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4
P R O C E E D I N G S
- - -
Thereupon,
Wossenu Abtew, Ph.D.,
being by the undersigned Notary Public first duly
sworn, was examined and testified as follows:
THE WITNESS: I do.
DIRECT (Wossenu Abtew, Ph.D.)
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Sir, could you please state your name, full
name for the record?
A. Wossenu Abtew.
MR. KOBELINSKI: Can I just intervene for
one moment to make a quick statement?
There was a discussion of counsel prior to
going on the record, and for the sake of
expediency, counsel for the petitioners,
Mr. Perko, Sugar Cane Co-op will be doing the
initial questioning for expediency and I will be
following up with whatever additional questions
I have.
Thank you.
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Dr. Abtew, my name is Gary Perko. I'm an
attorney with the law firm of Hopping, Boyd, Green &
5
Sams. We represent the Sugar Cane Cooperative of
Florida and two of its members, Wedgworth Farms, Inc.
and Roth Farms, Inc., in the administrative
proceedings involving the Everglades land.
Have you ever been deposed before, sir?
A. No, this is my first time.
Q. Basically what's going to happen here today
is I'm going to ask you a series of questions. If
you don't understand my questions, which is a
distinct possibility, please ask me to rephrase them.
A. Okay.
Q. And if you don't know the answer to the
question, just tell me. I don't want you to guess or
anything. I'm not trying to trick you.
And with that -- and if you ever need a
break, please let me know, a cup of coffee or
anything.
A. Okay.
MR. PERKO: Dr. Abtew, I'm going to show
you what I'll ask the court reporter to mark as
Exhibit Number 1.
(The document was marked
Abtew Exb. No. 1.)
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Dr. Abtew, could you review that document
6
and tell me if you recognize it?
A. Yes, this is my resume.
Q. Is that a current copy of your resume?
A. Yes, this is a current copy.
Q. Are you aware of any changes that you might
make to update it since it was originally drafted?
A. No.
Q. Okay. I'm going to ask you first a couple
of questions about your educational background.
I see here that you received a Bachelor of
Science degree in agricultural engineering from
Haille Sellassie University in Ethiopia in 1973.
A. Uh huh.
Q. Did you specialize in any particular area
of agricultural engineering at that time?
A. Well, general program.
Q. Okay. And from 1973 through '79 you worked
with the Department of Land and Agriculture of
Ethiopia; is that correct?
A. Uh huh.
Q. What were your duties at that time?
A. Well, I had different positions, starting
with Agricultural Extension Supervisor and Soil and
Water Conservation Engineer.
Q. Let's start with the position Agricultural
7
Extension Supervisor.
A. Uh huh.
Q. What were your duties in that position?
A. I was a supervising an agricultural
program. We introduced fertilizers and new tools and
new agricultural practices to small farmers.
Q. What were your duties in that capacity?
A. I was responsible for a certain region,
which is about -- it's a certain region. I have
various, about five, six stations, and we have
extension agents in those stations, the agricultural
program throughout the region. Supervisor extension
agent basically.
Q. What kind of agriculture was going on at
that time?
A. Most of it was small scale ownership with
ox and plow, not mechanized, but we had mechanized ag
in my region.
Q. What kinds of crops?
A. Most of the crops were sorghum, corn. You
know, the region grows sorghum.
Q. Your next position was Soil and Water
Conservation Engineer; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. What were your duties in that capacity?
8
A. Well, it's the same thing. Supervise
different government work such as soil conservation,
building of terraces to conserve soil, protect soil
from erosion, and in some cases we were to supervise
rural road construction.
And in one instance I had to supervise
building of dikes or earth dams to collect runoff
water.
Q. When you say supervised, does that mean you
had general oversight of the project to make sure
that everything was going as scheduled?
A. Well, I had to, a lot of people working
under me and followed up that things are done under
specification and the program scheduled, so both
technical and administrative supervision of the
programs.
Q. What do you mean by technical supervision
generally?
A. Make sure that it is being built as it is
designed.
Q. Okay. Then your next position was Officer
in charge of Agricultural Research Center; is that
correct?
A. Well, that was what my extension was. We
had one research station and I had to supervise that
9
on the side.
It was such that we had a variety of crop
variety selection, select the best type of, variety
of crops for the area. Basically that was the main
research.
And there was some fertilizer application
rights, so it was a station in the area where I was
supervising, and I had the second responsibility of
following up that program with the administrative,
check it that it was going as designed.
Q. Was any of the research designed to analyze
agricultural runoff?
A. No. We don't have, there was no problem at
that time. At least there is no chemical application
at all.
In fact, there is very limited pesticide or
fertilizer application. We are trying to introduce
that into the area, so that there was not any runoff
problem or anything such as that at the time.
Q. And you left the Department of Land and
Agriculture in Ethiopia in 1979; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Where did you go after that?
