Floodplain management is a community-based effort to prevent or reduce the risk of flooding, resulting in a more resilient community.
St. Lucie County Natural Areas
North Fork Parcels
These sites are all located along the North Fork of the St. Lucie River and its tributaries. They are comprised of dedicated conservation easements, county-owned preserved lands and state-owned preserved lands, all managed to protect native ecological communities and for the protection and enhancement of water quality. Individual management plans are also attached where applicable.
These sites are generally characterized by the following natural communities: floodplain forest, floodplain swamp, and hydric hammock as described below.
Floodplain Forests are hardwood forests that occur on drier soils at slight elevations within floodplains, such as on ridges, and are usually flooded for a portion of the growing season. Hydroperiod is the primary physical feature of Floodplain Forests, which are inundated by flood waters nearly every year for 2 to 50% of the growing season.
Floodplain swamps occur on flooded soils along stream channels and in low spots and oxbows within river floodplains. Dominant trees are usually buttressed hydrophytic trees. Floodplain swamps are flooded most of the year, with sites along channels inundated by aerobic flowing water. In contrast, those of sloughs and back swamps are flooded with anaerobic water for extensive periods of time.
Hydric Hammock is a hardwood and cabbage palm forest with a variable understory often dominated by palms and ferns. Hydric Hammock occurs on low, flat, wet sites where limestone may be near the surface and frequently outcrops. Soils are sands with considerable organic material that, although generally saturated, are inundated only for short periods following heavy rains. The normal hydroperiod is seldom over 60 days per year.
Hutchinson Island Parcels
These sites are all located on North and South Hutchinson Island and comprise dedicated conservation easements, County-owned preserved lands, state-owned preserved lands, and County-managed mosquito impoundments. Individual management plans are also attached where applicable. The majority of the parcels within this group are County-maintained.
Mosquito Impoundments
The SLC Mosquito Control District manages these coastal mangrove swamps and salt marshes to abate salt marsh mosquitoes and sandflies by minimizing available exposed mud for breeding during the summer. The District's Impoundment Program uses an ecosystem management approach for salt marsh mosquito control. This is an example of insect control by a resource management method that does not require pesticides. The impoundments are open to natural tides most of the year. Still, they are kept flooded (partly closed, with constant water exchange) during the summer breeding season to minimize the amount of exposed mud available for mosquito egg laying, a procedure known as rotational impoundment management (RIM). The ecosystem management protocols have multi-species benefits, especially for fish and wading birds. The remaining parcels consist of County-owned preserves, Bear Point Mitigation Bank (owned and maintained by the County) and state parks, including Avalon State Park and Fort Pierce Inlet State Park. These sites are managed for public access and preservation of natural communities and habitats, including coastal strand, mangrove swamp, dune, and other coastal community types.
Savannas Parcels
These parcels primarily consist of the State Savannas Preserve basin marsh, along with two (2) conservation easements (Prima Vista Number 1 and Pine Summit) and the County-owned and maintained Walton Scrub Preserve. The state park and preserves protect the last relatively undisturbed example of coastal freshwater basin marsh in southeastern Florida and provide a critical corridor of remaining natural communities, including scrub, along the Savannas basin marsh. The park and preserves provide habitat for many rare species of flora and fauna, including the fragrant prickly apple cactus (Harrisia fragrans), Savannas mint (Dicerandra immaculata var. savannarum), four-petal pawpaw (Asminnia tetramera) and the federally-endangered Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens).
Natural Functions Open Space
Property Locations: Hutchinson Island, Savannas, Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie River
These lands include Mosquito Control Impoundments, County and State-owned parks and preserves, conservation easements, and preserves set aside as part of development approvals. These lands are managed in their natural state consistent with associated approved Preserve Area Monitoring and Management Plans.
Additional Links
