2010 Shared Definition of Everglades Restoration - August 2011
View the presentations from the July and August 2010 public workshops.
After ten years of ongoing monitoring and research on the south Florida ecosystem, a large body of new scientific information is now available, and an effort to employ this knowledge to better articulate the goals and objectives of the CERP is being initiated as part of the CERP adaptive management program. The goal of the 2010 Shared Definition of Everglades Restoration (Shared Definition) effort is to better define the attributes of a restored ecosystem in order to provide enhanced information for planning, implementation and operation of restoration projects.
The following documents provide more information on the Shared Definition effort:
- Letter of Intent (179 kb, PDF)
2010 Shared Definition of Everglades Restoration Presentation (1 mb, PDF)
South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Working Group/Science Coordination Group (March 24, 2010)- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (78 kb, PDF)
The Shared Definition effort will be completed in three steps:
1) Scientific Knowledge Gained document
As the science arm of CERP, RECOVER developed the Scientific Knowledge Gained document to summarize the large body of monitoring and research, engineering advances, and modeling tools pertinent to the Everglades and south Florida ecosystem that have become available since 1998. The final version is posted below.
Scientific Knowledge Gained Document
August 2011 - The Final Scientific Knowledge Gained Document
The report is available for download as a complete file or by section below.
This document should be cited as: RECOVER, 2011. Scientific and Technical Knowledge Gained in Everglades Restoration (1999-2009). Restoration Coordination and Verification, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville, FL, and South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, FL.
Download the complete report:
- Complete Document (4.5 mb, PDF)
Download by section:
(All files are under400 kb, PDF)
- Introduction (Read this first!)
- Legal Justification
- Table of Contents
- List of Tables and Figures
- List of Contributors
- 100 Word Abstracts
- 1 Everglades Hydrology: Knowledge Gained
- 1.1 Pre-drainage Hydrology of the Everglades
- 1.2 Pre-drainage Flows and Salinities in Coastal Systems: Effects of Flow and Rainfall on Salinity in Florida Bay
- 1.3 System-wide Performance of Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan 2015: Results of the Band 1 Evaluation
- 1.4 Role of Flow in Maintaining the Ridge and Slough Landscape
- 1.5 Evapotranspiration: A Link in the Hydrologic Cycle
- 1.6 Current and Projected Water Availability
- 1.7 Water Storage and Delivery Technologies
- 1.7.1 Canal Backfilling and Restoration
- 1.7.2 Aquifer Storage and Recovery
- 1.7.3 Reservoir Hydraulic Design
- 1.7.4 Recyclable Water Containment Areas – Using Ecosystem Services to Meet the Needs of the Agricultural Community and the Environment
- 2 Seepage and Aquifers: Knowledge Gained
- 2.1 Surficial Aquifer System in South Florida
- 2.2 Seepage Management: Advances and Challenges
- 3 Everglades Water Quality: Knowledge Gained
- 3.1 Ecological Impacts of Water Quality
- 3.1.1 Nutrients in Lake Ecosystems: Lake Okeechobee Sediments
- 3.1.2 Nutrients in Marsh Ecosystems: Phosphorus
- 3.1.3 Nutrients in Estuarine Ecosystems: Algal Blooms
- 3.1.4 Periphyton-Water Quality Relationships
- 3.1.5 Mercury in the Everglades: The South Florida Mercury Bioaccumulation Module and the Mercury Monitoring and Assessment Program
- 3.1.6 Sulfur in the Everglades
- 3.1.7 Copper in the Everglades: Contamination in Florida Apple Snails (Pomacea paludosa)
- 3.1.8 Other Contaminants in the Everglades
- 3.2 Technologies to Achieve Water Quality
- 3.2.1 Non-structural Methods: Best Management Practices
- 4 Everglades Habitats: Knowledge Gained
- 4.1 Landscapes, Key Habitats, and Endangered Species
- 4.1.1 Phosphorus-related Biogeochemical Processes in Ridge and Slough Landscapes
- 4.1.2 Tree Islands and Everglades Restoration
- 4.1.3 South Biscayne Bay Water Need and Habitat Change Expectations
- 4.1.4 Endangered Species
- 4.1.4.1 Snail Kite (Rosthramus sociabilis plumbeus)
- 4.1.4.2 Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis)
- 4.1.4.3 Florida Panther (Puma concolor coryi)
- 4.1.4.4 Florida Manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)
- 4.2 Indicators of Restoration Success
- 4.2.1 CERP Key Species
- 4.2.1.1 Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis)
- 4.2.1.2 Wading Birds
- 4.2.1.3 Oysters (Crassostrea virginica)
- 4.2.1.4 Prey Fish
- 4.2.2 CERP Module-specific Ecological Indicators
- 4.2.2.1 Lake Okeechobee
- 4.2.2.2 Northern Estuaries
- 4.2.2.3 Greater Everglades
- 4.2.2.4 Southern Coastal Systems
- 4.3 Human-Environment Interactions in the Everglades
- 4.3.1 Changing Land Use and Land Cover in the Greater Everglades Landscape
- 4.3.2 Ecosystem Services as a Planning Tool for Everglades Restoration
- 4.3.3 Non-native Invasive Species
- 4.3.4 Fire Ecology in Everglades Restoration
- 5 Climate Change Effects on the Everglades: Knowledge Gained
- 5.1 Projections of Sea Level Rise
- 5.2 Climate Change Projections for the South Florida Region
- 5.3 Potential Landscape and Habitat Changes due to Climate Change
- 5.4 Potential Impacts to the Built Environment
- 6 Advances and Updates in Predictive Modeling
- 6.1 South Florida Water Management Model and Regional Simulation Model
- 6.2 Natural System Model
- 6.3 Tides and Inflows in the Mangroves of the Everglades (TIME) Model
- Appendix A: Comments from Public Workshops and GEER Session
The Scientific Knowledge Gained document was the read-ahead for two public workshops that were held on the west (July 14, 2010) and east (August 4, 2010) coasts of Florida. The purpose of the workshops was for interested parties to discuss the new information and its possible effects on Everglades restoration, which was compiled and included as Appendix A in the final Scientific Knowledge Gained document. The final document is available to agencies and interested parties to provide up-to-date scientific information during the subsequent Shared Definition discussions.
2) Shared Definition Discussions
Additional meetings will be held that include agencies, stakeholders, and the public. In these meetings the CERP goals and targets will be discussed in light of the best available science, new restoration opportunities since the Yellow Book, and the values of interested parties. The purpose of these discussions will be to fine tune the goals and targets as needed.
3) Refine Interim Goals and Targets
The information and recommendations developed as a result of the discussions in the second step will feed the third and final step of the Shared Definition effort: to use the refined goals and targets to specify measurable, shorter-term interim goals and targets to guide project teams and other implementers of restoration.
Archived Shared Definition Documents
Public Workshop Documents
14 Jul & 4 Aug 2010 - Public Workshops
- Shared Definition Overview (1.8 mb, PDF)
- Hydrology and Habitats - Florida Bay (1.8 mb, PDF)
- Hydrology and Habitats - Greater Everglades (2 mb, PDF)
- Modeling (1 mb, PDF)
- Water Quality (1.5 mb, PDF)
For more information on the Shared Definition Effort, please contact:
Dave Tipple, RECOVER Branch Chief
U.S.Army Corps of Engineers
David.A.Tipple@usace.army.mil
(904) 232-1375
Contact for this page:
- Kelly Keefe, USACE
Kelly.J.Keefe@usace.army.mil