A. Well, I left the country and moved around
for about six months until I get to the Sudan, where
10
I became a refugee, political asylum, and stayed
there for one year, September of 1982 from '81, and I
came to the United States September '82 on political
asylum was my status.
And since then, the rest, if you want to
know --
Q. What was your first job in the United
States?
A. My first job was in the store. I came
without any papers and I finished college. I worked
in the area, I worked in stores first as cashiers and
as managers.
In the meantime, I took preparations to go
to graduate school. It took three years and some
months.
Q. I see here that you were a research
associate at the University of Florida?
A. Yes.
Q. When did you begin in that capacity?
A. In 1989, October to 1990, October. I came
in 1990, October, to the District.
Q. What was the focus of your research at the
University of Florida?
A. University of Florida was doing research
from contract from South Florida Water Management
11
District on the problem of phosphorus movement from
the dairies to Lake Okeechobee. That was a problem.
The name of the project is cited there in my resume.
That's how it is exactly worded.
Q. Biochemical behavior?
A. Biogeochemical behavior of phosphorus
movement.
Q. You are referring to Biogeochemical
Behavior and Transport of Phosphorus in Lake
Okeechobee Basin, page 2?
A. Yes, that was the project I worked on.
Q. What was the purpose of that research?
A. Well, the purpose of the research, to my
understanding, was to quantify how much phosphorus
was moving from the dairy sites to the streams and to
the lake, and at the same time evaluate the new
control programs, which was the detention of dairy
waste water and then spraying it on agricultural
land.
So most of the time I collected data from
the detention ponds and from the agricultural field
which the waste water was spread on and evaluated how
that system is working in cutting down the phosphorus
levels that lifts from the dairy farms. And I have a
cite there which you see.
12
Q. Your resume indicates that your work at the
University of Florida included modeling of water and
nutrient movement in sandy, high water table soils.
A. Yes.
Q. Could you explain that briefly?
A. Well, this is part of the contract work and
I was part of the whole program, so I was a director
related to developing the model.
Q. You were not directly --
A. The model was under somebody's
responsibility, but supplying the data and helping in
analysis of the data, because the same data, we have
the water quality of the spread water and we have the
drainage water quality, and someone does the actual
modeling of how it is removed from the soil, but the
collection and part of the analysis and part and
discussions, I had some contribution to the work.
Q. Was your contribution limited mainly to
review of the data?
A. Analysis of the data, collection of the
data, data collection, design and participation in
discussions of how the model could be developed,
although someone else is doing the modeling work
itself.
Q. Your resume indicates that you left the
13
University of Florida in 1990; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Where did you go after that?
A. Came to the District, South Florida Water
Management District.
Q. I'm sorry, I need to back up a little bit.
You did your graduate studies at the Texas
Tech University in Lubbock; is that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. Beginning in 1985?
A. Yes, beginning in 1985.
Q. What was the focus of your studies at Texas
Tech?
A. My first study was agricultural engineering
program, and I got Master's in agricultural
engineering.
Q. Was there any particular aspect of
agricultural engineering that you specialized in?
A. The area was soil and water.
Q. And what did your research and other
studies, how did it involve soil and water?
A. Well, with the soil part, the area, Lubbock
area has high winds and wind erosion problem, so
because of that, the region's interest, I had to do
wind erosion problem, which became the soil problem.
14
And later on my Ph.D. I studied civil
engineering and agricultural engineering and did the
research in both disciplines, which was sizing
storage capacity for municipal waste water.
The title, the specific title is in the
resume, if you want.
Q. Is that the title of your Ph.D.
dissertation on page 1?
A. Yes, page 1.
Q. Methodology for the Sizing of Storage
Requirements of Slowrate Land Treatment Systems Using
Various Management Options?
A. That's right.
Q. Okay. What is meant here by slowrate land
treatment systems?
A. This is a system where you apply municipal
waste water on agricultural land to grow crop and
take out the nutrients out of the waste water.
So the system operates that way.
Q. Essentially using municipal waste water for
irrigation purposes?
A. Yes, and for the purpose of removing the
nutrient out of the waste water.
Q. What is meant by sizing of storage
requirements?
15
A. Well, you have to do water by land and come
up with a chemical size of storage. When it is
raining you cannot -- you have to store it.
And it needs some figuring out how to size
the chemical size of reservoir for the rest of the
water that you can't apply when it is raining or when
the crop is not needing the water.
Q. So you are sizing the reservoir?
A. Well, the storage ponds, very large storage
ponds.
Q. Did any of your work at Texas Tech involve
wetland treatment systems?
A. No, there is no wetlands. It is a dry
area, so we don't have wetlands.
Q. Okay. Did your graduate research involve
the study of water chemistry?
A. Yes, I did a study of water chemistry,
analysis of pollutants in water. I did a lot of
work, and yes, I did study.
Q. Did you have any course work in water
chemistry?
