World Wildlife Fund

Florida is experiencing a water crisis. The future of the state - from people and wildlife to wetlands and nearly eight million acres of ranchland - hinges on efficient water management. The Florida Ranchlands Environmental Services Project (FRESP) offers ranchers in the Lake Okeechobee watershed an opportunity to provide environmental services like water retention and improved water quality in ways that save taxpayers money, provide additional revenue, preserve rural communities and enhance wildlife habitats.

Background

The Everglades once stretched south from what is now Orlando, toward Lake Okeechobee, and then on to Florida Bay. More than 100 years ago, public agencies and private landowners began to transform the land, building a vast ditch network that interrupted historic patterns of water flow. The lake itself was diked and an extensive system of drainage and storm protection works was implemented. Over the years, the drained wetlands supported agricultural production and more recently dramatic population increases. This change in land use has resulted in unanticipated and undesired environmental consequences. While it is still the "liquid heart" of the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee now receives surges of water, drowning fish and bird-nesting and nursery areas while threatening the dike. Decades of agricultural land use and urban development mean the water reaching the lake carries an unnatural load of phosphorus and other nutrients. When lake levels rise and threaten its ability to hold storm water, nutrient-laden fresh water is pumped through canals to the estuaries on Florida's coasts, dramatically altering their environmental condition.

The FRESP program:

Over the past several decades, multi-billion dollar state and federal initiatives have been launched to restore the watershed. These programs use public funds to buy land to build large regional treatment and storage areas, capture rainwater and build deep storage wells. The plans also include regulations that will change agricultural and urban land use practices to reduce phosphorous runoff.

FRESP secured more than $5 million from state, federal and private sources to conduct a five-year pilot project that will identify and field test critical elements of a program to complement the existing restoration efforts by paying cattle ranchers to provide environmental services that will benefit the lake. The program will:

• Pay for measured and documented environmental services of water retention, phosphorus retention and wetland enhancement
• Be profitable for ranchers and help retain ranch land 
• Spur innovation in the provision and creation of environmental services
• Be compatible with existing state and federal environmental and agricultural programs and regulatory requirements;
• Be cost-effective for taxpayers
• Be easily administered by state agencies
  

FRESP implementation

• Phase 1 - Over three years (2006-2009), implement water management alternatives on eight volunteer ranchers and field test elements of a credible, transparent program to certify on-ranch provision of critical environmental services.
• Phase II - Over two years (2010-2011), implement a pay for performance program with the volunteer ranches to verify and refine program design.
• Post 2011 - Transition from test group to a state-wide program.

FRESP results to date

• Developed and began field testing a Multi-Service Environmental Documentation Approach that will provide transparent and credible methods to document the provision of environmental services of water and phosphorus retention and wetland enhancement on private lands.
• Completed the design and construction on four participating ranches of Water Management Alternatives (rehydrated wetlands, pasture water management, stormwater treatment impoundment).
• Secured funding and identified four additional Water Management Alternative sites and expect design and construction to be completed by Jan 2008.