SRWMD Water Supply Planning and Assessment

Client: Suwannee River Water Management District

Location: North Central, FL

Summary: Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) contracted Cardno ENTRIX to prepare a District-wide Water Supply Assessment Report (WSAR) and a Regional Water Supply Plan (RWSP) for the Upper Santa Fe River Basin. SRWMD, one of five regional water management districts in Florida, covers approximately 7,640 square miles and all or part of 15 counties in north central Florida. SRWMD is renowned for its highly productive springs, karst geology, scenic rivers, and its pristine coastline along the Gulf of Mexico.

To ensure the adequacy and sustainability of water supplies in the SRWMD, Cardno ENTRIX is developing detailed 20-year population and water use demand projections for the entire District. Cardno ENTRIX will utilize the water use demand projections to update SRWMD's regional groundwater flow model to determine the availability of groundwater supplies in 5-yr. increments for the 20-yr. planning period. Cardno ENTRIX is also working to determine environmental constraints on the water resources of the District, and at what point in the future such constraints could be triggered using conventional water supply sources. This constraint analysis will allow Cardno ENTRIX to identify, investigate, and provide preliminary costs to develop sustainable alternative water supply scenarios for the SRWMD, including options such as desalination of brackish groundwater, harvesting surface water from rivers during high flow periods, and using reclaimed water to offset irrigation needs. Use of these alternative water supplies will protect wetlands, sensitive vegetation, springs, and surface water levels from impacts associated with groundwater over-pumping. Additionally, Cardno ENTRIX is devising water conservation strategies and potential funding sources targeted at agricultural and public water supply users within the SRWMD. Another important component of the District-wide Water Supply Assessment will be an assessment of the potential effects of climate change and sea level rise on the region's water resources. Cardno ENTRIX is investigating various mitigation and protection strategies to help SRWMD deal with the predicted ramifications of climate change

A RWSP is required by Florida statutes when established environmental constraints are exceeded or are expected to be exceeded within a set planning period. Within the Upper Santa Fe River Basin, an area of heavy agricultural groundwater use, it appears that environmental constraints are at risk of being impacted by excessive groundwater use. As part of the RWSP, Cardno ENTRIX is preparing detailed permitting and resource recovery strategies to assist in preserving the water resources of this unique basin and managing water demands through conservation and the use of alternative supplies, such as reclaimed water.