Four Southwest Florida Water Management District projects will help DeSoto County agricultural operations reduce groundwater pumping by an average of 50 percent or more.
These projects are part of the District’s Facilitating Agricultural Resource Management Systems (FARMS) program, which is a cost-share reimbursement program that conserves water and protects water quality.
Because three of these projects are expected to reduce withdrawals from the Upper Floridan aquifer by at least 50 percent of permitted quantities and one involves water quality best management practices, they all qualify for a 75 percent cost-share reimbursement under the FARMS Program.
The FARMS program is jointly funded by state appropriations, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the District’s Governing Board and Basin Boards. This program is expected to reduce groundwater pumping by 40 million gallons per day by 2025.
“These projects vary in size and represent different crops but they demonstrate the results that can be achieved by the cooperative efforts of the District and DeSoto County farmers – a cumulative 530,000 gallons per day (gpd) reduction in pumping from the Upper Floridan aquifer,” said Bill Orendorff, the District’s FARMS program manager.
Island Grove Agricultural Products
This project involves constructing a two-acre reservoir within an existing storm water and tailwater retention area at Island Grove’s blueberry farm #6, located east of State Road 31 in the Myrtle Slough watershed of Prairie Creek. Myrtle Slough drains to Prairie Creek, which is near the city of Punta Gorda’s drinking water reservoir.
The project will also include the construction of a surface water irrigation pump station, filtration and the piping necessary to connect the proposed surface water reservoir system to the existing irrigation system.
According to the farm’s District-issued water use permit, the 72-acre blueberry farm is permitted to use an average of 109,800 gallons per day (gpd) for irrigation.
This project is expected to cost $380,000, of which up to $285,000 will be funded by the District. The remaining cost will be paid by the farm. The District’s funding will be shared by the Governing Board, $71,250; the Peace River Basin Board, $71,250; and state appropriations, $142,500.
This is the third FARMS project presented for approval to the Board with Island Grove Agricultural Products. The two existing projects are operational and have offset an average of 130,141 gpd and 49,334 gpd of ground water, which are above projections.
Orange-Co, LP
The second project involves the construction and operation of a surface water irrigation reservoir at Orange-Co, LP for its Section 29 Grove, located within the 20,300-acre Joshua Creek Water Control District, which drains into Prairie Creek and Joshua Creek.
The project will also include the construction of a surface water irrigation pump station, filtration and the mainline piping necessary to connect the proposed surface water reservoir to a proposed, more efficient microjet irrigation system.
According to the farm’s District-issued water use permit, the 111-acre citrus grove is permitted to use an average of 300,140 gpd for irrigation.
Since January 2004, the reported groundwater use has averaged five percent over the permitted amount, but this quantity is within the drought allowance and pumpage for the overall water use permit is within compliance.
This project is expected to cost $175,000, of which up to $131,250 will be funded by the District. The remaining cost will be paid by the farm. The District’s funding will be shared by the Governing Board, $32,813; the Peace River Basin Board, $32,813; and state appropriations, $65,625.
Hancock Grove
The third project involves the use of an existing 25-acre pond as an irrigation source at Hancock Grove, located in the Myrtle Slough watershed of Prairie Creek. Myrtle Slough drains to Prairie Creek, which is near the city of Punta Gorda’s drinking water reservoir.
The project also involves constructing two surface water irrigation pump stations, filtration and the piping necessary to connect the proposed surface water reservoir system to the existing irrigation system.
According to the water use permit, the 1,460-acre citrus grove is permitted to use an average of 1,252,000 gallons per day (gpd) for irrigation.
Reported groundwater use for the Hancock Grove is currently averaging approximately 80 percent of the total use.
This project, which is in its second phase, is in the third year of a five-year contract term. The first phase of the project has been successful in capturing and reusing surface water and tailwater for citrus irrigation. Over the past three years, 248 million gallons of lower quality ground water has been offset by using surface water. That’s an average savings of 430,253 gpd. The savings is twice as much as was originally projected. The second phase will enhance the previous FARMS project goal by further reducing highly mineralized groundwater withdrawals by an estimated 76,980 gpd.
This project is expected to cost $400,000, of which up to $300,000 will be funded by the District. The remaining cost will be paid by the farm. The District’s funding will be shared by the Governing Board, $75,000; the Peace River Basin Board, $75,000; and state appropriations, $150,000.
Landscaping, Sod, and Irrigation, Inc.
The fourth project will use of two surface water reservoirs as an irrigation source at Landscaping, Sod, and Irrigation, Inc. for their sod farm, located two miles east of U.S. Highway 17 in the Hawthorne Creek watershed of the Peace River.
The project will also construct two surface water irrigation pump stations, filtration and the piping necessary to connect the proposed surface water reservoirs to the existing irrigation system.
According to the farm’s District-issued water use permit, the 80-acre sod farm is permitted to use an average of 160,400 gallons per day (gpd) for irrigation.
This project is expected to cost $170,000, of which up to $127,500 will be funded by the District. The remaining cost will be paid by the farm. The District’s funding will be shared by the Governing Board, $31,875; the Peace River Basin Board, $31,875; and state appropriations, $63,750.