Board adopts 2021 Minimum Flows and Levels priority list and schedule

Annually updated list protects water bodies from harm

Fernandina Beach, Fla., Oct. 12, 2021 — The St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board today adopted the 2021 Minimum Flows and Levels (MFL) priority list, which lays out the agency’s plan for completing and re-evaluating MFLs through 2024.

Establishing minimum flows and levels (MFLs) is an important goal in the District’s work of planning for adequate water supplies for today and for future generations while also protecting the District’s water resources. The District sets MFLs for lakes, streams, rivers, wetlands and springs, updating the list annually.

MFLs define the limits at which further water withdrawals would be significantly harmful to the water resources or ecology of an area. Establishing MFLs is a requirement of the state Legislature and is required by the state Comprehensive Plan, the water resources implementation rule (formerly state water policy), and a 1996 governor’s executive order for priority water bodies.

The District has established MFLs on 132 water bodies (105 lakes, 14 springs, 6 rivers, and 7 wetlands). A total of 32 MFLs have been re-evaluated.

The Notice of Proposed Rule for Lakes Brooklyn and Geneva, Clay and Bradford counties, were approved by the District’s Governing Board on April 13, 2021 and became effective on September 28, 2021.

View the 2021 Minimum Flows and Levels priority list and schedule here.

Read an in-depth article about the District’s MFL program in our online magazine, StreamLines.