Pensacola Bay System Surface Water Improvement and Management Plan November 2017 Program Development Series 17-06 Northwest Florida Water Management District Pensacola Bay System Surface Water Improvement and Management Plan November 2017 Program Development Series 17-06 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 www.nwfwater.com 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 Pensacola Bay System 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 Jeff Helms, Atkins Jennifer Goff, FWC Susanne Timmons, Audubon Society Ted Hoehn, FWC Jim Waite, BDI Gareth Leonard, FWC L. Derrik Owens, City of Pensacola Bryan Phillips, FWC Stella Wilson, Dewberry Amy Raker, FWC Laurie Murphy, Emerald Coastkeeper James Brady, Francis M. Weston Audubon Society Timothy Haag, Emerald Coast Utilities Authority (ECUA) Carole Tebay, Francis M. Weston Audubon Society James Hagy, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Bruce French, Gannett Fleming Inc. Mike Lewis, EPA Will Ward, Gulf Fisherman’s Association Amy Newbold, EPA Anwar Khan, HDR Timothy Day, Escambia County Allen Vinson, HDR Matthew Kelly, Escambia County Phillip Walker, HDR Chips Kirschenfeld, Escambia County Kyle Holley, Holley Family Trust Shelly Marshall, Escambia County Amanda Green, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) Dana Morton, Escambia County Jonathan Porthouse, NFWF Matt Posner, Escambia County Jessica Bibza, National Wildlife Federation Mollie Taylor, Escambia County Mark Gibson, Naval Air Station, Pensacola Robert Turpin, Escambia County Jim Trifilio, Okaloosa County Brent Wipf, Escambia County Erika Zambello, Okaloosa County Linda Young, Florida Clean Water Network Shelley Alexander, Santa Rosa County David Cambran, Florida Department of Agriculture and Erica Grancagnolo, Santa Rosa County Consumer Services (FDACS) Barbara Albrecht, Panhandle Watershed Alliance Kathleen Greenwood, FDACS Darryl Boudreau, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Jeff Vowell, FDACS Janet Bowman, TNC Eric Howell, FDACS Florida Forest Service Kate Brown, Trust For Public Lands Roy Lima, FDACS Florida Forest Service Christian Wagley, Sustainable Town Concepts Kevin Coyne, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Matthew Deitch, UF-IFAS (DEP) Rick O’Connor, UF-IFAS Sea Grant Beth Fugate, DEP Traci Goodhart, UF Research Assistant David Glassner, DEP Chris Verlinde, UF Santa Rosa County Extension Anita Nash, DEP Sandra Pursifull, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Lisa Robertson, DEP Melody Ray-Culp, USFWS Jonathan Brucker, DEP Aquatic Preserves Office Jeff Norville, U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service Sherry Carpenter, DEP Aquatic Preserves Office Jenny Cook, West Florida Regional Planning Council (WFRPC) Charles Shinn, Florida Farm Bureau Federation Katie Wilhelm, WFRPC Paul Carlson, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Michelle Goodfellow, West FL Research and Education Center Commission (FWC) Cover Photograph: Yellow River (John Crowe) i Pensacola Bay System SWIM Plan Northwest Florida Water Management District Executive Summary The Pensacola Bay system covers over 6,800 square miles of northwest Florida and southern Alabama. This system includes the combined drainage areas of the Escambia, Blackwater, and Yellow river watersheds together with those of Escambia, Pensacola, East, and Blackwater bays and Santa Rosa Sound. The overall watershed includes the Florida Panhandle’s largest metropolitan area, a number of other inland and coastal communities, and conservation lands that protect and sustain natural resources. Ecologically diverse, this watershed includes alluvial and blackwater rivers, floodplain swamps, tidal marshes, seagrasses, and oyster beds, among other types of natural communities. The water resources that comprise the Pensacola Bay system provide numerous functions critical to human quality of life. The watershed’s wetlands and floodplains store and regulate stormwater runoff, protecting water quality, protecting against floodwaters, and recharging aquifers and potable water supplies. Its rivers, streams, and coastal waters sustain numerous species of fish, shellfish, and wildlife, and its wetlands and coastal barriers provide resiliency against storms and coastal change. This is the third update to the Pensacola Bay system Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) plan. The purpose of the plan is to provide a framework for surface water resource management, protection, and restoration using a watershed approach. Protecting and restoring watershed resources are shared responsibilities of numerous stakeholders, including local governments, state and federal agencies, private businesses, and the public. They require building upon past accomplishments to encompass a range of management approaches. Since 1997, when the Pensacola Bay system SWIM plan was last updated, significant progress and noteworthy accomplishments have been achieved. Cooperative efforts have included multiple stormwater retrofit projects to reduce nonpoint source pollution. Project Greenshores, northwest Florida’s largest estuarine restoration project, was constructed in Pensacola Bay, and public and private initiatives have spearheaded efforts to raise awareness of resources and challenges and to expand access to data and information about resource quality. Additionally, the Emerald Coast Utilities Authority replaced the Main Street Wastewater Treatment Plant with the new Central Water Reclamation Facility, eliminating a 20 million gallon per day discharge into Pensacola Bay. Nevertheless, significant challenges continue to affect water quality, natural systems, and public benefits provided by the Pensacola Bay system and the individual waterbodies within it. Historical point source and nonpoint source pollution, for example, have degraded benthic habitat conditions and caused seagrasses within the main body of the estuary to be substantially lost. Population in the Florida portion of the watershed has steadily increased over the last several decades: from 311,720 in 1990 to 424,486 in 2010, a 36 percent increase over 20 years. Population over the next twenty years (2010-2030) is projected to increase by perhaps 22 percent, with continuing changes in land use and increasing demands on wastewater and stormwater management systems. Addressing such 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; and continued advances in wastewater treatment and management. To complement these efforts, long-term protection of critical habitats and associated buffer areas is needed. Public outreach and education, monitoring, and analysis are needed in support of all of these. Management options and strategies are described in Chapter four of the plan, and projects identified are listed in the table below: ii Pensacola Bay System SWIM Plan Northwest Florida Water Management District Recommended Projects: Pensacola Bay System SWIM Plan Stormwater Planning and Retrofit Septic Tank Abatement Advanced Onsite Treatment Systems Agriculture and Silviculture BMPs Basinwide Sedimentation Abatement Riparian Buffer Zones Aquatic, Hydrologic and Wetland Restoration Estuarine Habitat Restoration Strategic Land Conservation Watershed Stewardship Initiative Sub-basin Restoration Plans Wastewater Treatment and Management Improvements Interstate Coordination Analytical Program Support Comprehensive Monitoring Program To further implementation of priority projects, the plan outlines a range of available funding resources. Because these change over time, the plan