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Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project
The Lake Okeechobee Watershed WAM modeling project has been
a major effort to assist CERP efforts for the basins north
of the Lake. The project was completed in support of the HDR’
CERP contract with the South Florida Water Management District
and the US COE.
Watershed Assessment Model (WAM) is a solution that provides
both ease of use and the robustness and technical defensibility
of a complex solution. For these reasons, WAM has been selected
as the primary analytical tool for the work effort. The use
of the Watershed Assessment Model (WAM) was completed in phases.
The initial effort included the simulation of flows and loadings
from the four “Priority Basins” . The four basins
are S-191, S-154, S-65D, and S-65E. These basins are just
north of Lake Okeechobee. The basins contain a variety of
land uses including forests, wetlands, dairies, pastures,
row crops, citrus, residential, and commercial. As part of
the overall project, reservoir-assisted storm water treatment
areas (RASTAs) will be created in these basins. Also, conservation
easements will be purchased within these four basins to aid
in restoring the hydrology.
After completion of the “Priority Basins”, the
Project Development Team (PDT) determined that the model was
applicable for use in the remaining watershed basins. The
remaining basins were successfully simulated in early 2004
and the project moved forward to third phase that was called
“Future Conditions Without”. The phase required
that scenario testing of BMP implementation and special phosphorus
control projects such as chemical and wetland treatment systems.
The specific needs for future evaluations of the watershed
were established based on the direction of the PDT, and the
evaluation of performance measures. This scenario testing
approach was completed for all of the basins of the Lake Okeechobee
Watershed. A general description of the model and its operation
and examples are provided in the “Downloads” tap
on the SWET Home Page.
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