width at each cross section in a hydraulic model under different flow conditions, is also explored.

The use of a temporal measure of habitat loss for establishing 1VFLs during high flows is

compared to the spatial loss of habitat for the same flow reduction. The applicability of both is

discussed and the results compared to determine which is more restrictive in terms of allowable

flow reduction.

 However, as Mertes (1997) points out, floodplain vegetation development and persistence

may not, however, necessarily depend wholly on inundation from the river channel.

Groundwater seepage, hyporheic inputs, discharge from local tributaries, and precipitation can

also lead to floodplain inundation. Recent work on the upper segment of the Peace River and the

Alafia River in central Florida suggests that direct and continuous inundation of floodplain

wetlands by river flows is insufficient to account for inundation needs of the dominant species

found in the wetlands (SWFW1VD 2002).

 After comparing the temporal and spatial measures of habitat loss, being employed in the

minimum flow and level process, this dissertation examines an alternative means to measuring

habitat. The use of high-density remotely gathered data to generate a digital elevation model is

explored. This terrain model is then used in the development of cross-sectional data for use in a

one-dimensional hydraulic model. Beyond this, data generated in the hydraulic model can be

processed in a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment to produce inundation maps

which are not limited to the one dimensional cross-sections. The coupling of a one-dimensional

hydraulic model and spatial information from GIS results in a powerful tool for relating

variations in floodplain inundation with variations (or reductions) in river flow.

 The obj ectives of this dissertation include reviewing the history of water management in

Florida with an emphasis on decisions culminating in the 1997 legislation requiring the