A. Pollution. It is not called water
chemistry, but I did water chemistry, laboratory
analysis of all the pollutant components.
Q. I'm going to go back -- or forward, rather,
16
to where we were previously.
After you left the University of Florida,
you took a job with the South Florida Water
Management District; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. When did you begin your employment at the
District?
A. In 1990, October 18.
Q. And what was your first position at the
District?
A. My first position, Water Resource Engineer,
and later it was changed to Civil Engineer. The name
of the position was changed to Civil Engineer. I
stayed for eight months on that position.
Q. Now is this a title change?
A. Yes, it was a title change, but it's the
same.
Q. What were your duties in that capacity?
A. Well, I was in Water Resources Division,
where basically water resource problems were handled.
And during the first year of my work I
wrote a storm report for the January 1991 storm over
South Florida, which most of was in the ag area.
Q. What was the purpose of that report?
A. That report was to analyze and document the
17
storm event, document the amount of rainfall over the
area and the flows that were passing through the area
and the flood factor on the area.
Q. What do you mean by the area?
A. Well, the area which was affected by that,
by the storm of January 1991. Most of it was EAA,
and the map of the affected area is shown in the
report, but certain of the ag area was part of that
storm event.
Q. The title of that report is Storm Event of
January 15-17, 1991; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And that was prepared in March of 1991?
A. Yes, that's right.
Q. Let me ask you in your position as Water
Resources Engineer/Civil Engineer, who was your
supervisor at that time?
A. First it was -- he has left the District --
Monina Medardo, Dr. Medardo, Monina.
MS. BIRCH: Medar?
THE WITNESS: Medardo, M-e-d-a-r-d-o,
M-o-n-i-n-a. I'm not certain about the
spelling, but that's his name. And later it was
Shawn Sculley.
18
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Is Mr. Sculley -- or is it Dr. Sculley?
A. Mr.
Q. Is he still at the District?
A. No, he is not.
Q. Do you know where he is currently employed?
A. With certain engineering concern here in
West Palm Beach. I don't know what.
Q. What positions did Mr. Sculley hold when he
was your supervisor, do you recall?
A. Yes, division director.
Q. What were some of your other duties as the
Water Resources Engineer/Civil Engineer? You
mentioned the storm report.
A. Yes, I wrote An Atlas of the Lower
Kissimmee River and Lake Istokpoga Surface Water
Management Basins.
Q. Let me ask you just generally, did your
work involve the entire area of the District or did
you specialize in any particular geographical area?
A. No. When I started, not, but I was
assigned most of the lake and later south of the
lake.
Q. So your supervisor would assign you
projects?
19
A. Yes, that's right.
Q. Do you recall any other projects you worked
on at that time?
A. Well, at what time? Before I became senior
civil engineer?
Q. In your first position.
A. In my first position? These are the two
that I remember.
Q. Okay. How long did you hold that position?
A. Eight months.
Q. Beginning in October of 1990?
A. Yes, until June 30.
Q. What was your position beginning June 1991?
A. Senior Civil Engineer.
Q. Is that your current position?
A. Yes, that's my current position.
Q. And who have your supervisors been in that
capacity?
A. The first one is Shawn Sculley.
Q. Okay.
A. And later Jayantha Obeysekera.
Q. Is it Dr. Obeysekera?
A. Yes, Dr. Obeysekera.
Q. Is he the current division director for
water resources?
20
A. No, he is in another division right now,
since January '92, I guess.
Q. What division is that?
A. This is Everglades System Research
Division.
Q. Is Dr. Obeysekera the division director for
that division?
A. No, he is not.
Q. Who is division director?
A. Dr. Thomas Fontaine.
Q. So Dr. Obeysekera reports to Dr. Fontaine?
A. Yes.
Q. Is it correct that your work at this time
is focused in the Everglades system?
A. Yes. I started before coming to this
division, I worked on the water budget for the
Everglades Agricultural Area before coming to this
division.
Q. Was the EAA water budget your first project
as Senior Civil Engineer?
A. I have many pieces of things that I did
that I don't remember.
Q. Let me focus on the EAA water budget at
this time.
Who asked you to prepare that water budget?
21
A. Division, my supervisor.
Q. That was Mr. Sculley?
A. Yes, Mr. Sculley.
Q. Did he assist you in that project?
A. Yes.
Q. Anyone else assist you?
A. The co-auther of budget, Mr. Nagendra
Khanal.
MR. PERKO: Doctor, I'm going to show you
what I'll ask the court reporter to mark as
Exhibit Number 2.
(The document was marked
Abtew Exh. No. 2.)
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Do you recognize this document?
A. Yes.
Q. And it's entitled Water Budget Analysis For
The Everglades Agricultural Area (1979-1990),
correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you author this draft report?
A. Yes, I did.
Q. Along with Dr. Khanal?
A. Yes, Mr. Khanal.
Q. Mr. Khanal?
22
A. Yes.
Q. Does this indicate the results of the work
you did on the EAA water budget?
