The Water Management Legacy of the Central and Southern Florida Project and Future Operational Challenges of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and Acceler8 Projects

This paper will discuss the history of water management in South Florida, the legacy of engineering and the challenges facing those responsible for the future management of the water resources of south Florida. The historic Everglades watershed was an interconnected system comprised of the Upper and Lower Kissimmee, Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. Anthropogenic changes have radically altered the natural flow of water from a generally interconnected system that expanded and contracted as dictated by hydrologic conditions to a spatially distributed, rigid and highly managed system. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and Acceler8 Projects seek to restore some interconnectedness and flexibility to the greater Everglades system. The components of this plan will link together with existing features of the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) Project and Stormwater Treatment Areas and will be managed by a complex and evolving Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System (SCADA).