LOXAHATCHEE RIVER MANAGEMENT COORDINATING COUNCIL. Monday, July 11, :00 pm The River Center 805 N. US Highway 1 Jupiter, FL AGENDA

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1 LOXAHATCHEE RIVER MANAGEMENT COORDINATING COUNCIL Monday, July 11, :00 pm The River Center 805 N. US Highway 1 Jupiter, FL AGENDA I. Call to Order Chair Chad Kennedy called the meeting to order and asked for introduction and member issues around the table. II. Roll Call with Member Updates Peter Merritt Dick Roberts Albrey Arrington Mike Dillon Sean Sculley Pat Magrogan Tom Howard Herb Zebuth Samuel Payson Chad Kennedy Bruce Dawson Charles Shinn Wendy Harrison Vince Arena Rebecca Elliot Susan Kennedy III. Approval of Minutes from March 28th, 2011 meeting First page change water ledge to water edge. Dick Roberts made a motion for approval of the Minutes. The motion was carried. Update on SFWMD Budget Terrie Bates, SFWMD gave a brief explanation of the upcoming budget as a result of the Ad Valorem Tax reduction.

2 Discussion: What is the impact on CERP projects? What changes will there be in the upcoming years? o There will be changes for different projects. We are reverting to a more traditional process with the US Army Corp of Engineers (USACE). We will be more involved in land acquisition and taking over operations and maintenance. There are key projects that are moving forward and we foresee no changes to those projects. We will work with the USACE on the Integrated Delivery Schedule and Federal funding for these key projects. How is the science plan going to be implemented now? o There is no contract money for the science plan only staff time. We will have to see what we can do with the staff we have and will push back other items. There is opportunity to work with other local agencies. There is an opportunity for local participants to be proactive to the extent that their budgets can handle it. Appreciate indentifying key projects and not exclusively relying on the USACE to carry them through. Core mission of flood control, potable water supply and environment, but concerned with the fact that a number has arbitrarily been established and SFWMD cannot spend or raise any more money than that. The Council stated that it should write letters to the Legislature. We need to get the message out. Maybe a resolution from this group? Where is the Loxahatchee River in the new organization chart? o Where is always been, under a few different groups: operations, our science group which is working on the projects and our Everglades Restoration group which will be advocating for funding. Where does Loxahatchee fall under the new organization? o Under the Coastal Watershed. What is the difference between Coastal, Lakes and River and Watershed Science sections? o The Loxahatchee falls under Coastal group; those are the scientists that will be working on it. Lakes and River is more the Kissimmee River Chain of Lakes and Lake Okeechobee. Watershed is primarily Everglades issues. IV. Science Water Quantity Analysis (5 minutes) Status/trends/needs - Water flows and Salinity Seán Sculley, South Florida Water Management District Discussion: Where is the best place for the layperson to look for flows into the river?

3 o The data comes from three sources: Geological Survey (USGS), SFWMD and Lainhart Dam. USGS is not real time, so a combination of the three sources is used. We are currently not meeting the Minimum Flows and Level (MFL). In a severe drought, we are not going to meet the MFLs. Operationally, what is the District s philosophy on managing water in the basin and metering out water versus going to 50cfs discharge? o We are trying to avoid discharges to tide by keeping S-46 closed. We are seeing the water levels rise in the river. I don t have insight regarding operations. In a severe drought with the correct structures, we can meet the MFLs. Need to keep cycling the water in the rock pits. The SFWMD purchase of the pits has helped. V. Watershed Loxahatchee River Watershed Overview (15 minutes) Boyd Gunsalus, South Florida Water Management District Cancelled Harmony DRI Update (10 minutes) Peter Merritt, Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council 26 How is the water going to be delivered through the Conservancy District to Cypress Creek? We went back to historical flows. The whole area flows to the South Fork of the St Lucie River. Historical drainage very obviously goes to the South Fork. Hobe Grove DRI has many public benefits, but Harmony DRI hasn t come with anything like that yet. The area is approved for PUD, but the USACE withheld the permits because the area was within the CERP footprint. Do you foresee any competing elements that might prevent approval? o It s too early to tell, but it is up to the Martin County Commission. They are in competition with Abacoa, Scripps, Tradition and others. There is talk for a University on the Hobe Grove site, but it is too early to tell. Some of these lands are agricultural with low water tables. Are we going to try to restore ground water elevations on these sites? o Ground water should come up on these properties. There is no water treatment on the Harmony site or Hobe Grove. I don t remember the details, but there is talk of restoring the wetlands. We trust that Martin County, as part of this project, will be looking to restore these agricultural lands to wetlands and improve their stormwater system. o There is push to move this project through, but there is a question to whether there is a market for the additional housing units with so many empty units.

