Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades The Sixth Biennial Review - 2016 (2016) / Chapter Skim
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3 Restoration Progress
3 Restoration Progress
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. 2 WRDA 2000 included authorizations for 10 initial Everglades restoration projects (pending congressional approval of the project implementation reports)
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. WRDA 2016, which includes authorization for the Central Everglades Planning Project and changes to the Picayune Strand project, was passed by Congress on December 10, 2016.3 The three projects authorized by WRDA 2007 along with the Melaleuca Eradication Project, which was authorized under program matic authority, are considered Generation 1 projects, and the four projects authorized under WRRDA 2014 represent Generation 2 projects (see Table 3-1; Figure 3-1)
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4) authority WRDA 2000 GENERATION 1 CERP PROJECTS Picayune Strand Restoration 2005 Faka-Union: Submitted to Authorized in Prairie Canal Increased water (Fig.
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Authorization Status for Documented to Project or Component Name Date Date Status Status Pilots Date GENERATION 1 CERP PROJECTS (continued) Site 1 Impoundment (Fig.
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12) Submitted to Authorized in Congress, 2012 WRRDA 2014 - C-9 Impoundment 2007 2029 Not begun NA - C-11 Impoundment 2008 2023 Not begun NA - WCA-3A & -3B Levee Seepage 2008 2021 Not begun NA Management GENERATION 3 CERP PROJECTS Central Everglades Planning Project NA Submitted to Authorized in Not begun NA (Fig.
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Authorization Status for Documented to Project or Component Name Date Date Status Status Pilots Date CERP PROJECTS IN PLANNING Loxahatchee River Watershed NA NA NA NA NA (Fig.
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Everglades National Park Seepage 2013 NA NA NA NA NA Management Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands, 2018 NA NA NA NA NA Phase 2 C-111 Spreader Canal, Eastern 2008 NA NA NA NA NA Project C-43 ASR 2012 NA NA NA NA NA Site 1 Impoundment ASR 2014 NA NA NA NA NA Agricultural Reserve Reservoir 2013 NA NA NA NA NA North Lake Belt Storage Area 2021-2036 NA NA NA NA NA Central Lake Belt Storage Area 2021-2036 NA NA NA NA NA WCA 2B Flows to Everglades National 2018 NA NA NA NA NA Park WPA Conveyance 2036 NA NA NA NA NA Caloosahatchee Backpumping with 2015 NA NA NA NA NA Stormwater Treatment West Miami-Dade Reuse 2020 NA NA NA NA NA South Miami-Dade Reuse 2020 NA NA NA NA NA Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge 2003 NA NA NA NA NA Internal Canal Structures Broward Co. Secondary Canal System 2009 NA NA NA NA NA continued 49
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Authorization Status for Documented to Project or Component Name Date Date Status Status Pilots Date REMAINING UNPLANNED CERP PROJECTS (continued) Henderson Creek – Belle Meade 2005 NA NA NA NA NA Restoration Southern CREW 2005 NA NA NA NA NA Lake Trafford Restoration 2004 NA NA NA NA NA Southwest Florida Feasibility Studies 2004 NA NA NA NA NA Florida Bay Florida Keys Feasibility 2004 NA NA NA NA NA Study Comprehensive Integrated Water 2006 NA NA NA NA NA Quality Plan NOTES: Table 3-1 does not include non-CERP foundation projects.
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Restoration Progress 51 FIGURE 3-1 Locations of CERP and CERP-related projects and pilots listed in Table 3-1. rojects under P active construction are noted with a red circle.
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As experience with the Central Everglades Planning Project suggests, these tight time limits pose significant challenges to processes for reaching consensus when planning complex projects. Extensions of both time and monetary funds are made possible, however, with sufficient justification.
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That provision will be applicable to the newly authorized Generation 2 and 3 CERP projects listed in Table 3-1. This provision puts increased pressure on the CERP program to move forward on authorized projects, and also suggests that new projects should not be lined up for authorization unless there is a funding stream available to support them.
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the C-43 and C-44 reservoirs and STAs and Picayune Strand (SFWMD, 2016c)
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Projects and appropriations covered by that provision are as follow: • $32 million to SFWMD for the Long-Term Plan;6 6 The Long Term Plan referred to in the bill includes the 2003 Everglades Protection Area Tributary Basins Long-Term Plan for Achieving Water Quality Goals, developed pursuant to the amended Everglades Forever Act, and the 2012 Restoration Strategies Regional Water Quality Plan.
