Everglades Restoration A Program for Integrated Regional Management Garth W. Redfield, Ph.D. Chief Environmental Scientist, South Florida Water Management District

Greater Everglades Ecosystem Orlando Kissimmee River St. Lucie River and Estuary Lake Okeechobee Caloosahatchee River and Estuary Water Conservation Areas Big Cypress National Preserve Miami Biscayne Bay National Park Everglades National Park Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary

The Everglades Ecosystem

Historical Problems Leading to Construction of C&SF Project Hurricanes in 1926 and 1928 resulted in failure of the levee around Lake Okeechobee Hurricane in 1947 resulted in wide-spread flooding throughout South Florida State of Florida requested Federal assistance in 1947 Congress authorized the C&SF Project in 1948 Areas Flooded in 1926 & 1928 Areas Flooded in 1947

Central & Southern Florida Project River Channelization Herbert Hoover Dike Water Conservation Areas Protective Levees Everglades Agricultural Area Lower East Coast Drainage Network Salinity Structures

Central and Southern Florida Project 2,800 kilometers of canals and levees 160 major drainage basins Over 2,000 water control structures 200 major structures 36 pump stations

C&SF Project Infrastructure One of the world’s largest and most complex water resource management systems

System Modifications Historic Current Flow Flow However, the system works too well. It sends an average of 1.7 billion gallons of excess freshwater a day out to sea which is lost forever. Historic Flow Current Flow

Everglades Restoration & Water Management Challenges Climate is subtropical with “extremes” Regional system stressed by population & land use Must balance: Multiple water resource objectives Objectives often conflict

An Ecosystem in Trouble…. Too much or too little water for the South Florida ecosystem 6.4 million cubic meters of water per day is lost to the ocean Declining estuary health Massive reductions in wading bird populations Degradation of water quality Loss of native habitat to invasive exotic vegetation 70 Federally-listed threatened and endangered species Slide 8: A Region in Trouble Suggested Script~ With the changes we have made to S. Florida, the Everglades ecosystem has been seriously degraded. At times, there is too much or too little water for the Everglades and the South Florida ecosystem. There has been a massive reduction in the wading bird population. Water quality has become a serious issue. Water shortages in urban areas are becoming a way of life. In Broward County, we anticipate water shortages to happen every year. Estuaries have declined because of the flushing of fresh water at the wrong times and too little fresh water going into those estuaries. And on the average, 1.7 billion gallons of water are wasted to tide – a resource we can no longer afford to waste.

To date, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has not conducted wildlife surveys of the property. However, based on knowledge of habitat types present in the project area and the species occupying surrounding areas, USFWS biologists anticipate that this project will enhance recovery of the seven Federally-listed threatened and endangered species.

Half of the Everglades Lost to Urban and Agricultural Development

C&SF Project Comprehensive Review Study Study authorized by Congress in the Water Resources Development Act of 1992 Study was initiated in June 1993 Purpose of Study is to reexamine the C&SF Project to: Restore South Florida ecosystem Enhance water supplies Maintain flood control

Interagency Team U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Florida Water Management District Federal agencies State agencies Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes Local governments

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan On July 1, 1999, the Secretary of the Army and the State of Florida presented the Plan to Congress Rescuing an Endangered Ecosystem: The Plan to Restore America’s Everglades July 1999 The Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Review Study (The Restudy) Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan After six years of planning, engineering and conceptual level design, with an enormous amount of agency, stakeholder and public involvement, the Comprehensive Plan was completed and delivered to Congress on July 1, 1999. Congress deliberated for over a year then finally approved the plan and authorized ten initial projects and four pilot projects for construction in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000. The president signed WRDA-2000 into law in December of 2000. The Comprehensive Plan spans over 35 years, but the bulk of the work will be completed in the first 25 years.

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Plan includes 68 components to be implemented over 35 years.