4 There was an effort to combine the two projects. o At the council meeting, Commissioner Hayes mentioned that we should look at both together. We will approach the applicants with the idea. These are not the only two DRIs. Commissioner Hayes gives a good power point presentation of the cumulative effect of these projects. It might be a good idea to present to this group and how we best move with our greenway connectivity. Albrey Arrington asked for a presentation from Commission Hayes for the next meeting. There are five developments and two DRIs waiting in Martin County for approval. We hope we don t just assume that all are approved. o There is a very rigorous analysis. The Town of Jupiter, Town of Jupiter Island and the City of Stuart have all submitted comments. Does Harmony have to take into account the infrastructure impact of Hobe Grove as if it was approved and in their application? o We have asked them to look at it both ways; with and without the impact of Hobe Grove. Loxahatchee River Watershed Restoration Project CERP Update (15 minutes) Beth Kacvinsky, South Florida Water Management District Beth Kacvinsky gave an update on the project. Discussion The property restoration, does it include filling in the MO-Canal? o Yes, we are also looking at an alternative of Flowway 2 that we are discussing with the USACE. It was suggested by the Indian Trail Improvement District and it involves moving the pump station to create more habitat units for Corbett. How far along are we with flowway three? o Is the one component that that the Corps is not questioning. We are getting a significant amount of habitat units and connectivity. It is there any coordination with the PDT on flowway four? o There has been some coordination. Need to determine how much water, when and timing. How does the water actually reach the river? Does it connect with flowway three? We didn t want flowway four because of the water quality in the C-44. o That is why it was not included in the CERP project. If the Becker DRI moves forward, there are questions regarding water quality on flowway four that will need to be addressed. Does the project include meeting the MFL for the Northwest Fork of the Loxahatchee River?

5 o It does. The intent of the slide was to show what we were missing and what we needed to do better. Are we putting more intent into water supply for Grassy Water delivery? o That is not the case. We will keep showing that the main purpose is restoring the watershed and providing water to the Northwest Fork of the Loxahatchee River with incidental benefits. We need to start moving on agreement with Grassy Water, Indian Trail Improvement, Corbett and others prior to the completion of the PIR. o We first need a plan that is acceptable to the USACE and then we can move with these agreements. Is there any modeling on the Hobe Grove DRI to see how it will affect us? o They haven t done any modeling on flowway four. Flowway three shows a wetland restoration component and an overall ground water level increase. Hobe Grove DRI is draining into flowway four? I thought the drainage went into flowway three and Cypress Creek. o It is a combination. The old flowway four doesn t show on this map. The DRI proposes a 400-acre stormwater treatment area to the north of Nine Gems. My proposal to them is an opportunity for synergy. If the water is clean enough, comes at the right time, and in the right amount it could potentially be put through a flow through a marsh. That would allow us to potentially downsize the ditch that discharges to Cypress Creek. Does the CERP project deal with the water quality going into Grassy Waters? o There is a proposal to close the gaps on the M-Canal so that the water doesn t flow into the preserve. Our goals include reducing the reliance on Lake Okeechobee and use the clean water from Corbett and Dupuis for the Reservoir. The Indian Trail Improvement District proposal, is it done? It looks like there are two options. o We are still working on it. The benefit is that most of the cost associated with it is not flood improvement so it will be easier to promote. There is a situation with Grassy Waters that does not allow us to send water down because it impacts snail kite nesting so it is good to have that alternate route. Can the USACE find a way to take lands back through condemnation to make their project work? It seems that the negotiations will be going on forever. What about purchasing an easement? You won t be seeing a federal take of lands for state restoration. o We are purchasing an easement for the MO-Canal. It is included in the cost. We are going to need multiple operational agreements.