A. This is a draft of the work I did on the
EAA water budget.
Q. Have you finalized this report?
A. Not yet. It's being reviewed right now.
Q. Could you tell me, is it undergoing the
District's standard peer review processes?
A. Yes, it has gone through one peer review,
and I have to look at the peer reviews and come up
with the next draft, which probably will go for a
second peer review.
Q. Do you know who is on the peer review
committee?
A. Well, from the other book, you can tell who
reviewed from different departments.
Q. Those are the documents you just referred
to, all those have been produced?
A. Yes, those are the ones which have been
produced.
MR. PERKO: I'll show you another document
here that I'll ask the court reporter to mark as
Exhibit Number 3 entitled Water Budget Analysis
for the Everglades Agricultural Area, an Organic
23
Soil Drainage Basin, To Be Submitted To Water
Resources Bulletin.
(The document was marked
Abtew Exb. No. 3.)
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Do you recognize this document?
A. Yes, I wrote this with Mr. Khanal.
Q. Which did you prepare first, Exhibit Number
2 or Exhibit Number 3?
A. Number 2.
Q. Exhibit 3 --
A. The period is January '73 to '91.
Q. Let me direct your attention then to
Exhibit Number 2, since you prepared that one first.
Could you tell me what the purpose of this
report was or why you were asked to perform the
analysis reflected in this report?
A. I don't know the reason, but the water
resource documentation, that's what I think.
Q. What was your goal, what was the goal of
your analysis?
A. Well, the goal of the analysis, to my
understanding, is documentation of hydrologic data in
South Florida which is under the District
responsibilities.
24
Q. What aspects of hydrology of the EAA did
you examine?
A. Everything, rainfall, evapotranspiration
and the flows into the ag area, water flows, and
water flows out of the ag area.
Q. Did you address seepage in this analysis?
A. I think we have mentioned somewhere in the
document that we estimated the seepage into and out
of the ag area to be zero, because of lack of data
and considering the flatness of the region. And
using our engineering judgment, we estimated it as
zero for this report.
Q. Other than lack of data, what was the basis
for estimating that seepage was zero?
A. Judgment.
Q. Why in your judgment did you conclude that
seepage was zero?
A. Well, there is no significant gradient of
water that is clear moving in one direction, as from
outside to the ag area or from the ag area to the
surrounding area in high volume that would offset our
study.
So as long as there is no supporting data
to conclude that significant volume of water is
moving on ground floor in ag area or into ag area,
25
the best estimate was to put that to zero and
consider the bigger factors which affected the water
of the area.
Q. Maybe I got a little bit ahead of myself
here, but could you explain for me what is meant by
the term seepage?
A. The term seepage is water that passes
beneath the face of the ground and leaves into or out
of a region.
Underground movement of water, that might
explain it.
Q. And that movement could be either into the
EAA or out of the EAA?
A. Yes, or on different sides it could be a
different picture, but we balance that out, estimate
whichever is leaking out or leaking in from all
sides. It can be estimated that zero with the
information we have.
Q. Are you aware of any studies that have been
done to analyze seepage into and/or out of the EAA?
A. Not that I remember.
Q. Are you aware of any ongoing studies to
address seepage?
A. I don't know one.
Q. If such a study were being undertaken, who
26
would be the appropriate person at the District to
ask about whether such a study has been undertaken?
A. I don't know.
Q. Dr. Abtew, you mentioned that another
hydrologic aspect of the EPA that you addressed in
this report is evapotranspiration.
A. Uh huh.
Q. That's generally known as ET, correct?
A. Yes.
Q. From now on when I say ET, I'll mean
evapotranspiration.
A. Uh huh.
Q. Can you describe for me how you estimated
ET in your report, in your analysis?
A. Well, in our analysis what we did is
everything else is measured, and the balance
remaining is calculated as ET. That is reported in
the document. The inflow, flow out, rainfall is
measured, and the remaining part is calculated as ET.
That's reported in the document.
On the other side, what could it be
theoretically if there is, if that estimate or
computed value is close to the statistical, I did the
report and reported that on the side of the report.
So whoever is using it can choose or relate
27
what it means. So both are reported in the document.
Q. Am I understanding you correctly to say
that you essentially took two approaches to
estimating ET?
A. Two approaches, yes.
Q. One was what I'll term a water balance
approach?
A. Yes.
Q. Where you looked at flows into the system?
A. Yes, and out of the system.
Q. Through the canals, for example?
A. And rainfall.
Q. And flows out of the system through --
A. The canals.
Q. The canals. And the balance was estimated
to be ET; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. And the other approach was the theoretical
approach?
A. Theoretical approach.
Q. Could you explain in more detail what the
theoretical approach entailed?
A. Theoretical approach, you have measures
using temperature, relative humidity, sunshine hours
and wind speed data and pond evaporation data.
