St. Marks River and Apalachee Bay Surface Water Improvement and Management Plan November 2017 Program Development Series 17-03 Northwest Florida Water Management District St. Marks River and Apalachee Bay Surface Water Improvement and Management Plan November 2017 Program Development Series 17-03 NORTHWEST FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT GOVERNING BOARD George Roberts Jerry Pate John Alter Chair, Panama City Vice Chair, Pensacola Secretary-Treasurer, Malone Gus Andrews Jon Costello Marc Dunbar DeFuniak Springs Tallahassee Tallahassee Ted Everett Nick Patronis Bo Spring Chipley Panama City Beach Port St. Joe Brett J. Cyphers Executive Director Headquarters 81 Water Management Drive Havana, Florida 32333-4712 (850) 539-5999 Crestview Econfina Milton 180 E. Redstone Avenue 6418 E. Highway 20 5453 Davisson Road Crestview, Florida 32539 Youngstown, FL 32466 Milton, FL 32583 (850) 683-5044 (850) 722-9919 (850) 626-3101 St. Marks River and Apalachee Bay SWIM Plan Northwest Florida Water Management District Acknowledgements This document was developed by the Northwest Florida Water Management District under the auspices of the Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Program and in accordance with sections 373.451-459, Florida Statutes. The plan update was prepared under the supervision and oversight of Brett Cyphers, Executive Director and Carlos Herd, Director, Division of Resource Management. Funding support was provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund. The assistance and support of the NFWF is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to especially recognize members of the public, as well as agency reviewers and staff from the District and from the Ecology and Environment, Inc., team that contributed to the development of this plan. Among those that contributed considerable time and effort to assist in the development of this plan are the following. Their assistance and thoughtful comments were invaluable and are gratefully acknowledged. Plan Development Ecology and Environment, Inc. Northwest Florida Water Management District Rick Harter Nicole Jeter Paul Thorpe Elaine McKinnon Jade Marks Paul Johnson Karen Kebart Brittany Wood Tom Singleton Doug Heatwole Christina Coger Nick Wooten Scott Jackson Heather Fowler Jesse Gray Brett Cyphers Emma Witherington Technical and Public Review Donna Legare, Apalachee Audubon Society Alan Pierce, Franklin County Jody Walthall, Apalachee Audubon Society Alan Niedoroda, Friends of Lake Jackson Robert Williams, Apalachee Audubon Society John Outland, Friends of Lake Lafayette Joseph Crozier, Apalachee Regional Planning Council Allara Gutcher, Gadsden County Steve Wingate, City of Monticello Parrish Barwick, Jefferson County Zoe Mansfield, City of St. Marks Theresa Heiker, Leon County David Henry, City of Tallahassee John Kraynak, Leon County Ken Espy, City of Tallahassee Edgar Wade, Leon County Stella Wilson, Dewberry Linda Green, Liberty County Emily Purcell, Ducks Unlimited Hillary Collis, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Kathleen Greenwood, Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer NFWF Services (FDACS) Amanda Green, NFWF Katie Hallas, FDACS Jonathan Porthouse, NFWF Roy Lima, FDACS Laurie Rounds, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ray Scott, FDACS Administration (NOAA) Jeff Vowell, FDACS Jessica Bibza, National Wildlife Federation Anthony Grossman, FDACS Florida Forest Service Cal Jamison, Private Citizen Kevin Coyne, Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) Pam Latham, Research Planning, Inc. Lisa Robertson, DEP Scott Zengel, Research Planning, Inc. Jonathan Brucker, DEP Aquatic Preserves Office Anne Harvey Holbrook, Save the Manatee Club Travis Mohrman, DEP Aquatic Preserves Office Grant Gelhardt, Sierra Club Big Bend Group Colby Cleveland, Florida Dept. of Transportation Dan Frisk, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge Paul Carlson, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Neil Fleckenstein, Tall Timbers Research Station Commission (FWC) George Willson, Tall Timbers Research Station Jennifer Goff, FWC Darryl Boudreau, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Ted Hoehn, FWC Janet Bowman, TNC Gareth Leonard, FWC Kate Brown, Trust For Public Lands Katie Konchar, FWC Sandra Pursifull, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Bryan Phillips, FWC Melody Ray-Culp, USFWS Amy Raker, FWC Jeff Norville, U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service Kelly Samek, FWC Melissa Corbett, Wakulla County Charles Shinn, Florida Farm Bureau Federation Chuck Hess, Wakulla County Sandra Brooke, FSU Sheree Keeler, Wakulla County Kent Wimmer, Florida Defenders of Wildlife Bart Bibler, Wakulla Springs Alliance Sarah Gledhill, Florida Wildlife Federation Seán McGlynn, Wakulla Springs Alliance