Project Execution Branch

Upper East Coast and Kissimmee / Lake Okeechobee Section

Kissimmee River Restoration

Historically the Kissimmee River meandered approximately 103 miles from Lake Kissimmee to Lake Okeechobee through a 1-2 mile wide floodplain. The river and its flanking floodplain consisted of a mosaic of wetland plant communities and supported a diverse group of waterfowl, wading birds, fish, and other wildlife. The historic Kissimmee River was hydrologically unique among North American river systems in that it had prolonged periods of extended floodplain inundation.

Between 1962 and 1971, the river was channelized and two-thirds of the historical floodplain was drained. Excavation of the canal and placement of the spoil material destroyed one-third of the river channel. Implementation of the Kissimmee Flood Control project led to drastic declines in wintering waterfowl, wading bird and game fish populations, and the loss of ecosystem functions.

The project area covers 3,000 square miles, stretching from the southern Orlando area south to Lake Okeechobee. Restoration is divided into the Upper Basin (referred to as the Kissimmee Headwaters Revitalization Project) and the Lower Basin (referred to as the Kissimmee Restoration Project). The river’s upper basin includes the Upper Chain of Lakes and extends south through Lake Kissimmee to State Road 60. The lower basin includes the area from Lake Kissimmee to Lake Okeechobee.

In the upper basin, restoration efforts consists of improvements to two canals, changes in managing water levels in Lakes Kissimmee, Hatchineha, and Cypress, as well as the acquisition of land. In the river’s lower basin, engineers will fill approximately 22 miles of the C-38 Canal, excavate nearly nine miles of river channel, and remove S-65B and S-65C water control structures and locks.

These actions will provide a more natural fluctuation of water levels in both the upper and lower basins that will enhance marshes around the lakes and re-establish the river’s hydrology. Fish and wildlife habitat in the river’s one-to-two-mile-wide floodplain will benefit substantially from this.

Project Purpose

The KRR project is intended to restore over 40 square miles of river and floodplain ecosystem including 43 miles of meandering river channel and 27,000 acres of wetlands. Restoration efforts will re-establish an environment conducive to the fauna and flora that existed there prior to the channeling efforts in the 1960s. The following are the Corps's goals and objectives to restore the ecological integrity of the damaged ecosystem:

• re-establish historic hydrologic conditions
• recreate the historical river/floodplain connectivity
• recreate the historic mosaic of wetland plant communities
• restore the historic biological diversity and functionality

Presentations

• C-37 Canal Widening Public Meeting (November 19, 2009)

Accomplished to Date

• All lands needed to complete Kissimmee River Restoration have been acquired—a total of 102,061 acres.
• Phase I construction was completed in 2001, and continuous water flow has been reestablished in the project area.
• When restoration is complete in 2011, more than 40 square miles of river-floodplain ecosystem will be restored including almost 20,000 acres of wetlands and 46 miles of historic river channel.
• Ten of twenty two miles of canal backfilling has been completed.
• The following projects were recently completed:

  February 2008 Radio Tower October 2007 S-65DX2 Modifications Reach 4 Backfilling July 2007 S-83/84 Spillway Additions

Point of Contact

Tiphanie C. Jinks, Project Manager
Phone: (904) 232-1548