FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Vanessa Fultz, Office of Communications
Suwannee River Water Management District
386.362.1001 or 800.226.1066 (FL)
www.mysuwanneeriver.com
State-wide pilot study will evaluate how changes to forest
management may benefit water resources
LIVE OAK, FL, May 7,
2014 – Florida’s five
water management
districts, the Florida
Department of
Agriculture and
Consumer Services
(DACS), and the
University of Florida
(UF) are partnering in a
study to analyze whether
adjusting land
management practices
of forested lands will
result in benefits to
water resources. This is
Pine timber to be thinned at the District’s Little River Tract in Suwannee a statewide pilot project
County. to advance the
understanding of the
impact of forest
management activities on water yield and the potential for increasing regional water
availability in various areas in the State.
Six sites across Florida will be evaluated, and two of these sites will be in the Suwannee
River Water Management District’s (District). One of the District’s sites will be the Little
River Tract in Suwannee County. The District is presently evaluating the location for the
second site.
“The goal of the study is to determine how changes in management practices will affect
water yield,” said District Executive Director Ann Shortelle. “If the results are promising,
we would incorporate these changes in our land management techniques. Additionally,
the study will aid in understanding how our forests affect the regional water budget.”
“We are investigating the water yield effect of specific management practices, such as
thinning and prescribed fire, that also improves habitat integrity," said Dr. Daniel
McLaughlin, assistant research scientist at UF's School of Forest Resources and
Conservation. “As such, this study may potentially demonstrate the dual benefit of
applying these practices in public land management. Additionally, quantifying the
relationship between management and water yield will help establish a framework to
incentivize private landowners for more water conservative forest management.”
“Cooperatively funding and evaluating the impact of modified land management
practices on water supply helps inform policy and program direction to assure that we
meet our collective goals of a vibrant agricultural economy while maintaining healthy
and abundant water resources,” said Rich Budell, Director of the Office of Agriculture
and Water Policy for DACS. “It’s a long-term balancing act.”
A thinning operation has begun at the District’s Little River Tract to manipulate the stand
density. The Little River Tract was selected for the study because it is a high aquifer
recharge area.
Researchers from UF will quantify the water yield benefits of land management to water
resources through direct measurement of forest water use using groundwater and soil
moisture monitoring in timber stands.
###