De-Channelizing the Kissimmee River: Adaptive Learning on Multiple Scales

The Kissimmee is a low gradient, meandering river that was channelized for flood control in the 1960s.  Channelization caused extensive environmental impacts to the river and floodplain ecosystem.  Efforts began in the 1970s to undo the damage, but it was not until rigorous Adaptive Management (AM) was employed in the late 1980s that true restoration progress began to be achieved.  By the early 1990s, a restoration plan was adopted and is being successfully implemented.

This presentation will describe the AM strategies employed and highlight the different scales to which they were applied.  This project included all six steps of the AM cyclical process.  Focus will be given to large and small scale field experiments aimed at resolving biological and engineering uncertainties.  Also, this presentation will describe challenges faced by the concept of ecosystem restoration in the 1980s and how rigorous AM was important to overcoming the primary obstacles related to uncertainty.

The application of AM was critical in forming agreement among agencies and other stakeholders on the plan of action for Kissimmee River Restoration.  It was also foundational in securing authorization of the restoration project and its funding of approximately $500M.  The project is nearing completion and long-term monitoring is validating the success predicted by the AM work conducted over two decades ago.