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.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-72 |
| Number of pages | 72 |
| Journal | US Geological Survey Open-File Report |
| Volume | 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2024 |
Funding
The research was supported by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Greater Everglades Priority Ecosystems Studies (GEPES) Program and by funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (agreement USACE-USGS MIPR W32CS510826251) and funding from the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD; agreements USGS_JFA0113-SFWMD_19MCJFA0113, and USGS_20HWCOLL0003-SFWMD_4600004249). We acknowledge the inspiration and great work of the many scientists from other agencies and academic institutions who conducted complementary projects at Decompartmentalization Physical Model, which informed this report. This report covers the parts of the project work at the Decompartmentalization Physical Model site that were led by the USGS, and the authors assume the responsibility for its content. The authors acknowledge assistance ranging from scientific advice to methods development to field assistance provided by USGS scientists Greg Noe, Karl Hasse, Brendan Buskirk, Jenny Lewis, Jordan Psaltakis, Alex Walker, Jay Sah, Geoff Sinclair, Lars Soderqvist, Travis Knight, Mark Zucker, Corey Whittaker, and Adam Hines. A big appreciation goes to the present and former staff of the USGS Caribbean-Florida Water Science Center Data Section, under leadership of Eduardo Patino and Mark Dickman, and the USGS Data Section scientists who provided outstanding airboat and logistical support: Jeff Woods, Eric Carlson, Corey Whittaker, Chaney Adrianza, Adam Hines, and Mike Oliver. We express additional appreciation to many colleagues across multiple agencies and academic institutions that freely discussed ideas about Everglades restoration: Nick Aumen and Barry Rosen (USGS); Fred Sklar, Colin Saunders, Sue Newman, Christa Zweig, Eric Tate-Boldt, Lisa Jackson, Carlos Coronado, Michael Manna, Fabiola Santamaria, and Eric Cline (SFWMD); David Ho (University of Hawai\u2018i); Aaron Hurst (University of California, Berkeley); and Joel Trexler, Mike Ross, Rudolf Jaffee, Peter Regier, Nate Dorn, Chris Hansen, Mike Bush, and Alex Ontkos (Florida International University). We also appreciate the helpful review comments provided by SFWMD scientists Colin Saunders, Sue Newman, Fabiola Santamaria, and Christa Zweig. Editorial assistance was provided by Kathryn Pauls.