
not seeing any real issues there.

1896
01:37:44,467 --> 01:37:47,501
So speaking of South Dade, this is the time

1897
01:37:47,501 --> 01:37:50,501
of year that just to remind everyone that we move

1898
01:37:50,501 --> 01:37:53,501
into our seasonal operations over

1899
01:37:53,801 --> 01:37:57,330
there by a Homestead Air Force Base, and when you look to operate

1900
01:37:57,330 --> 01:38:00,330
these different structures in this canal system, a little bit

1901
01:38:00,330 --> 01:38:03,534
lower to facilitate some of the agricultural operations

1902
01:38:03,534 --> 01:38:05,534
in this neighborhood.

1903
01:38:05,601 --> 01:38:08,667
So that'll start over the next month or so, we'll

1904
01:38:08,667 --> 01:38:11,734
evaluate the field conditions with the field station and cooperation with the

1905
01:38:11,734 --> 01:38:16,133
farmers and look to manage those canals a little bit lower.

1906
01:38:16,133 --> 01:38:19,467
So now jumping back into the forecast, um, climate

1907
01:38:19,467 --> 01:38:22,567
prediction center, we've talked about this a fair amount of the last couple of months.

1908
01:38:22,567 --> 01:38:25,701
It's all likely above, finally likely above due to

1909
01:38:25,701 --> 01:38:29,000
that El Nino condition, next couple weeks,

1910
01:38:29,000 --> 01:38:32,000
probably above average rainfalls, over

1911
01:38:33,434 --> 01:38:35,300
the water management district.

1912
01:38:35,300 --> 01:38:38,534
So we've talked a lot about El Nino

1913
01:38:38,534 --> 01:38:39,601
and what it means.

1914
01:38:39,601 --> 01:38:43,133
So just to refresh everyone's memory.

1915
01:38:43,133 --> 01:38:46,200
What you have here on the left-hand side of the screen if we talk in terms

1916
01:38:46,200 --> 01:38:48,868
of hard numbers of what we can expect.

1917
01:38:48,868 --> 01:38:52,133
These are the sea surface temperature anomalies over

1918
01:38:52,133 --> 01:38:55,234
in the equatorial Pacific going from 1982 to

1919
01:38:55,234 --> 01:38:56,934
2026.

1920
01:38:56,934 --> 01:38:58,834
It's all grayed out.

1921
01:38:58,834 --> 01:39:01,234
But the ones that are highlighted.

1922
01:39:01,234 --> 01:39:04,367
These ones in the colors, that are, those are

1923
01:39:04,367 --> 01:39:08,133
segregating out just the El Nino or El

1924
01:39:08,133 --> 01:39:10,367
Nino, strong El Nino type years.

1925
01:39:10,367 --> 01:39:14,000
And you can see 2026 is this top line up

1926
01:39:14,000 --> 01:39:17,667
here, and we're way above where we've ever been before.

1927
01:39:17,667 --> 01:39:22,167
So Drew started calling this the super duper El Nino.

1928
01:39:22,167 --> 01:39:25,567
Um, and right now, um, although

1929
01:39:25,567 --> 01:39:28,868
it's just below 3 degrees Celsius, it's continuing

1930
01:39:28,868 --> 01:39:32,670
to rise, but you can see, they typically peak

1931
01:39:32,670 --> 01:39:35,330
out here in the November, December time frame, and

1932
01:39:35,330 --> 01:39:38,334
right now, the forecast could be, it could peak out just

1933
01:39:38,334 --> 01:39:43,670
slightly below four, which is up off of this graphic up here.

1934
01:39:43,670 --> 01:39:44,234
So that's all well and good.

1935
01:39:44,234 --> 01:39:45,167
That's over in the Pacific.

1936
01:39:45,167 --> 01:39:46,200
What does it mean to us?

1937
01:39:46,200 --> 01:39:48,534
Why do I care what's happening over in the Pacific?

1938
01:39:48,534 --> 01:39:52,334
So if we translate all of those model runs,

1939
01:39:52,334 --> 01:39:55,734
and what happens in this particular indicator

1940
01:39:55,734 --> 01:39:58,901
reason has a high degree of correlation

1941
01:39:58,901 --> 01:40:02,167
to our weather during the dry season.

1942
01:40:02,167 --> 01:40:05,267
So if we, you've seen this table before, you

1943
01:40:05,267 --> 01:40:08,667
saw it a couple slides ago, these are just the average rainfall

1944
01:40:08,667 --> 01:40:11,367
throughout the district by month.

1945
01:40:11,367 --> 01:40:15,133
The blue months, wet season, white months, dry season,

1946
01:40:15,133 --> 01:40:18,567
then the 2 transition, wet to dry, I'm

1947
01:40:18,567 --> 01:40:21,200
sorry, dry to wet, wet to dry.

1948
01:40:21,200 --> 01:40:24,367
Quick math, you add up all the boxes in white,

1949
01:40:24,367 --> 01:40:27,501
you're in about, on average, 11 to

1950
01:40:27,501 --> 01:40:30,501
12 inches of rainfall district wide,

1951
01:40:30,667 --> 01:40:34,400
over the course of the dry season.

1952
01:40:34,400 --> 01:40:37,634
If we look at some of the model forecast and we aggregate several

1953
01:40:37,634 --> 01:40:40,934
models together for the month of December, instead

1954
01:40:40,934 --> 01:40:42,670
of having one.

1955
01:40:42,670 --> 01:40:46,670
9 inches on average, we could potentially have 4.9

1956
01:40:46,670 --> 01:40:49,667
inches on average, some 300% above normal.

1957
01:40:50,534 --> 01:40:53,634
If you're like Drew and you don't like averages, then there's the

1958
01:40:53,634 --> 01:40:55,634
median at 4.6.

1959
01:40:56,434 --> 01:40:59,934
So you walk through each month.

1960
01:40:59,934 --> 01:41:02,934
Aggregate it all together for

1961
01:41:02,968 --> 01:41:06,167
the entire water management district, all 16 counties, you

1962
01:41:06,167 --> 01:41:07,400
do the statistics on it.

1963
01:41:07,400 --> 01:41:10,400
We could wind up with, on average, just short

1964
01:41:10,400 --> 01:41:13,901
of 25 inches of rainfall over the district instead

1965
01:41:13,901 --> 01:41:17,200
of our usual average 11 to 12 inches.

1966
01:41:17,200 --> 01:41:19,934
Again, if you're like Drew and you don't like averages.

1967
01:41:19,934 --> 01:41:22,934
The statistics, going from the 10th

1968
01:41:22,934 --> 01:41:26,534
percentile up to the 90th percentile, somewhere could

1969
01:41:26,534 --> 01:41:29,601
be as high as close to 37 inches of water

1970
01:41:29,601 --> 01:41:32,601
over this upcoming dry season.

1971
01:41:34,133 --> 01:41:35,767
That's all well and good.

1972
01:41:35,767 --> 01:41:39,667
Fun with math, a lot of numbers throwing at you, but what would it mean to

1973
01:41:39,667 --> 01:41:41,667
Lake Okeechobee?

1974
01:41:42,434 --> 01:41:45,534
Right now, Lake Ochobee sitting at 10.95, just a

1975
01:41:45,534 --> 01:41:49,300
little bit below 11, lower than it's typically this time of year.

1976
01:41:49,300 --> 01:41:52,968
We've got roughly 4 weeks left in the dry season.

1977
01:41:52,968 --> 01:41:56,801
The median end of the dry season is October 12th.

1978
01:41:56,801 --> 01:41:59,868
despite Mr. Spotswood's sleep deprived

1979
01:41:59,868 --> 01:42:01,868
procrastinate, prognastations.

1980
01:42:02,501 --> 01:42:06,101
The 1st hurricane that we've,

1981
01:42:06,400 --> 01:42:09,400
in 2002, the 1st hurricane didn't occur

1982
01:42:09,400 --> 01:42:11,400
until September 11th.

1983
01:42:11,567 --> 01:42:14,534
It was the latest hurricane that has ever occurred that

1984
01:42:14,534 --> 01:42:17,334
hit South Florida in the Atlantic Basin.

1985
01:42:17,334 --> 01:42:19,634
Today is September 10th.

1986
01:42:19,634 --> 01:42:23,701
So we're going to beat that record if one develops.

1987
01:42:23,701 --> 01:42:27,300
However, I can tell you district meteorologists don't think it's

1988
01:42:27,300 --> 01:42:30,670
very unlikely that one will develop.

1989
01:42:30,670 --> 01:42:33,267
The atmosphere is not conducive over the next couple

1990
01:42:33,267 --> 01:42:35,234
weeks to cyclogenesis.

1991
01:42:35,234 --> 01:42:39,133
So if we do get one, it'll probably be at least 2 or 3 weeks out.

1992
01:42:39,133 --> 01:42:41,467
So there's still a chance, but it's unlikely.

1993
01:42:41,467 --> 01:42:44,834
So we're unlikely to get a

1994
01:42:44,834 --> 01:42:48,834
tropical system to fill Lake Okechobee back up and

1995
01:42:48,834 --> 01:42:50,567
carry us on through the dry season.

1996
01:42:50,567 --> 01:42:53,701
So all we have is these statistics and

1997
01:42:53,701 --> 01:42:56,701
what uh, super duper Eldino

1998
01:42:56,734 --> 01:43:00,200
might bring, as Drew likes to say.

1999
01:43:00,200 --> 01:43:02,367
So what does it mean for Lake Okeechobee?

2000
01:43:02,367 --> 01:43:05,934
We look at where we are right there, a foot and a half below

2001
01:43:05,934 --> 01:43:08,100
the water shortage management line.

2002
01:43:08,100 --> 01:43:11,601
A lot of people are starting to wonder why we're not taking additional actions,

2003
01:43:11,601 --> 01:43:13,670
implementing different measures.

2004
01:43:13,670 --> 01:43:14,434
This is why.

2005
01:43:14,434 --> 01:43:17,534
So these, you've seen a similar graphic

2006
01:43:17,534 --> 01:43:20,133
like this before and all those other squiggly lines.

2007
01:43:20,133 --> 01:43:24,567
This is just segregating out all of the El Nino years.

2008
01:43:24,567 --> 01:43:27,901
The ones in dashed or all el nino years,

2009
01:43:27,901 --> 01:43:31,100
but the solid lines, those are the super el

2010
01:43:31,100 --> 01:43:34,634
nino years, and what effect they would

2011
01:43:34,634 --> 01:43:37,934
have had on Lake Okechobee given, where we are right now, and

2012
01:43:37,934 --> 01:43:40,434
if we experience those types of rainfalls.