28
There is an FAO-24 method, which the method
is called FAO-24 --
Q. FAO --
A. 24.
Q. FAO-24?
A. Yes, Blaney-Criddle,
So I selected or I did the work on it
separately, which is a different document. You have
a copy, I think. It's a different document. And
hat document is cited in the water budget.
So ET was not estimated theoretically in
the water budget. That one is -- here.
Q. Let me make sure I understand correctly.
You estimated ET in connection with another paper?
A. Yes.
Q. And those results were incorporated into
this report?
A. That's right.
Q. Okay. Is the report you are referring to
entitled Evapotranspiration Estimation Method for
South Florida?
A. That's right.
Q. (The Everglades Agricultural Area), by
W. Abtew and S.P. Sculley; is that correct?
A. Yes.
29
Q. And that was a paper presented at the 51st
Annual Meeting of the Soil and Crop Science Society
of Florida?
A. Yes.
Q. Dr. Abtew, let me ask you to refer to your
report and show me where your discussion of the
theoretical method is, in Exhibit Number 2.
A. Show you?
Q. Yes. What page is that discussion?
A. It's on page 55. The title is Basin
Consumptive Use. It starts on page 55, but it
continues up to page 57, 55 to 57.
Q. This discusses the results of the
theoretical approach; is that correct?
A. The differences, results of the theoretical
approach.
Q. Dr. Abtew, let me refer you to page 25 and
page 26 where you discuss the evapotranspiration
model.
A. Yes. It's cited here, too.
Q. Is this a further explanation of the
theoretical approach to estimating ET?
A. Yes, this is also another place where it is
cited.
Q. Okay.
30
A. Page 26.
Q. Let me ask you a couple of background
questions on this.
On page 26 you list three equations,
equation numbers 45, 46 and 47.
A. Yes.
Q. The first equation, which is labeled number
45, states ET crop equals Kc times ET zero.
A. Sub zero.
Q. What is meant by ET crop?
A. That's the crop evapotranspiration.
Q. Okay. What does that represent?
A. That's evapotranspiration from a crop, what
the crop is. In that case it will be for that crop,
for that specific crop.
Q. So there is a different value for different
crops?
A. Yes. On page 27 I think that is shown,
different values for each type of crop and for each
month.
Q. What is meant by the term Kc?
A. That's control crop. That's called crop
coefficient.
Q. What does that represent?
A. That's the factor for each type of crop,
31
which is clearly shown on -- well, it's defined here
at the end as crop coefficient.
Q. That's explained in your previous study?
A. Yes, it's more clear in that document how
this thing is developed.
MS. BIRCH: How it is developed?
THE WITNESS: The details are in the other
document. If you want, I can go through and go
through the details.
MR. KOBELINSKI: Could I ask a quick
question that will save some confusion on my
part?
Is there a way to convert -- I guess this
is by inches to acre feet? Because some charts
on some studies are in acre feet and the other
ones are in inches.
Is there a way of converting it, or not
really?
THE WITNESS: There is a way. One inch
means one inch of water over an acre area, an
inch depth of water. One acre, there is 12
inches of water on one acre. So if you divide
the acre feet by 12, you get inch.
MR. KOBELINSKI: Thank you.
MR. PERKO: Dr. Abtew, I'm going to show
32
you another document here which I'll ask the
court reporter to mark as Exhibit Number 4.
(The document was marked
Abtew Exh. No. 4.)
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Do you recognize this document?
A. Yes, that is a document I wrote with
Mr. Sculley.
Q. Is this the document you referred to before
which describes the method of estimating
evapotranspiration?
A. Well, it is reported here in parallel with
the water budget.
Q. And this report explains how you derived
the crop coefficient or Kc --
A. Kp.
Kc is --
Q. I'm sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself
here.
A. It's crop dependent. How Kc is developed
is in this document on page 26.
Q. This document, you are referring to Exhibit
Number 2?
A. Exhibit Number 2, yes. How Kc is
developed, it is mentioned on page 26 on Exhibit
33
Number 2.
How Kp is developed, it is stated in
Exhibit Number 4.
Q. How Kp is developed is explained in Exhibit
Number 4?
A. Yes.
Q. I guess I'm a little bit confused here.
On page 26 of Exhibit Number 2 you indicate
that Kc equals the crop coefficient?
A. Yes.
Q. Could you explain for me how you derived
the crop coefficient or Kc?
A. It is stated here, it is derived using crop
growth information from the EAA, the state of the
crop at different times each month, and then there
are references in FAO-24 document for each stage of
crop. There are case estimates which are widely
used, and for the reference, it is cited here.
MR. PERKO: Why don't we take a break.
(Thereupon, a recess was taken.)
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Dr. Abtew, I'm going to ask you a couple
more questions about Kc or crop coefficient.
Are there any specific equations used to
get the Kc or did you use any equations to derive the
34
Kc values or did you simply obtain them from a table
in another reference?
