Outstanding Florida Waters

<DIV STYLE="text-align:Left;"><DIV><DIV><P><SPAN>Outstanding Florida Waters, (OFW), are waters designated worthy of special protection because of their natural attributes. This special designation is applied to certain waters (including adjacent wetlands) and is intended to protect and maintain existing acceptable water quality. The OFW layer is a GIS spatial dataset that represents the OFW boundaries throughout the State of Florida as described in Rule 62-302.700, F.A.C. This layer includes all three types of OFWs: Aquatic Preserve OFWs, Special Water OFWs, and Other managed area OFWs. This layer is maintained by the FDEP Water Quality Standards Program (WQSP) and boundary refinements are made on an as needed basis based on supplemental information provided by Department staff and other external state agencies that oversee managed areas designated as OFWs. There are three aquatic preserves whose OFW boundaries differ from the aquatic preserve boundary. These are described more specifically in the OFW Rule 62-302.700: Indian River Malabar to Vero expansion - does not include portions of Sebastian and Turkey Creeks; Wekiva River - does not include portions of the St. Johns River; and Big Bend - the OFW rule specifies certain "incorporated and unincorporated areas that are excluded."</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV>