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Minutes 8/22/03 Adopted


Myakka River Management Coordinating Council Oscar Scherer State Park 1843 S. Tamiami Trail Osprey, Florida August 22, 2003 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM The meeting was called to order by Chair, Jono Miller, at 9:30 A.M. Introductions were made and there was a brief explanation of the meeting format. Law Enforcement Update – Officer Ken Watson, Florida Park Patrol Over the last three months the Florida Park Patrol officers have been on the river eight times. Because of the rain, they have only issued four warnings since the 18th of April. Recently, they have added a vessel that can go further up the river. There are also two pending investigations regarding the removal of native wetland plants. Two numbers to contact the Florida Park Patrol are the direct line to dispatch is 1-866-710-4194. Toll free. Or by cellular phone at: FHP (347) also toll free. If a new dispatcher is reached and is not amenable to boating issues, please ask to speak with the supervisor. This is a new dispatch system, so please be patient. A question arose: What does the Florida Park Patrol do? Ken replied, “it is the state police for state-owned and managed land (editors note, and the state-designated Myakka Wild and Scenic River). Crimes that happen in state parks are handled by their agency. Sarasota County’s Myakka River Floodplain Study – Steve Suau, General Manager, and Sarasota County Watershed Management Mapping of the Myakka River floodplain was in progress when the rains started in June. A floodplain model was developed for a certain set of conditions: a certain kind of rainfall, a certain time, and background moisture conditions. Different storm durations were examined to determine the critical storm event for the watershed. For the Myakka River it is really a three-day storm like June of this year and June of 1992. The model is calibrated using storms from the past, including the June 1992 storm, the 1995 storm, and the El Niño event. None of those storm conditions exactly matched the model’s design critical storm. They were all somewhat less. When the model is calibrated, they assumed an average moisture condition on the land as it would be in the middle of a rainy season and applied a three-day, hundred-year storm. The model’s flood elevations were higher than anything that had ever been recorded. Myakka State Park has about 60 years of data. The current concern would be for folks who had lived on the Myakka River for 30 or 60 years (10 or 20), and had never seen the water as high as it had gotten in the recent June storm (which basically had the set of conditions of the model’s critical design storm). The storm in June of 1992 followed a severe drought. It was dry in April, May and June until the rain came at the end of the month. The first day of the rain didn’t produce much runoff. It built up in the wetlands and the water table. That being said, they are seeing a pretty close relationship between the predicted hundred-year flood elevation on the Myakka River and what was observed this year. While they’ve been working on this study (it started in 2001 when Gabriel hit) they went out after Tropical Storm Gabriel and surveyed high water marks along the river at the same locations they computed flood elevation, so a direct comparison was done. They did the same thing following this past storm and they had a comparison that showed a close correlation between the flood elevations that were surveyed after this past storm and the 100-year flood storm that was predicted. It’s actually a little bit higher in the southern part of the river. They are getting ready to take this flood study of the Myakka River to the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners (BCC), but it will only be the section south of State Road 72. There are issues with aerial photography on the northern end, which have been resolved. Those will be taken to the Board next year. The other issue is that much of the area originally analyzed is now in the City of North Port. They have determined the floodplain in that area but will not be delineating it. They are working with North Port to see if the floodplain updates are wanted. The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) has been a partner on this work. The county is working with FEMA to update their maps. Because of the potential for development (residential rezoning), the County has been looking at the 100-year floodplain area west of River Road. They superimposed the floodplain on topographic map and aerials, and found about 118 homes in the floodplain. Thirty to forty of these homes had finished floors below the floodplain elevation. Most of those were between Border Road and I-75, with a cluster north of Border Rd. and a couple south of I-75. They have had several calls from residences that have lost their homes, and wanted to know if they could rebuild or not. When they go to the Sarasota BCC with other flood studies, they identify the homes that flood, and they will identify alternative solutions to address the flooding problem. The Myakka River will be different. One strategy might be to address Myakka River flooding in partnership with the SWFWMD and the Environmentally Sensitive Land Acquisition Program, to purchase residential homes that flood (voluntary/willing seller program). Quite frankly, Steve didn’t know if the Sarasota BCC would approve it, and it will be part of the discussion at November BCC meeting. It is also to be discussed internally with the County’s legal department. They also have on file 6 applications from Myakka River residents interested in elevating or selling homes through the FEMA program. FEMA has a program to consider mitigating flood damage either by paying 75% of the cost of elevating or flood proofing a structure, or they will give 75% of the appraised value to purchase the home. (So far the experience with the FEMA program has not been good, because it takes a long time, and the process is extremely bureaucratic.) Questions and answers followed. Sarasota County’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program Update – Brooke Elias, Environmental Specialist, and Sarasota County Resource Management Brooke displayed a map of the lands acquired, lands under contract, and lands identified for acquisition by the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program. Two new protection priority sites have been added during the last year. 1. Fox Creek, which is outside the Myakka watershed. Its boundary is north of Cow Pen Slough and west of I-75). 2. Warm Mineral Springs Creek Protection Priority Site, which is downstream from the springhead itself. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has identified parcels along the creek as important manatee habitats. A federal grant (USFWS) has been applied for to acquire lands, with $455,000 being awarded. Two closings are pending on the river. One is about 80 acres on the northwest side of the intersection of River Road and I-75. The closing should be soon. It will give a lot more protection along the west side of the river. A smaller parcel further up north, should also be closing soon. Myakka River State Park - June Flooding Update – Diana Donaghy Diana had a PowerPoint presentation, with highlights including: • The river gauge reading showed the river crested on June 24 at 20.33+ feet above mean sea level (msl), the highest level recorded since the gage was installed in 1936. • At 16.25 feet msl the trails, picnic areas and parking lots flooded, except for the area at the entrance station. • At 15.25 feet msl the Main Park Drive flooded in many locations. • At 17 feet msl most of Myakka River State Park was closed. • At 18.87 feet msl portions of S.R. 72 flooded, and this is the first year that S.R. 72 was closed within the Myakka State Park boundaries. • The shop area, usually one of the drier areas was flooded. • Canoeing was the only way to get around the park. • Water had gone inside the cabins, and into the Clay Gulley bathrooms. • An otter swam under a chain-link fence and inside the yard, and ‘gators used picnic tables to rest on. • As for damage the concession buildings were completely under water, as were all five cabins. The park drive (road and substrate) was damaged, secondary roads were washed out, and campground electric wiring had to be repaired. The wastewater treatment plant and some equipment had to be repaired. There was well water contamination, trail destabilization, playground sand washed away. A tractor was damaged by water that required repairs. An estimate of the total cost of damage in the park, was a little over $500,000. Even though the park did sustain financial damage from the flood there were pretty scenes that Diana considered almost mystical. Even thought the park was closed to the public, one can come visit with a canoe/kyak. The former most recent flooding when the park was closed to the public was on the 13th of August. It had crested at 16.08. Diana was asked if she could make her PowerPoint presentation available, and she responded yes. Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) Update – Dianne McCommons-Beck Farms Program Update: The farm’s program is expanding statewide, so more farmers will be able to get help through cost sharing for projects. The Falkner Farms Project is still ongoing. As of August 2003, approximately 165 million gallons of water have been diverted from Flatford Swamp for bed prep, crop establishment, and citrus irrigation. These quantities directly offset groundwater pumpage. Pacific Tomato Growers Project (PTG) is also ongoing. For the spring crop they used just under 150,000,000 gallons. As of August 2003, approximately 311 million gallons had been withdrawn from Flatford Swamp, which offset groundwater pumping. The crops within the project’s 650-acre surface area were irrigated strictly with surface water. PTG is also planning a second phase of this project, so the Surface Water Exchange Project will hopefully be going into a second phase and expanded within the next year or so. The Manasota Basin Board has approved two other projects. The McClure Property’s project is another recovery project to reuse water that would have runoff into Flatford Swamp. The recovered water will be used for crop establishment, bed prep and irrigation. They are also looking to improve water quality. The other project is the Cameron Daken Dairy Project, which is a water quality improvement project. At the August Governing Board Meeting, staff will be presenting the latest version of the draft SWUCA Management Plan. They are also in negotiations with Hollingsworth to acquire some of the property in the eastern half of the Tatum Sawgrass area. The Myakka River CWM Plan is being formatted and should be available soon. At the last meeting, Jono Miller asked “What effect the North Port Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project would have on Warm Mineral Springs?” The well has been drilled, but no pumping or cycling tests have been done. The North Port ASR will be in the Suwanee Formation of the upper Floridan aquifer at a total depth of approximately 650 feet, and cased to 580 feet. Warm Mineral Springs issues from the Boulder Zone of the lower Floridan aquifer, which occurs from approximately 2,000 – 3,000 feet. The lower Floridan and the upper Floridan are separated by confining units, so the consensus is, that with 1,000 feet or more of separation, and the confining layer, it is unlikely that the ASR project would impact Warm Mineral Springs. Myakka River June & August Flooding River Cleanup – Mike Egan Mike introduced himself as the Wild and Scenic River Ranger, and his job is to keep the river clean. The numbers reported in his Powerpoint presentation were tabulated since the June 2003 flood. There is an incredible amount of debris in the river. Things removed from the river since June: • 234 plastic bags, which are often wrapped around tree branches and difficult to remove. • Beverage bottles: 350 various kinds, beer, soda, water, Mountain Dew, etc. • Oil: mostly full quarts of oil, some gallons. • Buckets: 11 five-gallon • Gas cans: various sizes, 1-6 gallon cans, some with gas in them. • Fishing line: approx. 