A. I think it is clearly stated on Exhibit 2,
page 26.
Q. I'm still a little bit confused.
Did you use an equation to develop the Kc?
A. No, I didn't use any equation.
Q. How did you derive Kc?
A. Using information from that crop growing
part on the EAA and the crop coefficient estimates in
the FAO-24 document.
Q. Okay. Let me ask you about Kp, potential
evapotranspiration coefficient.
How did you derive Kp?
A. It's shown in Exhibit 4. It's a long
process. It is shown in Exhibit 4 how Kp is derived.
Q. Specifically are you referring to page nine
of Exhibit 4?
A. Page 27, the last values are shown on page
27.
Q. So page 27 --
A. Is the result.
Q. The result?
A. Yes.
Q. The actual numbers derived?
35
A. The whole document has to be read to see
how those coefficients were derived.
Q. Could I refer you to page 9 of Exhibit 4?
A. Okay.
Q. Is that the equation used to derive Kp?
A. That's right.
Q. Dr. Abtew, how do these parameters, Kc and
Kp, take into consideration such factors as growing
seasons, crop burning, water tables or crop
rotations?
Do they take into consideration those
factors?
A. No.
Q. Referring back to the equations set forth
on page 26 of Exhibit 2, equations 45, 46 and 47,
were these equations that were calibrated to actual
ET crop values?
A. There is no data to calibrate, actual data
to calibrate the values.
Q. Dr. Abtew, what was the result of the
theoretical approach explained in Exhibit Number 2?
A. The result, the evapotranspiration as
calculated by the theoretical approach was a little
higher than the water balance approach. It is in the
document.
36
Q. I just want to make sure I understand.
That's why I'm asking the questions.
So am I understanding correctly that the
water balance approach comparing inflows and outflows
to derive ET resulted in a lower number --
A. Lower number.
Q. -- than the theoretical approach?
A. Yes.
Q. Okay. Why do you think the theoretical
approach resulted in a higher number?
A. Well, it's mentioned in the document. The
theoretical approach might not be well suited for the
area or there could be other reasons which we don't
know.
Q. Which you don't know?
A. Which I don't know.
Q. Why might the theoretical approach not be
well suited for the area?
A. Because it is theoretical. You have to
estimate coefficients and theoretical methods to know
all the actual result.
Q. Is it your opinion that the water balance
approach to estimating ET is more accurate than the
theoretical approach?
A. I don't level it that way. That needs
37
further work to conclude one way or the other.
Q. Are you currently performing any additional
work to try to get an answer to that question?
A. Yes. I am studying evaporation study of
wetland plants and that might help calibrate
equations and see what actually is going up into the
air from the plant surface.
Q. I'll ask you some questions about that in a
little bit.
Let me refer you back to Exhibit Number 3.
Exhibit Number 3 is the later report which you
developed in connection with this study?
A. Yes.
Q. And you stated that you used a different
period of record; is that correct?
A. Yes.
Q. Why did you use a different period of
record?
A. Well, this time the study was extended to
cover longer period than the previous one.
Q. And what was the period of record it
covered?
A. This one is from '73 to '91. The previous
one was from '79 to '90. So this is longer, 18 years
or so and 11 years.
38
Q. And is it correct to say that you basically
used the same approach to estimating ET in this
report as you did in Exhibit 2?
A. Let me check. Well, I have to read the
document if I have used the same approach or just
reported here on page 16, I have reported the water
budget ET.
Q. And the discussion on page 16 referred to,
is that to the Consumptive Use section?
A. Uh huh.
Q. Dr. Abtew, let me ask you some questions
now about the work you are currently doing involving
wetland plants.
Could you explain to me what that project
involves?
A. It's part of the Everglades Nutrient
Removal Project.
Q. By Everglades Nutrient Removal Project, do
you mean what's typically referred to as the ENR
Project?
A. Yes, ENR Project.
Q. What is the purpose of your work?
A. The purpose of my work is to quantify the
amount of water that is lost by evapotranspiration
from wetland plants.
39
Q. Are you looking at specific wetland plants?
A. I haven't decided that yet.
Q. When do you believe that you will decide?
A. Next week.
Q. Why are you looking at wetland plants and
not agricultural plants?
A. Part of the ENR work, so we want to do the
water budget of the site. For that purpose, we need
to measure the wetland plant evapotranspiration.
Q. What is the current status of that work?
A. I don't know. That's not under my
supervision.
Q. No, I mean your part of the work, the
estimation of the ET issue with wetland plants.
A. The equipment is bought and the design work
is done. Installation will be done the initial time.
So installing it on the site is what is remaining,
and then we start measuring, everything is read.
Q. How do you plan to go about quantifying the
ET associated with these wetland plants?
A. Measure as the residue out of the water
budget. The lysimeter is a control. You have a big
tank, 2,000-gallon tank, over 2,000-gallon capacity
tank where there is a lysimeter.
