SUB-REGION 9 LOWER EAST COAST URBAN AREA (METROPOLITAN and AGRICULTURAL AREAS)
ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS:
o The sub-region contains a mosaic of developed and undeveloped lands. Remaining natural habitats are generally fragmented and include tidal marsh/mangroves, freshwater wetlands, pine rocklands and remnant coastal scrub.
o The coastal barrier island archipelago and Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway provide a significant natural and recreational resource in this sub-region.
o Adjoining freshwater historical Everglades wetlands, east of the East Coast Protective Levee, are generally degraded through over-drainage, by invasive exotic species, and by urban expansion.
o Area receives 20% more rainfall than interior subregions ( Water Conservation Areas) on average (Thomas 1974).
ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION OBJECTIVES:
o Establish wildlife corridors/preserved areas throughout the urban sub-region by connecting existing natural habitats and potentially restorable habitats through land acquisition and mitigation banking.
o Establish strategically placed mitigation banks of large, contiguous blocks of natural and enhanced/restored habitats and interconnecting corridors in exchange for continued upland/isolated wetland development activities within the urban and agricultural areas.
o Re-establish and maintain clean, fishable and swimmable water, throughout the urban and agricultural receiving waters. Restore/revitalize estuarine and near coastal waters, particularly the Intracoastal Waterway, State Aquatic Preserves, Miami River, Lake Worth and Biscayne Bay.
o Ensure that sufficient habitat remains within the urban and agricultural areas to sustain populations of native plants and animals and threatened and endangered species in order to maintain overall biodiversity within the sub-region.
o Control all invasive exotic species.
HYDROLOGICAL RESTORATION OBJECTIVES:
o Reduce the dependence of the urban metropolitan and agricultural areas on the Everglades/WCA water and manage the water budgets of the natural urban and agricultural areas for their mutual benefit.
o Conserve and improve the quality of locally generated runoff from this subregion by incorporating latest technologies such as backpumping reservoirs, Aquifer Storage and Recovery and Stormwater Treatment Areas for more efficient utilization of the resource while providing for the opportunity to supplement clean water to the Water Conservation Areas and Everglades National Park for hydroperiod restoration.
o Create buffer areas between the East Coast Protective Levee and urban and agricultural areas through land acquisition of large undeveloped tracts of upland and wetlands.
o Restore the hydrodynamics of the aquifer in the subregion by restoring the water table ridgfe so that groundwater flows both east to the sea and west to the Everglades instead of just east to the sea. Reestablishing the gradient will reduce water loss from the Everglades.
o Improve the hydroperiods of the remaining over-drained wetlands throughout the subregion.
o Reduce dry season groundwater recession rates.
o Restore a more natural timing, volume, and distribution of freshwater discharges to estuaries using the natural system model for guidelines (Appendix II).
o Identify and establish a series of strategically placed mitigation banks for wetland permitting purposes in order to augment overall ecosystem restoration within 2 years.
CRITICAL LINKAGES:
o The natural seepage of groundwater, recharged by rainfall, from the eastcoast ridge into the Everglades. This pathway has largely been eliminated by the Central and Southern Florida Project.
o Groundwater and surface water flows from the Water Conservation Areas to the Subregion.
o Significant freshwater flows from the subregion to the estuarine areas.
o Water supply during dry season from Lake Okeechobee through the Everglades Agricultural Area, through the Water Conservation Areas, to the urban/agricultural service areas.
o Estuarine disruptive regulatory discharges via the St. Lucie Canal from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon.
o Significant seepage from the Water Conservation areas to the urban and agricultural areas through the East Coast Protective Levee.
o Significant recharge of the aquifer system from the water conservation areas.
o Currently 3 million+ acre feet of fresh water is discharged to tide on an average annual basis.
o Water supply augmented from Lake Okeechobee through the Water Conservation Areas.
SUCCESS CRITERIA:
o Increase surface water discharges of clean water to the Everglades based on Natural System Model targets across Tamiami Trail section.
o Increase surface water discharges of clean water to the Water Conservation Areas from the eastcoast ridge using targets based on the National System Model.
o Re-establish 100 % of all fishable and swimmable waters in the urban/agricultural areas by restoring Class III water quality standards and meeting all local/state and federal water quality criteria.
o Re-establishment of seagrasses in estuaries to depths less than 2 meters.
o Increased sightings of manatees.
o Sufficient acreage and continuity of natural communities established to provide corridors and linkages for successful conservation of indigenous coastal ridge wildlife.
o More natural spatial salinity patterns in Biscayne Bay (positive salinity gradients much of the time).
o Improved fishing rates (according to creel census) in Biscayne National Park.
o 20% increase in hard coral cover.
o Decreasing trend in urban water consumption.
o Functional buffer areas are established by zoning and/or purchase and dedication.
o Dependence of urban and agricultural areas on Everglades/WCA water is reduced.
o Mitigation banks established within 2 yrs.
o Combustion processes such as those used in municipal incinerators and power generation stations do not release an unacceptable load of contaminants of ecological concern (e.g., mercury).
