Lake Harney, Lake Monroe, Middle St. Johns River and Smith Canal Basin Management Action Plan

Overview

The Lakes Harney, Monroe, MSJR, and Smith Canal BMAP was adopted in August 2012 to implement the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) in the watershed.

Since the Smith Canal watershed is located mostly within the Lakes Harney, Monroe and MSJR watershed, reductions made to achieve the Lakes Harney and Monroe and MSJR TMDLs should also address the Smith Canal TMDL. As a first step, the BMAP applies the reductions required for the Lakes Harney, Monroe, and MSJR Basin to the Smith Canal watershed.

The BMAP includes management strategies or projects to be implemented by the responsible stakeholders that aim to reduce elevated levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the basin.

Quick Facts:

•  Basin Management Action Plan  (BMAP) Adopted: August 2012
•  Total Maximum Daily Load  (TMDL) Restoration Targets Adopted: December 2009
• BMAP Restoration Area: 241,927 acres
• Water Quality Impairment: Excess Nutrients (TN, TP)

Principal Sources of Nutrients:

• Agriculture
• Point Sources (domestic and industrial wastewater treatment facilities)
• Stormwater sources (like cities, towns, and water control districts)

Location

This portion of the St. Johns River runs in a southeast to northwest direction for about 33 miles before it drains into the Lake George basin north of the river mouth of the Wekiva River. The river segments receive the discharge from the Upper St. Johns River, and also receive discharges from several major tributaries, including the Econlockhatchee River, Deep Creek, and Lake Jesup. These river segments are impaired for nutrients and two major lakes, Lake Monroe and Lake Harney, are also impaired segments of the MSJR main stem. Smith Canal is approximately 6 miles in length and flows northwest until it enters the St. Johns River approximately 1.4 miles upstream of the outlet to Lake Monroe. The Smith Canal watershed includes portions of Seminole County, Lake Mary, and Sanford.

The basin encompasses portions of Seminole County and Volusia County and areas within the cities of DeBary, DeLand, Deltona, Lake Helen, Lake Mary, Orange City, Enterprise and Sanford. The Smith Canal watershed is located in the southern portion of the Lakes Harney and Monroe and MSJR Basin and drains an area of about 10 square miles.

Both lakes are shallow with relatively large surface areas and long-term average water residence times less than one month. The water residence time for Lake Monroe (based on period of flow records from 1995 through 2006) was about 23 days, which is slightly longer than the long-term average water residence time of Lake Harney (15 days).

Please use the tabs above to navigate through this StoryMap and learn more about the Lakes Harney, Monroe, MSJR, and Smith Canal BMAP.

Monitoring

Water quality monitoring is required by all BMAPs. The purpose of the monitoring network is to support the evaluation of progress made toward achieving the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) targets for total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) concentrations. Monitoring locations are geographically dispersed and located in different areas of the basin.

,For the purposes of TMDL modeling, the basin was split into two major basins, the Lake Harney Basin and the Lake Monroe Basin. There are 7 impaired waterbodies included in the Lakes Harney, Monroe, MSJR, and Smith Canal BMAP. The monitoring plan is designed to enhance the understanding of basin loads, identify areas with high nutrient concentrations, and track water quality trends.

The primary and secondary objectives of the monitoring strategy (as outlined in the BMAP) are for the lakes, major tributaries and Smith Canal. Water quality monitoring of core and supplemental water quality parameters (Table 1) in the BMAP monitoring network stations is conducted on a monthly basis to assess the conditions in the watershed and within the lakes and tributaries to determine changes in water quality from the actions implemented as part of the BMAP. In addition to the water quality parameters, resource responses to BMAP implementation will be monitored. Bioassessments are used as tools for detecting the severity of impairments affecting the flora and/or fauna of a waterbody. As water chemistry results provide detailed information regarding the health of a waterbody at a specific time, bioassessment results reflect the health of the biological communities within the waterbody over a longer period of time and represent improvements in the overall ecological health of the waterbodies. Biological and vegetation monitoring is also conducted in the basin. Biological data are collected on a quarterly or monthly basis at various stations in the basin. Flow data are collected at two sites by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

DEP continuously monitors the effectiveness of the monitoring network to fulfill the objectives stated in the BMAP and will continue to coordinate within and across jurisdictions to achieve water quality targets.

Water Quality

The Protecting Florida Together water quality map delivers statewide water quality information. On this site, you can explore the Florida regions that are of interest to you. Individual waterbodies are color-coded based on the assessment status of nutrients and whether they are meeting standards.

The water quality map has information on impairments under the “Water Impairment” tab based on the DEP watershed assessment process, in accordance with the Impaired Waters Rule. When sufficient data is available, you can click the button called “View Waterbody Trends” to see a graph of annual geometric mean concentrations (AGMs) for each parameter over the last 10 years. Additionally, the “Get More Data” button below the graphs allows users to search for additional monitoring data from the statewide database,  Watershed Information Network .

The Protecting Florida Together water quality maps and graphs can be accessed at the following link. 