558 ft., in the trees/bushes, water, and on the shoreline. • Tires: 13 • Water heater from Home Depot • One object that said “POISON, Do Not Touch” = rat trap • Styrofoam: (cups-118, plates-18), misc. food packages-30, actual pieces of syrofoam-285 • Miscellaneous stuff: picnic coolers; cat litter box; glass-293; food jars-22; light bulbs-12; 2 live bait (minnow) boxes; flip-flops; sneakers; air mattress for a pool; beverage cans-500; propane tanks-3; tin cans; spray bottles-13: 55-gallon drum from the U.S. Marine Corps; refrigerator; and lastly a plastic skull with a spider in its mouth. Myakka River Planning Advisory Council Update – Matt Lewis The Myakka River Planning Advisory Council was established to amend the Earth Moving, Tree Protection, Land Development, and Zoning Ordinances in Sarasota County. The Board of County Commissioners public hearing on the proposed amendments is scheduled for November 12, 2003 (and December 3, for the required 2nd Zoning Ordinance hearing). At the April MRMCC meeting the proposed ordinance amendments were distributed, these have remained essentially unchanged, except for a few items. The first change is a provision is instructions to leave a 150-ft setback for homes on lots greater than five-acres. Another addition is the allowance to build on legally constrained lots, by using performance measures meant to protect views from the river. Lastly, construction on uplands that fall 2200 feet away from the main channel of the river would not be required to have the 150-foot setback requirement (in areas where the wetlands are expansive). Charlotte County Update – Bill Byle Perhaps the most valuable thing to pass on to this group, is that we are 3-4 months closer to the potential permitting and eventual development of the 30,000 acre Pine Level phosphate mine at the headwaters of Big Slough (Myakkahatchee Creek), in the Myakka River watershed. One of the things that have not been widely publicized is the Tenoroc Study. It documents dangerously elevated levels of 14 different radioactive materials, found in the 6,000-acre reclaimed Lake Tenoroc site, in Lakeland. USEPA admitted to me, that the reason they had not finalized the draft document was because it would obligate them to designate the Tenoroc site as a Superfund site. It was mentioned that Dr. Jelks would be bringing a resolution for the MRMCC’s consideration, on phosphate mining, this afternoon. FDOT Update on the Englewood Interstate Connector/I-75 Widening – Gwen Pippin The existing River Road has been selected as the preferred alignment for the Englewood Interstate Connector. They are expecting to go to a public hearing. When Gwen finds out the date she will let the MRMCC know. As far as the I-75 widening, Gwen indicated that a public hearing was held last night (8/21) at the Venice Center. The proposal is to widen I-75 within the existing right-of-way. I-75 would be widened from State Road 681 to River Road, with six to eight lanes. Jono explained that at a previous MRMCC meeting concern was raised about using the former rest area as a construction staging area. He also spoke at a Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting about the MRMCC’s concerns about the former rest area being used as a staging area, and making sure that nothing hazardous, floatable, dissolvable or otherwise at risk from rising waters be stored in that rest area. Gwen continued “that since that area had been identified as being in the floodplain they can not use it for storage of hazardous materials, etc. At this point there is a move to use that area for floodplain mitigation. They don not know whether that will actually go through because that will be done down the line, probably in four or five years.” FDOT is also looking at deck replacement on the I-75 Bridge over the Myakka River. There is a problem with the concrete used in the initial construction. It tends to break off in chucks and fall in the river, so they are looking at replacing the deck panels on the main channel and the relief channel bridges. Gwen is going to be working on that project, and hopes to bring more information to a future meeting. Diane McCommons-Beck spoke: The bridge deck replacement is in Advance Notification. A lot of this has been being done lately; the Caloosahatchee was done, the Peace River is in the process of being done now. Gwen added, “there is a policy that you can not shut the interstate down to one lane. So as a part of the deck replacement an additional lane needs to be constructed. Additional support pilings into the river will be required. Further discussion followed. Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center (CHEC) Projects – Betty Staugler At the last meeting it was mentioned that CHEC was doing a septic tank study on the Myakka and Peace River basins. The studies goal was to identify the location of septic systems, and look at the potential water quality impacts. The study is nearly complete and it will be presenting at the September 3rd Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program’s Technical Advisory Committee meeting. Chris Becker asked about the Myakka River Restoration Mapping project. Betty responded: yes they have a mapping project that will look at potential restoration projects in the Myakka River Basin. Myakka State Forest/Wildlife Management Area Update – Tom Williams In December of last year, they planted 62,000 South Florida slash pine seedlings throughout the forest. Prior to that, they did some mechanical chopping on 330 acres, and 92 acres of burn and chop. This past season using prescribed fire, they burned 195-acres in December, 1,403-acres in January, and 932-acres in February, for a total of 2,530-acres in the fiscal year. They have treated 135-acres of Brazilian pepper and 50-acres of melaleuca, were cut and treated. They have resurfaced about 22-miles of shell road, which is the main road through the forest. They have four picnic sites with picnic tables, and they have two restrooms (rustic). A handicapped accessible area is planned for a picnic site. They have also put in six more campsites in the Flying A Campground. The forest was opened for shotgun hunting last year for the first time. They had 1,158 hunter entries. Hunters removed 37 feral hogs. Access was limited last year, so this year they are opening up road access a little more. Most of the hogs are in the south portion of the forest, which takes a little bit of a hike, with no driving allowed. This could explain why not too many hogs were taken. This year the first week is going to be archery only, and the second week will be archery and shotgun. They will close for 10 days and then open for the second part of the season, which is two weeks of both archery and shotgun. Small game including squirrels, raccoons, ‘possum, rabbits, and duck hunting during the migratory bird season, are hunted. Frog gigging is available year round. Jono asked, “What percent of the forest are you trying to burn?” Tom responded, “The forest is 8,600 acres. They will try to burn it every four years, so they are shooting for 2,000 acres a year.” Charlotte Harbor NEP Update – Maran Hilgendorf The Water Quality Report is available on CD, print form, or on the Website (charlotteharbornep.org). The report shows water quality trends from 1960 on. One of their big events is National Estuaries Day on Saturday, September 23. This year they have 35 different events scheduled. Chris Becker will be offering a guided canoe trip on the Myakka River on Saturday October 4. Most of the events are free, or if there is a charge it helps to fund research, etc. Another event is Estuaries Live. Last year they had a million people watching the program. It is a live interactive field trip for kids. They have 3 sessions planned: the first session will be on estuaries (a couple of experts being interviewed); the second session will be on plants mostly mangroves and sea grapes; the third session will be on animals. January 31st is their Nature Festival in Charlotte Harbor (Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival). Sixteen counties are represented. Admission is $2.00 per car. One big thing is the kid area, with a huge tent, lots of activities, and a forestry truck. Maran is looking for volunteers to help. A Water Budget Workshop is planned for April or May 2004. The objective is to quantify the existing water budget for the study area (Charlotte Harbor and the watersheds that feed it). Information will be available on their website. August 29 they released their grant announcement. They have two grants available: Research and Restoration Partners Grants of up to $20,000 per participating partner. $100,000 is available for these grants. One project (grant recipient) from last year has received a lot of publicity “Study of the Nile Monitor Lizards in Cape Coral”. Another grant program that they have is for mini-grants, which tend to focus on education and are for up to $3,000. A third category of funds is the Micro grants of up to $250, which can be applied for any time of the year. Liz Donnelly has been added to the program staff, she will be their grant and contracts manager. The book Identifying and Controlling Invasive Exotic Plants in Southwest Florida: A Homeowners’ Guide is now available for distribution to Myakka River property owners. CHNEP funded the printing for the MRMCC. On September 20th there will be a workshop at the Venice Campground. Property owners will be invited to the workshop and taught about the different invasive exotic plants and why they should be removed. Questions and discussion followed. There was discussion about homeowners receiving a mini or micro grant to help plant native plants. Maran stated that these grants were not intended to enhance private property that has no public access. For the MRMCC Website there is a company called Otter Water Web. Prices are very reasonable. They work for environmental groups, and are willing to develop a website and maintain it for two years. City of North Port Update – Julie Bellia During the June flood Myakkahatchee Creek rose to the highest level recorded at the USGS site of 27.2 feet. There was lots of flooding and damage as the result. Myakka River Biologist’s Report – Chris Becker Chris distributed a summary of his May through August Biologist Report. Lunchbreak – 11:30-12:30 SWFWMD Myakka Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs) Update – Jonathan Morales SWFWMD has been legislatively mandated to establish MFLs as part of their responsibility to protect water resources. They create hydrological and ecological standards, against which, decisions can be made regarding water withdrawals, either from surface water or ground water sources. MFLs are the point at which further withdrawals would be “significantly harmful” to the water resource or the ecology of an area. In addition to ecological variables, non-consumptive factors such as recreation, aesthetic or scenic attributes, or navigation can be used as a criteria for establishing MFLs. MFLs are set using the best available data, however, they frequently must conduct additional research as well. One important paper is by Poff et al., which states that river systems have to undergo a natural flow regime. In this paper, flow regimes are expressed in magnitude, frequency, duration of inundation, and rate of change, which all have direct effects on components of the ecology of the system, the water quality, energy resources, the physical habitat as well as biological interactions that take place within that system. In turn all of this contributes to the overall integrity of the system. So MFLs have to mimic this natural flow regime. The statute definition implies that only a single flow standard is required for an MFL. This is not the case, because rivers inherently are dynamic systems, and they encompass a region not just within the channel itself, but also expand all the way to the floodplain. Because they are dynamics systems the different flow levels have different ecological functions. For example, if you were to state right now we have flood flows; those are flows that go all the way to the edge of the floodplain. Their main effect is basically to shape the river valley, and set its boundary. As you go down to flows that go over the banks, and they are important because they inundate floodplain vegetation. Then we have flows that are just within the channel that are needed to sustain important habitat within the channel. Finally, we have instream flows that are needed by fish. As the result of this, they are not establishing single flow standards, but rather establishing a minimum flow regime. They will start to establish three flow regimes with what they call low flow regimes, which are basically in the channel. Then they have medium flow regimes that have to go up to the banks, and then they have high flow regimes that are topping banks and going into the floodplain and inundating vegetation. SWFWMD has chosen a “Habitat Based Approach” because it provides a strong visual manifestation of the extent of significant harm that takes place. They believe that the long-term integrity of riverine systems will be best served with the proper inundation of these habitats. In all they will compare the ecological criteria to the natural flow record that they get from USGS stations within the watershed. Typically they want to find out the role of hydrology against all these different ecological variables. The different flow types to protect: Low flows - one of the key things that they need to make sure of is that fish are able to migrate up and down the river. First and foremost they want hydraulic connectivity of the whole drainage from the headwaters to the mouth and allow fish to migrate up the river. Part of the analysis is to get measurements of the fish communities from preexisting data or studies, or to go out and collect the data themselves. On the upper Peace River, they looked at fish passage and what flows they needed to maintain. Areas with shoals, during low flows can cause an impediment for fish migration. Because of the size of the fish, we allocate about six tenths of a foot over that bottom elevation as enough water to allow for fish passage. An another criterion that they are studying is the wetted perimeter, which is the distance across the channel that is wet as flow comes perpendicular to it. Their objective is to maximize the wetted perimeter. If you plot wetted perimeter against discharge you come up with an inflection point, which essentially means pass that point you need large increase in the volume of water to have a small increase in wetted perimeter. By maximizing the wetted perimeter, you get the most inundation of the bottom habitat for invertebrates and fish for the least amount of flow needed. These two criteria are needed to establish low flow minimums, which are targeted to be met at least 80% of the time, or if possible, 100% of the time Medium flows - These are set to protect instream woody habitats. This includes snags, roots, and exposed roots. Previous research has shown that the most diversity and abundance of aquatic organisms is in these types of habitats. Another thing they are studying is critical fish habitat. This is fairly new. Dr. Tim Gore from Columbia State University introduced Physical Habitat Simulations, which allows them to manage for a particular fish species, and find out the critical flows they require. This is specific to the type of fish you want to manage. The process for developing physical habitat simulations was described in detail, with the recommendation that no more than 15% of a fish species habitat should be lost. High flows – These are set to inundate wetland vegetation, and maintain hydric soils (peat/ muck soils) in the floodplain. Amphibians have certain inundation requirements for their life histories and those need to be preserved. Myakka MFL Activity: The study starts at the USGS gage at S.R. 70 in Myakka City down to Myakka River State Park (long-term gauge at Highway 72), ending at Downs Dam. This is the upper limit of the tidal influence. Two short-term gauges have been installed through a contract with USGS and there is about a year worth of data from them. The Myakka River seems to have two characteristics. One is above Highway 780, a typical stream with banks, and canopy providing shade. This area a typical headwater stream, has more variety in habitats like snags and sand. South of 780 in the State Park, the river opens up and there is more emergent vegetation. Those two kinds of characteristics have to be taken into consideration. They started with 6 study sites, but it is now down to 5, with one site removed by the recent flooding. They hope to use large-mouth bass, blue gill, and a couple of other species for determining fish passage. Unfortunately the FWC does not have a broad study of fish communities found in the Myakka River. If anyone has fish data, SWFWMD would like it, so they can find out the dominant species. Ten instream floodplain transects will be establish, but these efforts have come to a halt because of the flooding. To summarize, they are doing field assessments, using topographical elevations, identifying instream and critical fish habitats, surveying floodplain vegetation, and lastly, they are modeling flow simulations. Limitations to the project include the recent flooding, lack of fish data, and the difficulty of accessing private property upstream of S.R. 780. Becky asked, “ For how long would they need access?” Jonathan answered, “2-3 weeks.” Further explanations and discussions occurred. Report on Chairperson’s/Vice Chairperson’s Activities – Jono Miller/Jean Ost After the June flooding Jono and his wife canoed Clay Gully. They went down Clay Gully, got out of the canoes, bushwhacked across to the main channel of the river, then went up to the 780-Bridge, then canoed the upper lake. They got to see the missing section of the Hidden River Dike. Jono also went to MPO meeting and asked “that they not use the former rest areas as construction staging areas.” It was discussed that there was a quorum. Jean Ost mentioned that on page 9 of the April 18, 2003 minutes Jack Creighton’s name was spelled incorrectly. It should be as written here. Marisa Morr is spelled with just one “S”. Marty Black made a motion to adopt the amended April 18, 2003 Meeting Minutes, and Dianne McCommons-Beck, seconded. The minutes were adopted. Jean mentioned that the Jacaranda Library, in Venice, which is currently being enlarged by 12,500 sq. feet, might apply for a CHNEP Mini Grant to landscape with native plants and provide native plant educational materials. Jean thought educational information on invasive exotics would be included. Sarasota County’s “draft” Manatee Protection Plan/USFWS Land Acquisition Grant – Amy Meese Amy distributed copies of the Powerpoint Program she had planned on presenting, but was unable to because of technical difficulties. Mote Marine Laboratory, a known expert in manatees, was retained as a subcontractor for the Manatee Protection Plan (MPP). There was an intergovernmental coordination committee that consisted of representatives from Sarasota County, City of Sarasota, City of North Port, City of Venice, and the town of Longboat Key. They met regularly to review elements of the plan as they were developed and to bring concerns and issues to the table. In 1989 the Governor identified 12 key counties as having ecologically significant manatee populations and put forth requirements that those counties develop a MPP. Sarasota County was identified through aerial data as well as other data collection on manatee populations as also having ecologically significant populations. So the county joined as number13 in 1990, and is held to the same standards and obligations as the original 12 counties. In 2002 the legislature amended the Florida Statute (FS 370.12) that governs protection of manatees. It set guidelines for implementation and development of MPPs. Key counties are required to adopt a MPP by July 1, 2004 that incorporates a Boat Facility Siting Plan into the County Comprehensive Plan by July 1, 2004. There is an assertion at the state level that the local municipalities, Sarasota, North Port, Venice and Longboat Key, also adopt the County-wide MPP. Because those municipalities operate as an incorporated body they function independently of that incorporated county in that manner, and are not automatically covered by our MPP. They have a choice of whether their governing body should move to adopt it and incorporate it into their comprehensive plan. The negative aspect of not adopting the MPP is that if something were to happen, for example, there was a moratorium on submerged lands the unincorporated county would be protected. But any area or municipality that has not adopted the plan would not be. They would be subject to any regulation or injunction or any punitive action that would be put in place. Components of the MPP include manatee protection measures, habitat protection programs, and community considerations, such as, recreational and commercial use, economic impacts, and demands. The draft MPP available on County’s website, includes a study of the manatee population, how they use county waters, areas of recurrent use, maps depicting use, plus recommendations for law enforcement and future studies. There are also policies and a Boat Facility Siting Plan (BFSP). BFSP is countywide guidance document for the development of boat facilities and moorings with greater than five slips. Development is the expansion of existing facilities or new construction. Four or fewer slips would not be considered under the MPP, but five or greater would. When it comes to single family all you need is a minor work permit. The plan specifies preferred locations for boat facility development based on an evaluation of: • Natural resources (manatee habitat) • Manatee protection needs, and • Recreation and economic demands What is the basis for these criteria? Initially they looked at boating and land use because those are typically where you find development. When that approach was taken the outcome was very restrictive. There were essentially no areas within the county that were listed as recommended sites for facility siting. One of the considerations was demand and economic impact. So while they recognize that manatee protection was an important component, we could not put forth criteria that did not allow any flexibility in siting. So Mote looked at another way of developing criteria that would protect manatees and also permitted siting facilities, within the existing context of county regulations. The strategy looked at the risks to natural populations, which are the manatees and their habitat. This is a function of the natural environment that we do not control and therefore, it is logical to plan around what can not be controlled. So the current plan is based on these factors. It is a multi-tiered approach. • Tier 1 – Potential impact on manatee use areas • Tier 2 – Other environmental considerations • Tier 3 – Zoning and land use • Tier 4 – Existing ordinances and permitting protocols They didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, or supercede all the work that had been done in the past regarding how developments were viewed. What the MPP does is gives an answer from the manatee perspective. But what it’s really doing, is taking information that was looked at separately and bringing them together in one place so that it’s more systematic, more consistent and more predictable. It’s systematic in the process of looking at information. It’s consistent in the fact that there are multiple agencies currently doing multiple review, at the local level and the state level. Since this is a cooperative effort it was an opportunity to create consistency. An applicant can pick up the MPP and say ‘I want to build a facility X big and in X area.’ And they can look at it and say,’ OK, that’s a conditional area. I might have to do an educational effort, or I might have to look at different situations that the state might put forward.’ They can look at it and say, ‘Oh, I’m in a recommended area, I’ll put my application through.’ Or they can look at it and say, ‘I’m not in a recommended area. Maybe I need to reconsider doing this.’ There is a variance tool in process. The one that is currently in draft has been reworked based on public comment and will be available in the next revision of the plan. Right now the Myakka River is not recommended for facilities and boat slips. This does not apply to single family facilities. Under current regulations single-family can only get up to 4 slips and that is a joint project between single family owners. So what they’re talking about basically is a boat ramp that serves more than 5 users will be governed by the MPP. The next step in the MPP is to allow public comment on the draft final plan. They received public comment and are currently adjusting the plan and developing responses. On September 24th the Board of County Commissioners will be asked to consider adopting the MPP to meet their statutory mandate. It is a public hearing that will allow them to hear public comments and to consider the effort and also to decide what action to take. At that time they can forward it to the state for approval. Once the state approves, it is complete. There is a requirement to incorporate the MPP into the Comprehensive Plan, by July 1st, 2004. Questions and answers followed. Land Acquisition Grant The County applied for a “Recovery Land Acquisition Grant”, from the Federal Government. The grant money will assist the county with the acquisition of parcels along Warm Mineral Springs Creek (maps were passed around). The project supports acquisitions that were identified under the Env. Sensitive Lands Protection Program (ESLPP) for Warm Mineral Springs Creek. It is a matching grant with the Federal Government that is being administered through a partnership with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, and is for almost $456,000. The Myakka River is the most important year-round habitat in Sarasota County for manatees. It includes a warm water refuge that is a respite area for manatees to get away from it all, and relax. There has been a history of problems along the creek, including manatee harassment, and pollution/dumping trash and debris. There is also a lot of development pressure and all of these human related influences are degrading and destabilizing the refuge. Those reasons motivated the County Commissioners to make it a priority site for acquisition, and in an effort to make their dollar go further, they applied for the grant. Once the Florida State Legislature dissipates spending authority for this money they will enter into a Tier 1 agreement with the County, which permits the County to administer the project and move forward on supplementing acquisitions with these funds. Discussions followed. FWC Myakka River/Salt Creek Manatee Research Update – Margie Barlas They have had a lot of manatees in the Warm Mineral Springs Creek (WMSC) this year, with a high count of 72 on Jan. 25th. FWC is working on two WMSC manatee projects, photo identification and satellite/radio transmitter tagging. The photo I.D. project consists of taking pictures of the scar pattern on individual manatees and cataloging them. A full catalog for an individual is when you have photographs of every aspect (head, tail, belly, side, etc.). This year 48 new manatees (potentially) will be added to the catalog. Overall there are about 165 different scarred animals that use the creek. The tagging study is in its final year, with four more manatees added this year. Capturing the manatees for this study was difficult. Two were caught on January 13th, but only one was large enough to tag. This tagged manatee was followed throughout the Myakka River and WMSC, but she lost her tag on Feb. 25th. On January 28th, they caught 7 manatees at one time, of which three were tagged. One of the tagged manatees was recently identified “regular” in WMSC and was named “Newcomer” appropriately. She was observed mating while she was in the creek. This manatee moved towards Charlotte Harbor and Turtle Bay. The tag started to malfunction, so they have been trying to remove it. Ciano was another manatee of the seven caught that day and was tagged. She was a regular in Warm Mineral Springs that year and by going back through previous files comparing markings, they were able to identify that she had been coming to the creek for several years. They cut her tag off on May 14th near Turtle Bay, which is a large feeding area for manatees. The stellar study manatee was Argo; the third manatee tagged that day. She loved the Sarasota County part of the Myakka River so much that she decided to have her calf there. When they tagged her they suspected she was pregnant, but were not sure. The tags are able to report the manatee’s activity by recording the number of times the tag tips in the water. She had a high number of tips (indicating a lot of activity) and then a very low number for three days (indicating very little activity). They went to see her and saw her with a brand new calf. They cannot wait for her to come back to WMSC this year to see if manatees teach their calves to come back to the creek. Hopefully by this group’s next meeting they will have a summary for the three-year tagging study. Two animals, Argo from this year and Timehri from last year, were tracked up the Myakka River near I-75. This year three dead manatees were recovered from the Sarasota County section of the Myakka River. One was an aborted fetus found in the aggregation at WMSC on January 16th. Red tide was pretty bad throughout SW Florida this year, and they had one animal recovered near Big Slough (Myakkahatchee Creek) on April 13th that died from Red tide. Another was found in the Big Slough on April 22nd, but the animal was not recovered to determine the cause of death. Unfortunately one of our cataloged animals was found dead this year in Lemon Bay. They are posting signs for the Warm Mineral Springs Protection Area, on October 21st, which will make the area a no entry zone. They are compiling their data from Warm Mineral Springs for a conference in December. Jono asked what percent of animals don’t have any scarring. Margie replied that it was very hard to tell. Approximately 75% of animals seen at one time have scars caused by boats. Discussion continued. Permit Update – Chris Becker Chris explained that Howard Berna, Sarasota County Resource Protection, was unable to attend this meeting. Chris distributed Howard’s report with the e-mail from Dr. Jelks on phosphate mining. Sarasota County has three minor work permits pending. Eleven have been issued, with most in the Myakka River Trail Subdivision, just north of US-41, and the same area where a boat ramp was permitted. One new minor work permit has been received. The Myakka Wild and Scenic River Program will be issuing a permit to Sarasota County for aids to navigation on the river. The permit allows 12 navigation signs on the river from the U.S. 41 bridge south of the Charlotte County line. At the Charlotte County line as you enter the Sarasota County section of the Myakka River, it will be gated with two signs. It will be a combination of the manatee slow speed sign and a sign saying “Myakka Wild and Scenic River” with local knowledge required and the controlling depth upstream of two feet mean low water. This is not a channel-marking program. What was decided for the Myakka was to mark hazards like shoals, versus a channel. If you only have a two-foot deep section of the river, you really do not want to mark it as a navigable channel, because you open yourself up to dredging. Sarasota County hopes to install signs by the end of the year. Chris discussed another permit issue (one that is outside of the Wild and Scenic River) that he has been recently made aware of: the City of Venice Wastewater Treatment Plant. He was hoping to have somebody from the Tampa DEP Office, who are doing the permit review, discuss this, but they were unavailable. The application is to increase the permitted wastewater discharge into Curry Creek (Blackburn Canal), which is connected to the Myakka River. John Lane Director of Utilities, City of Venice was in attendance for this discussion. Chris asked Mr. Lane: “Since the Myakka is an Outstanding Florida Water (OFW) and it does have interactions with Curry Creek/Blackburn Canal is there a possibility that water discharged into the Curry Creek can make it back to the main part of the river?” Mr. Lane answered, “In his opinion, yes. Because there is tidal action in Curry Creek, which make it difficult to model, so there is a possibility that there could be flow from downstream in Curry Creek back to the Myakka. However, that would never occur when they are discharging, because they only discharge in the outgoing tide.” It is Mr. Lane’s understanding that the MRMCC was seeking additional monitoring of Curry Creek. The city does too, and will be willing to participate with the MRMCC in capturing data by the installation of monitoring devices. In conjunction with permit approval request they need to know the volume of the flows, plus tidal action both upstream and downstream. The discharge point is at Auburn Road on Curry Creek. The permit allows them to discharge 2.1 million gallons/day (mgd) during the months of Dec. Jan. and Feb, 2.6 mgd in July, and 2.9 mgd in August. They have applied for a permit from DEP for additional wet-weather discharge into Curry Creek. What they are asking for is when all the ponds and storage facilities are filled with reclaimed water, which is treated to Advanced Wastewater Treatment Standards (tertiary treatment), that they can discharge what comes into the plant. They have 37 million gallons stored in ponds, along with 3 million gallons of storage tank capacity, so they have 40 million gallons of storage. Plus, they discharge into several lakes in the Waterford Subdivision and Curry Isles area. They have adequate storage unless they receive excessive rainfall. Other Agenda Items At the April 18, 2003, MRMCC meeting, Dr. Jelks was assigned with drafting a letter about the phosphate mining issue for the MRMCC. Copies of the draft letter were distributed. The letter is to be sent to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Secretary Struhs, Governor Bush, the US Army Corps of Engineers and Regional Planning Councils: The Myakka River Coordinating Council requests that no further mining nor processing of phosphates be permitted in the watersheds of either the Myakka or Peace Rivers until a thorough study is done on the cumulative environmental damage from the large tracts of land being used in this activity. A neutral scientific body should do the study. In the past 100 years a good share of the depletion of our Floridan Aquifer could be related to the large amounts of water consumed by the industry coupled with the loss of the ability to recharge due to the alterations of the hydro-geologic functions. The loss of wetlands and the contamination of water, air, and soil with numerous, dangerous radio-nucleotides in organisms threaten the health of the environment and the local population. The costs to the environment may truly outweigh any economic gains of the region by this unsustainable industry. The more recent decrease in water consumption and attempts at reclamation of the sites by the industry appear as inadequate gestures as the state finds itself in the less than ideal management of the bankrupt Piney Point plant with its massive stacks of phosphogypsum. Since 1888, the phosphate industry has created over 126,000 acres of clay settling areas in Florida, over 20,000 acres of phosphogypsum stacks, and 81,000 acres of these clay settling areas remain unreclaimed. To grant additional permits for further phosphate mining without a study of the accumulation of problems for the future is unwise. Dr. Jelks moved to accept the letter as modified by the MRMCC, and Becky Ayech seconded. The motion passed. Several Members abstained from voting (Dianne McCommons-Beck, Bill Byle, Marisa Morr, and Maran Hilgendorf). Jono asked if there was additional business. Chris mentioned that a letter from the MRMCC to the Board of County Commissioners supporting the Sarasota Manatee Protection Plan might be appropriate. Mary Jelks moved to send a letter stating “The Myakka River Coordinating Council moves to support Sarasota County’s and the local municipalities’ efforts to complete the Manatee Protection Plan consistent with Florida Statute 370.12”. Marisa Morr seconded. The motion passed. Regarding the MRMCC Website it was discussed that each council member receive one page and one link. A list was created with ideas and links to include on the Website: • MRMCC Membership, Meeting Minutes, Schedule, and Agenda • Myakka Wild and Scenic River Management Plan, River Rule, and Designation Act • Link to USGS Gage • Biologist’s Monthly River Inspection Reports • Information and Links on Exotic Plants • Pictures • Link to Sarasota County’s Water Atlas, and Floodplain Information • SWFWMD Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan • Links to Public Conservation Land Sites • Link to SWFWMD • Sarasota County’s Myakka Wild and Scenic River Protection Zone Ordinances and Regulations The next meeting date was set for December 5, 2003. Jean Ost moved for adjournment and Marisa Morr seconded. Members in Attendance Phil Segerstrom Bill Byle Chuck Downs Marisa Morr Jean Ost Javier Vargas Maran Hilgendorf Mary Jelks Jonathan Miller Marty Black Dianne McCommons-Beck Gwen Pipkin Tom Williams Gregory Nowasky Becky Ayech Amy Meese Brooke Alias Jeff Thirlwall Others in Attendance Chris Becker Don Hughes Eric Bilik Steve Suau Ken Alvarez Jonathan Morales Mike Egan John Sarkozy Matt Lewis Ed Freeman Julie Bellis Carie Call Margie Barlas John Lane Diana Donaghy