And you pretty much control the inflow and
40
outflow with pumps and flow meters, and remaining
should be quantified as ET. That's standard method
of measuring evapotranspiration.
Q. Essentially that's a laboratory test?
A. No, it's not laboratory. It is field test.
Q. Field test?
A. Yes, right at the marsh site. It's a long --
the detail is a lot.
Q. So you will be using the lysimeter, is that
how you say it?
A. Yes.
MR. KOBELINSKI: How do you spell that?
THE WITNESS: L-y-s-i-m-e-t-e-r.
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. And essentially that's a 2,000-gallon tank?
A. A little over 2,000.
Q. And you will be growing different types of
wetland plants --
A. Yes.
Q. -- to determine the ET associated with
those different species; is that correct?
A. Yes, uh huh.
Q. Is there any deadline for your work to be
completed?
MS. BIRCH: Object to the relevancy of this
41
work on the ENR project, as his expertise will
be in developing the results of the water budget
for the EAA.
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Dr. Abtew, do you intend to rely on the
work you are doing on wetland plants that we have
been discussing in developing any expert testimony in
the pending SWIM Plan challenge?
A. This work is not yet started, so I can't
tell whether I will use it or not.
Q. How long do you anticipate this program to
last?
MS. BIRCH: Object to the relevancy.
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. You can answer the question.
A. For a long time, an indefinite time. I
can't tell.
Q. A period of years?
MS. BIRCH: Objection, calls for
speculation.
MR. PERKO: You can answer the question.
MS. BIRCH: If you know.
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. If you know.
A. I don't know how long it's going to take.
42
Q. Dr. Abtew, is this work that we have been
discussing involving wetland plants and the ET, is
that described in any written documents?
MS. BIRCH: Objection to relevancy.
THE WITNESS: Yes, it is described in the
design manual, design papers which I designed.
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Did you produce those in response to the
notice of duces tecum?
MS. BIRCH: Objection to relevancy, lack of
foundation.
THE WITNESS: What's a duces tecum?
MS. BIRCH: The witness has not testified
that he has relied upon that for any use in the
development of the EAA water budget.
MR. PERKO: I understand that. I'm simply
asking him if he produced those documents in
response to the notice of duces tecum that was
served upon him.
MS. BIRCH: Why would he produce them
unless there has been established that he has
used those?
MR. PERKO: I'm asking him if he produced
them.
43
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Did you produce those documents in response
to the duces tecum?
A. No.
Q. Is there a project code for this work?
MS. BIRCH: Objection to the relevancy.
THE WITNESS: No. I don't know of a
project code.
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Dr. Abtew, in the course of this project
involving wetland plants, are you going to be testing
natural marsh fauna?
MS. BIRCH: Objection to the relevancy;
objection, it calls for speculation, and lack of
foundation.
I would also, I object to this line of
questioning. I mean Dr. Abtew has been listed
by the District as an expert in the area of
developing the results of the EAA water budget.
If you want to ask him -- I mean now you
are asking him about work that he clearly has
stated has no relevancy to this --
MR. PERKO: I don't think he has clearly
stated it has no relevancy. He said he doesn't
know at this time.
44
MS. BIRCH: From his opinion, he said he
has not relied upon it. He has told you that he
has no idea of when this work may or may not be
done, and you have not established through any
previous testimony that it has any relevancy to
anything related to the EAA, development of the
water budget.
MR. PERKO: Clearly relevant to the
development of evapotranspiration that he has --
he has not indicated that he will not under any
circumstances be relying upon this at trial.
If there is any chance he will be relying
upon this at trial, I need to know about it.
And I'm not intending to explore this ad
nauseam. I just want to ask him a few simple
questions about the scope of this work.
MS. BIRCH: I understand your statement and
where you are going, but I just want to make it
clear that from his previous testimony, he has
not made any indication that he is in any way
going to rely upon that work.
MR. KOBELINSKI: Do you mind if I voir dire
for a second so we can get by the relevancy
objection?
MS. BIRCH: Go ahead, counselor.
45
MR. KOBELINSKI: Okay.
VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION
BY MR. KOBELINSKI:
Q. Dr. Abtew, the ENR project, where is that
located?
A. It's located in, west of Water Conservation
Area 1.
Q. Within the EAA?
A. Right at the edge of the EAA, but it's no
more part of the EAA, I guess.
Q. It is your understanding it's not part of
the EAA any longer?
A. It is being changed to wetlands rather than
agricultural area.
Q. But is it within the physical geographical
boundary?
A. Yes, at the edge.
Q. Approximately how many acres are comprised
of the ENR project?
A. I don't know exactly how much there is.
Q. Is the ENR project similar at all to the
Stormwater Treatment Areas that are being
contemplated by the Stormwater Treatment Plan?
MS. BIRCH: Objection to the relevancy.
MR. KOBELINSKI: I'm just voir diring.
