reedy creek improvement district

REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Reedy Creek Improvement District
The History of Florida’s One of a Kind
Improvement District
It’s Diverse Environment, and Services Provided
by RCID’s Environmental Sciences Laboratory
Betsy Kent
Quality Assurance Specialist
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
The Reedy Creek
Improvement District
The District encompasses
approximately 40 square
miles.
RCID has built and
maintained134 miles of
roadways and 67 miles of
waterways.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
History
The Reedy Creek
Improvement District was
created on May 12, 1967.
That was the day Florida
Governor Claude Kirk
signed legislation creating
a special taxing district to
govern a 25,000-acre area
of Central Florida that
locals considered remote
and uninhabitable.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
The desire to grow,
experiment and innovate
without encumbering
neighboring residents and
businesses, inspired Walt
Disney to purchase 25,000
acres of remote property
that sat in Orange County
(approximately 18,800
acres) and Osceola County
(6,200 acres).
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
It took a real visionary to see a
future for the project, if for no
other reason than basic
necessities – power and water –
were nowhere to be found. The
nearest high-voltage power line
was more than 15 miles away.
There wasn’t even a discussion
about a water line since neither
Orange nor Osceola counties
had the capacity to supply the
water needed.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
The question everyone asked was:
Where are they going to get power
and water …and who is going to
pay for it?
????????
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
The legislature came up with some
innovative solutions and RCID was
born. The District was given
authority and responsibilities to
provide government services such as
land use regulation and planning,
building codes, surface water control,
drainage, waste treatment, utilities,
roads, bridges, fire protection,
emergency medical services and
environmental services.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
All of the necessary basic services were in
place when the Magic Kingdom opened on
Oct. 1, 1971
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
RCID Systems & Services
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Water Supply
Electric Generation
Fire Protection
Emergency Services
Environmental Sciences
Wastewater
Solid Waste
Chilled Water
Hot Water
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Water Supply
The water supply for RCID comes from the
Upper Floridan Aquifer. The water is of
consistently high quality; therefore, no
treatment other than chlorination is required.
RCID’s water system processed an average of
16.8 MGD for public use in 2013. An additional
5.7 MGD of reclaimed water was used for
irrigation and non-potable uses.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Electric Generation
The District operates and
maintains an electrical
generation, transmission and
distribution system. The system
includes a state-of-the-art
cogeneration facility currently
aggregating 55,000 kW of net
capability. RCID purchases the
remainder of its needs from
other utilities.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Energy Garden
Harvest Power’s Energy Garden was unveiled
in February 2014. The facility began by
collecting food waste from Walt Disney World’s
table-service restaurants and has quickly
drawn additional customers in central Florida.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Fire Protection
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Emergency Services
Reedy Creek Fire
Department’s emergency
response team is anchored by a
communications center that
dispatches help to a caller on
Disney property within 45
seconds of the incoming call.
That call-to-dispatch efficiency
is enhanced with high-tech
equipment that targets the
location of the 911 caller.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Environmental Sciences
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Agency Interaction
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Lake County
Orange County
Osceola County
Polk County
FL. Dept. Env. Protection
FL. Dept. of Health
FL. Dept. of Transportation
Water Management Districts
US EPA
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Purpose and Goals:
• Water Quality Monitoring
• Pollution Control
• Data Assessment
• Environmental Planning
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Permit/Compliance
Monitoring
•1,650 Sample Sites Monitored
•12,700 Samples /Year
•90,450 Analyses/Year
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Major Pollutant Activities:
Sediment From
Construction
Stormwater Runoff
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Impacts & Options
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Impacts & Options
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Sample
Locations
•Outside Drainage
•Final Discharge
•Development Areas
•Natural Areas
Major Drainage Basins:
• Reedy Creek
• Bonnet Creek
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Field Operations Department
•Observe and Document Site Conditions
•Measure Field Parameters
•Collect Environmental Samples
•Operate 4x4 Vehicles, boats, pumps, computers
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Chemistry Department
• Organic chemistry:
VOC’s, SOC’, & Pesticides
• Metals: Trace & Minerals
• General Chemistry
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Microbiology Department
• Bacteriological Analysis
• Surface water
• Drinking water
• Effluent
• Marine water
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Pollution Control Department
• Investigate pollution sources
• Compliance with Federal &
State water quality rules
• Develops special water quality
& aesthetic improvement
projects
• Education
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Aquatic Biology/Watershed Management
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Monitor Watershed Conditions
Assess Trends
Interpret Environmental Changes
Fisheries Management
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Macroinvertebrate Biology
• Biological Diversity
Monitoring
• Indicator organisms:
• macroinvertebrates
• Permits
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Quality Assurance Department
•Standards and Procedures
•Certification
•Audits & Assessments
•Precision & Accuracy
•Reporting
•Document Control
•LIMS Data Base
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Solid Waste
The solid waste system consists of a fleet of vehicles for the
collection and transfer of recyclables and solid waste, a solid
waste transfer station, and a recyclable collections facility. The
highly successful recycling system processes over 24,000 tons
annually of aluminum, paper, steel cans, food waste,
cardboard, and plastic containers each year. The District has
been a pioneer in the use of sustainable technology to reduce
the amount of waste requiring landfill disposal. Its programs
extend beyond traditional paper, steel and aluminum recycling
to include innovative programs such as food waste collection
and concrete debris recycling. District policies emphasize the
importance of efficient and environmentally sound waste
collection and disposal.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Chilled Water
The chilled water system provides chilled
water for air conditioning through portions of
the District. Chilled water is generated
utilizing 22 centrifugal chillers and one
absorption chiller located at three facilities.
The District has a five million gallon chilled
water thermal storage facility.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Hot Water
The hot water system provides hot water for
heating and food preparation purposes
through portions of the District. The heat
generated by the electrical cogeneration
plant is used to heat the water for a portion
of the system, and the remainder is heated
by three gas-fired hot water generators.
REEDY CREEK IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Questions?
Betsy Kent
Quality Assurance Specialist
RCID Environmental Sciences
Bkent@rcid.org