07.09.2014 Views

Weeki Wachee River System Recommended Minimum Flows and ...

Weeki Wachee River System Recommended Minimum Flows and ...

Weeki Wachee River System Recommended Minimum Flows and ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Preface<br />

This report was prepared by the Southwest Florida Water Management District pursuant<br />

to Florida Statute 473.042. A draft was made available to the public on April 14, 2008<br />

<strong>and</strong> submitted to an independent peer review panel consisting of Dr. Joseph Boyer<br />

(Fla. International University), Dr. 'Billy' Johnson (Computational Hydraulics Inc), Mr.<br />

Gary Powell (Aquatic Science Associates) <strong>and</strong> Dr. Sam Upchurch (SDII Global). Among<br />

other things, the panel was directed to determine whether the methods used for<br />

establishing the minimum flow are scientifically reasonable, if the assumptions <strong>and</strong><br />

procedures are reasonable <strong>and</strong> consistent with the best information available <strong>and</strong> if the<br />

District's conclusions are supported by the data. The panel submitted their report on<br />

July 31, 2008, which is appended to this along with the District's response. In addition,<br />

the US Fish <strong>and</strong> Wildlife Service <strong>and</strong> the Florida Fish <strong>and</strong> Wildlife Conservation<br />

Commission reviewed the report <strong>and</strong> submitted comments that are also appended. This<br />

final report reflects the comments <strong>and</strong> suggestions received.<br />

Acknowledgements<br />

I would like to thank my colleagues for the many useful suggestions <strong>and</strong> discussions<br />

pertinent to completion of this project. In particular I would like to acknowledge Marty<br />

Kelly, Rich Schultz, Ron Basso for their assistance in deriving corrections to the<br />

historical flow record. I would also like to thank Sid Flannery, XinJian Chen <strong>and</strong> Tony<br />

Janicki <strong>and</strong> his staff. I would like to offer a special thanks to Michelle Dachsteiner for<br />

her dedication to the field work <strong>and</strong> data management as well as Barbara Matrone for<br />

her assistance in document production.<br />

Finally I would like to thank the many District contractors that contributed to this report.<br />

Ernst Peebles (<strong>and</strong> his staff at USF) <strong>and</strong> Tim MacDonald <strong>and</strong> his colleagues at Florida<br />

Fish <strong>and</strong> Wildlife Conservation Commission collected <strong>and</strong> analyzed the fish <strong>and</strong><br />

invertebrate data. Ernie Estevez conducted field surveys of mollusk use of the <strong>Weeki</strong><br />

<strong>Wachee</strong>, <strong>and</strong> along with Jay Leverone conducted a survey of the macrophyte<br />

community. Paul Montagna provided insightful analysis of mollusc data. The staff at<br />

Janicki Environmental conducted a survey <strong>and</strong> analysis of the benthic community <strong>and</strong><br />

along with staff from Applied Technology <strong>and</strong> Management, provided numeric modeling<br />

results for the thermal refuge analysis. While several of these projects were regional in<br />

nature, the cost of outside support is approximately $300,000 which was provided by<br />

Coastal <strong>River</strong>s Basin Board <strong>and</strong> the Governing Board.<br />

xi

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!