 Water Quality Status Dashboard | Water Quality Dashboard (protectingfloridatogether.gov) 

Actions to Achieve Nutrient Load Reductions

The BMAP provides for phased implementation. The management actions and adaptive management approach described in the BMAP will address nutrient reductions and the process will continue until the TMDLs are attained. The phased BMAP approach allows for the implementation of projects designed to achieve incremental reductions, while simultaneously monitoring and conducting studies to better understand the water quality dynamics (sources and response variables) in the watershed. The total required reductions from the TMDLs are spread over a 15-year time frame. Progress is evaluated over a 5-year cycle. The BMAP requires stakeholders to implement projects to achieve reductions as soon as practicable. However, the full implementation of the BMAP will be a long-term process. While some of the projects and activities contained in the BMAP were recently completed or are currently ongoing, several projects require more time to design, secure funding, and construct.

An important consideration for the restoration of the Lakes Harney and Monroe and MSJR Basin waters is that the majority of the loading to the impaired waterbodies comes from sources outside the watershed. Approximately 96.4% of the TN loading and 95% of the TP loading enters the impaired waterbodies from the Upper St. Johns River, Econlockhatchee River, and Lake Jesup basins. Therefore, implementing projects in the watershed alone will not achieve the TMDLs; reductions from the upstream sources must occur before water quality standards can be met in the impaired WBIDs.

All agricultural non-point sources in the BMAP area are statutorily required either to implement appropriate BMPs or to conduct water quality monitoring that demonstrates compliance with state water quality standards. FDACS’ Office of Agricultural Water Policy (OAWP), Florida Forest Service, and Division of Aquaculture develop and adopt BMPs in coordination with DEP, UF–IFAS, and applicable producer groups. Producers that choose to implement BMPs must file a signed Notice of Intent (NOI) and BMP checklist with FDACS and implement the applicable BMPs.

Urban storm water projects include best management practices (BMPs) such as storm water ponds, baffle boxes that remove debris, swales, and street sweeping, as well as projects that reduce nutrient sources such as local ordinances (e.g., fertilizer and pet waste ordinances), public education, and Florida-friendly landscaping practices. These projects can occur at a variety of scales including county-wide, city-wide, and within the boundaries of special districts. Additionally, some areas may be covered by multiple programs or ordinances. Due to these varying scales, some projects may not be shown on this map.

Due to the varying scales of nutrient management strategies, certain project types are not easily represented as point features in geographic information systems (GIS). However, to be displayed on this map points have been estimated for as many projects as possible.

Wastewater projects include reducing the nutrients discharged to the lake by revising permits, upgrading wastewater treatment facilities, and redirecting wastewater discharges to reuse for irrigation and other water needs.

For more information on projects in the Lakes Harney and Monroe and MSJR Basin, see the original  BMAP .

Estimated Project Reductions

Information on progress in the Lakes Harney and Monroe and Middle St. Johns River (MSJR) BMAP can be found in the latest  Statewide Annual Report .

The BMAP implementation process uses adaptive management to adjust when circumstances change, or monitoring indicates the need for additional or more effective restoration strategies. Adaptive management measures may include recommending additional restoration projects, updating the information in the water quality model, updating the model itself, adjusting allocations, or including new statutory requirements.

Annually, DEP works with stakeholders to track BMAP project implementation and to review progress. The updated project list for the prior calendar year is presented by July 1 in the  Statewide Annual Report . A complete project list can be downloaded from this  site , for those interested in detailed project information.  To promote progress and implementation, BMAP stakeholders meet annually to follow up on plan implementation, share new information, and continue to coordinate TMDL restoration–related issues.

In this BMAP, the following statements summarize the progress of the overall reductions and provide an indication of the challenges related to reducing pollutants from different sources.

Overall

• Total nitrogen reductions are on track to meet the total reductions required to meet the TMDL.
• Total phosphorus reductions are on track to meet the total reductions required to meet the TMDL.

Urban Stormwater

• While substantial progress has been made implementing stormwater projects, additional treatment needs to be added to maintain the TMDL.
• An increase in urban land uses has generated additional loading in the basin that now must be reduced in addition to the prior loads.
• Implementation of source control measures is needed to decrease the amount of nutrient loading. Examples of source controls include public education and local ordinances to address residential fertilizer, over-irrigation, and pet waste.

Agricultural Stormwater

• Many agricultural producers are not compliant in their requirements to enroll in appliable BMPs or conduct water quality monitoring.
• Since owner-implemented BMPs are also cost effective, these BMPs may have been implemented prior to enrollment and are, therefore, not a new reduction in loading.
• Agricultural cost-share implementation may be needed to address these sources.

Wastewater

• The wastewater loads have been allocated in the TMDL and are incorporated into the applicable permits.
• Some important infrastructure projects are underway but may not result in immediate reductions because of the time it takes to design, permit, and build these projects. Only WWTF projects that are completed and have post-project water quality data are included in the reduction totals.
• Additional domestic wastewater reductions are expected as a result of new legislation that expands the requirements for advanced treatment of wastewater.

OSTDS

• This BMAP did not specify reduction requirements for OSTDS; however, enhancement or septic-to-sewer conversion projects are included as applicable projects. Future BMAP updates will include additional provisions to address OSTDS loads and to meet new legislative requirements.