6 What about the sizing of the reservoir? o It ties into our cost share. There is a need to justify it at its current size. In the mid 90 s the City of West Palm Beach received money from the federal government to widen the canal and redirect flow to the NW Fork of the river. They should be accountable for the delivery of this project. L-8 Pilot Test Project Summary (30 minutes) Dave Swift, South Florida Water Management District Recent actions The plan for next year Discussion: There was a question whether there was a need for support with the Governing Board regarding this project. o This might be a good time to talk to the Governing Board member that represents this area Do you have a percentage of how much of the L-8 contribution was Lake Okeechobee water or Lake Okeechobee make-up water? Was it combined with water from the rock pits? o It is about 10,000acf. About 5,800acf was pumped out of the L8 reservoir. About 50 to 60% came from the L-8 reservoir the rest was from Lake Okeechobee. For next year s schedule, has the SFWMD appropriated money for the pump station or is it federal money? o There is no federal money until the PIR is done and authorized, so it will be SFWMD funds. o On our five-year schedule, this project is at the top list. Opportunity for dilution is critical. Water sitting in the pits can only be used when there is water flowing by in the canal. The more we use the water in the pits, the cleaner it gets to a point we won t need the supplemental blending water from the canal. Annual perspective is not enough; needs to be done on a daily or weekly basis. Need to exercise the rock pits by pumping water into the canal every time it rains. o The canal level allows us to do it now. We are looking to capture the water from the L-8 Basin rather that Lake Okeechobee. o We are proposing, in the FY12 Budget, to automate this pump station and add telemetry. Why can t we take water from L-8 and the rock pits and send it to Lake Okeechobee which is low now?

7 Suggested proactively dumping water from the rock pit to make best use of it. Summary: Budget support for the $60M pump. Budget support and run a pilot test next year to send water to Lake Okeechobee. Resolution supporting next year budget funding for the L-8 Reservoir pilot project. A motion was made for Herb Zebuth to write a resolution supporting the budget for next year s test pilot project. The motion was passed. VI. Land Management Activities, member updates (brief & verbal, no power points) Palm Beach County Martin County Cypress Creek restoration contract will go in front of our board in the next couple of weeks. South Ranch - we will finish the restoration in cooperation with the SFWMD. JDSP The biggest complaint to the Council was a lack a quiet time when launching kayaks early in the morning. We are still waiting for the Florida Park Services and Palm Beach County (PBC) to come up with user s manual to govern the quantity of users on the river. Are there any safety regulations handed-out to the users? There should be a quiet time and a later time for groups like the Boy Scouts and others. PBC Parks and Recreation has a canoe/ kayak site. Are they included in this count? The numbers are not right. There is no public education, no river map, etc. at the public launch site. Chair Kennedy suggested bringing this as agenda item for the next meeting. It was asked that PBC Parks and Recreation participate. The Council has never come to grips with limitations on how many people should be on the river at a given time. Chair Kennedy asked that comments regarding river use be ed to him so that they can be addressed at the next meeting. Suggestion that monitoring also be done upstream of or at Trappers. Request to quantify the number of rescues or calls for service.

8 SFWMD South Indian River Others VII. Partner/Stakeholder Updates Loxahatchee River Preservation Initiative Won award from Florida Wildlife Federation for water conservation. Friends of the Loxahatchee River User Group Canoe Outfitter VIII. LRMCC Action Letter to the SFWMD asking to fund L-8 pilot. IX. Public Comment Joy Stone: We have a sandbar that is preventing boats from going in the water. At low tide, you can walk to the sandbar. Requested that this issue be in the agenda for the next meeting. Albrey Arrington suggested aerial pictures to show historical and survey elevation data of the sandbar. Bring Boyd Gunsalus to do his presentation for next meeting. Albrey Arrington, regarding the mangrove removal; would like a letter of support for DEP to pursue this. Chair Kennedy, DEP has jurisdiction over this issue, criminal and civil. We are working on it. Adjourn 5:15