AGRICULTURAL BEST MANAGEMENT-PRACTICES AND SURFACE-WATER IMPROVEMENT AND MANAGEMENT

Restoration and enhancement of Lake Okeechobee and the Florida Evergla des requires a comprehensive approach to manage agricultural runoff. T he Florida Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) Act of 1987 was promulgated to develop and implement plans for protecting Florida waters. The South Florida Water Management District was directed by F lorida legislature to develop management plans for Lake Okeechobee (SW IM) and the Everglades ecosystem (Marjory Stoneman Douglas Everglades Protection Act of 1991). These plans require agriculture to implement best management practices (BMPs) to reduce runoff phosphorus (P) loads . The Lake Okeechobee SWIM plan established a P load reduction target for Lake Okeechobee and set P concentration limitations for runoff fro m non-point source agricultural sources. Agricultural water users in t he Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) are required to develop farm man agement plans to reduce P loads from the basin by 25%. The Everglades Forever Act of 1994 additionally emphasized linkage of these landscape s and consequent protection and restoration of the Everglades. Agricul tural BMPs are being developed and implemented to comply with water ma nagement, environmental, and regulatory standards. Although BMPs are i mproving runoff water quality, additional research is necessary to obt ain the best combination of BMPs for individual farms. This paper summ arizes the development of comprehensive water management in south Flor ida and the agricultural BMPs carried out to meet regulatory requireme nts for Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades.