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High-flow experimental outcomes to inform Everglades restoration, 2010–22

Open-File Report 2024-1063
By: , , , , , , , , , and 
https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20241063

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Abstract

The Decompartmentalization Physical Model (DPM) was an experimental facility in the central Everglades operated between 2010 and 2022 to release high flows through a levee-enclosed area of degraded ridge and slough wetland that had been isolated from flow for sixty years. The purpose of DPM experimental program was to make measurements before, during, and after seasonal high-flow releases that could help guide the Congressionally authorized Everglades restoration project known as the Decompartmentalization and Sheet Flow Enhancement Project.


The DPM facility was operated by the South Florida Water Management District, with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and several universities participating in experimental design and leading aspects of the research. The USGS research at DPM focused on measuring high-flow hydraulics and its sedimentary and ecological responses in downstream wetlands. USGS investigated interactions between flow and vegetation and microtopography that influenced flow velocity and water depth, bed shear stress, sediment entrainment, and the resulting downstream transport of suspended sediment and fate of particle-associated phosphorus. USGS also investigated high-flow changes in water-column mixing and gas exchange and resulting effects on metabolism of the aquatic ecosystem (primary productivity and respiration). USGS also investigated effects of built structures such as levee gaps that were constructed to reconnect levee-enclosed basins. This report describes the methods and results of the USGS-led data collection at DPM.


The USGS studies at DPM have identified factors that influence effectiveness of restoration, specifically how high-flow releases maximize sheet flow and affect sediment and nutrient dynamics while minimizing undesirable outcomes caused by past management that bypassed wetlands by conveying polluted water through canals to ecologically sensitive downstream areas. The DPM high-flow experiments reconnected the Water Conservation Area 3A and Water Conservation Area 3B basins, and it therefore has become a central feature of the restoration’s Decompartmentalization and Sheet Flow Enhancement Project. DPM’s scientific findings have already influenced the adaptive management of Everglades restoration in guiding elements of the final design and implementation of the Central Everglades Planning Project-South. In addition to serving Everglades restoration, the DPM has the potential to influence similar adaptive management programs throughout the nation’s network of federal and state-managed river corridors, floodplains, and riparian ecosystems.

Suggested Citation

Harvey, J., Choi, J., Larsen, L., Skalak, K., Maglio, M., Quion, K., Swartz, A., Lin, J.T.Y., Gomez-Velez, J., and Schmadel, N., 2024, High-flow experimental outcomes to inform Everglades restoration, 2010–22: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2024–1063, 72 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20241063.

ISSN: 2331-1258 (online)

Study Area

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgments
  • Abstract
  • Introduction
  • Field and Laboratory Methods
  • Analysis Results
  • Lessons Learned
  • References Cited
  • Appendix 1. Aerial Images of DPM
  • Appendix 2. S-152 Culvert Discharge Measurements
Publication type Report
Publication Subtype USGS Numbered Series
Title High-Flow Experimental Outcomes to Inform Everglades Restoration, 2010–22
Series title Open-File Report
Series number 2024-1063
DOI 10.3133/ofr20241063
Year Published 2024
Language English
Publisher U.S. Geological Survey
Publisher location Reston VA
Contributing office(s) WMA - Earth System Processes Division
Description Report: xi, 72 p.; Data Releases
Country United States
State Florida
Other Geospatial Everglades
Online Only (Y/N) Y
Google Analytic Metrics Metrics page
Additional publication details