2013
01:43:40,434 --> 01:43:43,801
As we talked about, this El Nino

2014
01:43:43,801 --> 01:43:47,000
is forecasted to be stronger than any of those.

2015
01:43:47,000 --> 01:43:50,330
So, I don't necessarily know where we're going to line

2016
01:43:50,330 --> 01:43:53,200
up or end up, but the forecast

2017
01:43:53,200 --> 01:43:56,801
is for Lake Okechobee stage is to start increasing

2018
01:43:56,801 --> 01:43:58,434
is those rains start to develop.

2019
01:43:58,434 --> 01:44:01,601
There's been a pronounced shift in

2020
01:44:01,601 --> 01:44:03,934
the weather pattern over the last week and a half .

2021
01:44:03,934 --> 01:44:07,300
If we look back all the way from August, there

2022
01:44:07,300 --> 01:44:10,534
were two days in August where we didn't get any rainfall,

2023
01:44:10,534 --> 01:44:14,670
which is highly unusual for South Florida, but

2024
01:44:14,670 --> 01:44:17,200
in the last week or so, there's a pronounced shift in

2025
01:44:17,200 --> 01:44:19,300
the amount of rains that we've started seeing.

2026
01:44:19,300 --> 01:44:22,267
We expect that to continue, especially as we get

2027
01:44:22,267 --> 01:44:24,667
into December and November.

2028
01:44:25,934 --> 01:44:29,000
So I'll, Mr. Chair, I'll pause there to see if

2029
01:44:29,000 --> 01:44:32,767
any members have any questions over the

2030
01:44:32,767 --> 01:44:39,167
conditions report before I go on with an update for the Clusahachie Reservoir.

2031
01:44:39,167 --> 01:44:42,167
Other than building an arc, what, I'm assuming

2032
01:44:42,167 --> 01:44:45,167
that we're, you're,

2033
01:44:46,100 --> 01:44:49,700
figuring operations out for a potential 37

2034
01:44:49,801 --> 01:44:51,734
inches in dry season.

2035
01:44:51,734 --> 01:44:52,567
Correct.

2036
01:44:52,567 --> 01:44:55,667
Um, so we have been conserving

2037
01:44:55,667 --> 01:44:56,934
water as much as possible.

2038
01:44:56,934 --> 01:45:01,667
Um, we're starting to let some of that water go.

2039
01:45:01,667 --> 01:45:04,670
We're moving it down through the system.

2040
01:45:04,670 --> 01:45:07,167
You saw the upper chain is starting to dump down as we cycle

2041
01:45:07,167 --> 01:45:10,601
it down, keeping an eye on Lake Okeechobee.

2042
01:45:10,601 --> 01:45:13,634
But it's still, you got to

2043
01:45:13,634 --> 01:45:15,667
take it when it starts hitting the ground.

2044
01:45:15,667 --> 01:45:19,467
Would this be a not that you know, but would you

2045
01:45:19,467 --> 01:45:22,634
suspect this would be consistent top to bottom through

2046
01:45:22,634 --> 01:45:24,200
the district or you don't know?

2047
01:45:24,200 --> 01:45:28,601
No, it's typically it's not consistent top to bottom.

2048
01:45:28,601 --> 01:45:31,634
It'll be highly depend on where it lands,

2049
01:45:31,634 --> 01:45:34,868
if it lands predominantly in the southern portion of the system that

2050
01:45:34,868 --> 01:45:36,901
may not do Lake Okechobee any good.

2051
01:45:36,901 --> 01:45:40,670
But the only indication I have for that is

2052
01:45:40,670 --> 01:45:43,670
just the district wide numbers.

2053
01:45:44,234 --> 01:45:47,334
I don't think all of that is likely to fall

2054
01:45:47,334 --> 01:45:49,734
only in the South.

2055
01:45:50,467 --> 01:45:54,834
There's no seasonal forecasts have a geographic range.

2056
01:45:54,834 --> 01:45:57,934
They do seem to get it's stronger north

2057
01:45:57,934 --> 01:46:00,334
than it is south.

2058
01:46:00,934 --> 01:46:01,834
Thank you, Roman.

2059
01:46:01,834 --> 01:46:02,868
Thank you, Mr. Chair.

2060
01:46:02,868 --> 01:46:05,934
John, I'm trying to understand this super

2061
01:46:05,934 --> 01:46:10,400
El Nino that we're experiencing right now.

2062
01:46:10,400 --> 01:46:12,400
Is it unprecedented?

2063
01:46:12,701 --> 01:46:13,667
Yes.

2064
01:46:13,667 --> 01:46:16,701
Okay, so we've never had to really manage

2065
01:46:16,701 --> 01:46:19,701
water under these conditions before.

2066
01:46:20,000 --> 01:46:23,434
Well, the forecast, is it for a,

2067
01:46:23,434 --> 01:46:25,234
the forecast is unprecedented.

2068
01:46:25,234 --> 01:46:26,968
We have not seen a forecast like this.

2069
01:46:26,968 --> 01:46:29,767
How that manifests itself, materializes.

2070
01:46:29,767 --> 01:46:32,801
That's what we're waiting to see.

2071
01:46:32,801 --> 01:46:34,801
Okay, thank you.

2072
01:46:35,000 --> 01:46:35,701
Mr. Steinley?

2073
01:46:35,701 --> 01:46:36,834
I guess that's what I was gonna ask.

2074
01:46:36,834 --> 01:46:38,834
So assuming, assuming

2075
01:46:40,434 --> 01:46:44,534
the high end of the range, 37 inches,

2076
01:46:44,534 --> 01:46:47,934
that would bring us, based, would

2077
01:46:47,934 --> 01:46:51,234
we still, we would be over our typical annual 60

2078
01:46:51,234 --> 01:46:53,234
inch average,

2079
01:46:54,601 --> 01:46:59,401
or would that catch up to and be...

2080
01:46:59,901 --> 01:47:01,834
Sorry, I'm looking for the number.

2081
01:47:01,834 --> 01:47:05,801
I think it's on this slide back here.

2082
01:47:05,801 --> 01:47:06,334
Okay.

2083
01:47:06,334 --> 01:47:09,567
So far, we've got 24 and 3761.

2084
01:47:09,567 --> 01:47:10,100
No.

2085
01:47:10,100 --> 01:47:11,968
So, not 61.

2086
01:47:11,968 --> 01:47:15,267
Okay, but it's but it's stacked in months where we typically

2087
01:47:15,267 --> 01:47:16,834
wouldn't have it stacked.

2088
01:47:16,834 --> 01:47:20,701
So what assumptions do you have to make?

2089
01:47:20,701 --> 01:47:23,701
around a 37 inch outcome in

2090
01:47:23,734 --> 01:47:25,634
terms of operational planning.

2091
01:47:25,634 --> 01:47:27,634
What impacts,

2092
01:47:28,634 --> 01:47:31,934
and I know there's so many variables in terms of where

2093
01:47:31,934 --> 01:47:34,934
it hits, what the conditions,

2094
01:47:35,234 --> 01:47:38,968
precedent conditions are in that area, but what

2095
01:47:38,968 --> 01:47:41,368
what important assumptions should

2096
01:47:42,234 --> 01:47:45,634
we be making now in terms of planning?

2097
01:47:45,634 --> 01:47:48,968
So typically, let me just find out a

2098
01:47:48,968 --> 01:47:51,100
slide that has a better map to talk to.

2099
01:47:51,100 --> 01:47:53,500
Typically, is we exit

2100
01:47:54,534 --> 01:47:56,868
the wet season, go into the dry season.

2101
01:47:56,868 --> 01:48:01,167
We look to have all of our storage facilities full.

2102
01:48:01,167 --> 01:48:02,734
We're not planning on that right now.

2103
01:48:02,734 --> 01:48:05,133
We're trying to create some capacity.

2104
01:48:05,133 --> 01:48:07,670
We're trying to create some rooms.

2105
01:48:07,670 --> 01:48:10,367
So right now the A1 FEB down in the EAA.

2106
01:48:10,367 --> 01:48:13,467
It does have 4 feet of water, so we're going to be looking to bring it down some

2107
01:48:13,467 --> 01:48:15,267
and create some storage capacity there.

2108
01:48:15,267 --> 01:48:18,934
LA FEB has some room in it, still to go.

2109
01:48:18,934 --> 01:48:20,367
C 44.

2110
01:48:20,367 --> 01:48:23,367
As I mentioned earlier, we've shifted those operations

2111
01:48:23,367 --> 01:48:26,901
to allow a lot of that basin water to flow back to Lake Okechobee

2112
01:48:26,901 --> 01:48:31,267
to preserve space in the C44 Reservoir and C43.

2113
01:48:31,267 --> 01:48:36,868
I'll talk about in a couple minutes, but it's got a ton of room in it.

2114
01:48:36,868 --> 01:48:38,868
Mr. Spotswood.

2115
01:48:39,000 --> 01:48:40,334
Thank you, Mr. Chair.

2116
01:48:40,334 --> 01:48:43,501
John, so we're talking about Lake Okechobee

2117
01:48:43,501 --> 01:48:46,501
and some of the other infrastructure, but with this amount of rain, and I

2118
01:48:46,501 --> 01:48:49,601
think over the last week, I heard some reports and various

2119
01:48:49,601 --> 01:48:53,330
spots of flooding in residential neighborhoods and other, what

2120
01:48:53,330 --> 01:48:56,330
kind of impact are you you anticipating, you know, on those

2121
01:48:56,330 --> 01:48:59,133
communities and should we be telling people to prepare over this season

2122
01:48:59,133 --> 01:49:02,901
for what appears to be potentially unprecedented rain events?

2123
01:49:02,901 --> 01:49:06,267
Yeah, I mean, when it comes to localized flooding into

2124
01:49:06,267 --> 01:49:09,634
the 298 districts, the cities, and the neighborhoods,

2125
01:49:09,634 --> 01:49:12,801
that becomes a function of the intensity

2126
01:49:12,801 --> 01:49:15,634
of the rainfall in that area.

2127
01:49:15,634 --> 01:49:18,634
So you could take 3 inches of

2128
01:49:18,634 --> 01:49:21,801
rain and spread it out over all of Palm Beach County

2129
01:49:21,801 --> 01:49:22,934
and no one's going to notice it.

2130
01:49:22,934 --> 01:49:26,234
But if you focus it just over Boynton Beach, then

2131
01:49:26,234 --> 01:49:28,670
there's going to be some flooding.