Getting the Water Right: Quality Quantity Timing Distribution A Rational Premise or Risky Assumption What our plan is about is to get the water right. Quantity Quality Timing and Distribution

Balancing Water Needs of the Ecosystem

Primary Goal - Increase the Amount of Available Water Environment 30% 70% Environment 50% 50% Urban & Agricultural Current Deliveries 1.5 Billion Cubic Meters per year We will be doubling the size of the water pie in south Florida. More water means less competition for water. Urban & Agricultural Deliveries with CERP 3 Billion Cubic Meters per year

Wetlands Restoration

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program Orlando Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program Kissimmee River Lake Okeechobee Wetland Restoration West Palm Beach Ft. Myers Water Conservation Areas Fort Lauderdale Big Cypress National Preserve The Plan includes 15 surface water storage reservoirs covering approximately 170,000 acres. It also includes converting approximately 11,000 acres of limestone quarries in North Miami-Dade County and Northern Palm Beach County into water storage reservoirs. Together these surface water reservoirs will have a storage capacity of approximately 1.5 million acre-feet (1.3 BGD of water on an annual basis). The Plan includes reservoirs north of Lake Okeechobee, in the Upper East Coast, in the Caloosahatchee Basin, in the Everglades Agricultural Area and along the eastern edge of the Everglades Protection Area. 185,000 acres (75,000 hectares) Miami Everglades National Park Biscayne Bay Florida Bay Florida Keys

Surface Water Storage Reservoirs

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan West Palm Beach Orlando Florida Keys Florida Bay Big Cypress National Preserve Everglades Park Lake Okeechobee Ft. Myers Water Conservation Areas Biscayne Bay Miami Fort Lauderdale Kissimmee River Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan 15 Surface Water Storage Reservoirs The Plan includes 15 surface water storage reservoirs covering approximately 170,000 acres. It also includes converting approximately 11,000 acres of limestone quarries in North Miami-Dade County and Northern Palm Beach County into water storage reservoirs. Together these surface water reservoirs will have a storage capacity of approximately 1.5 million acre-feet (1.3 BGD of water on an annual basis). The Plan includes reservoirs north of Lake Okeechobee, in the Upper East Coast, in the Caloosahatchee Basin, in the Everglades Agricultural Area and along the eastern edge of the Everglades Protection Area. Total Storage Capacity: 1.8 billion cubic meters

Aquifer Storage and Recovery: A Challenging Approach

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Orlando Florida Keys Florida Bay Big Cypress National Preserve Everglades Park Lake Okeechobee Ft. Myers Water Conservation Areas Biscayne Bay Miami Fort Lauderdale West Palm Beach Kissimmee River Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Aquifer Storage and Recovery 330 ASR Wells Possible 3 Pilot Projects in progress 10 wells being installed in the L.O. watershed Total ASR Capacity: 6 million cubic meters per day The Plan includes 330 five-MGD ASR wells, for a total of 1.6 Billion Gallons per day of water recover capacity. These are located predominately around Lake Okeechobee, near the Caloosahatchee Basin Reservoir, near the Hillsboro Site 1 Reservoir, the C-51 Reservoir, and along the St. Lucie Canal. Great advantages of ASR storage is that it requires very little land and and does not involve evaporation losses compared with surface storage reservoirs. Because there is a fair amount of uncertainty associated with Regional ASR Systems - especially with the expansive network of ASR wells in the Comprehensive Plan - we have initiated three separate ASR Pilot projects in Lake Okeechobee region, the Caloosahatchee River Basin and at the Hillsboro Site 1.

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Orlando Florida Keys Florida Bay Big Cypress National Preserve Everglades Park Lake Okeechobee Ft. Myers Water Conservation Areas Biscayne Bay Miami Fort Lauderdale West Palm Beach Kissimmee River Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Seepage Management The Plan includes 330 five-MGD ASR wells, for a total of 1.6 Billion Gallons per day of water recover capacity. These are located predominately around Lake Okeechobee, near the Caloosahatchee Basin Reservoir, near the Hillsboro Site 1 Reservoir, the C-51 Reservoir, and along the St. Lucie Canal. Great advantages of ASR storage is that it requires very little land and and does not involve evaporation losses compared with surface storage reservoirs. Because there is a fair amount of uncertainty associated with Regional ASR Systems - especially with the expansive network of ASR wells in the Comprehensive Plan - we have initiated three separate ASR Pilot projects in Lake Okeechobee region, the Caloosahatchee River Basin and at the Hillsboro Site 1.