Minutes
8/22/03

Adopted

Myakka River Management Coordinating Council
Oscar Scherer State Park
1843 S. Tamiami Trail
Osprey, Florida

August 22, 2003
9:30 AM – 3:30 PM

The meeting was called to order by Chair, Jono Miller, at 9:30 A.M. Introductions were made and there was a brief explanation of the meeting format.

Law Enforcement Update – Officer Ken Watson, Florida Park Patrol

Over the last three months the Florida Park Patrol officers have been on the river eight times. Because of the rain, they have only issued four warnings since the 18th of April. Recently, they have added a vessel that can go further up the river. There are also two pending investigations regarding the removal of native wetland plants.

Two numbers to contact the Florida Park Patrol are the direct line to dispatch is 1-866-710-4194. Toll free. Or by cellular phone at: *FHP (*347) also toll free. If a new dispatcher is reached and is not amenable to boating issues, please ask to speak with the supervisor. This is a new dispatch system, so please be patient.

A question arose: What does the Florida Park Patrol do? Ken replied, “it is the state police for state-owned and managed land (editors note, and the state-designated Myakka Wild and Scenic River). Crimes that happen in state parks are handled by their agency.

Sarasota County’s Myakka River Floodplain Study – Steve Suau, General Manager, and Sarasota County Watershed Management

Mapping of the Myakka River floodplain was in progress when the rains started in June. A floodplain model was developed for a certain set of conditions: a certain kind of rainfall, a certain time, and background moisture conditions. Different storm durations were examined to determine the critical storm event for the watershed. For the Myakka River it is really a three-day storm like June of this year and June of 1992. The model is calibrated using storms from the past, including the June 1992 storm, the 1995 storm, and the El Niño event. None of those storm conditions exactly matched the model’s design critical storm. They were all somewhat less. When the model is calibrated, they assumed an average moisture condition on the land as it would be in the middle of a rainy season and applied a three-day, hundred-year storm. The model’s flood elevations were higher than anything that had ever been recorded.

Myakka State Park has about 60 years of data. The current concern would be for folks who had lived on the Myakka River for 30 or 60 years (10 or 20), and had never seen the water as high as it had gotten in the recent June storm (which basically had the set of conditions of the model’s critical design storm). The storm in June of 1992 followed a severe drought. It was dry in April, May and June until the rain came at the end of the month. The first day of the rain didn’t produce much runoff. It built up in the wetlands and the water table.

That being said, they are seeing a pretty close relationship between the predicted hundred-year flood elevation on the Myakka River and what was observed this year. While they’ve been working on this study (it started in 2001 when Gabriel hit) they went out after Tropical Storm Gabriel and surveyed high water marks along the river at the same locations they computed flood elevation, so a direct comparison was done. They did the same thing following this past storm and they had a comparison that showed a close correlation between the flood elevations that were surveyed after this past storm and the 100-year flood storm that was predicted. It’s actually a little bit higher in the southern part of the river.

They are getting ready to take this flood study of the Myakka River to the Sarasota Board of County Commissioners (BCC), but it will only be the section south of State Road 72. There are issues with aerial photography on the northern end, which have been resolved. Those will be taken to the Board next year.

The other issue is that much of the area originally analyzed is now in the City of North Port. They have determined the floodplain in that area but will not be delineating it. They are working with North Port to see if the floodplain updates are wanted.

The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) has been a partner on this work. The county is working with FEMA to update their maps.

Because of the potential for development (residential rezoning), the County has been looking at the 100-year floodplain area west of River Road.

They superimposed the floodplain on topographic map and aerials, and found about 118 homes in the floodplain. Thirty to forty of these homes had finished floors below the floodplain elevation. Most of those were between Border Road and I-75, with a cluster north of Border Rd. and a couple south of I-75. They have had several calls from residences that have lost their homes, and wanted to know if they could rebuild or not.

When they go to the Sarasota BCC with other flood studies, they identify the homes that flood, and they will identify alternative solutions to address the flooding problem. The Myakka River will be different.

One strategy might be to address Myakka River flooding in partnership with the SWFWMD and the Environmentally Sensitive Land Acquisition Program, to purchase residential homes that flood (voluntary/willing seller program). Quite frankly, Steve didn’t know if the Sarasota BCC would approve it, and it will be part of the discussion at November BCC meeting. It is also to be discussed internally with the County’s legal department.

They also have on file 6 applications from Myakka River residents interested in elevating or selling homes through the FEMA program. FEMA has a program to consider mitigating flood damage either by paying 75% of the cost of elevating or flood proofing a structure, or they will give 75% of the appraised value to purchase the home. (So far the experience with the FEMA program has not been good, because it takes a long time, and the process is extremely bureaucratic.)

Questions and answers followed.

Sarasota County’s Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program Update – Brooke Elias, Environmental Specialist, and Sarasota County Resource Management

Brooke displayed a map of the lands acquired, lands under contract, and lands identified for acquisition by the Environmentally Sensitive Lands Program.

Two new protection priority sites have been added during the last year.

1. Fox Creek, which is outside the Myakka watershed. Its boundary is north of Cow Pen Slough and west of I-75).

2. Warm Mineral Springs Creek Protection Priority Site, which is downstream from the springhead itself. The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has identified parcels along the creek as important manatee habitats. A federal grant (USFWS) has been applied for to acquire lands, with $455,000 being awarded.

Two closings are pending on the river. One is about 80 acres on the northwest side of the intersection of River Road and I-75. The closing should be soon. It will give a lot more protection along the west side of the river. A smaller parcel further up north, should also be closing soon.

Myakka River State Park - June Flooding Update – Diana Donaghy

Diana had a PowerPoint presentation, with highlights including:

• The river gauge reading showed the river crested on June 24 at 20.33+ feet above mean sea level (msl), the highest level recorded since the gage was installed in 1936.
• At 16.25 feet msl the trails, picnic areas and parking lots flooded, except for the area at the entrance station.
• At 15.25 feet msl the Main Park Drive flooded in many locations.
• At 17 feet msl most of Myakka River State Park was closed.
• At 18.87 feet msl portions of S.R. 72 flooded, and this is the first year that S.R. 72 was closed within the Myakka State Park boundaries.
• The shop area, usually one of the drier areas was flooded.
• Canoeing was the only way to get around the park.
• Water had gone inside the cabins, and into the Clay Gulley bathrooms.
• An otter swam under a chain-link fence and inside the yard, and ‘gators used picnic tables to rest on.
• As for damage the concession buildings were completely under water, as were all five cabins. The park drive (road and substrate) was damaged, secondary roads were washed out, and campground electric wiring had to be repaired. The wastewater treatment plant and some equipment had to be repaired. There was well water contamination, trail destabilization, playground sand washed away. A tractor was damaged by water that required repairs. An estimate of the total cost of damage in the park, was a little over $500,000.

Even though the park did sustain financial damage from the flood there were pretty scenes that Diana considered almost mystical. Even thought the park was closed to the public, one can come visit with a canoe/kyak.

The former most recent flooding when the park was closed to the public was on the 13th of August. It had crested at 16.08.

Diana was asked if she could make her PowerPoint presentation available, and she responded yes.

Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) Update – Dianne McCommons-Beck

Farms Program Update: The farm’s program is expanding statewide, so more farmers will be able to get help through cost sharing for projects. The Falkner Farms Project is still ongoing. As of August 2003, approximately 165 million gallons of water have been diverted from Flatford Swamp for bed prep, crop establishment, and citrus irrigation. These quantities directly offset groundwater pumpage.

Pacific Tomato Growers Project (PTG) is also ongoing. For the spring crop they used just under 150,000,000 gallons. As of August 2003, approximately 311 million gallons had been withdrawn from Flatford Swamp, which offset groundwater pumping. The crops within the project’s 650-acre surface area were irrigated strictly with surface water. PTG is also planning a second phase of this project, so the Surface Water Exchange Project will hopefully be going into a second phase and expanded within the next year or so.

The Manasota Basin Board has approved two other projects. The McClure Property’s project is another recovery project to reuse water that would have runoff into Flatford Swamp. The recovered water will be used for crop establishment, bed prep and irrigation. They are also looking to improve water quality.

The other project is the Cameron Daken Dairy Project, which is a water quality improvement project.

At the August Governing Board Meeting, staff will be presenting the latest version of the draft SWUCA Management Plan. They are also in negotiations with Hollingsworth to acquire some of the property in the eastern half of the Tatum Sawgrass area.

The Myakka River CWM Plan is being formatted and should be available soon.

At the last meeting, Jono Miller asked “What effect the North Port Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) project would have on Warm Mineral Springs?” The well has been drilled, but no pumping or cycling tests have been done. The North Port ASR will be in the Suwanee Formation of the upper Floridan aquifer at a total depth of approximately 650 feet, and cased to 580 feet. Warm Mineral Springs issues from the Boulder Zone of the lower Floridan aquifer, which occurs from approximately 2,000 – 3,000 feet. The lower Floridan and the upper Floridan are separated by confining units, so the consensus is, that with 1,000 feet or more of separation, and the confining layer, it is unlikely that the ASR project would impact Warm Mineral Springs.

Myakka River June & August Flooding River Cleanup – Mike Egan

Mike introduced himself as the Wild and Scenic River Ranger, and his job is to keep the river clean. The numbers reported in his Powerpoint presentation were tabulated since the June 2003 flood. There is an incredible amount of debris in the river. Things removed from the river since June:

• 234 plastic bags, which are often wrapped around tree branches and difficult to remove.
• Beverage bottles: 350 various kinds, beer, soda, water, Mountain Dew, etc.
• Oil: mostly full quarts of oil, some gallons.
• Buckets: 11 five-gallon
• Gas cans: various sizes, 1-6 gallon cans, some with gas in them.
• Fishing line: approx. 558 ft., in the trees/bushes, water, and on the shoreline.
• Tires: 13
• Water heater from Home Depot
• One object that said “POISON, Do Not Touch” = rat trap
• Styrofoam: (cups-118, plates-18), misc. food packages-30, actual pieces of syrofoam-285
• Miscellaneous stuff: picnic coolers; cat litter box; glass-293; food jars-22; light bulbs-12; 2 live bait (minnow) boxes; flip-flops; sneakers; air mattress for a pool; beverage cans-500; propane tanks-3; tin cans; spray bottles-13: 55-gallon drum from the U.S. Marine Corps; refrigerator; and lastly a plastic skull with a spider in its mouth.

Myakka River Planning Advisory Council Update – Matt Lewis

The Myakka River Planning Advisory Council was established to amend the Earth Moving, Tree Protection, Land Development, and Zoning Ordinances in Sarasota County. The Board of County Commissioners public hearing on the proposed amendments is scheduled for November 12, 2003 (and December 3, for the required 2nd Zoning Ordinance hearing).

At the April MRMCC meeting the proposed ordinance amendments were distributed, these have remained essentially unchanged, except for a few items. The first change is a provision is instructions to leave a 150-ft setback for homes on lots greater than five-acres. Another addition is the allowance to build on legally constrained lots, by using performance measures meant to protect views from the river. Lastly, construction on uplands that fall 2200 feet away from the main channel of the river would not be required to have the 150-foot setback requirement (in areas where the wetlands are expansive).

Charlotte County Update – Bill Byle

Perhaps the most valuable thing to pass on to this group, is that we are 3-4 months closer to the potential permitting and eventual development of the 30,000 acre Pine Level phosphate mine at the headwaters of Big Slough (Myakkahatchee Creek), in the Myakka River watershed.

One of the things that have not been widely publicized is the Tenoroc Study. It documents dangerously elevated levels of 14 different radioactive materials, found in the 6,000-acre reclaimed Lake Tenoroc site, in Lakeland. USEPA admitted to me, that the reason they had not finalized the draft document was because it would obligate them to designate the Tenoroc site as a Superfund site.

It was mentioned that Dr. Jelks would be bringing a resolution for the MRMCC’s consideration, on phosphate mining, this afternoon.

FDOT Update on the Englewood Interstate Connector/I-75 Widening – Gwen Pippin

The existing River Road has been selected as the preferred alignment for the Englewood Interstate Connector. They are expecting to go to a public hearing. When Gwen finds out the date she will let the MRMCC know.

As far as the I-75 widening, Gwen indicated that a public hearing was held last night (8/21) at the Venice Center. The proposal is to widen I-75 within the existing right-of-way. I-75 would be widened from State Road 681 to River Road, with six to eight lanes.

Jono explained that at a previous MRMCC meeting concern was raised about using the former rest area as a construction staging area. He also spoke at a Sarasota/Manatee Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting about the MRMCC’s concerns about the former rest area being used as a staging area, and making sure that nothing hazardous, floatable, dissolvable or otherwise at risk from rising waters be stored in that rest area.

Gwen continued “that since that area had been identified as being in the floodplain they can not use it for storage of hazardous materials, etc. At this point there is a move to use that area for floodplain mitigation. They don not know whether that will actually go through because that will be done down the line, probably in four or five years.”

FDOT is also looking at deck replacement on the I-75 Bridge over the Myakka River. There is a problem with the concrete used in the initial construction. It tends to break off in chucks and fall in the river, so they are looking at replacing the deck panels on the main channel and the relief channel bridges. Gwen is going to be working on that project, and hopes to bring more information to a future meeting.

Diane McCommons-Beck spoke: The bridge deck replacement is in Advance Notification. A lot of this has been being done lately; the Caloosahatchee was done, the Peace River is in the process of being done now.

Gwen added, “there is a policy that you can not shut the interstate down to one lane. So as a part of the deck replacement an additional lane needs to be constructed. Additional support pilings into the river will be required.

Further discussion followed.

Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center (CHEC) Projects – Betty Staugler

At the last meeting it was mentioned that CHEC was doing a septic tank study on the Myakka and Peace River basins. The studies goal was to identify the location of septic systems, and look at the potential water quality impacts. The study is nearly complete and it will be presenting at the September 3rd Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program’s Technical Advisory Committee meeting.

Chris Becker asked about the Myakka River Restoration Mapping project.

Betty responded: yes they have a mapping project that will look at potential restoration projects in the Myakka River Basin.

Myakka State Forest/Wildlife Management Area Update – Tom Williams

In December of last year, they planted 62,000 South Florida slash pine seedlings throughout the forest. Prior to that, they did some mechanical chopping on 330 acres, and 92 acres of burn and chop. This past season using prescribed fire, they burned 195-acres in December, 1,403-acres in January, and 932-acres in February, for a total of 2,530-acres in the fiscal year. They have treated 135-acres of Brazilian pepper and 50-acres of melaleuca, were cut and treated.

They have resurfaced about 22-miles of shell road, which is the main road through the forest.

They have four picnic sites with picnic tables, and they have two restrooms (rustic). A handicapped accessible area is planned for a picnic site. They have also put in six more campsites in the Flying A Campground.

The forest was opened for shotgun hunting last year for the first time. They had 1,158 hunter entries. Hunters removed 37 feral hogs. Access was limited last year, so this year they are opening up road access a little more. Most of the hogs are in the south portion of the forest, which takes a little bit of a hike, with no driving allowed. This could explain why not too many hogs were taken.

This year the first week is going to be archery only, and the second week will be archery and shotgun. They will close for 10 days and then open for the second part of the season, which is two weeks of both archery and shotgun.

Small game including squirrels, raccoons, ‘possum, rabbits, and duck hunting during the migratory bird season, are hunted. Frog gigging is available year round.

Jono asked, “What percent of the forest are you trying to burn?”

Tom responded, “The forest is 8,600 acres. They will try to burn it every four years, so they are shooting for 2,000 acres a year.”

Charlotte Harbor NEP Update – Maran Hilgendorf

The Water Quality Report is available on CD, print form, or on the Website (charlotteharbornep.org). The report shows water quality trends from 1960 on.

One of their big events is National Estuaries Day on Saturday, September 23. This year they have 35 different events scheduled. Chris Becker will be offering a guided canoe trip on the Myakka River on Saturday October 4. Most of the events are free, or if there is a charge it helps to fund research, etc.

Another event is Estuaries Live. Last year they had a million people watching the program. It is a live interactive field trip for kids. They have 3 sessions planned: the first session will be on estuaries (a couple of experts being interviewed); the second session will be on plants mostly mangroves and sea grapes; the third session will be on animals.

January 31st is their Nature Festival in Charlotte Harbor (Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival). Sixteen counties are represented. Admission is $2.00 per car. One big thing is the kid area, with a huge tent, lots of activities, and a forestry truck. Maran is looking for volunteers to help.

A Water Budget Workshop is planned for April or May 2004. The objective is to quantify the existing water budget for the study area (Charlotte Harbor and the watersheds that feed it). Information will be available on their website.

August 29 they released their grant announcement. They have two grants available: Research and Restoration Partners Grants of up to $20,000 per participating partner. $100,000 is available for these grants.

One project (grant recipient) from last year has received a lot of publicity “Study of the Nile Monitor Lizards in Cape Coral”.

Another grant program that they have is for mini-grants, which tend to focus on education and are for up to $3,000.

A third category of funds is the Micro grants of up to $250, which can be applied for any time of the year.

Liz Donnelly has been added to the program staff, she will be their grant and contracts manager.

The book Identifying and Controlling Invasive Exotic Plants in Southwest Florida: A Homeowners’ Guide is now available for distribution to Myakka River property owners. CHNEP funded the printing for the MRMCC. On September 20th there will be a workshop at the Venice Campground. Property owners will be invited to the workshop and taught about the different invasive exotic plants and why they should be removed.

Questions and discussion followed.

There was discussion about homeowners receiving a mini or micro grant to help plant native plants. Maran stated that these grants were not intended to enhance private property that has no public access.

For the MRMCC Website there is a company called Otter Water Web. Prices are very reasonable. They work for environmental groups, and are willing to develop a website and maintain it for two years.

City of North Port Update – Julie Bellia

During the June flood Myakkahatchee Creek rose to the highest level recorded at the USGS site of 27.2 feet. There was lots of flooding and damage as the result.

Myakka River Biologist’s Report – Chris Becker

Chris distributed a summary of his May through August Biologist Report.

Lunchbreak – 11:30-12:30

SWFWMD Myakka Minimum Flows and Levels (MFLs) Update – Jonathan Morales

SWFWMD has been legislatively mandated to establish MFLs as part of their responsibility to protect water resources. They create hydrological and ecological standards, against which, decisions can be made regarding water withdrawals, either from surface water or ground water sources. MFLs are the point at which further withdrawals would be “significantly harmful” to the water resource or the ecology of an area.

In addition to ecological variables, non-consumptive factors such as recreation, aesthetic or scenic attributes, or navigation can be used as a criteria for establishing MFLs.

MFLs are set using the best available data, however, they frequently must conduct additional research as well. One important paper is by Poff et al., which states that river systems have to undergo a natural flow regime. In this paper, flow regimes are expressed in magnitude, frequency, duration of inundation, and rate of change, which all have direct effects on components of the ecology of the system, the water quality, energy resources, the physical habitat as well as biological interactions that take place within that system. In turn all of this contributes to the overall integrity of the system. So MFLs have to mimic this natural flow regime.

The statute definition implies that only a single flow standard is required for an MFL. This is not the case, because rivers inherently are dynamic systems, and they encompass a region not just within the channel itself, but also expand all the way to the floodplain. Because they are dynamics systems the different flow levels have different ecological functions. For example, if you were to state right now we have flood flows; those are flows that go all the way to the edge of the floodplain. Their main effect is basically to shape the river valley, and set its boundary. As you go down to flows that go over the banks, and they are important because they inundate floodplain vegetation. Then we have flows that are just within the channel that are needed to sustain important habitat within the channel. Finally, we have instream flows that are needed by fish. As the result of this, they are not establishing single flow standards, but rather establishing a minimum flow regime. They will start to establish three flow regimes with what they call low flow regimes, which are basically in the channel. Then they have medium flow regimes that have to go up to the banks, and then they have high flow regimes that are topping banks and going into the floodplain and inundating vegetation.

SWFWMD has chosen a “Habitat Based Approach” because it provides a strong visual manifestation of the extent of significant harm that takes place. They believe that the long-term integrity of riverine systems will be best served with the proper inundation of these habitats. In all they will compare the ecological criteria to the natural flow record that they get from USGS stations within the watershed. Typically they want to find out the role of hydrology against all these different ecological variables.

