Tampa Bay Region - Southwest Florida Water Management District

N404
WMP - Cypress Creek Watershed Update
Project Type
AORs
Flood Protection
Cooperative Funding
Strategic Initiatives
Floodplain Management
Hillsborough County BOCC
Cooperator(s)
Project Manager Robin Bailey
Task Manager(s)
Status
Proposed Coop. Funding Application
Recommendation
Fund as a 1A priority. This request is for continued funding of a multi-year funded project that updates the Cypress Creek
Watershed Management Plan.
Description
This is a multi-year funded project to update the Watershed Evaluation and Watershed Management Plan elements of the District's
Watershed Management Program (WMP) for the Cypress Creek Watershed, covering an area of 33-square miles within
Hillsborough County. The project finishes the update of a study which was completed in 2002 and partially updated in 2010. The
2010 update covers the 13-Mile Run sub-watershed (see project L896), and this project continues the update to include the
remainder of the Cypress Creek watershed within Hillsborough County. A Watershed Management Plan provides a method to
evaluate the capacity of a watershed to protect, enhance, and restore water quality and natural systems, while achieving flood
protection. The Watershed Evaluation tasks include the collection of existing data, development of the geodatabase, Geographical
Information System (GIS) processing, field reconnaissance, and development of preliminary model features. The information is
organized as a geodatabase in the GIS. The Watershed Evaluation establishes the complexity of the watershed and provides a
geodatabase that defines the watershed's natural conveyance and storage features, and stormwater infrastructure. The Watershed
Management Plan tasks include watershed model parameterization, computer modeling, floodplain analysis, peer review of
floodplain results, public notification, public meeting, Governing Board approval of floodplain results, surface water resource
assessment (water quality analysis), establishment of level of service (LOS), and Best Management Practices (BMP) alternative
analysis. FY2013 funding is for completion of the Watershed Evaluation and model update task of the Watershed Management
Plan. Future funding will be required to complete the Watershed Management Plan. When each element is completed the the
project budget may require refinement based on the information gathered.
Benefits
Completing elements of the District's Watershed Management Program is one of the District's Strategic Priorities for managing the
water resource, and provides information to local governments to address land use changes and stormwater management within
a specific watershed. The information developed provides the science for the District's resource management and Environmental
Resource Permitting (ERP) responsibilities. It assists local governments with their land management responsibilities by
identifying the floodplain, establishing a level of service, evaluating BMPs to address level of service deficiencies, and providing a
geodatabase and projected results from watershed model simulations for floodplain management, and water quality
management.
Costs
The projected cost for this project is $300,000 of which the District's share is $150,000, and the County’s share is $150,000. For
FY2012, $110,000 is included in the District’s budget and Hillsborough County will contribute $110,000 for a total of $220,000. With
FY2013 funding, District $30,000, County $30,000, total $60,000, work on Watershed Evaluation tasks will begin. Future funding,
$20,000, will be required to complete the Watershed Evaluation tasks and to complete the Watershed Management Plan tasks.
Future funds identified for the project are contingent upon approval of such amounts by the Governing Board in the annual budget.
When each element is completed, the project cost and scope may require refinement based on the information gathered and
unforeseen circumstances. The District funding amount shown in the table includes staff salaries.
Additional Information
The WMP includes five major elements: 1) Topographic information, 2) Watershed Evaluation, 3) Watershed Management Plan, 4)
Implementation of Best Management Practices, and 5) Maintenance of Watershed Parameters and Models. Implementing
elements of the WMP with local governments is one of the District's Strategic Priorities. The District has worked with the County to
develop an implementation schedule by watershed based on their projected funding levels. A cooperative funding agreement will
be developed contingent on the approval of funding to complete the project. Hillsborough County will manage this project. The
District and Hillsborough County are cooperating technical partners (CTP) with FEMA, the floodplain results will be submitted to
FEMA. The flood insurance rate map (FIRM) panels will be updated by FEMA based on their schedule and budget.
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