2132
01:49:28,670 --> 01:49:31,934
So it's going to be that sort of dynamic

2133
01:49:31,934 --> 01:49:35,000
of how widespread the rains are, or there are very

2134
01:49:35,000 --> 01:49:38,334
focused, intense areas that result in street flooding,

2135
01:49:38,334 --> 01:49:41,334
citywide flooding, that kind of thing like we saw with the Fort

2136
01:49:41,334 --> 01:49:44,334
Lauderdale Airport, a while ago, that was

2137
01:49:44,334 --> 01:49:48,100
a very intense rainstorm, focused over a very small area.

2138
01:49:48,100 --> 01:49:52,200
Those are the kinds of things that lead to localized flooding.

2139
01:49:52,200 --> 01:49:55,367
It's not necessarily how our system is managed.

2140
01:49:55,367 --> 01:49:58,367
Our system has always been able to accept all of those inflows.

2141
01:49:58,367 --> 01:50:01,367
It's the question of the 298s and the cities being able

2142
01:50:01,367 --> 01:50:05,567
to deliver it to us as quickly as possible.

2143
01:50:05,567 --> 01:50:07,567
Mr. Butler and...

2144
01:50:07,701 --> 01:50:08,968
Go along with that question.

2145
01:50:08,968 --> 01:50:12,100
I mean, when we talk El Nino, Super El Nino,

2146
01:50:12,100 --> 01:50:16,667
you know, our wintertime rain comes from fronts, typically.

2147
01:50:16,667 --> 01:50:19,901
We're looking at kind of like our summertime type

2148
01:50:19,901 --> 01:50:22,701
thunderstorms with the Super El Nino?

2149
01:50:22,701 --> 01:50:25,767
Or, I mean, where's the rain come from?

2150
01:50:25,767 --> 01:50:27,501
Um, yeah, they come from the sky.

2151
01:50:27,501 --> 01:50:29,901
What happens is I

2152
01:50:30,734 --> 01:50:33,334
need to tee that up before somebody else did.

2153
01:50:33,334 --> 01:50:36,667
Sort of what happens is the Jets, the subtropical

2154
01:50:36,667 --> 01:50:39,667
jet stream comes closer down to Florida,

2155
01:50:39,667 --> 01:50:42,901
and when those trade winds start coming across, it holds

2156
01:50:42,901 --> 01:50:46,501
that as a boundary road over the southern continental US,

2157
01:50:46,501 --> 01:50:49,968
right to the southeast, and that's what produces those enhanced

2158
01:50:49,968 --> 01:50:51,601
rains over South Florida.

2159
01:50:51,601 --> 01:50:54,634
And if for some of the maps that Drew was

2160
01:50:54,634 --> 01:50:57,767
mentioning a moment ago, the really high intensity stuff

2161
01:50:57,767 --> 01:51:00,767
is focused over the Mexico

2162
01:51:00,934 --> 01:51:02,968
and into the Gulf.

2163
01:51:02,968 --> 01:51:08,968
And we're just like on the edge of it.

2164
01:51:10,167 --> 01:51:11,701
Yeah.

2165
01:51:11,701 --> 01:51:17,101
So it'll be frontal type reigns, but superfronts.

2166
01:51:17,167 --> 01:51:19,167
Super duper front.

2167
01:51:20,000 --> 01:51:23,234
If I recall, the uh, so the last um,

2168
01:51:23,234 --> 01:51:26,834
Super El Nino was 15, 16, and if

2169
01:51:27,434 --> 01:51:30,801
you could reflect, John, where our challenges were in 1516,

2170
01:51:30,801 --> 01:51:34,100
um, I mean, where, where from an operation

2171
01:51:34,100 --> 01:51:37,100
standpoint, where the critical areas become,

2172
01:51:37,100 --> 01:51:41,330
when you have that Super El Nino experience?

2173
01:51:41,330 --> 01:51:44,330
Yeah, typically, the areas are

2174
01:51:44,334 --> 01:51:47,400
obviously just dealing with Lake Okechobee and its levels and looking at

2175
01:51:47,400 --> 01:51:49,670
estuary discharge.

2176
01:51:49,670 --> 01:51:52,200
The South Day conveyance system, Southern

2177
01:51:52,200 --> 01:51:55,534
Dade area, moving that water down

2178
01:51:55,534 --> 01:51:59,567
through the system becomes problematic at times, especially

2179
01:51:59,567 --> 01:52:02,868
during their dry season because that's where a lot of the,

2180
01:52:02,868 --> 01:52:04,968
at least for the Southeastern US.

2181
01:52:04,968 --> 01:52:06,234
There's winter crops.

2182
01:52:06,234 --> 01:52:08,501
Some or winter vegetables are produced.

2183
01:52:08,501 --> 01:52:11,968
So trying to manage that canal system becomes a

2184
01:52:11,968 --> 01:52:14,534
challenging at times with intense rainfalls.

2185
01:52:14,534 --> 01:52:17,601
But then it is some of the more lower

2186
01:52:17,601 --> 01:52:20,234
east coast, the cities and the towns.

2187
01:52:20,234 --> 01:52:23,667
Obviously, within the Everglades agricultural area,

2188
01:52:23,667 --> 01:52:26,667
managing that for their winter

2189
01:52:26,701 --> 01:52:28,330
vegetable production.

2190
01:52:28,330 --> 01:52:31,633
But the Kissimmee River, um, up

2191
01:52:32,234 --> 01:52:35,300
as you get into the upper chain up there around

2192
01:52:35,300 --> 01:52:37,801
some of those smaller lakes that become very flashy.

2193
01:52:37,801 --> 01:52:40,734
We saw this during Ian with those intense rains.

2194
01:52:40,734 --> 01:52:43,868
That can be problematic and we are very

2195
01:52:43,868 --> 01:52:47,330
proactive in getting ahead of those gate openings and start

2196
01:52:47,330 --> 01:52:49,901
moving that water down the system.

2197
01:52:49,901 --> 01:52:52,267
Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair.

2198
01:52:52,267 --> 01:52:55,734
John, the unprecedented nature of this the

2199
01:52:55,734 --> 01:52:57,300
strength of this El Nino.

2200
01:52:57,300 --> 01:53:00,267
Obviously, if Drew is referring to it as a

2201
01:53:00,267 --> 01:53:05,667
super duper El Nino, there's no meteorological term.

2202
01:53:06,133 --> 01:53:09,167
So there's nothing besides a La Nina

2203
01:53:09,167 --> 01:53:11,200
and an El Nino.

2204
01:53:11,200 --> 01:53:11,667
Correct.

2205
01:53:11,667 --> 01:53:12,467
Okay.

2206
01:53:12,467 --> 01:53:15,467
And is it, um, correct

2207
01:53:16,334 --> 01:53:19,634
to say that it looks like for this year, our

2208
01:53:19,634 --> 01:53:23,434
wet season and dry season of kind of flipped?

2209
01:53:23,434 --> 01:53:26,467
Potentially, yeah, we've had a very dry, or a below

2210
01:53:26,467 --> 01:53:29,601
average dry, wet season, and the dry

2211
01:53:29,601 --> 01:53:32,100
season is forecasted to be well above average.

2212
01:53:32,100 --> 01:53:34,934
Now, how could that influence storm activity?

2213
01:53:34,934 --> 01:53:38,100
Would that flip the storm activity to the

2214
01:53:38,100 --> 01:53:40,100
wetter month?

2215
01:53:40,767 --> 01:53:44,100
Or, you know, being that the summer is

2216
01:53:44,100 --> 01:53:47,334
the drier time and it appears like they could be flipped?

2217
01:53:47,334 --> 01:53:50,501
Where would the storms fall on that?

2218
01:53:50,501 --> 01:53:52,434
I'm not sure I understand what you're asking.

2219
01:53:52,434 --> 01:53:56,100
Well, if you have tropical storms in the summer because of the weather

2220
01:53:56,100 --> 01:53:59,334
patterns and the degree of, you know, large amount of rain.

2221
01:53:59,334 --> 01:54:03,267
And this happens now in the dry season.

2222
01:54:03,267 --> 01:54:06,767
because they're flipped, would our storm

2223
01:54:06,767 --> 01:54:09,767
probability be greater where this,

2224
01:54:09,934 --> 01:54:11,300
no, no.

2225
01:54:11,300 --> 01:54:14,300
Pretty much once you exit the hurricane season towards the end of

2226
01:54:14,300 --> 01:54:18,133
November, it's unlikely that you're going to get tropical systems that come through.

2227
01:54:18,133 --> 01:54:21,567
It's more driven by the fronts that we were talking about that come down.

2228
01:54:21,567 --> 01:54:22,567
Okay, good.

2229
01:54:22,567 --> 01:54:23,000
Thank you.

2230
01:54:23,000 --> 01:54:27,968
John, do you remember the lake level in like November 15th?

2231
01:54:27,968 --> 01:54:29,467
I do not off the top of my head.

2232
01:54:29,467 --> 01:54:34,701
Sorry to just ask you random question, but come on, John.

2233
01:54:34,701 --> 01:54:37,934
I'm guessing it was higher than where it is right now.

2234
01:54:37,934 --> 01:54:39,667
That would be a good guess.

2235
01:54:39,667 --> 01:54:40,670
Okay.

2236
01:54:40,670 --> 01:54:43,667
And it probably couldn't go as high then

2237
01:54:43,667 --> 01:54:45,167
as it can today, correct?

2238
01:54:45,167 --> 01:54:45,901
Correct.

2239
01:54:45,901 --> 01:54:49,501
The one graph that shows the...

2240
01:54:57,167 --> 01:54:58,234
There you go.

2241
01:54:58,234 --> 01:55:03,340
So, we are lower than we were at 50.

2242
01:55:04,670 --> 01:55:06,467
Without, without, without expressing

2243
01:55:07,534 --> 01:55:09,934
mission accomplished, um, you

2244
01:55:10,667 --> 01:55:13,901
know, in terms of where we are in the lake right

2245
01:55:13,901 --> 01:55:18,101
now, and being perfectly set up, um,

2246
01:55:18,601 --> 01:55:21,634
I don't recall us having insight

2247
01:55:21,634 --> 01:55:24,734
into a Super El Nino when

2248
01:55:24,734 --> 01:55:26,968
we went into recovery, or did we?

2249
01:55:26,968 --> 01:55:29,000
How far in advance?

2250
01:55:29,000 --> 01:55:31,200
Now, it's just luck.

2251
01:55:31,200 --> 01:55:32,167
Okay.

2252
01:55:32,167 --> 01:55:37,701
I was gonna give you some genius factor, but I didn't think we could.

2253
01:55:37,701 --> 01:55:39,701
Wow.

2254
01:55:39,801 --> 01:55:40,968
You have anything, Mr. Beller?

2255
01:55:40,968 --> 01:55:47,400
A question, Cassandra, um, you know, when we start talking, just, just...

