Alafia River Minimum Flows and Levels - Southwest Florida Water ...

adaptive management approach we are committed to examining in greater detail the
effects that direct river connection plays in maintaining wetland hydrology. It will,
however, probably take several years to adequately assess and understand this
relationship in sufficient enough detail before it may be more adequately addressed in
our MFL methodology. We have discussed to some extent our plans for this monitoring
effort with Dr. Hodgson.
With respect to a bias in the sampling and/or enumeration of fishes, we relied
exclusively on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission database as
cited. While their sampling techniques and gear may well be directed toward the
dominant recreational fish species; our selection of fish species for PHABSIM analyses
was based on a consideration of the numerically most abundant species for which
habitat suitability curves were available. The only exception, as we noted, was with the
spotted sunfish, which appears to be one of the most abundant species in the state.
For this species, it was necessary to develop a habitat suitability curve using a modified
Delphi method as described in our report. Others including the peer review panel for
the middle Peace River MFL (Shaw et al. 2005) have suggested inclusion of other
species and the refinement or development of habitat suitability curves specific to
Florida. We concur, and will be working with Dr. Jim Gore (University of South Florida)
to accomplish this goal over the next several years. Staff appreciates the suggestion of
incorporating a habitat suitability curve for a relevant wading bird species in our
PHABSIM analysis, and we have discussed this with Dr. Gore as well. While there are
habitat suitability indexes available for a number of species, these indexes alone do not
provide the detailed flow, water depth and substrate information needed to develop
habitat suitability curves; however, staff anticipates exploring further with Dr. Gore the
idea of developing the necessary criteria for a representative wading bird species. At
present, however, we have not nor do we plan on selecting "target species" in the sense
that we would seek to optimize one species' habitat over another. Currently we select
the most restrictive percent reduction scenario consistent with a 15 percent reduction in
available habitat regardless of species or life stage as the criterion on which to base an
MFL recommendation. If too many species are added to the analysis, it is likely that we
would have to develop a criterion based on an averaging of the results or prioritization
of the species. As an interesting aside, the peer review panel mentioned that it might
be desirable to develop a curve for an exotic species (e.g., blue tilapia) so that the
species might be selected against. We concur that selection of additional species and
development of Florida habitat suitability curves could be a desired enhancement to our
methodology.
Findings and Recommendations: Tampa Bypass Canal
(Response to commentary in first paragraph) The District recognizes that some
individuals may interpret the District’s position on the TBC MFL as a de facto zero cfs
MFL, but in the absence of a stronger relationship between inflow and the water
resources, the District’s position is that setting an MFL at this time is not justifiable.
Appendix D viii