Wild Winter Forces South Florida To Move More Than 24 Billion Gallons Of Water

In an unprecedented response to record-setting January rainfall fueled by an extra-strong El Niño climate event, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has moved more than 24 billion gallons of clean water to relieve high-water levels in two critical locations:

Water Conservation Area 3 – 21.5 billion gallons of clean water moved as of March 17: On February 15, SFWMD began emergency operations to move water out of the vast wetlands in Miami-Dade and Broward counties after record rainfall left water levels too high for Everglades wildlife.

• Maximizing gate openings at the S-333 structure along the Tamiami Trail is sending 10,000 gallons of clean water per second to flow south out of the conservation area and into Northeast Shark River Slough in Everglades National Park.
• In March, SFWMD deployed temporary pumps to send an additional 129 million gallons a day out of the conservation area.
• Water being moved into Everglades National Park by the SFWMD is cleaner than it has been in generations. In the last three months alone, strict science monitoring shows nutrient discharges into the park ranging from 5 to 8 parts per billion on average.

A-1 Flow Equalization Basin – 2.7 billion gallons of water moved into the basin from Lake Okeechobee: To reduce harm to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries from the U.S. Army Corps’ Lake Okeechobee releases, SFWMD began emergency operations in early March to send lake water directly into this new reservoir.

• The recent dry conditions in March lowered water levels in the new A-1 Flow Equalization Basin in western Palm Beach County, creating capacity for SFWMD to move 9.8 billion gallons of water from the lake directly into the Basin.
• The A-1 facility is a project in Gov. Rick Scott’s Restoration Strategies Plan to improve the Everglades, temporarily storing water for delivery to South Florida’s Stormwater Treatment Areas and optimizing their performance to clean water before sending it into Everglades National Park.