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

2. 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

3. The Everglades Ecosystem

4. Historical Problems Leading to Construction of C&SF Project
Hurricanes in 1926 and resulted in failure of the levee around Lake Okeechobee
Hurricane in 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

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

6. 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

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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Half of the Everglades Lost to Urban and Agricultural Development

13. 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

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

15. 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 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.

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

17. 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

18. Balancing Water Needs of the Ecosystem

19. 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

20. Wetlands Restoration

21. 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

22. Surface Water Storage Reservoirs

23. 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

24. Aquifer Storage and Recovery: A Challenging Approach

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. Stormwater Treatment Areas

28. 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

29. 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.

30. 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 $ $ $ $

31. 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

32. 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

33. 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

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

35. 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

36. 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

37. 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

38. www.evergladesplan.org www.evergladesnow.org
For more information, visit our Websites
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

39. Thank you
Questions ?