2256
01:55:47,400 --> 01:55:48,968
We talk SAV and the lake.

2257
01:55:48,968 --> 01:55:53,167
Um, and we see a rising lake in the cooler months.

2258
01:55:53,167 --> 01:55:55,501
What is temperature effect on SAV?

2259
01:55:55,501 --> 01:55:58,167
Is there a temperature effect on SAV growth?

2260
01:55:58,167 --> 01:56:01,234
There is, but at the levels that we have here

2261
01:56:01,234 --> 01:56:03,167
in South Florida, it's minimal.

2262
01:56:03,167 --> 01:56:06,534
There's a slight reduction in productivity,

2263
01:56:06,534 --> 01:56:11,300
but in general, because especially because the water holds heat longer than the air.

2264
01:56:11,300 --> 01:56:14,501
It has less of an impact than you might think.

2265
01:56:14,501 --> 01:56:17,534
And thank you for bringing that up because that was something that I wanted

2266
01:56:17,534 --> 01:56:20,901
to mention, is that, um, Zach

2267
01:56:20,901 --> 01:56:23,901
was telling me about how the

2268
01:56:23,901 --> 01:56:27,670
anticipated rise, rate of rise, the ascension

2269
01:56:27,670 --> 01:56:29,000
rate in the lake is supposed to be.

2270
01:56:29,000 --> 01:56:31,330
It's not an all at once rise.

2271
01:56:31,330 --> 01:56:33,434
It's going to be a slow gradual step.

2272
01:56:33,434 --> 01:56:36,434
And he said, this is going to be very beneficial for the SAV to

2273
01:56:36,434 --> 01:56:39,734
hold on, take on, you know, be able to mature and

2274
01:56:39,734 --> 01:56:42,734
make it through to the spring in a

2275
01:56:42,734 --> 01:56:46,133
very healthy, robust way because of the anticipated

2276
01:56:46,133 --> 01:56:49,200
ascension rates with the way the water's going to come

2277
01:56:49,200 --> 01:56:50,267
in over the dry season.

2278
01:56:50,267 --> 01:56:52,300
And I didn't want to say it out loud.

2279
01:56:52,300 --> 01:56:54,330
I sure hope that comes to fruition.

2280
01:56:54,330 --> 01:56:54,834
It'd be awful cool.

2281
01:56:54,834 --> 01:56:57,234
Yeah, it would be.

2282
01:56:59,434 --> 01:57:00,667
All right.

2283
01:57:00,667 --> 01:57:05,167
So moving on, quick update on the C43 Reservoir.

2284
01:57:05,167 --> 01:57:08,434
As we just talked about, what season started producing that runoff,

2285
01:57:08,434 --> 01:57:11,501
so we are in the initial fill is underway.

2286
01:57:11,501 --> 01:57:15,434
Actually, because of that runoff and the increased

2287
01:57:15,434 --> 01:57:17,734
flows out of the Cloosahachie basin.

2288
01:57:17,734 --> 01:57:20,767
We've been able to put sufficient water into the

2289
01:57:20,767 --> 01:57:23,834
reservoir to achieve the 1st milestone, which is getting it up

2290
01:57:23,834 --> 01:57:25,834
to elevation 25 feet.

2291
01:57:26,300 --> 01:57:29,300
So now that we are at elevation 25, we're

2292
01:57:29,300 --> 01:57:32,467
going to hold for about 30 days and perform

2293
01:57:32,467 --> 01:57:36,234
all the necessary inspections of the dam, drive

2294
01:57:36,234 --> 01:57:39,300
around and look for any increased areas of seepage or anything like

2295
01:57:39,300 --> 01:57:42,467
that and perform all the damn safety checks that we do as

2296
01:57:42,467 --> 01:57:44,467
we go through an incremental rise.

2297
01:57:44,467 --> 01:57:47,467
You will see the pump station running from time to

2298
01:57:47,467 --> 01:57:50,501
time, even during that 30 days, because

2299
01:57:50,501 --> 01:57:53,701
we're just trying to keep it and maintain it at elevation

2300
01:57:53,701 --> 01:57:55,267
25 feet.

2301
01:57:55,267 --> 01:57:58,300
And it'll fluctuate just a little bit higher around there, but

2302
01:57:58,300 --> 01:58:01,367
we'll also be looking to perform the commissioning of

2303
01:58:01,367 --> 01:58:05,501
the alum system, which is this little building right here for

2304
01:58:05,501 --> 01:58:07,501
the reservoir inflows.

2305
01:58:07,634 --> 01:58:09,767
But what does that initial fill looks like?

2306
01:58:09,767 --> 01:58:13,167
sort of this is sort of the schedule of the initial fill?

2307
01:58:13,167 --> 01:58:16,767
You'll see we're sitting right here, right now at Elevation 25.

2308
01:58:16,767 --> 01:58:19,601
We'll continue to increase cell one.

2309
01:58:19,601 --> 01:58:21,734
This is the cell 2 trajectory.

2310
01:58:21,734 --> 01:58:23,968
We'll keep water in cell one.

2311
01:58:23,968 --> 01:58:27,501
And then we stop and we monitor these various head differentials

2312
01:58:27,501 --> 01:58:30,601
across the intermediate dam such that

2313
01:58:30,601 --> 01:58:33,801
there's water stacked up in cell one, but cell 2

2314
01:58:33,801 --> 01:58:37,400
still is dry relatively dry, except for that direct rainfall.

2315
01:58:37,400 --> 01:58:40,667
And then we continue that testing all the way up to the full pool.

2316
01:58:40,667 --> 01:58:43,801
And then we do the reverse while there's water in

2317
01:58:43,801 --> 01:58:46,801
cell 2 and we draw down cell one, et

2318
01:58:46,801 --> 01:58:49,801
cetera, et cetera, until finally testing is done.

2319
01:58:49,801 --> 01:58:52,200
Given what we just talked about, with the inflows,

2320
01:58:52,200 --> 01:58:55,300
These dates across the bottom could probably move to the left

2321
01:58:55,300 --> 01:58:56,567
if we have sufficient water.

2322
01:58:56,567 --> 01:58:59,567
One of the reasons why it is the way it is now is because of

2323
01:58:59,567 --> 01:59:02,968
that lack of water, but if we get into sufficient amount of water,

2324
01:59:02,968 --> 01:59:07,768
then maybe we can progress through this regimented

2325
01:59:07,901 --> 01:59:11,000
inspection schedule a little bit quicker, but recognizing each

2326
01:59:11,000 --> 01:59:15,968
one of these flat spots are the hold periods.

2327
01:59:15,968 --> 01:59:19,000
So, what does the reservoir actually look like

2328
01:59:19,000 --> 01:59:20,968
as it's building?

2329
01:59:20,968 --> 01:59:24,200
This is a digital elevation model

2330
01:59:24,200 --> 01:59:27,501
we created with LIDAR back before

2331
01:59:27,501 --> 01:59:29,000
we started construction.

2332
01:59:29,000 --> 01:59:32,234
So you're sitting in the northwest corner

2333
01:59:32,234 --> 01:59:34,567
of the reservoir, pump station is right here.

2334
01:59:34,567 --> 01:59:36,967
Ignore these spikes, because

2335
01:59:38,000 --> 01:59:40,400
those were the loading

2336
01:59:42,534 --> 01:59:45,901
mounds that we had constructed to compact the geology

2337
01:59:45,901 --> 01:59:49,501
where the structures would go when we perform this LIDAR.

2338
01:59:49,501 --> 01:59:51,100
So just ignore the spikes.

2339
01:59:51,100 --> 01:59:53,133
Just think of it as still flat.

2340
01:59:53,133 --> 01:59:56,434
So when I hit it here, you'll start to see how the reservoir fills up.

2341
01:59:56,434 --> 01:59:59,567
There's about 10 feet across the reservoir from

2342
01:59:59,567 --> 02:00:01,133
this corner to that corner.

2343
02:00:01,133 --> 02:00:03,533
This is about elevation 17,

2344
02:00:04,434 --> 02:00:07,167
and over here in the southwest corner is 27.

2345
02:00:07,167 --> 02:00:08,734
So cell one will fill up first.

2346
02:00:08,734 --> 02:00:10,467
Image is gonna flip around.

2347
02:00:10,467 --> 02:00:13,467
So you get a better, better vantage point of cell 2

2348
02:00:13,467 --> 02:00:15,467
and then sell 2

2349
02:00:15,934 --> 02:00:19,330
We'll start filling up again from that corner, start working its way

2350
02:00:19,330 --> 02:00:22,267
back up the hill until you get it all filled

2351
02:00:22,267 --> 02:00:26,000
in and you're up ground surface at elevation 25.

2352
02:00:26,000 --> 02:00:29,600
Full pool is up at elevation 44.

2353
02:00:29,701 --> 02:00:33,300
So average depth across the reservoir, 17 feet,

2354
02:00:33,300 --> 02:00:36,367
but the deepest part is over here on the western

2355
02:00:36,367 --> 02:00:39,367
side in the 22, 23 foot range.

2356
02:00:40,300 --> 02:00:42,300
Um, And so

2357
02:00:43,434 --> 02:00:45,434
when that's the theory.

2358
02:00:45,434 --> 02:00:47,267
That's what we modeled.

2359
02:00:47,267 --> 02:00:50,267
That's what the model says, how the reservoir is going to fill up.

2360
02:00:50,267 --> 02:00:54,234
Um, and you know what they say about best laid plans of mice and men.

2361
02:00:54,234 --> 02:00:57,330
So this is what it actually has been looking at.

2362
02:00:57,330 --> 02:00:59,330
This is the a video from yesterday.

2363
02:00:59,330 --> 02:01:00,834
When we were running the pumps.

2364
02:01:00,834 --> 02:01:04,670
You can see all the water out here filling up that corner

2365
02:01:04,670 --> 02:01:07,667
just downstream of the reservoir itself.

2366
02:01:07,901 --> 02:01:10,901
It'll fly over a little bit, and you'll get a better view

2367
02:01:10,901 --> 02:01:13,901
of what it looks like.

2368
02:01:14,701 --> 02:01:16,534
And soon as it's done.

2369
02:01:16,534 --> 02:01:19,534
I'll flip over, and

2370
02:01:19,701 --> 02:01:23,901
see if I can pull this up.

2371
02:01:24,934 --> 02:01:28,330
All right, so now you're sitting up in the air, looking back

2372
02:01:28,330 --> 02:01:31,567
at the reservoir or down at the reservoir,

2373
02:01:31,567 --> 02:01:33,133
this is obviously the pump station.

2374
02:01:33,133 --> 02:01:35,834
You can see the Cloosahachie River off here in the distance.

