Authors: Stewart Dary and Robert Klein

Title: Local Government Atlas: A GIS-based Tool for Protecting Water Resources

Abstract: Florida's St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) is responsible for protecting water-related resources in an area covering over a fifth of the state. To accomplish this task, the agency must integrate a wide range of data and work in partnership with a variety of agencies. SJRWMD, like other regional agencies, shares data on critical water resources and issues with local governments in order to coordinate on projects and maximize scarce resources. However, some participants in the land and water planning process, particularly elected officials, still do not have easy and rapid access to GIS-based information for making critical land and water decisions. As a result, St. Johns River Water Management District produced a series of hardcopy atlases in 1996 for seventeen of the nineteen counties in its jurisdiction in order to place water resource-related information into the hands of key decision-makers in the region. Each county atlas contains a variety of maps and text highlighting the District’s four areas of responsibility: Water Supply, Flood Protection, Water Quality, and Natural Systems.

Paper: Florida's St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) is responsible for protecting water-related resources in an area covering over a fifth of the state. To accomplish this task, the agency must integrate a wide range of data and work in partnership with a variety of agencies. Key data used by the agency include floodplains, wetlands, contaminated wells, conservation areas, ground water recharge areas, and surface water quality.

Local governments are particularly important partners with the District since they have jurisdiction over land use planning and land development regulations. Land use decisions can directly affect the health of the region’s water quality and ecosystems. Local governments therefore represent the first line of defense for protecting sensitive environmental areas. SJRWMD, like other regional agencies, shares data on critical water resources and issues with local governments in order to coordinate on projects and maximize scarce resources. However, some participants in the land and water planning process, particularly elected officials, still do not have easy and rapid access to GIS-based information for making critical land and water decisions. As a result, SJRWMD produced a series of hardcopy atlases in 1996 for seventeen of the nineteen counties in its jurisdiction in order to place water resource-related information into the hands of key decision-makers in the region. The remaining two counties, Bradford and Okeechobee

Insert .gif of Atlas cover (p3961.gif)

represent a small portion of the District. Each county atlas contains a variety of maps and text highlighting St. Johns River Water Management District’s four areas of responsibility: Water Supply, Flood Protection, Water Quality, and Natural Systems. All of the county atlases contain a number of fundamental resource maps:

• reference map showing roads, waterbodies, and other features
• land use/land cover
• public lands/conservation lands
• surface water drainage basin boundaries
• potential impacts from ground water withdrawals
• ground water recharge
• 100-year floodplain
• surface water quality
• abandoned artesian well locations
• regionally significant habitat

Insert .gifs of Volusia County land use/land cover and ground water recharge maps (p3962.gif and p3963.gif)

Some counties also contain additional maps to reflect unique resources or the results of area-specific studies. Examples include wellfield protection zones for public water supplies, potential septic tank problem areas, contaminated well locations, and spring recharge areas. Each map in the atlas is supported by text that describes the map and explains how it was produced. Some maps also include text that: 1) identifies key issues within the county, 2) summarizes initiatives already in progress, and 3) presents strategies developed jointly by District and local government staff. The joint strategies represent partnership opportunities between the District and local governments over the next one to three years.

The water resource maps show both the county and adjacent areas in order to facilitate intergovernmental coordination. An inset also is displayed on the maps in order to provide a regional or District-wide perspective. Data used to produce the atlas maps have different dates of creation and are from a variety of sources, both in-house and external. The atlas is an example of collaboration by divisions throughout St. Johns River Water Management District as well as data sharing with other agencies. For instance, surface water quality data were furnished by Florida's Department of Environmental Protection while the habitat maps were derived from Florida Freshwater Fish and Game Commission's "Closing the Gaps" data.

All of the atlases are 11" x 17" format in order to maximize the size of the maps while also facilitating color reproduction on standard color photocopy machines. The maps were assembled by employing Esri's ArcInfo software running on SUN workstations. They were plotted using Hewlett-Packard Designjet 650 and 755 plotters. The project occupies approximately three gigabytes of disk storage. All maps contained in the atlases are available as EPS and GRA files in SJRWMD's Internet web page (http://sjr.state.fl.us) and through an AML-based, user-friendly interface running on a workstation at the agency’s on-site outreach center.

Information on the Authors:

Stewart Dary, Supervising Water Resource Planner, stewart_dary@district.sjrwmd.state.fl.us@smtp

Robert Klein, GIS Analyst rklein@district.sjrwmd.state.fl.us

Department of Planning & Acquisition

St. Johns River Water Management District

P.O. Box 1429 Palatka, FL 32178-1429

(904) 329-4500

FAX: 904-329-4848