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Consistent with the Legacy Florida Act, the final state budget for 2017 includes $32 million for Restoration Strategies and $100 million for CERP projects, including the C-44 reservoir/STA ($60 million) , the C-43 West Storage Reservoir ($37 million)
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2016-2021 A-1 and L-8 Flow Equalization Basins C-43 Reservoir Western Cell Indian River Lagoon C-44 Reservoir and STA Kissimmee River Restoration Broward Water Preserve Area and C-11 Impoundment 2021-2026 C-43 Reservoir Eastern Cell STA 1 West Expansion Indian River Lagoon C-23/24 Reservoir North Northern/Southern Everglades Storage Northern/Southern Everglades Water Quality Improvements 2026-2031 Indian River Lagoon C-25 Reservoir and STA Indian River Lagoon C-23/24 Reservoir South and STA Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) South Broward Water Preserve Area and C-9 Impoundment CEPP North and New Water Northern/Southern Everglades Storage Northern/Southern Everglades Water Quality Improvements 2031-2035 Northern/Southern Everglades Storage Northern/Southern Everglades Water Quality Improvements SOURCE: SFWMD and FDEP (2015)
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. Reflections on Funding Trends Although both state and federal spending are still modest in the context of total cost for CERP and non-CERP projects, a few positive signs are encourag 7 Cost-sharing policies dictate that the SFWMD can only apply specific creditable expenditures toward the 50-50 CERP cost-sharing requirement.
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. The Central Everglades Planning Project illuminates the implications of the pace of funding on the timeframe to deliver restoration benefits.
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. The IDS is developed in consultation with the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force and the many CERP constituencies.
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Reduced funding will delay progress, whereas expedited funding can accelerate construction completion. In its last review, the committee expressed concern that the projected completion of Central Everglades Planning Project may extend to 2053 with its serial execution, assumed funding, and conservative start assumptions
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, and integrating water quality requirements with restoration goals for water quantity and flow has been a central element in recent planning efforts, for example the Central Everglades Planning Project (NRC, 2014; USACE and SFWMD, 2014a)
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Managing the STAs to protect species may ultimately impact discharge water quality (and in the future, water flows) , thereby adversely affecting downstream habitat quality for the same species.
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Further conflicts of this sort will no doubt arise as other restoration projects are implemented. In particular, any project creating new wetlands, altering cur rent wetlands, or affecting hydrology could create conflicting objectives between the needs of protected species and the needs of restoration.
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issued a Notice of Intent to prepare a programmatic environmental impact statement on a proposal to authorize incidental take of migratory bird under the MBTA. In that notice, the FWS stated that it was considering pursuing rulemaking to address various approaches to regulating incidental take of migratory birds, including general authorization for "some types of hazard to birds associated with particular industry sectors .
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As discussed in more detail below, this conflict currently is impacting water management at the boundary between WCA-3A and Everglades National Park embodied in the Everglades Restoration Transition Plan (ERTP, also discussed later in the chapter)
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The short-term solution to this issue presented in the Biological Opinion is to accelerate implementation of the Combined Operational Plan that will redirect more flow into northeastern Shark River Slough and address the flows from Big Cypress National Preserve (see below)
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Much the same can be expected from future increments of restoration affecting the areas in which the sparrows reside. The net effect on sparrows of the Central Everglades Planning Project and future restoration increments will depend on whether changes in the distribution of water result in shifts in the location of marl prairie habitat (rather than reduction of such habitat)
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and (b) the Central Everglades tentatively selected plan (Alt4R2)
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. A Memorandum of Understanding was developed to address the impacts of the Central Everglades Planning Project on sparrows (FWS, 2016)
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Box 3-2 highlights lessons learned from monitoring at several CERP and non-CERP projects to date. Generation 1 CERP Projects Generation 1 projects are those authorized by Congress in WRDA 2007 (Picayune Strand Restoration, Site 1 Impoundment, and Indian River Lagoon
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, Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands (Phase 1) , and the Kissimmee River Restoration projects.
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. Wet season surface water levels have increased FIGURE 3-8 Unrestored portions of the Picayune Strand Restoration project area.
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74 Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades FIGURE 3-9 The Picayune Strand Restoration project area is surrounded by several other natural areas, including Collier-Seminole State Park, Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Picayune Strand State Forest, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, and Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. Restoration of water levels within the project footprint will enhance the hydrologic conditions in these surrounding natural areas.
