Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades The Second Biennial Review - 2008 (2008) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 Project Planning and Implementation
3 Project Planning and Implementation
Pages 71-108
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 71... ...
Important challenges are addressed for restoration planning, including incremental adaptive restoration, endangered species, and current project planning impediments. In Chapter 6, details are provided on additional programmatic progress, including the monitoring and assessment plan, development of modeling tools, and other ways in which the foundations of adaptive management are being built in support of the restoration.
|
From page 72... ...
Congress for approval as part of the project planning and authorization process (Figure 3-1)
|
From page 73... ...
report on the South Florida ecosystem restoration (GAO, 2007)
|
From page 74... ...
6) Picayune Strand Restoration (Formerly called Southern 2005 2009 2015 Golden Gate Estates)
|
From page 75... ...
Project Planning and Implementation 75 Construction Status Project Implementation (or Installation and Original Cost Estimated Cost Report (PIR) and Testing Status for (in millions of (in millionsa)
|
From page 76... ...
(2008) Estimated Estimated Estimated Completion Completion Completion Project or Component Name Date Date Date North Palm Beach County – Part 1 - C-51 and L-8 Basin Reservoir, Phase 1 (PBA)
|
From page 77... ...
ASR) d The EAA Storage Reservoir project is on hold, pending the resolution of two lawsuits underway (USA, et al.
|
From page 78... ...
78 Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades Figure 3-2.eps FIGURE 3-2 Locations of Band 1 CERP project components. © International Mapping Associates bitmap
|
From page 79... ...
GAO (2007) also includes an assessment of 134 South Florida restoration projects that are not related to CERP and that do not serve as a foundation for the CERP.
|
From page 80... ...
Installation for some pilot projects have been completed by 2008, but none have completed testing and analysis. No restoration projects are anticipated to be fully constructed by the end of 2008, although a few project subcomponents are nearing completion that will deliver some restoration benefits.
|
From page 81... ...
7) , currently under way, aims to restore and enhance over 55,000 acres of public lands by plugging and filling canals and returning sheet flow to the project site and adjacent natural areas, including the Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve, Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, Ten Thousand Island National Wildlife Refuge, and Collier Seminole State Park.
|
From page 82... ...
All three projects were originally among the earli est scheduled projects in both the Yellow Book and the MISP 1.0, although IRL project components were scheduled for MISP Bands 1–4, so restoration activities in that region were anticipated to continue for decades. Original plans for the CERP rested on the assumption that key projects would be steadily and consistently authorized in Water Resources Development acts passed every 2 years and that congressional appropriations for approved proj ects would follow in due course.
|
From page 83... ...
The project scope changes (e.g., additional road removal, larger pumps to provide additional flood protection) , inflationary increases, and the failure to account for land acquisition costs in the original project cost estimates led to an increase in costs from $15.5 million in the original Yellow Book to $349 million (DOI and USACE, 2005; USACE and SFWMD, 2005c)
|
From page 84... ...
The overall shortfall between 1999 and 2006 was reduced to $1.2 billion only because Florida increased its contribution for CERP projects by $250 million during this period (GAO, 2007) as part of its expedited restoration initiatives, which advanced design and con struction ahead of the CERP project planning and authorization process.
|
From page 85... ...
Considering the lengthy CERP project planning and authorization process which Acceler8 handled parallel to construction, and the slow pace of federal funding
|
From page 86... ...
concludes that restoration costs are likely to continue to increase in the years ahead. Land Acquisition Land management for an effective CERP depends on acquiring particular sites within the project area and protecting more general areas within the South Florida ecosystem that could help meet the broad restoration goals.
|
From page 87... ...
Non-CERP Foundation Projects Some of the largest accomplishments and some of the greatest challenges in South Florida restoration are associated with non-CERP projects that are directly related to the success of the CERP in achieving its restoration goals (Table 3-2)
|
From page 88... ...
• A complex project planning and approval process is required for CERP projects and other federal restoration projects. WRDA 2000 added unforeseen requirements and complexity, such as the Programmatic Regulations, the Savings Clause, water reservations, and assurances.
|
From page 89... ...
• Escalating costs due to changes in project scope, inflation, land cost, and construction costs have increased the overall cost of CERP, leading to funding challenges and schedule extensions. Among these various reasons for delay, the inadequacy of the project planning, authorization, and funding process is noteworthy for the CERP, as previously discussed.
|
From page 90... ...
In this section, major project planning issues that affect the rate of CERP progress are discussed, including restoration scheduling, incremental adaptive restoration, creative approaches to minimize endangered species conflicts, and problems created by the USACE project benefits analysis process termed the "next added increment" (NAI)
|
From page 91... ...
, for the South Florida ecosystem restoration that would reprioritize the timing and funding of future restoration activities. The goals of an integrated schedule are to: • Update existing project schedules to provide current status and practical time lines for implementation; • Focus on delivering meaningful restoration benefits as early as possible; • Phase large projects as necessary to provide early benefits and learning; • Include related non-CERP projects as well as CERP projects in program sequencing; and • Include new programs such as Northern Everglades restoration (Appelbaum, 2008a)
|
From page 92... ...