The different flow types to protect:

Low flows - one of the key things that they need to make sure of is that fish are able to migrate up and down the river. First and foremost they want hydraulic connectivity of the whole drainage from the headwaters to the mouth and allow fish to migrate up the river. Part of the analysis is to get measurements of the fish communities from preexisting data or studies, or to go out and collect the data themselves. On the upper Peace River, they looked at fish passage and what flows they needed to maintain. Areas with shoals, during low flows can cause an impediment for fish migration. Because of the size of the fish, we allocate about six tenths of a foot over that bottom elevation as enough water to allow for fish passage.

An another criterion that they are studying is the wetted perimeter, which is the distance across the channel that is wet as flow comes perpendicular to it. Their objective is to maximize the wetted perimeter. If you plot wetted perimeter against discharge you come up with an inflection point, which essentially means pass that point you need large increase in the volume of water to have a small increase in wetted perimeter. By maximizing the wetted perimeter, you get the most inundation of the bottom habitat for invertebrates and fish for the least amount of flow needed.

These two criteria are needed to establish low flow minimums, which are targeted to be met at least 80% of the time, or if possible, 100% of the time

Medium flows - These are set to protect instream woody habitats. This includes snags, roots, and exposed roots. Previous research has shown that the most diversity and abundance of aquatic organisms is in these types of habitats.

Another thing they are studying is critical fish habitat. This is fairly new. Dr. Tim Gore from Columbia State University introduced Physical Habitat Simulations, which allows them to manage for a particular fish species, and find out the critical flows they require. This is specific to the type of fish you want to manage. The process for developing physical habitat simulations was described in detail, with the recommendation that no more than 15% of a fish species habitat should be lost.

High flows – These are set to inundate wetland vegetation, and maintain hydric soils (peat/ muck soils) in the floodplain. Amphibians have certain inundation requirements for their life histories and those need to be preserved.

Myakka MFL Activity: The study starts at the USGS gage at S.R. 70 in Myakka City down to Myakka River State Park (long-term gauge at Highway 72), ending at Downs Dam. This is the upper limit of the tidal influence.

Two short-term gauges have been installed through a contract with USGS and there is about a year worth of data from them.

The Myakka River seems to have two characteristics. One is above Highway 780, a typical stream with banks, and canopy providing shade. This area a typical headwater stream, has more variety in habitats like snags and sand. South of 780 in the State Park, the river opens up and there is more emergent vegetation. Those two kinds of characteristics have to be taken into consideration.

They started with 6 study sites, but it is now down to 5, with one site removed by the recent flooding. They hope to use large-mouth bass, blue gill, and a couple of other species for determining fish passage. Unfortunately the FWC does not have a broad study of fish communities found in the Myakka River. If anyone has fish data, SWFWMD would like it, so they can find out the dominant species.

Ten instream floodplain transects will be establish, but these efforts have come to a halt because of the flooding.

To summarize, they are doing field assessments, using topographical elevations, identifying instream and critical fish habitats, surveying floodplain vegetation, and lastly, they are modeling flow simulations. Limitations to the project include the recent flooding, lack of fish data, and the difficulty of accessing private property upstream of S.R. 780.

Becky asked, “ For how long would they need access?” Jonathan answered, “2-3 weeks.”

Further explanations and discussions occurred.

Report on Chairperson’s/Vice Chairperson’s Activities – Jono Miller/Jean Ost

After the June flooding Jono and his wife canoed Clay Gully. They went down Clay Gully, got out of the canoes, bushwhacked across to the main channel of the river, then went up to the 780-Bridge, then canoed the upper lake. They got to see the missing section of the Hidden River Dike.

Jono also went to MPO meeting and asked “that they not use the former rest areas as construction staging areas.”

It was discussed that there was a quorum. Jean Ost mentioned that on page 9 of the April 18, 2003 minutes Jack Creighton’s name was spelled incorrectly. It should be as written here. Marisa Morr is spelled with just one “S”.

Marty Black made a motion to adopt the amended April 18, 2003 Meeting Minutes, and Dianne McCommons-Beck, seconded. The minutes were adopted.

Jean mentioned that the Jacaranda Library, in Venice, which is currently being enlarged by 12,500 sq. feet, might apply for a CHNEP Mini Grant to landscape with native plants and provide native plant educational materials. Jean thought educational information on invasive exotics would be included.

Sarasota County’s “draft” Manatee Protection Plan/USFWS Land Acquisition Grant – Amy Meese

Amy distributed copies of the Powerpoint Program she had planned on presenting, but was unable to because of technical difficulties.

Mote Marine Laboratory, a known expert in manatees, was retained as a subcontractor for the Manatee Protection Plan (MPP). There was an intergovernmental coordination committee that consisted of representatives from Sarasota County, City of Sarasota, City of North Port, City of Venice, and the town of Longboat Key. They met regularly to review elements of the plan as they were developed and to bring concerns and issues to the table.

In 1989 the Governor identified 12 key counties as having ecologically significant manatee populations and put forth requirements that those counties develop a MPP. Sarasota County was identified through aerial data as well as other data collection on manatee populations as also having ecologically significant populations. So the county joined as number13 in 1990, and is held to the same standards and obligations as the original 12 counties.

In 2002 the legislature amended the Florida Statute (FS 370.12) that governs protection of manatees. It set guidelines for implementation and development of MPPs.

Key counties are required to adopt a MPP by July 1, 2004 that incorporates a Boat Facility Siting Plan into the County Comprehensive Plan by July 1, 2004.

There is an assertion at the state level that the local municipalities, Sarasota, North Port, Venice and Longboat Key, also adopt the County-wide MPP. Because those municipalities operate as an incorporated body they function independently of that incorporated county in that manner, and are not automatically covered by our MPP. They have a choice of whether their governing body should move to adopt it and incorporate it into their comprehensive plan.

The negative aspect of not adopting the MPP is that if something were to happen, for example, there was a moratorium on submerged lands the unincorporated county would be protected. But any area or municipality that has not adopted the plan would not be. They would be subject to any regulation or injunction or any punitive action that would be put in place.

Components of the MPP include manatee protection measures, habitat protection programs, and community considerations, such as, recreational and commercial use, economic impacts, and demands.

The draft MPP available on County’s website, includes a study of the manatee population, how they use county waters, areas of recurrent use, maps depicting use, plus recommendations for law enforcement and future studies.

There are also policies and a Boat Facility Siting Plan (BFSP). BFSP is countywide guidance document for the development of boat facilities and moorings with greater than five slips. Development is the expansion of existing facilities or new construction. Four or fewer slips would not be considered under the MPP, but five or greater would. When it comes to single family all you need is a minor work permit.

The plan specifies preferred locations for boat facility development based on an evaluation of:
• Natural resources (manatee habitat)
• Manatee protection needs, and
• Recreation and economic demands

What is the basis for these criteria? Initially they looked at boating and land use because those are typically where you find development. When that approach was taken the outcome was very restrictive. There were essentially no areas within the county that were listed as recommended sites for facility siting. One of the considerations was demand and economic impact. So while they recognize that manatee protection was an important component, we could not put forth criteria that did not allow any flexibility in siting. So Mote looked at another way of developing criteria that would protect manatees and also permitted siting facilities, within the existing context of county regulations. The strategy looked at the risks to natural populations, which are the manatees and their habitat. This is a function of the natural environment that we do not control and therefore, it is logical to plan around what can not be controlled.

So the current plan is based on these factors. It is a multi-tiered approach.
• Tier 1 – Potential impact on manatee use areas
• Tier 2 – Other environmental considerations
• Tier 3 – Zoning and land use
• Tier 4 – Existing ordinances and permitting protocols

They didn’t want to reinvent the wheel, or supercede all the work that had been done in the past
regarding how developments were viewed. What the MPP does is gives an answer from the manatee perspective. But what it’s really doing, is taking information that was looked at separately and bringing them together in one place so that it’s more systematic, more consistent and more predictable. It’s systematic in the process of looking at information. It’s consistent in the fact that there are multiple agencies currently doing multiple review, at the local level and the state level.

Since this is a cooperative effort it was an opportunity to create consistency. An applicant can pick up the MPP and say ‘I want to build a facility X big and in X area.’ And they can look at it and say,’ OK, that’s a conditional area. I might have to do an educational effort, or I might have to look at different situations that the state might put forward.’ They can look at it and say, ‘Oh, I’m in a recommended area, I’ll put my application through.’ Or they can look at it and say, ‘I’m not in a recommended area. Maybe I need to reconsider doing this.’ There is a variance tool in process. The one that is currently in draft has been reworked based on public comment and will be available in the next revision of the plan.

Right now the Myakka River is not recommended for facilities and boat slips. This does not apply to single family facilities. Under current regulations single-family can only get up to 4 slips and that is a joint project between single family owners. So what they’re talking about basically is a boat ramp that serves more than 5 users will be governed by the MPP.
The next step in the MPP is to allow public comment on the draft final plan. They received public comment and are currently adjusting the plan and developing responses.

On September 24th the Board of County Commissioners will be asked to consider adopting the MPP to meet their statutory mandate. It is a public hearing that will allow them to hear public comments and to consider the effort and also to decide what action to take. At that time they can forward it to the state for approval. Once the state approves, it is complete.

There is a requirement to incorporate the MPP into the Comprehensive Plan, by July 1st, 2004.

Questions and answers followed.

Land Acquisition Grant
The County applied for a “Recovery Land Acquisition Grant”, from the Federal Government. The grant money will assist the county with the acquisition of parcels along Warm Mineral Springs Creek (maps were passed around). The project supports acquisitions that were identified under the Env. Sensitive Lands Protection Program (ESLPP) for Warm Mineral Springs Creek. It is a matching grant with the Federal Government that is being administered through a partnership with the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, and is for almost $456,000.

