Loxahatchee River Management Coordinating Council

June 25, 2007 Meeting Minutes

ICall to Order

Chairwoman Sarah Heard called the meeting to order shortly after 2 PM at the Jupiter Community Center.

IIRoll Call: Council Members present: Greg Braun, Gale English, Sarah Heard, Tom Howard, Chad Kennedy, Susan Kennedy, Marge Ketter, Pat Magrogan, Linda McCarthy, Peter Merritt, Jim Ostrander, Sam Payson, Melanie Peterman, Rich Walesky, and Herb Zebuth. Others present: _Christine Pritchard_ representing FDOT,

IIIApproval of Minutes from March 26, 2007 Meeting

With spelling corrections of various names, the minutes were unanimously approved.

IV. A.Ocean to Lake Trail Pedestrian Update

R. Walesky presented information regarding Palm Beach County’s work with their partners to identify an appropriate location and design for a crossing of the Loxahatchee River for hikers using the Ocean-to-Lake Trail. A draft site plan showing a crossing location between the Turnpike and I-95 bridges and potential construction staging areas was distributed and discussed. After Council discussion of other potential crossing locations, costs and design alternatives (including a design criteria to have the bridge no lower than the lowest fixed member of the adjacent bridges), it was agreed that co-locating the bridge within the existing bridge corridors was preferable to creating a new crossing. A draft resolution supporting the proposed location was distributed and discussed.

A motion to approve the resolution which urges the Florida Turnpike Authority and the Florida Department of Transportation to support the placement and construction of the pedestrian bridge between the two existing vehicle bridges was made by S. Kennedy, seconded by H. Zebuth and approved unanimously.

IV. B.Update on the Loxahatchee River Restoration Plan

Pat Walker (SFWMD) indicated that ‘Science takes Time’ and that although due to the lack of baseline data on various issues (e.g., freshwater fish), progress might appear to be slow, actions are underway on several fronts. D. Roberts and M. Hedgepeth have initiated this work, the Loxahatchee River District has initiated a snook study in the central embayment, surface and ground water quality studies continue. There will be a meeting of the N. Palm Beach County CERP Project Delivery Team meeting on June 26th at which M. Voich will be presenting the Project Implementation Report. The G-160 structure is in and operational; G-161 is completed; the L-8 reservoir is the final stages of completion (but needs rain to become functional); the City of W. Palm Beach is making progress on widening the M Canal, but a key missing component remains the replacement of a pump that directs water from the M Canal into the Water Catchment Area.

H. Zebuth voiced concerns regarding water quality in the water being released from the Palm Beach Aggregates rock pits. by the City of West Palm Beach, which then had to take steps under an emergency order to address elevated chloride levels by dilution with re-use water. Radioactivity was not found to be a problem.

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M. Ketter expressed her concerns regarding a lack of coordination between restoration partners and that delays in implementing the Restoration Plan may be related to a shift in priorities that have involved re-direction of WMD staff from the Loxahatchee River to the St. Lucie River.

D. Roberts advised that shrub and groundcover monitoring has recently been completed at 138 plots along 10 transects, and confirmed M. Ketter’s observation that there may be a need for better communication between project partners regarding the need for adaptive management and coordination on budgetary issues.

Chairwoman Heard commented on her regret that approximately 600 million gallons of water were withdrawn from the Palm Beach Aggregates facility by the City for water supply purposes rather than the environmental purposes for which it was intended, and that comments by the City engineer suggested their desire to use this facility for similar purposes in the future. P. Walker reaffirmed that the L-8 reservoir is for environmental purposes and that if the City wants additional land for water supply purposes, they may need to create their own reservoir to fill that need.

IV.C.Water Shortage Update

Pat Walker (SFWMD) described and showed graphs depicting current and past water levels which show significant deficits. South Florida and the Kissimmee River basin remain far below normal levels and Lake Okeechobee set an all-time low on May 30th and that there has been no flow out of the Lake. WMD’s Terrie Bates has been assigned full-time responsibility overseeing the Emergency Operations Center which involves management with state and federal partners, over 20 drought management teams and coordination with agriculture, utilities and special districts.

The extreme lack of rainfall has prevented the ability to meet the minimum flow (35 cfs) that is needed to maintain the saltwater wedge, but with the recent infrastructure progress (e.g., G-160), there is an increasing ability to direct water into the Northwest Fork.

L. McCarthy indicated agricultural users around Lake Okeechobee are in Phase 3 water restrictions and current water allocations are 45% - 60% of normal flow.

S. Kennedy observed that the flow information presented suggests that there is a need to monitor the extent to which the Minimum Flow and Level Rule has been violated.

New pumps have been installed to allow water to be directed to agricultural users and the Everglades beyond the extent to which gravity would allow.

P. Walker described beneficial actions the District is taking to make use of the drought and low levels, including the planting of wetland vegetation and the removal of muck from the lake bottom.

IV.DUpdate on the Management Plant

Rob Rossmanith (Fl. Park Service) provided an update that due to the need to respond to emergency fire conditions that required re-direction of staff resources, progress on updating the Management Plan has been delayed. Additional drafts of re-written chapters will be forwarded to the Council if available prior to the next Council meeting.

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V.Updates from Member Agency/Organization Activities

- P. Magrogran indicated that FDEP will soon be presenting a ‘Clean Marina’ designation to the Rybovich-Spencer Marina (Lake Worth Lagoon).

- P. Millar (Martin County Office of Water Quality) advised the Council that Martin County is moving forward with acquisition of the Culpepper Ranch using the remaining funds from the County’s Healthy Rivers 1 cent sales tax program. G. Braun indicated that the County has also committed $ 5 million from the new sales tax to continue acquisitions within Pal-Mar. P. Millar advised that the County is also investigating potential funding alternatives, including the Loxahatchee River Preservation Initiative to acquire the Datillio property which could serve as a key hydrologic link in the upper Kitching Creek watershed.

Chairwoman Heard advised of a land transaction on the Micha property in Hobe Sound through which an additional + 2,300 acres of land that will be added to the Atlantic Ridge Preserve State Park.

Dave Brown (Town of Jupiter and Loxahatchee River Preservation Initiative) invited Council members to attend the grand opening of the Jones Creek Preserve on July 9th at the North County Aquatic Complex.

VI.Public Comments

None

VII.Council Comments

M. Ketter expressed her opinion that the Council is not achieving as much as she and many other people would like.

Lengthy discussion ensued regarding the lack of a dedicated funding source, human resource limitations, the advisory mission of the Council as established by the Legislature and other pertinent issues. Suggestions offered for consideration to promote Council activities included:

  • Taking more opportunities to give credit when partner organizations do the right thing,
  • Improving coordination with WMD by having a Council representative attend all Governing Board meetings,
  • Being more proactive in working on budgetary/funding opportunities to achieve Council-backed projects.
  • Encouraging continued coordination by member organizations outside the confines of Council meetings.

H. Zebuth asked that an update on River-related research be placed on the Agenda for the next meeting.

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VIII.Announcements

P. Walker agreed to provide an updated Science Plan Matrix for the next meeting.

The date for the 2008 Loxahatchee River Symposium has been set for April 30-May 1.

The next meeting is to be held September 24th at the Jupiter Community Center at 2:00 PM.

IX.Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 5:00 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,

Greg Braun, Secretary