Plans to hold more water in the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes will be discussed at open house meetings hosted by the South Florida Water Management District on Jan. 30 and 31.

On Tuesday, Jan. 30, a meeting will be held at the Florida FFA Training Center (President’s Hall), 5000 Firetower Road in Haines City from 6 to 8 p.m.

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, a meeting will be held at the Kenansville Community Center, 1178 Canoe Creek Road, Keansville from 1 to 3 p.m.

SFWMD and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will be available to answer questions. No formal presentations will take place during these meetings.

The water levels in the Kissimmee River and surrounding lakes are managed according to a regulation schedule.

The original Kissimmee River meandered along a winding 103 miles from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes to Lake Okeechobee. In the wet season, the floodplain stretched out as much as 3 miles wide. As part of the Central and South Florida (C&SF) Flood Control Project, approved in 1948, the Kissimmee River was channelized, cutting a straight channel 300 feet wide, 30 feet deep and 56 miles long (the C-38 canal). The channelization, completed in 1971, caused water from the watershed to drain much more rapidly south into Lake Okeechobee.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, prior to the C&SF, rainfall that fell at the top of the system at Shingle Creek took six months to slowly sheetflow south to Lake Okeechobee. After the river was channelized, that hydrological trip took just a few weeks.

While the project successfully provided flood protection for the urban areas, it destroyed much of the floodplain-dependent ecosystem. According to the South Florida Water Management District, more than 90% of the waterfowl that once graced the wetlands disappeared and the number of bald eagle nests decreased by 70%.

Channelization was also detrimental to fish as the fast-moving water was depleted of oxygen.

The rapid movement of water due to channelization has also been blamed for the degradation of Lake Okeechobee, as the high lake levels damage the lake’s marshes and rapid influx of water destroys the lake’s submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). If the lake level rises faster than the SAV can grow, the SAV does not get sufficient sunlight.

To improve wildlife habitat, USACE filled in a portion of the channel and restored 44 miles of the original river, sending water back into the old oxbows in the central portion of the river. While this was not a water quality or water storage project, the restoration is expected to have some ancillary benefits in those areas.

In order to keep the newly restored portion of the river hydrated in the dry season, restoring a slower, more natural flow in that portion of the river, USACE needs to allow the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes to rise higher in the wet season. A new regulation schedule is proposed to balance the needs of water supply, health of the lakes, health of the river and flood protection for the urban areas.

During early discussions of the headwaters schedule, concerns were raised about flood protection during an extreme storm event. After Hurricane Ian, USACE and SFWMD proved they can use massive pumps to rapidly move the floodwaters into Lake Okeechobee in an emergency. USACE and SFWMD were credited with saving 10,000 homes in Orlando/Kissimmee from flooding after Hurricane Ian dumped extreme rainfall on that urban area.

The Headwaters Revitalization Schedule will be implemented in phases to hold more water in Lakes Kissimmee, Cypress and Hatchineha to allow historic flows to the Kissimmee River while maintaining the flood protection. Increased capacity in those lakes was achieved through real estate acquisition.  Increment 1 of the Headwaters Revitalization Schedule is being implemented as a deviation to the current Interim Regulation Schedule.  

Alligators are part of the natural ecosystem of the Kissimmee River basin. [Photo courtesy SFWMD]