S.W.I.M.

Rainbow Springs

Southwest Florida Water Management District

Facilitate the technical working group

Develop technically sound recommendations

Surface Water Improvement and Management (SWIM) plan

Stakeholders

Technical Working Group SWFWMD (scientists, hydrologist, geologist, engineer, and re-use

coordinator) The Nature Conservancy Florida Geological Survey Florida Springs Institute UF IFAS Extension Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association Florida Department of Environmental Protection Florida Department of Health Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission USFWS Duke Energy Corporation

NRLI Skills Applied

Pre-meeting boat tour

Set the tone and expectations

Expert Panel Discussion

Breakout groups

Ranking with wall cards

Timeline exercise

Outcomes

Water Quality = 9 Recommendations

(BMPs, Waster Water Management, Land Acquisition)

Water Quantity = 7 Recommendations

(Cost Share Programs, Surface Water Runoff, Biofuel Project)

Natural Systems = 10 + Recommendations

(Living Shorelines, Habitat Restoration, Invasive Species Management, Blue Cove Restoration)

Lessons Learned

Practice facilitation

Groan zone

Break-out groups

Historical knowledge the timeline exercised revealed

Rainbow Springs First Magnitude Spring (discharging 400-600 million

gallons daily) is 5.7 miles long, meets Withlacoochee's River to form Lake Rousseau

Used by humans for over 10,000 years 1890’s Phosphate discovered and mining began 1909 Inglis Dam Built Mining ended in 1960’s Hydrilla documented in 1970 Headwaters became a State Park in 1994 Sailfin Catfish documents in 2003 and

eradicated by 2006

Lessons Learned

Group Norms

Understanding my role

Begin process earlier

Inclusion of all stakeholder groups

Time allotment

Break-out group facilitators

Heterogeneous groups (random mixing versus assigned groups)

Prepare for weather and have coffee available

Next Steps Continue to partner and assist SWFWMD with facilitation

of technical working groups for other priority springs

Questions