2375
02:01:35,834 --> 02:01:37,634
This is the Townsend canal coming in.

2376
02:01:37,634 --> 02:01:39,133
State Road 80 is right there.

2377
02:01:39,133 --> 02:01:42,467
Townsend Canal comes in, Inflow Canal

2378
02:01:42,467 --> 02:01:45,434
to the pump station, into the reservoir.

2379
02:01:45,434 --> 02:01:48,000
This is the discharge canal.

2380
02:01:48,000 --> 02:01:51,234
So when the reservoir discharges flows back over this weir

2381
02:01:51,234 --> 02:01:54,234
and is delivered back to the Townsend canal.

2382
02:01:54,234 --> 02:01:57,300
If I rotate it around, you can see

2383
02:01:57,300 --> 02:02:00,267
the sort of the pawning in that corner,

2384
02:02:00,267 --> 02:02:03,400
water's starting to make its way back to the east,

2385
02:02:03,400 --> 02:02:06,501
this is one of the discharge structures itself.

2386
02:02:06,501 --> 02:02:09,634
It's pawning up against the embankment there as

2387
02:02:09,634 --> 02:02:12,701
it starts to spread out over the interior of the

2388
02:02:12,701 --> 02:02:16,601
reservoir way over here in the distance.

2389
02:02:16,601 --> 02:02:19,000
That's the separator dam.

2390
02:02:19,000 --> 02:02:23,634
This is the divide structure that goes into cell 2.

2391
02:02:23,634 --> 02:02:28,000
Waters continue to make it into the interior.

2392
02:02:28,000 --> 02:02:30,434
And then way off here in the distance.

2393
02:02:30,434 --> 02:02:33,601
That's the south east corner of

2394
02:02:33,601 --> 02:02:37,868
cell one with the southern embankment out there.

2395
02:02:37,868 --> 02:02:40,934
Water has made it starting to climb that hill

2396
02:02:40,934 --> 02:02:44,767
a little bit more, spreading out along the western face of

2397
02:02:44,767 --> 02:02:49,300
the embankment itself as it starts to fill in the

2398
02:02:49,300 --> 02:02:50,400
interior of the reservoir.

2399
02:02:50,400 --> 02:02:51,534
So that's what it looks like today.

2400
02:02:51,534 --> 02:02:54,534
Here in this corner, because

2401
02:02:55,000 --> 02:02:57,167
I said, this is the deepest part over here.

2402
02:02:57,167 --> 02:03:00,567
We've got about 7 feet of water, but

2403
02:03:00,567 --> 02:03:04,434
obviously if you're standing over here in this far corner, you're on dry lane.

2404
02:03:04,434 --> 02:03:07,400
So it's starting to work its way up the hill and it's starting to spread

2405
02:03:07,400 --> 02:03:09,267
out over the interior of the reservoir.

2406
02:03:09,267 --> 02:03:10,767
The next stopping point.

2407
02:03:10,767 --> 02:03:14,133
If you remember from the graphic

2408
02:03:14,133 --> 02:03:17,733
is up around elevation 35, I think 30.

2409
02:03:19,801 --> 02:03:22,868
So after we've gone through our inspections over the next

2410
02:03:22,868 --> 02:03:26,767
30 days, um, then we'll add um,

2411
02:03:26,767 --> 02:03:29,834
5 more feet of elevation to the reservoir, and then you should

2412
02:03:29,834 --> 02:03:35,467
see all of cell one, at least have water in it to some degree.

2413
02:03:35,467 --> 02:03:39,267
And that's all I have for you, Mr. Cheer.

2414
02:03:39,267 --> 02:03:40,634
And thank you very much for that.

2415
02:03:40,634 --> 02:03:42,601
That's fantastic.

2416
02:03:42,601 --> 02:03:45,901
I know I got a lot of questions about how

2417
02:03:45,901 --> 02:03:48,300
we're doing with the reservoir, and I think this just answered them.

2418
02:03:48,300 --> 02:03:49,567
So I really appreciate that.

2419
02:03:49,567 --> 02:03:51,968
Does anyone have any questions or comments?

2420
02:03:51,968 --> 02:03:53,200
Any questions?

2421
02:03:53,200 --> 02:03:54,400
Yeah, Mr. Sunley?

2422
02:03:54,400 --> 02:03:57,534
Um, on the overall presentation, but I, but I guess, I

2423
02:03:57,534 --> 02:04:01,134
mean, my first comment is, um,

2424
02:04:01,234 --> 02:04:04,968
thank God, in terms of timing, um,

2425
02:04:04,968 --> 02:04:08,367
on when these projects that we've,

2426
02:04:08,367 --> 02:04:10,367
the 43, C 44, the

2427
02:04:12,801 --> 02:04:15,801
reservoirs that, um, everybody has

2428
02:04:16,330 --> 02:04:20,670
spent so much time and money focused on, uh,

2429
02:04:20,670 --> 02:04:24,934
will be, it sounds like, will be available to, um,

2430
02:04:24,934 --> 02:04:28,200
sort of mitigate the impact for the estuaries.

2431
02:04:28,200 --> 02:04:34,734
Seems like the timing is as fortunate as we could have hoped.

2432
02:04:34,734 --> 02:04:39,300
On the on the question on the STA levels.

2433
02:04:39,300 --> 02:04:42,567
I can't remember what page it was.

2434
02:04:42,567 --> 02:04:45,767
But to me, it looked like the water levels were really high

2435
02:04:45,767 --> 02:04:50,834
for the conditions that we're in right now.

2436
02:04:50,834 --> 02:04:52,734
This is on the other...

2437
02:04:52,734 --> 02:04:56,934
Yeah, I'm pulling it back up.

2438
02:04:56,934 --> 02:05:01,134
Maybe I was looking at it incorrectly.

2439
02:05:03,667 --> 02:05:04,367
Okay.

2440
02:05:04,367 --> 02:05:05,868
So, yes, you are correct.

2441
02:05:05,868 --> 02:05:08,868
Right now, the cell elevations

2442
02:05:09,634 --> 02:05:12,634
in the STAs are getting high from the recent

2443
02:05:12,634 --> 02:05:15,701
runoff, and we've been having a lot of conversations about

2444
02:05:15,701 --> 02:05:18,801
how to deal with that, such that we don't have

2445
02:05:18,801 --> 02:05:21,634
impacts to the vegetation itself.

2446
02:05:21,634 --> 02:05:25,330
deep when you have prolonged high

2447
02:05:25,330 --> 02:05:28,100
levels within the STAs, then as we've talked about it,

2448
02:05:28,100 --> 02:05:31,100
a couple prior board meetings, you'll

2449
02:05:31,100 --> 02:05:34,334
have delamination of the vegetation where it literally just pops

2450
02:05:34,334 --> 02:05:37,334
up out of the ground and you'll have tussocks start floating around.

2451
02:05:37,334 --> 02:05:40,334
And we had to take down the eastern

2452
02:05:40,334 --> 02:05:44,701
flow way of STA 34 for that exact reason not too long ago.

2453
02:05:44,701 --> 02:05:47,701
So we are keeping a very close eye on that and how

2454
02:05:47,701 --> 02:05:51,000
we implement the operations within the EAA.

2455
02:05:51,000 --> 02:05:54,330
Specifically, we've been trying to take some

2456
02:05:54,330 --> 02:05:57,400
of that water that would go into 34 STA 2

2457
02:05:57,400 --> 02:06:00,400
and move it over into the eastern flow way and put it into

2458
02:06:00,400 --> 02:06:02,634
the LA FEB that way.

2459
02:06:02,634 --> 02:06:06,234
So just trying to optimize how

2460
02:06:06,267 --> 02:06:08,000
the overall operations work.

2461
02:06:08,000 --> 02:06:11,670
And that's facilitated by the interconnect that we had made with

2462
02:06:11,670 --> 02:06:14,133
the bowls canal a number of years ago to allow us to

2463
02:06:14,133 --> 02:06:16,534
provide some of that additional connectivity.

2464
02:06:16,534 --> 02:06:19,634
I guess I'm still trying to understand why without

2465
02:06:19,634 --> 02:06:23,000
a lot of rain, why are the water levels higher than

2466
02:06:23,000 --> 02:06:24,968
when we have a lot of rain?

2467
02:06:24,968 --> 02:06:29,000
Is that, is it because there's more irrigation occurring?

2468
02:06:29,000 --> 02:06:31,200
No, there has been a lot of rain.

2469
02:06:31,200 --> 02:06:34,400
They have had several one inch rain events over

2470
02:06:34,400 --> 02:06:36,000
the last two weeks or so.

2471
02:06:36,000 --> 02:06:37,567
Not specific area.

2472
02:06:37,567 --> 02:06:38,167
Yes.

2473
02:06:38,167 --> 02:06:39,100
Okay.

2474
02:06:39,100 --> 02:06:39,734
Okay.

2475
02:06:39,734 --> 02:06:42,734
Um, on the, um, on

2476
02:06:43,634 --> 02:06:47,234
the SAV lake, uh, area, um,

2477
02:06:48,670 --> 02:06:51,267
and Ben, this might go to your question.

2478
02:06:51,267 --> 02:06:53,667
The empty square, Seattle.

2479
02:06:55,670 --> 02:06:58,834
So the empty squares does not represent legacy,

2480
02:06:58,834 --> 02:07:03,340
SAV, that we're trying to recover.

2481
02:07:03,167 --> 02:07:04,234
No, sir.

2482
02:07:04,234 --> 02:07:07,300
That is the areas that they surveyed, and they

2483
02:07:07,300 --> 02:07:11,670
surveys those areas because the appropriate depth is available at that.

2484
02:07:11,670 --> 02:07:14,133
So those squares are like the outer edge

2485
02:07:14,133 --> 02:07:18,200
of what is possible for the SAV before it gets too deep.

2486
02:07:18,200 --> 02:07:21,200
And so, as you can see, almost all of it is closer towards shore

2487
02:07:21,200 --> 02:07:24,868
because that's where the ideal location is for them.

2488
02:07:24,868 --> 02:07:28,267
But yeah, those outer squares are just part of the survey,

2489
02:07:28,267 --> 02:07:31,334
and they are potential when the lake

2490
02:07:31,334 --> 02:07:34,334
is really low that the SAB could get that far into the lake.

2491
02:07:34,334 --> 02:07:36,234
Okay, thanks for that context.

2492
02:07:36,234 --> 02:07:39,434
So, just to, but to put it in, uh,

2493
02:07:39,434 --> 02:07:42,467
sort of the context of where we would like to be

2494
02:07:42,467 --> 02:07:45,901
on a historical basis in terms of late

2495
02:07:45,901 --> 02:07:49,670
conditions in SAV, where are we?