The Myakka River is the most important year-round habitat in Sarasota County for manatees. It includes a warm water refuge that is a respite area for manatees to get away from it all, and relax. There has been a history of problems along the creek, including manatee harassment, and pollution/dumping trash and debris. There is also a lot of development pressure and all of these human related influences are degrading and destabilizing the refuge. Those reasons motivated the County Commissioners to make it a priority site for acquisition, and in an effort to make their dollar go further, they applied for the grant.

Once the Florida State Legislature dissipates spending authority for this money they will enter into a Tier 1 agreement with the County, which permits the County to administer the project and move forward on supplementing acquisitions with these funds.

Discussions followed.

FWC Myakka River/Salt Creek Manatee Research Update – Margie Barlas

They have had a lot of manatees in the Warm Mineral Springs Creek (WMSC) this year, with a high count of 72 on Jan. 25th.

FWC is working on two WMSC manatee projects, photo identification and satellite/radio transmitter tagging. The photo I.D. project consists of taking pictures of the scar pattern on individual manatees and cataloging them. A full catalog for an individual is when you have photographs of every aspect (head, tail, belly, side, etc.). This year 48 new manatees (potentially) will be added to the catalog. Overall there are about 165 different scarred animals that use the creek.

The tagging study is in its final year, with four more manatees added this year. Capturing the manatees for this study was difficult. Two were caught on January 13th, but only one was large enough to tag. This tagged manatee was followed throughout the Myakka River and WMSC, but she lost her tag on Feb. 25th.

On January 28th, they caught 7 manatees at one time, of which three were tagged. One of the tagged manatees was recently identified “regular” in WMSC and was named “Newcomer” appropriately. She was observed mating while she was in the creek. This manatee moved towards Charlotte Harbor and Turtle Bay. The tag started to malfunction, so they have been trying to remove it.

Ciano was another manatee of the seven caught that day and was tagged. She was a regular in Warm Mineral Springs that year and by going back through previous files comparing markings, they were able to identify that she had been coming to the creek for several years. They cut her tag off on May 14th near Turtle Bay, which is a large feeding area for manatees.

The stellar study manatee was Argo; the third manatee tagged that day. She loved the Sarasota County part of the Myakka River so much that she decided to have her calf there. When they tagged her they suspected she was pregnant, but were not sure. The tags are able to report the manatee’s activity by recording the number of times the tag tips in the water. She had a high number of tips (indicating a lot of activity) and then a very low number for three days (indicating very little activity). They went to see her and saw her with a brand new calf. They cannot wait for her to come back to WMSC this year to see if manatees teach their calves to come back to the creek.

Hopefully by this group’s next meeting they will have a summary for the three-year tagging study. Two animals, Argo from this year and Timehri from last year, were tracked up the Myakka River near I-75.

This year three dead manatees were recovered from the Sarasota County section of the Myakka River. One was an aborted fetus found in the aggregation at WMSC on January 16th. Red tide was pretty bad throughout SW Florida this year, and they had one animal recovered near Big Slough (Myakkahatchee Creek) on April 13th that died from Red tide. Another was found in the Big Slough on April 22nd, but the animal was not recovered to determine the cause of death.

Unfortunately one of our cataloged animals was found dead this year in Lemon Bay.

They are posting signs for the Warm Mineral Springs Protection Area, on October 21st, which will make the area a no entry zone.

They are compiling their data from Warm Mineral Springs for a conference in December.

Jono asked what percent of animals don’t have any scarring.

Margie replied that it was very hard to tell. Approximately 75% of animals seen at one time have scars caused by boats.

Discussion continued.

Permit Update – Chris Becker

Chris explained that Howard Berna, Sarasota County Resource Protection, was unable to attend this meeting. Chris distributed Howard’s report with the e-mail from Dr. Jelks on phosphate mining.

Sarasota County has three minor work permits pending. Eleven have been issued, with most in the Myakka River Trail Subdivision, just north of US-41, and the same area where a boat ramp was permitted. One new minor work permit has been received.

The Myakka Wild and Scenic River Program will be issuing a permit to Sarasota County for aids to navigation on the river. The permit allows 12 navigation signs on the river from the U.S. 41 bridge south of the Charlotte County line. At the Charlotte County line as you enter the Sarasota County section of the Myakka River, it will be gated with two signs. It will be a combination of the manatee slow speed sign and a sign saying “Myakka Wild and Scenic River” with local knowledge required and the controlling depth upstream of two feet mean low water. This is not a channel-marking program. What was decided for the Myakka was to mark hazards like shoals, versus a channel. If you only have a two-foot deep section of the river, you really do not want to mark it as a navigable channel, because you open yourself up to dredging. Sarasota County hopes to install signs by the end of the year.

Chris discussed another permit issue (one that is outside of the Wild and Scenic River) that he has been recently made aware of: the City of Venice Wastewater Treatment Plant. He was hoping to have somebody from the Tampa DEP Office, who are doing the permit review, discuss this, but they were unavailable. The application is to increase the permitted wastewater discharge into Curry Creek (Blackburn Canal), which is connected to the Myakka River.

John Lane Director of Utilities, City of Venice was in attendance for this discussion.

Chris asked Mr. Lane: “Since the Myakka is an Outstanding Florida Water (OFW) and it does have interactions with Curry Creek/Blackburn Canal is there a possibility that water discharged into the Curry Creek can make it back to the main part of the river?”

Mr. Lane answered, “In his opinion, yes. Because there is tidal action in Curry Creek, which make it difficult to model, so there is a possibility that there could be flow from downstream in Curry Creek back to the Myakka. However, that would never occur when they are discharging, because they only discharge in the outgoing tide.”

It is Mr. Lane’s understanding that the MRMCC was seeking additional monitoring of Curry Creek. The city does too, and will be willing to participate with the MRMCC in capturing data by the installation of monitoring devices. In conjunction with permit approval request they need to know the volume of the flows, plus tidal action both upstream and downstream. The discharge point is at Auburn Road on Curry Creek. The permit allows them to discharge 2.1 million gallons/day (mgd) during the months of Dec. Jan. and Feb, 2.6 mgd in July, and 2.9 mgd in August.

They have applied for a permit from DEP for additional wet-weather discharge into Curry Creek. What they are asking for is when all the ponds and storage facilities are filled with reclaimed water, which is treated to Advanced Wastewater Treatment Standards (tertiary treatment), that they can discharge what comes into the plant. They have 37 million gallons stored in ponds, along with 3 million gallons of storage tank capacity, so they have 40 million gallons of storage. Plus, they discharge into several lakes in the Waterford Subdivision and Curry Isles area. They have adequate storage unless they receive excessive rainfall.

Other Agenda Items

At the April 18, 2003, MRMCC meeting, Dr. Jelks was assigned with drafting a letter about the phosphate mining issue for the MRMCC. Copies of the draft letter were distributed. The letter is to be sent to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Secretary Struhs, Governor Bush, the US Army Corps of Engineers and Regional Planning Councils:

The Myakka River Coordinating Council requests that no further mining nor processing of phosphates be permitted in the watersheds of either the Myakka or Peace Rivers until a thorough study is done on the cumulative environmental damage from the large tracts of land being used in this activity. A neutral scientific body should do the study. In the past 100 years a good share of the depletion of our Floridan Aquifer could be related to the large amounts of water consumed by the industry coupled with the loss of the ability to recharge due to the alterations of the hydro-geologic functions. The loss of wetlands and the contamination of water, air, and soil with numerous, dangerous radio-nucleotides in organisms threaten the health of the environment and the local population. The costs to the environment may truly outweigh any economic gains of the region by this unsustainable industry. The more recent decrease in water consumption and attempts at reclamation of the sites by the industry appear as inadequate gestures as the state finds itself in the less than ideal management of the bankrupt Piney Point plant with its massive stacks of phosphogypsum. Since 1888, the phosphate industry has created over 126,000 acres of clay settling areas in Florida, over 20,000 acres of phosphogypsum stacks, and 81,000 acres of these clay settling areas remain unreclaimed. To grant additional permits for further phosphate mining without a study of the accumulation of problems for the future is unwise.

Dr. Jelks moved to accept the letter as modified by the MRMCC, and Becky Ayech seconded. The motion passed. Several Members abstained from voting (Dianne McCommons-Beck, Bill Byle, Marisa Morr, and Maran Hilgendorf).

Jono asked if there was additional business.

Chris mentioned that a letter from the MRMCC to the Board of County Commissioners supporting the Sarasota Manatee Protection Plan might be appropriate.

Mary Jelks moved to send a letter stating “The Myakka River Coordinating Council moves to support Sarasota County’s and the local municipalities’ efforts to complete the Manatee Protection Plan consistent with Florida Statute 370.12”. Marisa Morr seconded. The motion passed.

Regarding the MRMCC Website it was discussed that each council member receive one page and one link. A list was created with ideas and links to include on the Website:

• MRMCC Membership, Meeting Minutes, Schedule, and Agenda
• Myakka Wild and Scenic River Management Plan, River Rule, and Designation Act
• Link to USGS Gage
• Biologist’s Monthly River Inspection Reports
• Information and Links on Exotic Plants
• Pictures
• Link to Sarasota County’s Water Atlas, and Floodplain Information
• SWFWMD Comprehensive Watershed Management Plan
• Links to Public Conservation Land Sites
• Link to SWFWMD
• Sarasota County’s Myakka Wild and Scenic River Protection Zone Ordinances and Regulations

The next meeting date was set for December 5, 2003.
Jean Ost moved for adjournment and Marisa Morr seconded.

Members in Attendance

Phil Segerstrom Bill Byle
Chuck Downs Marisa Morr
Jean Ost Javier Vargas
Maran Hilgendorf Mary Jelks
Jonathan Miller Marty Black
Dianne McCommons-Beck Gwen Pipkin
Tom Williams Gregory Nowasky
Becky Ayech Amy Meese
Brooke Alias Jeff Thirlwall

Others in Attendance
Chris Becker Don Hughes
Eric Bilik Steve Suau
Ken Alvarez Jonathan Morales
Mike Egan John Sarkozy
Matt Lewis Ed Freeman
Julie Bellis Carie Call
Margie Barlas John Lane
Diana Donaghy