Lower St. Johns River Basin

Lower St. Johns River Basin St. Johns River Water Management District • Palatka, FL • May 2008 FINAL DRAFT Lower St. Johns River Basin SWIM Plan Update 2008 May 2008 Prepared by St. Johns River Water Management District Wildwood Consulting, Inc. Lower St. Johns River Technical Advisory Committee EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION The lower St. Johns River and Lake George have documented impairments and degraded surface water quality. Significant scientific understanding has been made in the past 20 years and improvement through project development has continued, although surface waters remain in a degraded state. With the initiation of the surface water management planning cycle, known as the total maximum daily load (TMDL) effort, the Lower St. Johns River Basin (LSJRB) has received funding necessary to complete state-of-the-art water quality modeling resulting in a nutrient pollutant load reduction goal (PLRG). This goal has been used to establish the LSJRB nutrient TMDL, which has initiated major restoration efforts. Through collaborative efforts, the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD), state, local governments, utilities, and private entities are making unprecedented strides to reduce nutrient discharges ahead of the implementation plan, the Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP). Examples of projects include wastewater treatment facility upgrades, reuse of reclaimed wastewater, stormwater retrofits, and agricultural best management practices. SWIM PLAN ACT The Florida Legislature enacted the Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Act (Chapter 373.451-373.4595, Florida Statutes [F.S.]) in 1987 and revised it in 1991. This Act declares that many natural surface water systems in Florida, including the LSJRB, have been or are becoming degraded. The SWIM Act directed SJRWMD, with the cooperation of state agencies and local governments, to design and implement a plan for the improvement of LSJRB surface waters and habitats. The SJRWMD complied with this mandate in the development of the 1989 LSJRB SWIM Plan and subsequent 1993 update. This 2008 plan document serves as an update to that 1993 plan and includes a status report on the state of the LSJRB, a summary of progress on projects undertaken since the 1993 SWIM Plan, and recommendations for future projects and implementation efforts for the next five years. LOWER ST. JOHNS RIVER 2008 SWIM PLAN UPDATE The main purpose of this document is to provide an update of the 1993 SWIM Plan and its programs and projects since 1993. This update also includes a reorganized format and additional information to address the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) nine elements of a comprehensive watershed plan. Although including these elements is not essential for a SWIM plan, having these elements incorporated into the plan helps to make the projects that are detailed in this update eligible for federal Section 319 funding. In addition, information on the Lake George Basin was added, as described in greater detail below. The management issues have not changed substantially since the 1993 LSJRB SWIM Plan, although many of the issues have been further refined through scientific investigation, new management techniques, and remediation efforts. The four main issues identified in the 1993 LSJRB SWIM Plan were: • Point and nonpoint sources of pollution • Destruction of natural systems • Public awareness and environmental education • Interagency coordination and management Final Draft LSJRB SWIM Plan Update i May 2008 Since 1993, two additional management issues have been identified: sediment management and toxic contaminants remediation. These issues were previously included with the water quality and natural systems goals; however, the technical community now felt that these topics warranted their own specific goals, objectives, and strategies. This 2008 SWIM Plan Update includes goals for each of the above management issues as follows: 1. Restore and protect the basin’s surface water quality to meet state-designated use classifications. 2. Restore and protect natural systems associated with the basin’s surface waters. 3. Increase public awareness of water resource problems in the basin to generate public support for restoration and protection efforts. 4. Enhance interagency coordination and management of water resources throughout the basin. 5. Implement erosion and sediment management to protect and improve living resources and water quality in the LSJRB. 6. Protect living resources in the LSJRB from toxic pollution to ensure protection and propagation of healthy and well-balanced communities. This updated plan is organized based on SJRWMD’s programs and initiatives, which correspond to the six SWIM Plan goals. These initiatives are 1. Water quality 2. Biological health 3. Sediment management 4. Toxic contaminants remediation 5. Public education 6. Intergovernmental coordination Milestones, strategies, and objectives were developed to meet the SWIM Plan goals for each of these initiatives. Projects that have been implemented since 1993 to meet the goals of each initiative are listed as well as projects that are projected to occur during the next five years (2008–2012). Estimated budgets for the future projects are also provided. Water Quality Initiative At the time of the publication of the LSJRB SWIM Plan in 1993, water quality was significantly degraded in many of the tributaries within the LSJRB as well as in considerable portions of the river itself. Agricultural and urban runoff had been identified as significant sources of nutrient, bacterial, and toxic contaminant pollution. Wastewater had also been identified as a significant source of pollution from both domestic and industrial sources. Since 1993, several major wastewater sources in the LSJRB began efforts to improve treatment levels to reduce the impacts to the river and its tributaries. These efforts included the elimination of many small wastewater package plants that had low levels of treatment and redirecting that wastewater to larger regional plants with higher treatment levels. The goal of these changes was to improve the quality of wastewater effluent discharged to both tributaries and the mainstem of the river and to reduce overall pollutant loads. Due to these water quality problems, public agencies involved with issues of river water quality worked together to perform a comprehensive examination of the LSJRB to determine the sustainable limits of river pollution. As part of this examination of river water quality, PLRGs and TMDLs were established. The TMDL process focuses on the assimilative capacity of a water body, which is defined using Final Draft LSJRB SWIM Plan Update ii May 2008 biological health metrics. PLRGs were also established to estimate loading reductions needed to meet applicable state water quality standards. Once the TMDL/PLRG was established, nutrient reductions were assigned to reduce inputs to the river to no more than its assimilative capacity. These reductions and the projects and programs to achieve them, are outlined in a BMAP. The BMAP process is currently ongoing for both the mainstem and tributaries of the LSJRB. These BMAPs are expected to be completed in 2008. Since 1993, many water quality related research projects have been conducted. Future research efforts will focus on marine reach and near-coast ecology, freshwater river reach ecology, discharges from the Ocklawaha River, nonpoint source water quality, and regulation associated with the TMDL program. The Water Quality Initiative includes the following seven strategies to address the issues noted above related to water quality in the LSJRB: 1. Reduction of urban nonpoint source pollution 2. Reduction of agricultural nonpoint source pollution 3. Point-source reductions and reuse 4. Increase understanding of ocean dynamics 5. Reduction of algal blooms 6. Evaluation of the effects of surface water withdrawals 7. Protection of aquifer recharge areas Water Quality Projects This plan includes descriptions of 58 water quality related projects that occurred between 1993 and 2007. In addition, 47 projects are expected to continue or be initiated in the next five years (2008–2012). Of these, estimated budgets were provided for 32 projects, with a total cost of more than $17 million. Biological Health Initiative The current biological condition of the LSJRB is an important consideration but is difficult to assess because it references an historical condition, before many of the current system stressors occurred. In the LSJRB, comprehensive historical biological data is essentially absent for many areas and for many biological groups. However, it is known that there have been many changes within the watershed that have likely caused changes within the biota of the river (e.g., channel dredging and increased pollutant discharge). Studies have been conducted on plankton, macroinvertebrates, submerged aquatic vegetation, and fisheries to determine any trends and changes in the biological health of the LSJRB. Historical data does indicate that development in the basin has caused detrimental changes to biota. Evidence includes increased phytoplankton biomass and bloom frequency, and invertebrate deformities in areas of elevated pollutant concentrations. It has also been shown that many pollutants can and do affect fish reproductive function. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that many of the biological components in the river have changed and/or declined and general ecological health has been negatively impacted as

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