[E&E seminars] Hydrology Seminar TOMORROW (4/11) 3-4pm 48-308: Chandra Pathak

[Alejandro Flores]

Hello all:

Dr. Chandra Pathak of the South Florida Water Management District will  
be giving the Hydrology Seminar tomorrow at 3pm in 48-308. His talk is  
entitled: "Water Management in Central and South Florida"

-Lejo

ABSTRACT:

The South Florida Water Management District (District), located in the  
state of Florida, U.S., is the oldest and largest of the state’s five  
water management districts. The District is responsible for managing  
water resources in 16 counties over a 46,439-square-kilometer (17,930- 
square-mile) area – about 31 percent of the state. The District’s area  
extends from Orlando to Key West and from the Gulf of Mexico to the  
Atlantic Ocean and contains the country’s second largest freshwater  
lake, Lake Okeechobee, and the world famous Everglades wetlands.

The District manages water in one of the most diverse and complex  
ecosystems in the world – the interconnected Kissimmee-Okeechobee- 
Everglades system. The District’s routine work includes buying and  
managing land, restoring floodplains, revitalizing shoreline habitats  
and protecting wetlands. The District’s mission is to provide regional  
flood control, water supply and water quality protection as well as  
ecosystem restoration.

The District operates approximately 3,000 kilometers (~1,800 miles) of  
canals and levees, and more than 500 water control structures. These  
structures include pump stations, spillways, culverts and weirs. The  
District has extensive monitoring networks of hydrologic data  
collection, and a comprehensive water quality and biological sampling  
system. The hydrologic monitoring network includes a rain gauge  
network; a stage gauge network, and a weather network that provide  
real-time data, which are used in operations of the water control  
structures.

The presentation will describe flood control and water supply-related  
operational and water management activities that are performed for the  
13 sub-regional systems during the Water Year (May 1 through April  
30). The last three water years included two draught years and a very  
active Atlantic hurricane season with three hurricanes impacting the  
District out of 27 named tropical storms. The presentation will also  
include the strategies employed to manage water resources for various  
competing needs within the sub-regional systems.