Consideration of Climate Variability in Water Resources Planning and Operations — South Florida's Experience

Climate in any region is the result of both short- and long-term phenomena interacting at local, regional and global scales. In South Florida where major changes to the water resources infrastructure are being contemplated for facilitating the restoration of large-scale ecosystems such as the Kissimmee River Basin and the Everglades, consideration of climate variability on scales ranging from intra-seasonal to multi-decadal is extremely important in both water resources planning and regional operations. Correlations of hydro-climatology of South Florida to such global phenomena as El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Atlantic Multi-Decadal Oscillation (AMO) have been investigated extensively. This paper provides an overview of the climatic indicators and the teleconnections that are significant for south Florida. In particular, the application of the research to develop regulation schedules for the operation of Lake Okeechobee as well as the real-time implementation of rules based on climate outlook are discussed. The use of computer modeling as a tool for the design of operating rules as well as real-time operations is also included.