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Other Project Phase Status Tamiami Trail State NA NA 17 culverts Completed in 2007 Culverts constructed Prairie Canal State 64 30 7 Hydrologic Plugging and road Phase (expedited) restoration of 11,000 removal completed in acres in Picayune 2007; logging trams Strand and 9,000 removed in 2012 acres in Fakahatchee Strand State Preserve Park Merritt Canal Federal 65 16 8.5 Merritt pump Completed in Phase station, spreader 2015; pump station basin, and tie-back transferred to SFWMD levee constructed in 2016 Faka Union Federal 81 11 7.6 Faka Union pump Roads removed in Canal Phase station, spreader 2013; pump station basin, and tie-back completed in 2015; levee constructed operational testing underway; canal plugging scheduled for 2020 Miller Canal Federal/ 77 11 13 Construct Miller Miller pump station Phase State Canal pump station, under construction spreader basin, to be complete in tie-back levee, 2017; road removal and private lands and canal plugging drainage canal; scheduled for 2018 remove western and 2020, respectively stair-step canals Manatee State 0 0 0 Construct warm Completed in 2016 Mitigation water refugium to Feature mitigate loss of existing refugium Southwestern State 0 0 0 Construct 7-mile Construction Protection levee for flood completion scheduled Feature protection of for 2020 adjacent lands Stair-step Federal 0 0 5.2 Construction Canals between completion estimated Prairie and Faka in 2018 Union Canals SOURCES: J
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These monitoring data relative to background and reference data help document increasing water levels due to canal filling. Changes in weed control management affected water levels over the course of baseline data collection.
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. The committee has not reviewed the project benefits in detail relative to the benefits of other CERP projects, but such an analysis could reasonably be part of the systemwide assessment of the CERP under alternative future conditions
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78 Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades FIGURE 3-11 Merritt Canal at Stewart Blvd., looking north, showing progress in vegetation growth after canal has been plugged. Above: View in June 2015.
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As with many restoration projects, Site 1 has a sharp boundary between its restoration area and neighboring urban development. SOURCE: Modified from Audubon, 2010.
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. As a result, the exact contributions of this CERP project in the overall effort are difficult to parse, although the control of invasive plants is essential to achieve restoration goals
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Restoration Progress 81 FIGURE 3-13 Components of the Indian River Lagoon-South restoration project.
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No construction has begun on the B roward County Water Preserve Areas, so the discussions will focus on the other three projects. Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands (Phase 1)
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Restoration Progress 83 FIGURE 3-14 Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands (Phase 1) project area in southeast Florida.
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C-111 Spreader Canal (Western) Project The C-111 canal (Figure 3-1, No.
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to include two pumping stations, a 560-acre detention basin, and various canal modifications. Water from the C-111 canal is pumped into the C-111 Spreader Canal detention and the plugged Aerojet canal areas, creating a 6-mile-long hydraulic ridge along the eastern boundary of Everglades National Park.
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Longer hydroperiods have improved conditions for Cape Sable seaside sparrows in areas that have habitually experienced overly dry conditions previously (i.e., population F, see Figure 3-6)
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11) is a CERP project designed to impound up to 170,000 AF of stormwater runoff from the C-43 drainage basin or from Lake Okeechobee during wet periods (Figure 3-17; USACE and SFWMD, 2016f)
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Generation 3 Projects Generation 3 represents projects that have been pending authorization, with approved project implementation reports, during the 2015-2016 period. The only project in this category is the Central Everglades Planning Project (Figure 3-1, No.
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. Lake Okeechobee Watershed The CERP Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project includes several CERP project components located north of Lake Okeechobee that were intended to increase habitat, reduce phosphorus loading into the lake, and provide additional storage to regulate extreme high and low water levels in Lake Okeechobee and reduce high volume estuary discharges.
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diverts water from Big Cypress National Preserve into WCA-3A, contributing to high water levels and tree island flooding in the latter. In addition, the L-28 drains water out of Big Cypress southward toward the western marl prairie in Everglades National Park, contributing to overly wet conditions for Cape Sable seaside sparrows in that area (see ERTP later in this chapter)
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Restoration Progress 91 FIGURE 3-18 The officially defined geographic extent of the Western Everglades for the Western Everglades Restoration Project. SOURCE: http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/Ecosystem-Restoration/ Western-Everglades-Restoration-Project/.