2496
02:07:49,670 --> 02:07:53,267
Um, in 26, you see some improvement over 25.

2497
02:07:53,567 --> 02:07:55,434
Where are we relative?

2498
02:07:55,434 --> 02:07:59,133
Can you remind us to where we once were in the

2499
02:07:59,133 --> 02:08:00,868
healthiest situation?

2500
02:08:00,868 --> 02:08:02,670
2015?

2501
02:08:02,670 --> 02:08:04,367
We are better than we were then.

2502
02:08:04,367 --> 02:08:07,367
So, um, I don't know if we

2503
02:08:07,367 --> 02:08:10,367
have an ideal optimum SAV coverage,

2504
02:08:10,367 --> 02:08:13,334
but I think we're really close to it closer

2505
02:08:13,334 --> 02:08:14,601
than we've been in a decade.

2506
02:08:14,601 --> 02:08:15,567
Wow.

2507
02:08:15,567 --> 02:08:19,100
So we go from pretty much losing

2508
02:08:19,100 --> 02:08:20,968
everything to recovering that quickly.

2509
02:08:20,968 --> 02:08:22,100
Yes, sir.

2510
02:08:22,100 --> 02:08:26,670
So, with the recovery operations that were implemented two

2511
02:08:26,670 --> 02:08:29,100
water years ago, um, drawing the

2512
02:08:29,100 --> 02:08:32,367
lake down and allowing the regermination,

2513
02:08:32,367 --> 02:08:35,634
plus, including the planting activities that

2514
02:08:35,634 --> 02:08:38,634
we have done this past year, has really helped,

2515
02:08:38,634 --> 02:08:42,467
uh, Kickstart the recovery of the SAV,

2516
02:08:42,467 --> 02:08:45,734
and with the continued low water levels that

2517
02:08:45,734 --> 02:08:48,701
we were not anticipating, but have been greatly

2518
02:08:48,701 --> 02:08:52,801
beneficial, has been able to further increase the amount

2519
02:08:52,801 --> 02:08:56,334
of SAV that has come back in, and not

2520
02:08:56,334 --> 02:08:59,501
having rapid ascensions with, like, a hurricane or whatnot has

2521
02:08:59,501 --> 02:09:02,634
really helped us out, is instead of, you know, getting these

2522
02:09:02,634 --> 02:09:06,534
new plants to grow and then killing them with a rapid ascension.

2523
02:09:06,534 --> 02:09:09,701
So we are looking like we are in really great shape

2524
02:09:09,701 --> 02:09:11,200
and probably next spring.

2525
02:09:11,200 --> 02:09:15,634
Assuming that our super duper El Nino doesn't knock us out.

2526
02:09:15,634 --> 02:09:17,234
We're gonna have even more.

2527
02:09:17,234 --> 02:09:18,934
Yeah, that's terrific.

2528
02:09:18,934 --> 02:09:22,467
I mean, I, I, I'm, I'm thrilled that you

2529
02:09:22,467 --> 02:09:27,867
can have a recovery uh, in the ideal conditions.

2530
02:09:28,701 --> 02:09:30,200
Sorry, Mr. Chair, a couple more.

2531
02:09:30,200 --> 02:09:33,200
Um, we, I think, did

2532
02:09:33,300 --> 02:09:36,667
we not used to have on these charger

2533
02:09:36,667 --> 02:09:39,901
reports, um, um, graphing of the

2534
02:09:39,901 --> 02:09:42,301
aquifer, uh, um, stages

2535
02:09:44,234 --> 02:09:48,234
and I guess my question is, yeah, groundwater.

2536
02:09:48,234 --> 02:09:51,234
My question is, based on

2537
02:09:51,367 --> 02:09:55,133
where we are right now, in a very dry situation,

2538
02:09:55,133 --> 02:09:58,200
one of our concerns, always a key thing that we're trying

2539
02:09:58,200 --> 02:10:01,667
to manage for is saltwater intrusion

2540
02:10:01,667 --> 02:10:04,767
into the aquifers, I would think that this would be a time where

2541
02:10:04,767 --> 02:10:08,670
we're really concerned about that occurring.

2542
02:10:08,670 --> 02:10:11,670
Do we have any reporting on that?

2543
02:10:11,670 --> 02:10:13,100
Yeah, we do, you are correct.

2544
02:10:13,100 --> 02:10:15,400
You do get that slide.

2545
02:10:15,400 --> 02:10:18,634
I added in there, depending on conditions and where we are.

2546
02:10:18,634 --> 02:10:21,801
Typically during the wet season, I don't include, because

2547
02:10:21,801 --> 02:10:25,330
for the most part, you're getting that rainfall, the aquifers are filling up.

2548
02:10:25,330 --> 02:10:28,501
Right now, especially along the lower east coast,

2549
02:10:28,501 --> 02:10:31,567
we're not seeing any issues because of those rains

2550
02:10:31,567 --> 02:10:34,701
as we get deeper into the dry season, then that graphic

2551
02:10:34,701 --> 02:10:36,670
will come back into the presentation.

2552
02:10:36,670 --> 02:10:40,000
So right now, with super dry conditions,

2553
02:10:40,000 --> 02:10:44,200
not a lot of water recharging the aquifers,

2554
02:10:44,200 --> 02:10:47,200
we are not experiencing too

2555
02:10:47,868 --> 02:10:51,167
much salt water or more salt water intrusion than we usually do.

2556
02:10:51,167 --> 02:10:53,701
Not alone, Lower East Coast, now, because we...

2557
02:10:53,701 --> 02:10:58,767
We've got the direct rainfall propping up the canal system and holding it back.

2558
02:10:58,767 --> 02:11:00,400
Okay, so far so good.

2559
02:11:00,400 --> 02:11:04,434
The only thing I'm concerned about is the hypersalinity in the bay.

2560
02:11:04,434 --> 02:11:07,467
And I think what's been really helpful in the past is you guys

2561
02:11:07,467 --> 02:11:10,467
have informed us that, in

2562
02:11:10,834 --> 02:11:14,133
terms of the, um, seagrass recovery

2563
02:11:14,133 --> 02:11:16,533
after, was it, 2018 or...

2564
02:11:17,901 --> 02:11:18,400
15?

2565
02:11:18,400 --> 02:11:19,701
15?

2566
02:11:19,701 --> 02:11:22,834
That the, that the, um, the growback

2567
02:11:22,834 --> 02:11:25,834
was, um, types of grasses

2568
02:11:25,834 --> 02:11:29,367
that are more resilient to hypersalinity situations.

2569
02:11:29,367 --> 02:11:31,200
Yeah, that was correct.

2570
02:11:31,200 --> 02:11:34,200
And a couple of months ago, I did present the information.

2571
02:11:34,200 --> 02:11:36,670
So we've had a species shift.

2572
02:11:36,670 --> 02:11:39,234
We've got more species, and the plants are farther apart,

2573
02:11:39,234 --> 02:11:42,300
so they don't have that low oxygen condition that they had

2574
02:11:42,300 --> 02:11:45,767
before when they were really closely lumped

2575
02:11:45,767 --> 02:11:49,334
together, and the water couldn't circulate around within there.

2576
02:11:49,334 --> 02:11:52,501
One of the other differences that we are seeing this

2577
02:11:52,501 --> 02:11:56,133
time is that the temperatures are not quite as high as they were.

2578
02:11:56,133 --> 02:11:59,801
So the timing of the temperature with the hypersalinity

2579
02:11:59,801 --> 02:12:02,968
is not lining up in the same way that it did in

2580
02:12:02,968 --> 02:12:04,167
2015.

2581
02:12:04,167 --> 02:12:07,300
So there's a couple of reasons why we

2582
02:12:07,300 --> 02:12:10,701
are not yet, or hopefully never will see that seagrass

2583
02:12:10,701 --> 02:12:13,701
die off that we saw in 2015, is

2584
02:12:13,701 --> 02:12:16,901
the situation is different in both chemistry,

2585
02:12:16,901 --> 02:12:19,330
temperature, and species dynamics.

2586
02:12:19,330 --> 02:12:22,868
And given the amount of rain we expect over the winter, we

2587
02:12:22,868 --> 02:12:26,000
don't expect, then I assumed it to get to a condition

2588
02:12:26,000 --> 02:12:29,000
where there would be an impact.

2589
02:12:29,000 --> 02:12:30,670
That's correct.

2590
02:12:30,670 --> 02:12:33,968
So we're already starting to see that downturn in the salinity.

2591
02:12:33,968 --> 02:12:37,133
Hopefully, it continues, and as we move into the

2592
02:12:37,133 --> 02:12:40,501
coming weeks, we're gonna expect more above average.

2593
02:12:40,501 --> 02:12:43,501
And I think that the Florida based system

2594
02:12:43,501 --> 02:12:46,734
is one of the areas that's expecting above average terrain

2595
02:12:46,734 --> 02:12:48,000
over the next couple of weeks.

2596
02:12:48,000 --> 02:12:49,801
So we should hopefully continue to see that.

2597
02:12:49,801 --> 02:12:53,968
So I think we're past the point of, uh,

2598
02:12:53,968 --> 02:12:57,100
you know, dire concern and that we're moving now back into

2599
02:12:57,100 --> 02:12:59,100
more normal conditions.

2600
02:13:00,200 --> 02:13:02,600
I mean, it's

2601
02:13:04,367 --> 02:13:07,901
good to hear that we seem to be in good condition for extreme

2602
02:13:07,901 --> 02:13:10,767
conditions, both ways, the dry, and then the upcoming.

2603
02:13:10,767 --> 02:13:12,767
Thanks.

2604
02:13:13,300 --> 02:13:15,300
Anyone else?

2605
02:13:15,534 --> 02:13:17,534
Thank you both.

2606
02:13:18,434 --> 02:13:25,634
We'll move now to the monthly financial report with Ms. Heater.

2607
02:13:29,334 --> 02:13:31,334
Good afternoon.

2608
02:13:31,767 --> 02:13:34,267
So, the monthly financial report.

2609
02:13:34,267 --> 02:13:37,701
Um, in your packet and posted on the web is

2610
02:13:37,701 --> 02:13:39,701
through July 31, 2026.

2611
02:13:41,000 --> 02:13:44,467
Um, through July, we have collected

2612
02:13:44,467 --> 02:13:48,000
um, over a $1000000000 in revenue and

2613
02:13:48,000 --> 02:13:50,000
expended a $1000000000.

