End-to-end development and deployment of the new tool within 10 months
New interactive, user-friendly interface for both scientists and administrators
Expanded access to hydroperiod data for advanced inundation modeling and environmental monitoring
Data processing times reduced from hours to minutes
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and Google Public Sector developed a tool using Google Earth Engine and Google AI solutions to quantify Kissimmee River floodplain restoration benefits. This tool measures hydroperiod across 40 square miles of wetlands, improving restoration effectiveness understanding and rapid, interactive evaluation.
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and Google Public Sector developed a tool using Google Earth Engine and Google AI solutions to quantify Kissimmee River floodplain restoration benefits. This tool measures hydroperiod across 40 square miles of wetlands, improving restoration effectiveness understanding and rapid, interactive evaluation.
Comprehensive effort is underway to protect and restore the Everglades
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is a regional public agency overseeing natural water resources for more than nine million residents across 16 Florida counties, from Orlando to the Florida Keys. At the heart of SFWMD’s mission is a complex balancing act: actively managing water levels among the region’s lakes and canals to prevent seasonal floods or shortages, while restoring the natural balance of the Everglade ecosystem. This includes monitoring and maintaining native vegetation and wildlife along adjacent floodplains of the Kissimmee River, where flood control measures in the 1960s had unintentionally decimated the area’s native vegetation and wildlife populations.
For SFWMD’s team of resident scientists, maintaining the Kissimmee wetlands requires precise measurement of seasonal hydroperiods—the timing, duration, and depths of water coverage along 40 square miles of the river’s adjacent floodplains. The advanced data they receive signals adjustments needed to compensate for heavy rainfall or extended dry periods, while more closely emulating the river’s original natural flow, in turn improving the habitat for native wetland flora and fauna.
SFWMD sought to automate existing methods of monitoring hydroperiods, which requires advanced analytics and data modeling to better depict how overbank flooding affects the Kissimmee Floodplain’s delicate ecological balance.
As we’ve looked at the available technology over the last 5-7 years, we’ve learned that we need to rely more on AI and machine learning. Google Earth Engine brings some prepared tools, coupled with our existing data, so that we can gain new insights.
Akin Owosina
Chief Information Officer, South Florida Water Management District
The Kissimmee River, with the Upper Chain of Lakes, forms the headwaters of the Everglades. The formerly channeled Kissimmee River was restored to a meandering river, making it one of the largest successful restoration projects in history.
Co-creating an enhanced measurement tool, powered by AI
Thanks to extensive collaboration between the agency’s scientists and engineers and Google Cloud, SFWMD now benefits from a new, expanded hydroperiod measurement tool. Leveraging Google Earth Engine, scientists and agency personnel alike access an interactive, user-friendly interface for advanced hydroperiod monitoring across the Kissimmee region.
Previously, when explaining results from our original hydroperiod tools, I needed to begin every discussion with a whole process of describing functionalities and technical details, especially in meeting presentations. But now, Google Earth Engine makes it much easier to visually present our findings in a concise, interactive format.
Lawrence Spencer
Senior Scientist, The South Florida Water Management District
Combined with automated data processing through other Google Cloud services including Vertex AI, Cloud Run and BigQuery, the Kissimmee River Floodplain Hydroperiod Calculator accelerates overnight water depth rasters and other day-to-day comparative analysis. Results which had previously taken hours, are now tabulated within a minute. The new tool, powered by Google AI, is "phenomenally better than what we had before” says SFWMD CIO, Akin Owosina.
End-to-end development of the SFWMD hydroperiod tool, from initial concepts through full deployment, was completed within an impressive 10-month timeframe. Inputs were balanced across the agency’s science and IT teams—what SFWMD Senior Scientist Lawrence Spencer describes as “a great collaboration.”
SFWMD was also grateful for numerous key contributions among the Google Public Sector team, including coaching SFWMD scientists with refining vast volumes of programming code, utilizing Google’s own groundbreaking AI model, Gemini, to achieve timely outputs.
After promising early results from the new hydroperiod tool, the SFWMD is already eager to explore further development, such as enhancing its graphical interface. The agency also envisions expanding this advanced monitoring technology into other South Florida water resources.
The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) is a regional governmental district that oversees water resources from Orlando to the Florida Keys. The mission of the SFWMD is to manage and protect water resources by balancing and improving water quality, flood control, natural systems, and water supply, covering 16 counties in Central and Southern Florida.
Industry: Government and Public Sector
Location: United States
Products: Google Earth Engine, Vertex AI, Cloud Run, BigQuery, Gemini