North/South Everglades and NEEPP Boundaries

The boundary for the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program (NEEPP) is defined as the combined area for the Lake Okeechobee, Caloosahatchee River, and St. Lucie River watersheds. These boundaries were defined over time from varying versions of the the SFWMD ArcHydo-Enhanced-Dataset (AHED) and other supplemental data.The boundaries for the Lake Okeechobee Watershed are primarily based on the 2013 and 2024 (at the CRW boundary that was matched to AHED boundaries) linework for the SFWMD ArcHydo-Enhanced-Dataset (AHED), the official repository for watershed boundaries. Polygon boundary of the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program (NEEPP), as of July 2014. This dataset provides a common reference for linework and polygon areas associated with the Northern Everglades, Southern Everglades, and the protection plans for the Lake Okeechobee (LOPP), Caloosahatchee River Watershed (CRWPP), and St. Lucie River Watershed (SLRWPP). Boundaries are derived primarily from the current (July 2012) AHED linework. The Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program was mandated in 2007 by the Florida Legislature. The 2012 Florida Statutes, section 373.4595 -- Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program -- defines the Northern Everglades as "the Lake Okeechobee watershed, the Caloosahatchee River watershed, and the St. Lucie River watershed", and finds that "the Lake Okeechobee watershed, the Caloosahatchee River watershed, and the St. Lucie River watershed are critical water resources of the state, providing many economic, natural habitat, and biodiversity functions benefiting the public interest, including agricultural, public, and environmental water supply; flood control; fishing; navigation and recreation; and habitat to endangered and threatened species and other flora and fauna." The protection plans (PP) are revised every three years. The Lake Okeechobee Watershed includes four major tributary systems: Kissimmee River, Lake Istokpoga–Indian Prairie/Harney Pond, Fisheating Creek, and Taylor Creek/Nubbin Slough, as well as other drainage networks around east, west, and south of the Lake. These tributary systems and drainage networks are generally bound by the drainage divides of the major water bodies and are further divisible into 69 drainage basins and grouped by nine sub-watersheds based on hydrology and geography.The data set represents the external boundaries of the Lake Okeechobee Watershed, the 9 sub-watersheds which comprise the LOW, and the 69 Basins which comprise the sub-watersheds as per the 2014 LOWPP Update and the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program. The basis for the boundaries was the technical work associated with the “Draft – Technical Support Document: Lake Okeechobee Watershed Performance Measure Methodologies” Lake Okeechobee” document dated February 2013 developed for revisions to the 40E-61 Works of the District Program, with minor modifications.The boundaries for the St. Lucie River Watershed are based on the current linework for the SFWMD ArcHydo-Enhanced-Dataset (AHED), the official repository for watershed boundaries.The St. Lucie River Watershed has the following subwatersheds: C-25, C-24, C-23, C-44 (that includes S-153 and Basin 8), St. Lucie North Fork, Basin 4, 5, and 6, North Mid-Estuary, South Mid-Estuary, South Coastal, South Fork.The boundaries for the Caloosahatchee River watershed and associated subwatersheds, were used for the 2012 Caloosahatchee River Watershed Protection Plan (CRWPP) and based on the 2024 linework for the SFWMD ArcHydo-Enhanced-Dataset (AHED). These boundaries provide a common reference for linework and polygon areas associated with the Caloosahatchee River Watershed (CRWPP). These are the "official" boundary for the 2011/12 version of the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Plan (NEEPP), and may also be referred to as 2011 WPP or WPP11. The Caloosahatchee River Watershed has five subwatersheds: S4, East Caloosahatchee, West Caloosahatchee, Tidal, Coastal.The fields to describe the various boundaries are set as:SUBUNIT = depicts the subunits only within the Caloosahatchee River WatershedUNIT = depicts the units only within the Caloosahatchee River WatershedSUBREGION = depicts the subregions only within the Caloosahatchee River WatershedREGION = depicts the regions only within the Caloosahatchee River WatershedDRAINAGE_BASIN = depicts the basins within Lake Okeechobee Watershed and St. Lucie River WatershedRIVERS_SUBWTRSH = depicts the subwatershed boundaries within Caloosahtahcee and St. Lucie River Watersheds onlyRIVERS_WTRSH= depicts the watershed boundaries within Caloosahtahcee and St. Lucie River Watersheds onlyLO_SUBWTRSH = depicts the subwatershed boundaries within Lake Okeechobee Watershed onlyLO_WTRSH = depicts the watershed boundary for the Lake Okeechobee Watershed onlyBOUNDARY = depicts the watershed boundaries, the Northern and Southern boundaries, the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Proetction Plan NEEPP boundary, the lake boundary, and the overlap between the Northern and Southern Everglades.To read more about go to: https://floridadep.gov/eco-pro/eco-pro/content/northern-everglades-and-estuaries-protection-program-neepp