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Water quality is also a major issue in the Western Everglades. Waters issuing from the mostly agricultural landscapes located in the northern portions of the Western Everglades (including the C-139 basin and the Feeder basin)
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was developed to reestablish sheetflow across the Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation into Big Cypress National Preserve and address water quality concerns in the North and West Feeder Canals. A planning
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. process was launched in August 2016 that describes its purpose as improving "the quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of water needed to restore and reconnect the western Everglades ecosystem."12 Public meetings are under way 12 See http://www.evergladesrestoration.gov/content/werp/meetings/082316/CERP_WERP_ introduction.pdf.
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Additionally, pilot projects may inform larger projects to make them more timely and cost-effective. Pilot projects provide the opportunity to experiment with methods and approaches without the large expense of fully developed restoration projects.
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Without flow, sediments and sawgrass invade open-water sloughs, tree islands drown, water quality deteriorates, and microtopography disappears. These changes, in turn, lead to habitat loss for wading birds and may encourage the proliferation of exotic fish at the expense of native species.
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. FIGURE 3-3-1 The Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment includes four 20-acre test cells, each with two constructed tree islands and one constructed ridge, to examine the effects of hydrology on ecosystem function.
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Currently in its third year of operation, the DPM has yielded important insights relevant to the questions in Box 3-4 that improve the understanding of how degraded portions of the ridge and slough landscape might respond to improved water deliveries. Analysis of field-based observations has delimited the flow velocities that must be achieved to mobilize floc and sediments from BOX 3-4 Key Questions of the Decomp Physical Model Pilot Project Sheetflow • Does high flow cause changes in water chemistry and consequently changes in sediment composition, periphyton metabolism, and organic matter decomposi tion?
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Flow velocities are sensitive to the fraction of sawgrass, which influences flow resistance (Harvey et al., 2009; Nepf, 1999) , but the results of model simulations suggest that the area of optimal flow could be expanded by increasing inflows.
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Canal backfilling was also discovered to create more high-quality habitat, lead ing to the increases in the abundance of large fish. The results to date suggest that canal backfilling affects biogeochemical and ecosystem functioning, but the results are not definitive and are confounded by problems encountered during the restored-flow experiments.
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Restoration Progress 101 FIGURE 3-24 Surface-water flow directions during the 2013 DPM experiment as resolved by dye (green) and SF6 (purple)
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As an alternative, high resolution measurement of water quality and flow velocities using raft mounted equipment could be used to complement fixed station measurements. When considered together, the findings from the DPM have improved our understanding of hydrologic and water-quality changes that occur rapidly, soon after the onset of restorative measures.
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. Increasing the flow of water from WCA-3A into Northeast Shark River Slough is a central aspect of Everglades restoration, and the capacity for successful southward movement of waters provided by the Central Everglades Planning Project and other future CERP projects depend critically upon the conveyance, seepage management, and flood control provided by Mod Waters.
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The new facilities present under Mod Waters and C-111 South Dade (described in the next section) necessitate a modified operations plan for the region -- the Combined Operational Plan (see Box 3-5)
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the new combined operational plan for the system will be developed using data collected during Increments 1 Plus (1.1/1.2) and Increment 2. If implemented according to plans, with full completion of the remaining Mod Waters and C-111 South Dade project elements, these two major non-CERP projects should be fully operational by 2019.
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106 Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades FIGURE 3-25 Elements of incremental implementation of Mod Waters and C-111 South Dade project components (above and below the dashed line, respectively)
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. This helped relieve record water levels in WCA-3A, while providing additional benefits to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
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Everglades Restoration Transition Plan The current water management plan for WCA-3, the Everglades Restora tion Transition Plan (ERTP, USACE, 2012a) reflects a multi-species approach to management of avian species of concern in WCA-3 and Everglades National Park (FWS, 2010)
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All of these measures will result in more movement of water through Northeast Shark River Slough, thereby increasing restoration benefits to this region, while reducing flows (and associated adverse impacts) in western Shark River Slough.
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A seepage barrier is intended to reduce this groundwater discharge to the L-31N Canal, thereby increasing water levels and promoting greater sheet flow in northeast Shark River Slough. Substantial progress on seepage management is associated with a non-CERP project sponsored by the Limestone Products Association.
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These hydrologic measurements reveal that installation of the barrier has increased head gradients between northeast Shark River Slough and the L-31N canal without increasing seepage into the canal (Figure 3-28)
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Additionally, water quality affects the capacity to reach CERP ecological objectives regarding habitat quality in Lake Okeechobee, the northern estuaries, the remnant Everglades, and Florida Bay. For example, the massive harmful cyanobacterial blooms that occurred on Lake Okeechobee and in the St.