Cover Photograph: St. Marks River Rise (NWFWMD) i St. Marks River and Apalachee Bay SWIM Plan Northwest Florida Water Management District Executive Summary The St. Marks River and Apalachee Bay watershed covers about 1,168 square miles of north Florida and south Georgia. The surface watershed interacts as a dynamic system with the underlying aquifers that are the source of the springs that contribute much to the baseflow of the watershed’s rivers and to the character of the region. The watershed includes Florida’s capital city and smaller coastal communities, as well as large undeveloped regions including forestland, extensive coastal marshes buffering the Gulf of Mexico, and state parks and public and private conservation lands that protect and sustain natural resources. Physiographically diverse, this watershed includes the red hills region of north Florida and south Georgia, sand hill remnants of historic shorelines, and large portions of the Woodville Karst Plain. The water resources that comprise the St. Marks River and Apalachee Bay watershed provide numerous functions critical to our quality of life. The watershed’s wetlands and floodplains store and regulate stormwater runoff, protecting water quality, providing flood protection, and recharging aquifers and potable water supplies. Its lakes, streams, and coastal waters sustain numerous species of fish, shellfish, and wildlife. Its springs provide extraordinary windows to the aquifer below, and the broad tidal marsh on Apalachee Bay provides shoreline stability and resiliency against storms and coastal change. This is the second update to the St. Marks River and Apalachee Bay Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) plan. The purpose of the plan is to provide a framework for resource management, protection and restoration using a watershed approach. Protecting and restoring watershed resources is a shared responsibility on the part of numerous watershed stakeholders, including local governments, state and federal agencies, private businesses, and the public. It requires building upon past accomplishments to encompass a wide range of management approaches. Since 1997, when the St. Marks River and Apalachee Bay watershed SWIM plan was first approved, significant progress and noteworthy accomplishments have been achieved. The District published a groundbreaking study of nutrient sources affecting Wakulla Spring, and this helped lead to dramatic improvements in wastewater treatment – ultimately starting a trend toward reducing nitrogen loading within the spring contribution area. Cooperative efforts have included multiple stormwater retrofit projects to reduce nonpoint source pollution. Additionally, the District initiated development of Minimum Flows and Minimum Water Levels for Wakulla Spring, Sally Ward Spring, and St. Marks River Rise, and funding appropriated by the Florida Legislature is making possible the connection to central sewer of hundreds – ultimately thousands – of residences currently served by septic systems. Nevertheless, significant challenges continue to affect the water quality, natural systems, and public benefits provided by watershed resources and by individual waterbodies and springs within it. Population in the basin has steadily increased over the last several decades: from 177,635 in 1990 to 263,167 in 2010, a nearly 48 percent increase over 20 years. Population over the next twenty years (2010-2030) is projected to increase more slowly at closer to 20 percent within the watershed, but with continuing changes in land use and increasing demands on wastewater and stormwater management systems. These changes require continuing cooperative efforts on the part of the state, regional and local governments, and the communities they serve. The actions taken now serve to both address current problems and continue to build the foundation for future efforts. Strategies identified in the plan include continuing to address both point and nonpoint source pollution to better protect and restore water quality in surface waters and associated groundwaters. There are continuing needs to improve water quality and restore habitat within Wakulla Spring, to restore inland waters, and to better manage stormwater and wastewater in a manner appropriate to a karst landscape. ii St. Marks River and Apalachee Bay SWIM Plan Northwest Florida Water Management District Additionally, emerging issues affecting water and habitat quality in Apalachee Bay demand resource protection and restoration actions both within the estuarine system and the contributing watershed. Addressing these challenges requires a wide range of strategies. Among these are additional improvements in the treatment and management of stormwater runoff; implementation of best management practices for agriculture, silviculture, and construction activities;