Habitat Restoration and Flood Control Protection in the Kissimmee River

The Adaptive Hydraulics (AdH) code was applied to simulate the hydrodynamic conditions along a stretch of the Kissimmee River in an effort to determine the impacts associated with possible system restoration alternatives. The Kissimmee River Basin flood control project, completed in 1971, had a negative impact on the ecosystem of the Kissimmee River and the adjacent floodplain by reducing floodplain inundation. This numerical model study investigated the expected inundation amounts associated with two restoration alternatives with the first being a return to the historical system and the second being a restored system that would maintain some flood control measures. The model simulations indicate an increase of anywhere from 12 % to 33 % in the floodplain inundation associated with system alternatives when compared to the existing conditions. This indicates that implementation of either of these alternatives would improve the ecosystem productivity for this portion of the Kissimmee River with the restored alternative also providing some flood protection.