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 General Recommendations for Water Management

 The ultimate productivity of the southwest Florida

region involves water management, with some kind of re-

servoir not only to provide sufficient water from the wet

season to meet the needs of the dry season but also to

hold water from wet years for use in dry years. Man

cannot spare the fossil fuel energy to build and maintain

water storage units of the size that are needed for farms

and cities, let alone ecosystems, and should learn to rely

on the storage mechanisms of the naturally functioning

system, which are self-operating and self-maintaining.

It would be to man's benefit to-manl-s-bene-f4t to protect

rather than destroy these mechanisms.

 The value of wet years in the temporal scheme is

obvious. That dry years also contribute to the healthy

functioning of the regional ecosystem has been suggested

by Model III of this study. Measures that can be taken

to help reestablish natural water patterns of oscillation

with storage and release include the following:


 1) Allow aquatic plants to fill in canals and
 build weirs to slow canal runoff;

 2) Prevent the construction of any new canals;

 3) Relocate present and potential residents of
 former wetlands, if they are not willing to
 live in a re-established wetland, and change
 local, state, and federal laws to allow homes
 to be built on seasonally flooded areas without
 requiring drainage;

 4) Restore natural water flow through areas from