46
MS. BIRCH: I object to the relevance of
the nature of this voir dire as to foundation,
as to relevancy to the EAA.
BY MR. KOBELINSKI:
Q. Is the ENR a precursor project or similar
nature to the Stormwater Treatment Areas contemplated
by the SWIM Plan?
A. I'm not in a position to decide or
determine what the project is going to be with regard
to SWIM Plan.
Q. Is it your understanding that Stormwater
Treatment Areas will be artificial wetlands marshes?
A. I beg your pardon?
Q. Is it your understanding that Stormwater
Treatment Areas will be comprised of predominantly
artificial wetlands marshes?
A. I don't know.
Q. You don't know?
A. No.
Q. Do you know what the approximate area of
the Stormwater Treatment Areas are?
A. In the SWIM document it is stated about
36,000 acres.
Q. And that 36,000 acres is contemplated to be
part of the geographic EAA; is that correct?
47
A. I'm not sure where it is going to be
located.
Q. If it was part of the geographic Everglades
Agricultural Area, would the coefficient for those
marsh lands have an impact on the ET in the
Everglades Agricultural Area?
MS. BIRCH: Objection, it calls for
speculation again. I see no relevance or
foundation.
MR. KOBELINSKI: He is an expert. I'm
asking an expert opinion as to whether or not
36,000 of wetlands marsh would impact the
coefficient of ET in the EAA.
BY MR. KOBELINSKI:
Q. Would that impact the --
A. ET is calculated for each crop. If you
change the crop to anything else, the values will
change.
Q. If the ET value changes for the EAA as a
result of the STAs, would that impact the water
budget for the EAA?
A. Whenever you change the crop type, the
coefficient changes.
So I haven't done for wetlands theoretical
ET calculation. I can't tell you which way it is
48
going to change or how much, how much the coefficient
is going to change.
Q. I understand you can't tell the degree of
change, but it would impact the water budget itself;
is that correct?
A. Yes, it would impact the water budget
itself.
MR. KOBELINSKI: I think we have enough
relevancy as to why his testing of the
artificial wetlands marsh within the EAA will
impact the water budget.
MS. BIRCH: Same objection, relevancy and
foundation.
CONTINUED DIRECT EXAMINATION
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Dr. Abtew, as part of this work with
wetland plants, are you going to be testing natural
marsh fauna?
A. Yes, natural marsh plants.
Q. By natural marsh fauna, I mean the types of
fauna that are found in the water conservation areas.
A. Well, the type of plants to be tested is
not determined. I have to consult the people for
various information.
So that's not yet determined what kinds of
49
plants are going to be put in.
Q. Who will you be consulting in determining
what kinds of plants are going to be tested?
A. Dr. Sue Newman.
Q. Anyone else?
A. That's all.
Q. Dr. Abtew, have you ever estimated ET for
the water conservation areas?
A. I don't think so. I don't remember that.
Q. Are you aware of any studies or analyses
performed by the District to estimate ET in water
conservation areas?
A. I think there are some works which are --
I'm not certain, I can't remember documents, but I'm
sure there are some.
Q. Who at the District, if you know, would be
most knowledgeable about any estimations of ET in the
water conservation areas?
A. I don't know.
Q. Dr. Abtew, are you familiar with the water
balance analysis of the EAA performed by CH2 Mill
Hill?
A. Yes, I have seen the document. I have read
it sometime, a long time back.
Q. What is your general opinion of that
50
analysis?
A. I don't remember the results and I couldn't
say anything now.
Q. Okay. Do you recall what methodology was
used in that study to determine ET?
A. I don't recall now.
Q. Dr. Abtew, do you know if anyone at the
District has been asked to prepare a water budget for
the STAs proposed in the SWIM Plan?
MS. BIRCH: Objection to relevancy.
MR. PERKO: Just asking if he knows. It's
clearly relevant to the subject matter of this
case.
MS. BIRCH: Of this case, but not this
witness.
MR. PERKO: I'm asking if he knows.
THE WITNESS: I don't remember if I have
done this kind of work.
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Do you know if anyone else has been asked
to perform a water budget?
MS. BIRCH: Same objection.
THE WITNESS: I don't remember.
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Dr. Abtew, have you had any involvement in
51
the design of the STAs proposed in the Everglades
SWIM Plan?
A. No, I don't have any involvement in the
design.
Q. Have you had any involvement in the sizing
of the STAs?
MS. BIRCH: Objection to relevancy.
THE WITNESS: No, I didn't have
involvement.
MR. PERKO: Dr. Abtew, I'd like to show you
what I'll ask the court reporter to mark as
Exhibit Number 5.
(The document was marked
Abtew Exh. No. 5.)
BY MR. PERKO:
Q. Do you recognize this document?
A. Yes.
Q. What is this document?
A. This is Everglades Research Plan.
Q. Did you help draft that document?
A. Yes.
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