Stormwater Treatment Areas

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Orlando Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Kissimmee River Stormwater Treatment Areas Lake Okeechobee West Palm Beach Ft. Myers Water Conservation Areas Fort Lauderdale Big Cypress National Preserve The Plan includes 19 Stormwater Treatment Areas totaling about 36,000 acres. These STAs will range in size from a couple hundred acres to several thousand acres and will be located north of Lake Okeechobee, in the Caloosahatchee Basin, the Upper East Coast Area, along the eastern edge of the Everglades Protection Area, and in the North Palm Beach County area. These are in addition to the 44,000 acres of STAs being constructed as part of the Everglades Construction Project. Miami 22 Treatment Areas 18,000 hectares of wetlands Everglades National Park Biscayne Bay Florida Bay Florida Keys

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Orlando Florida Keys Florida Bay Big Cypress National Preserve Everglades Park Lake Okeechobee Ft. Myers Biscayne Bay Miami Fort Lauderdale West Palm Beach Water Conservation Areas Kissimmee River Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Removing Barriers to Sheet Flow Part of Getting the Water Right is restoring sheetflow distribution that is typical of the pre-drainage system. Sheetflow was disrupted through construction of canals, levees and roads. To accomplish this, we will be removing approximately 240 miles of levees, canals and structures, predominantly in Water Conservation Area 3 and the C-111 Basin.

Estimated Cost $10.9 billion over 35 years to implement (2004 dollars) More than $170 million per year to operate and maintain $10 million per year for monitoring and adaptive assessment Cost sharing depends on federal authorization process Project Cost Sharing 50% Federal 50% State $ $ $ $

WRDA-2000 Provisions Assurance of Project Benefits Reservation of water for the natural system Savings Clause No elimination of existing legal sources No reduction in the level of service for flood protection The third key challenge is making sure that we deliver the benefits that have been promised. That involves making sure that water for the natural system is reserved under state law. It also involves making sure that existing legal sources of water are protected, that flood protection is not diminished, and that existing water rights are protected. These assurances are very important for ensuring successful implementation. January 9, 2002

Acceler8 Program An Interagency Commitment The Federal government agrees to expedite their planning and permitting decisions Want to make sure that we are complying with all of the NEPA, PIR and regulatory requirements and that we coordinate to ensure consistency and avoid duplication of effort between PIR and Acceler8 efforts. Oct 14, 2004 State of Florida commits to fund a $1.6 Billion accelerated restoration effort

Acceler8 Program Early Restoration Benefits To be Constructed by 2010: Over 500 million cubic meters of reservoir storage capacity Over 11,000 hectares of Stormwater Treatment Areas Over 35,000 hectares of natural areas restoration

Everglades Agricultural Area Storage Reservoir Future (2010) Current (2005)

Everglades Restoration: Peer Review (CISRERP) National Academy of Sciences, first biennial review, 2006 concludes: There are successes - Kissimmee Restoration has worked Water quality programs are effective Science is progressing – MAP is ready for implementation Good adaptive management strategy

Everglades Restoration: Peer Review (CISRERP) National Academy of Sciences, first biennial review, 2006 concludes: CERP Project Status – Key projects have been delayed More federal funding is needed Improve project planning and funding Use an Incremental Adaptive Restoration approach to initiating and evaluating projects with large uncertainties

Everglades Restoration: Obstacles & Opportunities Massive Scale of Effort; Land Acquisition Funding; Interagency Cooperation Technical Limitations Opportunities: Restore Valued Regional Resources Provide Sustainable Balance of Management Objectives Contribute Information for Large-Scale Restoration Projects Worldwide

www.evergladesplan.org www.evergladesnow.org For more information, visit our Websites www.evergladesnow.org This is one of two web sites I am going to give you tonight that will help you track our status and find information relevant to the Comprehensive Plan. As you know, the Corps of Engineers and the SFWMD are building on a long term partnership and are taking this partnership to a higher level for implementing the Comprehensive Plan. The Evergladesplan.org web site is jointly maintained by the Corps of Engineers and SFWMD. The site already has a lot of good information and we are committed to improving the site to ensure that it provides the types of information needed by other agencies, stakeholders and potential contractors. Some items you might find useful on the web site are: 1) Comprehensive Plan and PEIS 2) Master Program Management Plan - describing business practices and protocols to be followed by the Corps and SFWMD, as well as outlines and descriptions of most of the interim design products. 3) Master Implementation Schedule 4) Project Management Plans for the CERP projects 5) Feasibility Reports for the WPAs and IRL Projects

Thank you Questions ?