2614
02:13:51,467 --> 02:13:54,601
Um, from June to July, revenues

2615
02:13:54,601 --> 02:13:57,100
increased by approximately $90000, uh,

2616
02:13:58,300 --> 02:14:01,300
consisting of 7000000 in Avalorm revenue, 76

2617
02:14:02,133 --> 02:14:05,567
million in intergovernmental, and 7 million from

2618
02:14:05,567 --> 02:14:08,801
permit fees, leases, um, investment earnings,

2619
02:14:08,801 --> 02:14:11,201
and other revenue sources.

2620
02:14:11,434 --> 02:14:14,434
Of the $1000000 collected through July, $586

2621
02:14:15,701 --> 02:14:19,301
million is from the intergovernmental revenues.

2622
02:14:19,434 --> 02:14:21,434
405000000 from taxes, um,

2623
02:14:22,934 --> 02:14:25,334
and 54000000 from investment earnings

2624
02:14:26,000 --> 02:14:28,400
licenses, permits fees, leases.

2625
02:14:29,701 --> 02:14:33,301
Overall, the district has collected approximately

2626
02:14:33,501 --> 02:14:35,901
46.9% of the budgeted revenue.

2627
02:14:36,968 --> 02:14:39,901
Again, the drag is the intergovernmental.

2628
02:14:39,901 --> 02:14:43,400
That's based on expenditures out, revenue in.

2629
02:14:43,400 --> 02:14:46,434
So, the good indicators to look at your recurring

2630
02:14:46,434 --> 02:14:48,000
revenue against your recurring expenses.

2631
02:14:48,000 --> 02:14:52,200
So recurring revenue, uh, we've collected 98%.

2632
02:14:52,300 --> 02:14:54,634
So we're in good shape.

2633
02:14:54,634 --> 02:14:57,634
Uh, revenue collections are averaging

2634
02:14:57,701 --> 02:15:00,101
approximately 1000000 per month, and

2635
02:15:01,367 --> 02:15:05,133
then compared to this time last year, we were to 109.

2636
02:15:05,133 --> 02:15:07,133
A million.

2637
02:15:07,434 --> 02:15:10,968
So, we were hiring and grow a mental.

2638
02:15:10,968 --> 02:15:14,367
Um, the expenditure highlights, uh, the $1 billion

2639
02:15:14,367 --> 02:15:16,767
in expenditures uh, programmatically.

2640
02:15:17,534 --> 02:15:19,534
46 million or 5% is

2641
02:15:20,834 --> 02:15:24,434
in your water supply planning, science areas.

2642
02:15:24,434 --> 02:15:27,434
Uh, 20 million in regulation are 2%.

2643
02:15:28,167 --> 02:15:30,167
892 million, or 89%

2644
02:15:31,501 --> 02:15:34,501
in Everglades, operations and maintenance

2645
02:15:34,634 --> 02:15:37,634
and land management, 41 million, or 4%,

2646
02:15:38,334 --> 02:15:41,334
supported by administration outreach, which

2647
02:15:42,000 --> 02:15:46,133
remains well below the statutory threshold of 15%.

2648
02:15:46,133 --> 02:15:50,868
Per statute, we have to stay between below 15% or four.

2649
02:15:50,868 --> 02:15:53,868
District expenditures are averaging approximately 1000000

2650
02:15:55,000 --> 02:15:59,200
per month compared with approximately 98000000 last year.

2651
02:16:00,234 --> 02:16:02,234
Finally, we are 76%

2652
02:16:03,834 --> 02:16:07,434
of the budget obligated through July.

2653
02:16:08,601 --> 02:16:11,601
So that concludes my update.

2654
02:16:14,200 --> 02:16:17,667
Does anyone have any questions or comments for Miss Heater?

2655
02:16:17,667 --> 02:16:19,234
Thanks, Will we see you again soon?

2656
02:16:19,234 --> 02:16:22,100
Yes, I'll see you soon.

2657
02:16:22,100 --> 02:16:24,868
We'll move now to a final general public comment.

2658
02:16:24,868 --> 02:16:26,868
Is there any?

2659
02:16:27,133 --> 02:16:28,334
Yes, Mr. Chairman.

2660
02:16:28,334 --> 02:16:34,334
We'll hear from Ben Olsen, followed by Mark Perry.

2661
02:16:39,901 --> 02:16:42,467
Okay, so, as I said, this speech is not so positive.

2662
02:16:42,467 --> 02:16:45,601
I told you last month about the FWC illegally tracking

2663
02:16:45,601 --> 02:16:48,701
me and dozens of others, it's far worse than I ever believed it

2664
02:16:48,701 --> 02:16:51,767
could be at that time, but I had it kind of figured out by the Everglades

2665
02:16:51,767 --> 02:16:52,968
Task Force working group meeting.

2666
02:16:52,968 --> 02:16:56,330
On August 25th, I made comments I never thought I'd have to

2667
02:16:56,330 --> 02:16:58,868
make with respect to an Everglades restoration project.

2668
02:16:58,868 --> 02:17:01,601
Some of you are aware of this, but unfortunately, it's out in the open now.

2669
02:17:01,601 --> 02:17:05,868
There was never any desire to bring this up personally until my hand was forced.

2670
02:17:05,868 --> 02:17:09,267
In 2016, my mother was diagnosed with early onset dementia.

2671
02:17:09,267 --> 02:17:12,467
And through the Battle of Warp, it fell to me to voice her history,

2672
02:17:12,467 --> 02:17:14,434
her experiences and her knowledge.

2673
02:17:14,434 --> 02:17:17,834
Had we been involved from the beginning, she could have told you herself that she swam in Kissimmee

2674
02:17:17,834 --> 02:17:20,968
Billy Pond, as my great grandfather built Kissimmee Billy Road, but

2675
02:17:20,968 --> 02:17:25,534
by the time we were informed of WARP in 2022, she was unable to properly communicate.

2676
02:17:25,534 --> 02:17:28,634
As I said, at the working group meeting, I had informed an FWC superior

2677
02:17:28,634 --> 02:17:32,300
that we uncovered, the spouse of an individual who was tracked, was being illegally tracked as well.

2678
02:17:32,300 --> 02:17:35,601
And the superior told me that it's the standard operating procedure to

2679
02:17:35,601 --> 02:17:37,467
search all individuals in a house.

2680
02:17:37,467 --> 02:17:40,634
I was living with my parents at the time taking care of my mom.

2681
02:17:40,634 --> 02:17:44,467
The working group meeting, I expressed concerns about my parents being tracked.

2682
02:17:44,467 --> 02:17:47,868
I had already submitted requests for them, and I knew my father had to be tracked.

2683
02:17:47,868 --> 02:17:51,100
The information from David was obtained by FWC law enforcement

2684
02:17:51,100 --> 02:17:54,501
to track individuals such as myself through flock cameras.

2685
02:17:54,501 --> 02:17:57,330
The truck I was driving at the drive was registered in my father's name.

2686
02:17:57,330 --> 02:18:00,400
So when I found out that my vehicle was likely in the data, I concluded

2687
02:18:00,400 --> 02:18:03,534
my father would have had to be searched as well.

2688
02:18:03,534 --> 02:18:06,534
On the 31st, we finalized the sale of my parents' home.

2689
02:18:06,534 --> 02:18:10,670
And at 935 that morning, I shut the door on that house one last time.

2690
02:18:10,670 --> 02:18:13,167
I stood there for a moment and I thought about everything I had dealt with in

2691
02:18:13,167 --> 02:18:16,334
that house from a happy childhood memories to the last days of my mother's life.

2692
02:18:16,334 --> 02:18:19,334
When I closed that door, I thought to myself that chapter of my life was over

2693
02:18:19,334 --> 02:18:22,167
and I dammed up those emotions ready to move forward.

2694
02:18:22,167 --> 02:18:25,334
I know it was 935 because at 9.36

2695
02:18:25,334 --> 02:18:28,330
an email came in with my mother's David audit look.

2696
02:18:28,330 --> 02:18:31,934
The FWC illegally searched a woman 9 years into dementia at that point.

2697
02:18:31,934 --> 02:18:34,934
13 times so they could illegally track her son,

2698
02:18:34,934 --> 02:18:37,167
all because I attend meetings like this.

2699
02:18:37,167 --> 02:18:40,601
Combined, they searched my parents and I 50 times.

2700
02:18:40,601 --> 02:18:43,868
Make no mistake, the developing story that led to the DOT and the governor's

2701
02:18:43,868 --> 02:18:47,334
office, voicing opposition to automatic license plate readers, is this story.

2702
02:18:47,334 --> 02:18:50,801
This is not just about me, but the dozens of lawyers,

2703
02:18:50,801 --> 02:18:52,801
environmentalists, influencers, conservationists,

2704
02:18:53,801 --> 02:18:57,167
and journalists being illegally tracked by ALPR gamers.

2705
02:18:57,167 --> 02:19:00,400
I don't need to sit here and explain the severity of this to you, but

2706
02:19:00,400 --> 02:19:03,534
they're tracking families and they don't care who they target.

2707
02:19:03,534 --> 02:19:05,667
So I apologize if this is a more serious tone.

2708
02:19:05,667 --> 02:19:08,868
And I want to thank you for writing the ship with us, because the Land Steward

2709
02:19:08,868 --> 02:19:12,330
meeting was a huge positive on one of the most chaotic weeks I've

2710
02:19:12,330 --> 02:19:14,734
ever dealt with, certainly, since my mom passed last year.

2711
02:19:14,734 --> 02:19:17,734
But I'll make the same comments I made at the working group here today.

2712
02:19:17,734 --> 02:19:21,200
All legal resource recourse will be taken to

2713
02:19:21,200 --> 02:19:24,200
ensure everyone involved serves maximum penalties from the

2714
02:19:24,200 --> 02:19:27,167
low-level officers that searched us to the highest positions involved.

2715
02:19:27,167 --> 02:19:30,300
Tracking a woman with dementia is so beyond the pale, and

2716
02:19:30,300 --> 02:19:31,400
it will be dealt with accordingly.

2717
02:19:31,400 --> 02:19:34,400
So thank you again for working with us, and I hope you will all

2718
02:19:34,400 --> 02:19:38,334
voice your opposition up the chain to the governor of the state legislature.

2719
02:19:38,334 --> 02:19:41,334
The flock surveillance system can't be allowed in the free state of Florida.

2720
02:19:41,334 --> 02:19:44,701
Especially when they are targeting individuals who simply attend

2721
02:19:44,701 --> 02:19:46,534
your meetings and their families.

2722
02:19:46,534 --> 02:19:46,901
Thank you.

2723
02:19:46,901 --> 02:19:48,601
Thank you, Mr. Olsen.

2724
02:19:48,601 --> 02:19:52,201
We'll hear from Mark Perry.

2725
02:19:56,133 --> 02:19:57,901
Governing, we're just three quick things.

