SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — As Florida moves into the peak of hurricane season, the St. Johns River Water Management District is sharing what it’s doing to manage water levels and reduce flooding in the Upper St. Johns River Basin.
The river’s headwaters begins in Indian River County and wind north to the Atlantic Ocean, north of Jacksonville.
The district manages 76 minor and 12 major water control structures to help regulate water flow and protect communities.
“In the winter or the nonhurricane season, these water bodies would be about two feet higher on average than they are right now,” said Woody Boynton, bureau chief for operations and maintenance. “So come April, May timeframe, we’ll start to bring these water bodies down slowly to about the water elevations you see now.”
The district oversees dozens of structures, three navigational locks, a pump station and 115 miles of levees throughout the Upper St. Johns and Ocklawaha River basins.
“These levees and water control structures were designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to accommodate a standard project flood, which to my best recollection is 26 inches of rain over a 30-day period, but with the bulk of the rain occurring on one day,” said Amy Wright, supervising professional engineer.
While the district does not manage water levels in the middle or lower St. Johns, officials remain confident in their preparedness.
“We have the utmost confidence that we can handle what Mother Nature will throw at us on the levee side of our property. Outside of that, take heed, if anything, take heed from what the forecasters are telling you,” Boyton said.
The water management district also owns more than 700,000 acres of public land, including vital wetlands that play a key role in mitigating flood risk.
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