CERP planners should certainly prioritize critical non-CERP foundation projects that are necessary for the CERP to achieve its restoration goals, but the sequencing of all CERP projects (including already authorized projects) should be carefully reevaluated to advance those projects that can obtain the greatest restoration benefits given the anticipated budget constraints.
|
From page 93... ...
4. The IDS federal funding scenarios will include only those projects under the South Florida Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Program (SFEER)
|
From page 94... ...
If important steps are to be made in the next decade toward the CERP's system wide restoration goals, given the probable fiscal constraints, CERP planners will need to consider alternate mechanisms for decision making and evaluating trade offs rather than relying upon mechanisms that favor projects with uncontested stakeholder support. Adoption of Incremental Adaptive Restoration A key recommendation from the committee's first biennial review (NRC, 2007)
|
From page 95... ...
The committee discussed these IAR efforts with senior agency managers, technical managers, scientists, and stakeholders. All of these individuals felt that IAR offered opportunities for significantly advancing CERP restoration and had already succeeded in bringing CERP participants together in an attempt to break through logjams in multiproject planning.
|
From page 96... ...
However, after consideration of this proposal, the Chief of the Everglades Division of the USACE Jacksonville District directed that the Draft Incremental Adaptive Restoration (IAR) Proposal for Southern Everglades Restoration Projects would not be used in the potential IAR application efforts.
|
From page 97... ...
The size and complexity of the IAR Proposal for Southern Everglades Restoration Projects also posed dilemmas for resolving uncertainties through adaptive learning. On one hand, it was argued that such a substantial and integrated
|
From page 98... ...
In addition to the continued efforts to apply adaptive management in the Decomp project there might be an IAR focus on design and outcome assessment for the C-111 Spreader Canal, or as it is now being conceived, the Taylor Slough Enhancement, within the broader integrated planning of southern Everglades restoration projects. Furthermore, because many desired ecological changes are likely to take many years or decades to respond to IAR actions, emphasis should be placed on assessing variables, such as sediment flow and water quality, that are leading indicators of likely long-term ecological responses.
|
From page 99... ...
. The South Florida Multi-species Recovery Plan considers 68 listed species and 23 plant communities, but it addresses each individually and provides practically no guidance on how to manage trade-offs among species, to set priorities, or to deal with regulatory requirements and conflicts.
|
From page 100... ...
should take a leadership role by convening a high-level group of science and policy experts to explore the available approaches and produce a multispecies adaptive management strategy to accompany the existing South Florida Multi species Recovery Plan. As pointed out by Goble (2006)
|
From page 101... ...
Problems Created by the Next Added Increment Requirement Elements of the complex CERP project planning process are contributing to delays in restoration progress. Presentations to this committee identified key procedural problems, some characterized as "self-inflicted wounds," contributing to this protracted process.
|
From page 102... ...
For instance, the South Florida Water Management Model has embedded within it operational rules that distribute water between the environment and agricultural purposes in ways that cannot easily be adjusted, and the model output appears to emphasize water supply and flood control rather than restoration, even though decisions have not been made regarding formal water allocations for the natural system. This mix of procedural requirements, operational considerations, and statu
|
From page 103... ...
The CERP project planning and approval process, especially NAI, fails to recognize that CERP's purpose is to restore an ecosystem rather than build a particular project. The CERP is designed as a suite of interacting projects or components to provide an aggregated set of ecological benefits, and there appears to be a fundamental tension between this objective and the isolated nature of the project approval and authorization process, of which the NAI methodology is just one component.
|
From page 104... ...
For exam ple, the success of the Kissimmee River Restoration effort continues to be the most important piece of evidence that restoration of a natural system is possible in the Everglades region. The state of Florida should continue its active land acquisition efforts, accompanied by monitoring of and regular reporting on land conversion pat terns in the South Florida ecosystem.
|
From page 105... ...
The current planning process also appears to reward the least-contentious projects, regardless of their potential contribution to ecosystem restoration. Without clear priorities for project planning and funding, projects with large potential restoration benefits may see lengthy restoration delays while other, less-contentious projects that address only isolated portions of the ecosystem may tie up available funding.
|
From page 106... ...
has stimulated creative restoration approaches to Everglades restoration but has not yet been fully applied. The prior committee's recommendation to apply IAR has been widely embraced by implementing agencies at all levels of organization as well as by various stakeholders, but an effort to apply IAR to an integrated group of Southern Everglades restoration projects was discontinued.
|
From page 107... ...
To expedite multispecies restoration under the ESA, DOI should immediately initiate and lead the development of a South Florida multispecies adaptive management strategy, including both science and policy dimensions, to accompany the existing South Florida Multispecies Recovery Plan.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.