Culpepper Ranch Project

​​​​​​The health and functioning of our natural systems are an integral part of our overall resilience as a community. Our waterways such as rivers, lakes, and wetlands play a critical role in how rainfall interacts with the landscape. They act as storm buffers, aiding in water storage and aquifer recharge and contribute to overall water quality in the watershed.

Unfortunately, we have significantly altered our natural water systems throughout the past, thus impacting their ability to thrive and function. Such alterations, combined with a changing climate and increasing sea levels, seriously threatens their functioning and the existence of these natural systems.

Restorative efforts to rebuild and regain functioning of our native Florida ecosystems will be a crucial piece of the interconnected mosaic of planning for a more resilient community moving forward.  

An example of one of these vital efforts is been taking place in Western Martin County. Culpepper Ranch is a 1,294-acre property part of a 20,000 plus acre network of conservation lands known as Hungryland/Pal Mar.

Together these properties form the headwaters of Cypress Creek, which is one of the most important tributaries to the Wild and Scenic Northwest Fork of the Loxahatchee River.

Due to over-drainage, channelization and consumptive water uses, there is a lack of  freshwater available for the Loxahatchee River during the dry season. This lack of freshwater allows for saltwater intrusion during the dry season, ultimately killing the freshwater floodplain swamps of the Loxahatchee River. 

Due to this saltwater intrusion, several miles of the Loxahatchee freshwater floodplain swamps have already disappeared.  Restoration of the Loxahatchee River involves capturing more freshwater in the wet season, so in return, it is available for the river in the dry season.

Restoration of the Culpepper Ranch property is essential to those restoration efforts because all of the water from Hungryland/Pal Mar flows through the Culpepper Ranch property.  

Martin County efforts to restore Culpepper Ranch are not complete; currently the County is retrofitting a control structure on two 84’ culverts with screw gates. These new gates will be operable to be raised and lowered to optimize water levels on the property throughout the year.

The control structure is set at higher elevations, during the rainy season to hold more water in the watershed. During the dry season, the screw gates will be lowered, which will allow for more flow into Cypress Creek and the Loxahatchee River. 

Martin County will also improve about a mile of the berm along the eastern property line, providing flood protection for adjacent neighbors. In essence, the project will enhance hydrologic function in the region while balancing the needs of providing dry season flows to the Loxahatchee River and maintaining flood protection for nearby private landowners.