Posted on June 12, 2018
By Chad Gillis, News-Press
Disagreements between the federal and state governments could slow the planning and approval of a reservoir project expected to reduce releases to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers.
Called the Everglades Agriculture Area, or EAA, reservoir, the $1.9 billion project is expected to store about 240,000 acre-feet of water that would typically be discharged from Lake Okeechobee into both estuaries. One acre-foot is enough water to cover an acre of land.
The state is hoping to get the project moved through the Department of the Army in a proposed Water Resources Development Act, or WRDA, of 2018.
This round of projects has passed committees but is still awaiting authorization by Congress.
The South Florida Water Management District submitted its plans for the reservoir to the Army Corps of Engineers for review earlier this year and found out a few days ago that additional work may be needed to keep the reservoir on pace.
“The significant concerns are related to a high cost risk associated with required dam safety design criteria, a high risk of non-compliance with water quality standards, a high risk that project benefits may not be achieved,” reads a review from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army.
Moving pollution that would flow into the estuaries further south may not be a good idea either, the report says.
“Removal of nutrient loads in excess of water quality standards is not a responsibility of the federal government,” the report reads. “Further, it also is not in the interest of federal entities to shift pollutants loads from one area (northern estuaries) to another area (Everglades) within the State of Florida.”
But district officials say the issue is more about communication than a lack of solid planning.
Typically the Army Corps of Engineers takes the lead when it comes to securing congressional approval and funding for Everglades restoration projects.
The EAA reservoir went through a process that didn’t include the back-and-forth input the Corps and district typically share before the report is released, said Eva Velez, the district’s director of Everglades policy.
“That’s a three-year process,” Velez said of the typical approval route.
The reservoir got a big boost in 2016 when state Florida Senate President Joe Negron (R-Stuart) pushed Senate Bill 10 through the Legislature for state funding.
Issues raised in the Army Corps report, Velez said, are typically dealt with in later phases.
Water from Lake Okeechobee and rainfall within the Caloosahatchee watershed are causing water quality issues in the river’s estuary. Wochit
“The key part is the authorization language could say ‘these are the things we’re doing moving forward,’ ” Velez said.
Reservoir plans are being reviewed by the federal Office of Management and Budget, which is expected to release its report in July or August.
Water management district board chair Federico Fernandez and district chief of staff Ernie Marks drafted a reply letter that, in part, says:
“With the trained eye of restoration veterans – who live in the communities directly affected by Lake Okeechobee discharges and south Florida restoration efforts – the assessment by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) staff that accompanies the feasibility determination seemingly undermines the project,” the letter says.
Velez said the state took the lead to speed up the project.
“The only way we could have met the requirements of Senate Bill 10 was to do this process,” Velez said. “We’re doing it this other way with the Lake Okeechobee watershed, western Everglades, all those other projects are there with the Corps as the lead and us as the state sponsor.”
Velez said she is hopeful that the issues will be settled or agreed upon by July or August, when the federal budget office releases its report to the Assistant Secretary of the Army.
“Having made it this far, that gives us optimism that we’ll get there,” Velez said. “We’re hoping that recommendations or conditions of approval are worded in a way that we know the path forward and the uncertainty isn’t there.”
Shannon Estenoz, with the Everglades Foundation, said she’s confident that the issues will be solved before the WRDA bill is moved forward.
“From my experience, we have always worked out these things,” Estenoz said. “We are not concerned about it, and the most important thing is to have this authorized in this WRDA.”
Source: News-Press