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The plan builds on decades of actions completed under the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Construction Project and provides an enforceable framework to achieve restoration. This program supplements existing efforts north of the lake to improve water quality, including the Lakeside Ranch and Taylor Creek STAs, distributed water storage, and hybrid wetland treatment systems (Zhang et al., 2016)
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r² = 0.52, p < 0.01 150 100 50 Target ConcentraƟon 40 g/L 0 FIGURE 3-30 Yearly mean concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) in Lake Okeechobee, based on data collected at eight long-term monitoring stations.
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Concentrations of nutrients in Lake Okeechobee have major consequences for the larger CERP restoration program because they affect the type and amount of treatment features that are needed downstream of the lake. Further, algal blooms in the northern estuaries, as seen in 2000 and 2016 (see Chapter 2)
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See NRC (2008 and 2010) for further discussions of Lake Okeechobee water quality in the context of systemwide restoration goals.
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while the outflow flow-weighted mean total phosphorus concentrations are less in the recent years than in the past. Indeed, the total phosphorus load retained hovers in the 80 percent range even in relatively wet years since 2009 (Figure 3-33)
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total phosphorus concentration and inflow water volume, (B) inflow and outflow total phosphorus load and percent phosphorus load retained.
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. The same trend is not apparent in inflows to Everglades National Park, although total phosphorus levels within the park are consistently and generally well below 10 ppm.
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Too much flow and dry-down conditions can impact STA performance, sometimes for an extended period. Flow equalization basins provide upstream water storage to moderate the flow of water into an STA to optimize its performance under a range of hydrologic conditions.
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of LNWR, WCA-2, WCA-3, and Everglades National Park for the period WY1979-2015. The horizontal lines indicate the mean annual geometric mean total phosphorus concentrations for the Baseline (WY1979-1993)
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, which is currently a key dependency of moving new water into the Everglades via the Central Everglades Planning Project. Thus, the primary objective of the Science Plan is to improve understanding of the external and internal drivers that regulate the performance of STAs at low phosphorus concentration.
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As the initial 5-year studies conclude, future emphasis should include consideration of other macro-elements, such as carbon, nitrogen and sulfur on sustained STA performance, as well as the influence of extreme weather events. The Kissimmee River Restoration Project The Kissimmee River basin forms the headwaters of Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades to the south.
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. To evaluate project performance, the Kissimmee River Restoration Project adopted a monitoring program quite early in the project to track environ ental m responses to restoration efforts.
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Restoration Progress 125 FIGURE 3-35 The newly formed meander cutoff in the area of Kissimmee River Restoration Project Phase I SOURCE: Koebel et al.
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The NRC (2014) review concluded that despite dedicated efforts to manage invasive species in South Florida, there "is a lack of coordination at a strategic level that includes a comprehensive view of all nonnative species in all parts of the greater Everglades." The committee added that it was "optimistic that the Strategic Action Framework being developed by the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force [SFERTF]
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Herbert Hoover Dike The Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD) is a 143-mile structure surrounding Lake Okeechobee.
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The modified rehabilitation plan includes an additional 28 miles of cutoff wall (Zones B and C in Figure 3-37) , two embankment flood walls at two water control structures, and armoring of a bridge abutment -- a substantially reduced plan compared to that in USACE (2000)
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For example, portions of Picayune Strand are experiencing higher wetand dry-season water levels even though the project is not yet complete, and vegetation is becoming more similar to reference conditions. The Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands project has enhanced wetland inundation for more than 1,600 acres of the project area, although nearshore salinity values remained above the project targets.
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Rigorous monitoring is essential to document the ecosystem responses to these projects, to communicate restoration progress to decision makers and the public and to inform future restoration projects. Water quality in the remnant Everglades continues to improve through enhancements in STA management and operation, but water quality entering Lake Okeechobee and in the lake and its outflows remains in a degraded state.
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Recent Water Resources Reform and Development Act legislation, new project partnership agreements, and a more stable source of state funds have alleviated constraints on federal spending that had been caused by state-federal 50-50 cost-sharing requirements for the CERP. Although construction is underway on six CERP projects, the pace of progress is dependent on funding.
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The USACE has proposed that a Comprehensive Conservation Plan be developed that includes identification of potential future habitat for this subspecies considering predicted flows associated with Everglades restoration projects. This approach has the potential to pro duce a much-needed long-term solution for the sparrow conflict that integrates systemwide sparrow conservation with the multi-species benefits provided by the restoration.
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