2726
02:19:57,901 --> 02:20:00,934
I meant to show you that big map of the

2727
02:20:00,934 --> 02:20:04,234
district area because of the laterals to the small little blue

2728
02:20:04,234 --> 02:20:07,234
lines that all connect to those project culverts and

2729
02:20:07,234 --> 02:20:09,200
eventually go into the works of the district.

2730
02:20:09,200 --> 02:20:12,934
And the reason is, is that those project culverts

2731
02:20:12,934 --> 02:20:15,434
and those controls should be within your purviews.

2732
02:20:15,434 --> 02:20:18,434
A lot of times, water enters into the works of the

2733
02:20:18,434 --> 02:20:22,330
district canals through either pumps or riser

2734
02:20:22,330 --> 02:20:23,133
boards or things like that.

2735
02:20:23,133 --> 02:20:26,167
So we need to go upstream and basically look at

2736
02:20:26,167 --> 02:20:29,400
what kind of help we can do and controls we can do within the watershed

2737
02:20:29,400 --> 02:20:32,767
to control the flows into works of the district so

2738
02:20:32,767 --> 02:20:36,534
that we can lessen our habit in a store and treat that water out of those canals.

2739
02:20:36,534 --> 02:20:40,670
The 2nd thing, I noticed a lake of chovy recovery,

2740
02:20:40,670 --> 02:20:43,670
uh, kind of, was indicated in the

2741
02:20:43,670 --> 02:20:46,901
in the site, gone from 28,000 to 30,000 acres

2742
02:20:46,901 --> 02:20:48,367
of SAB.

2743
02:20:48,367 --> 02:20:49,133
wonderful.

2744
02:20:49,133 --> 02:20:50,701
We're seeing that lake recovery.

2745
02:20:50,701 --> 02:20:55,000
It did come out at a working working group meeting a week or so ago.

2746
02:20:55,000 --> 02:20:58,367
trying to get the colonel to do some other meetings so

2747
02:20:58,367 --> 02:21:02,330
that we can all weigh in on that kind of Lake Okeechobee

2748
02:21:02,330 --> 02:21:05,567
recovery plan after action report that

2749
02:21:05,567 --> 02:21:08,601
happened there, but it's great to see that

2750
02:21:08,601 --> 02:21:10,300
SAV recovering.

2751
02:21:10,300 --> 02:21:13,834
The 3rd thing is this forecasting for El Nino,

2752
02:21:13,834 --> 02:21:16,334
super duper El Nino, actually.

2753
02:21:16,334 --> 02:21:18,267
And it is gonna be that.

2754
02:21:18,267 --> 02:21:21,334
And those, those three years that you

2755
02:21:21,334 --> 02:21:24,334
saw on that graph that John just showed

2756
02:21:24,334 --> 02:21:27,334
you, one of those was 1998.

2757
02:21:27,601 --> 02:21:30,667
And we all might recall that those discharges

2758
02:21:30,667 --> 02:21:33,667
started, basically started, the lake

2759
02:21:33,834 --> 02:21:37,501
started to rise, and we started discharging in December 18th

2760
02:21:37,501 --> 02:21:39,501
of 1987, or 97, and

2761
02:21:40,734 --> 02:21:44,334
then ended in May 22nd of 98.

2762
02:21:44,667 --> 02:21:46,567
And those discharges ramped up.

2763
02:21:46,567 --> 02:21:48,901
I remember sitting at a workshop meeting.

2764
02:21:48,901 --> 02:21:51,901
Paul Miller, who used to be with the district, came sat next to me,

2765
02:21:51,901 --> 02:21:55,670
said, Mark, you know they're discharging about, this was January, about

2766
02:21:55,670 --> 02:21:58,300
3500 CFS out of S80 into the St.

2767
02:21:58,300 --> 02:21:58,801
Lucie.

2768
02:21:58,801 --> 02:21:59,501
I said, what?

2769
02:21:59,501 --> 02:22:00,534
That's really strange.

2770
02:22:00,534 --> 02:22:02,133
The lake had risen up.

2771
02:22:02,133 --> 02:22:05,133
We're starting to discharge and it continued to

2772
02:22:05,133 --> 02:22:06,634
discharge right on through May.

2773
02:22:06,634 --> 02:22:10,000
Over a 1000000 acre feet came to the St.

2774
02:22:10,000 --> 02:22:11,734
Lucie from Lake Okeechobee.

2775
02:22:11,734 --> 02:22:13,167
That's 2 feet off the lake.

2776
02:22:13,167 --> 02:22:15,167
A 1000000 acre feet.

2777
02:22:15,567 --> 02:22:17,801
And that 1000000000s of gallons.

2778
02:22:17,801 --> 02:22:20,133
The lake got up to about 17.3 feet.

2779
02:22:20,133 --> 02:22:23,234
And as you saw it peaked out and then came coming

2780
02:22:23,234 --> 02:22:25,267
down during actually during the wet season.

2781
02:22:25,267 --> 02:22:28,400
So it got down at the end of August about 12 feet.

2782
02:22:28,400 --> 02:22:31,400
The other El Nino, 2015 and 16.

2783
02:22:31,868 --> 02:22:35,330
That went way up there too, but

2784
02:22:35,330 --> 02:22:38,934
then it didn't quite come down all the way to 12 feet.

2785
02:22:38,934 --> 02:22:41,267
It went back up to about 14 feet by August.

2786
02:22:41,267 --> 02:22:45,934
So we had a little bit more of a wet season to continue on that lake rise.

2787
02:22:45,934 --> 02:22:48,167
We got to really be conscious.

2788
02:22:48,167 --> 02:22:51,467
I hope he bring this back in the next meeting in the next meeting.

2789
02:22:51,467 --> 02:22:54,634
So as we get closer to this time frame that John has

2790
02:22:54,634 --> 02:22:58,300
outlined that we're well aware of what we need to do to

2791
02:22:58,300 --> 02:23:02,200
keep those flat levels down below that 16 and half feet well.

2792
02:23:02,200 --> 02:23:05,667
Thanks for that forecast, put all those reports on there, great.

2793
02:23:05,667 --> 02:23:07,670
Thank you, Mr. Perry.

2794
02:23:07,670 --> 02:23:10,934
Mr Chairman, we have no additional public comments.

2795
02:23:10,934 --> 02:23:13,300
Great, thank you both for your comments.

2796
02:23:13,300 --> 02:23:16,734
We'll move now to our final board comment.

2797
02:23:16,734 --> 02:23:18,200
Mr. Spotswood.

2798
02:23:18,200 --> 02:23:19,400
Nothing for me, Mr. Chair.

2799
02:23:19,400 --> 02:23:20,734
Thank you, Mr. Steinley.

2800
02:23:20,734 --> 02:23:21,801
Nothing for me, thanks.

2801
02:23:21,801 --> 02:23:22,567
Col Roman?

2802
02:23:22,567 --> 02:23:23,367
Uh, nothing.

2803
02:23:23,367 --> 02:23:24,467
Thank you.

2804
02:23:24,467 --> 02:23:26,330
Mr. Butler.

2805
02:23:26,330 --> 02:23:27,670
Thank you, Mr. Hurley.

2806
02:23:27,670 --> 02:23:28,167
Uh, nothing for me.

2807
02:23:28,167 --> 02:23:30,167
Mr. Bergeron.

2808
02:23:31,133 --> 02:23:31,567
Yes?

2809
02:23:31,567 --> 02:23:34,567
Um, can you hear me?

2810
02:23:36,133 --> 02:23:38,501
Yes, we can hear you.

2811
02:23:38,501 --> 02:23:40,501
Okay, um...

2812
02:23:40,567 --> 02:23:43,567
Well, it's gonna be an honor to serve with you

2813
02:23:43,567 --> 02:23:47,167
all the next 4 years, and, um,

2814
02:23:47,567 --> 02:23:51,167
projecting this extreme high water event.

2815
02:23:52,200 --> 02:23:55,300
I think we have more tools in the box today

2816
02:23:55,300 --> 02:23:57,700
than we had in 2015,

2817
02:23:59,133 --> 02:24:02,868
uh, when we have extreme high water.

2818
02:24:02,868 --> 02:24:05,868
events with the C 43 and

2819
02:24:06,934 --> 02:24:10,834
uh, storage there and a C 44 and

2820
02:24:10,834 --> 02:24:13,934
the emergency deviations that we have on

2821
02:24:13,934 --> 02:24:16,934
the uh, the S 12s uh,

2822
02:24:16,934 --> 02:24:20,467
where we don't have a cumulative back up of water.

2823
02:24:20,467 --> 02:24:24,667
Uh, I think as we approach, uh,

2824
02:24:24,734 --> 02:24:27,134
this extreme condition that

2825
02:24:27,801 --> 02:24:31,901
may happen, uh, we need to be prepared to

2826
02:24:31,901 --> 02:24:35,501
make sure we have no cumulative backups.

2827
02:24:35,501 --> 02:24:37,901
Uh, at the Tamiami

2828
02:24:38,601 --> 02:24:42,467
Trail to make sure that water is moving south,

2829
02:24:42,467 --> 02:24:45,467
compatible with the environment, uh,

2830
02:24:45,467 --> 02:24:49,200
and I think with these additional tools

2831
02:24:49,200 --> 02:24:52,267
we have, uh, we can balance our water

2832
02:24:52,267 --> 02:24:55,367
supply and and try to deal

2833
02:24:55,367 --> 02:24:59,734
with high water events that could affect our environment.

2834
02:24:59,734 --> 02:25:02,734
Thank you, uh, Mr. Chairman.

2835
02:25:03,133 --> 02:25:04,434
Thank you, Mr. Bergeron.

2836
02:25:04,434 --> 02:25:05,968
Miss Martinez?

2837
02:25:05,968 --> 02:25:07,567
Nothing, Mr. Chandler.

2838
02:25:07,567 --> 02:25:08,200
Thanks.

2839
02:25:08,200 --> 02:25:11,200
As I mentioned earlier, we're going to have our public hearing on fiscal

2840
02:25:11,200 --> 02:25:14,200
year 2026, 2027, tenant of Avilor Millage

2841
02:25:14,434 --> 02:25:17,901
rates, non Avilorum tax rolls, and tentative budget.

2842
02:25:17,901 --> 02:25:20,234
Uh, it's gonna be today at 5:15.

2843
02:25:20,234 --> 02:25:21,934
It's about 47 minutes from now.

2844
02:25:21,934 --> 02:25:24,934
If you're joining us, this meeting by Zoom, you're going

2845
02:25:24,934 --> 02:25:27,901
to be able to use the same link you used to get on, the link is also

2846
02:25:27,901 --> 02:25:33,901
posted on the district website, and this meeting is adjourned.