LAKE OKEECHOBEE WATERSHED RESTORATION

April 4th, 2014 Public Workshop

INTEGRATED PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION REPORT& ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

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US Army Corps of Engineers

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COMPREHENSIVE EVERGLADES RESTORATION PLAN

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LAKE OKEECHOBEE WATERSHED PROJECTAS A COMPONENT OF COMPREHENSIVE EVERGLADES

RESTORATION

Four of the 68 components of CERP are contained within the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project

LOWP PROJECT OBJECTIVES1. Improve quantity, timing and distribution of flows into Lake Okeechobee to maintain ecologically desired lake stage ranges

2. Improve the salinity regime and the quality of oyster, submerged aquatic vegetation, and other estuarine community habitats in the northern estuaries

3. Increase spatial extent and functionality of wetland habitat throughout the Lake Okeechobee watershed

4. Proposed scope addition: Increase water supply availability for existing permitted water users of Lake Okeechobee

COMPREHENSIVE EVERGLADES RESTORATION PLAN

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PLAN FORMULATION3-PHASED PLANNING APPROACH

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PHASE 1Measures

that improve Lake Okeechobee stage conditions, increase availability of water

supply, and high and low discharges to the

Northern Estuaries (Objectives 1, 2 and 4)

PHASE 2Measures

that increase the spatial extent &

functionality of aquatic and wildlife habitat in

the Lake Okeechobee watershed (Objective

3)

Reservoirs and ASR Wells Watershed wetland restoration

PHASE 3Measures

that improve damaging high

discharges to the Northern Estuaries

(Objective 2)

Deep Injection Wells

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PLAN FORMULATIONPHASE 1: FORMULATION FOR IMPROVEMENT OF

LAKE OKEECHOBEE STAGES, DISCHARGES TO ESTUARIES, & WATER SUPPLYReservoir Placement and Sizing Considerations Land Suitability Model to identify ‘constraint

free’ sites Analysis of spatial relationships between

reservoir sites 20 reservoir sites initially considered

Scoring/Screening Sites

Reservoirs Retained for Alternative Formulation• K05 North• K05 South• K-42• I-01

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LAKEOKEECHOBEE

C-41 Canal

N. Lake OReservoir

C-40 Canal

NicodemusSlough

Kissimmee/Paradise Run

Taylor Creek

PortMayaca

LakesideRanch

PLAN FORMULATIONPHASE 1: FORMULATION FOR IMPROVEMENT OF

LAKE OKEECHOBEE STAGES, DISCHARGES TO ESTUARIES & WATER SUPPLY

• Groundwater modeling simulations in the 2015 CERP ASR Regional Study concluded that 80 ASR wells could be constructed within the northern Lake Okeechobee basin on SFWMD rights of way based on hydrogeologic performance measures.

• Up to 112 ASR considered for this study by including reservoir-assisted ASR wells (placing ASR wells on LOWP reservoir perimeters for greater operational flexibility)

ASR Formulation Strategy: Add increments of 60 to 112 ASR wells to reservoir configurations per alternative

POTENTIAL ASR LOCATIONS (SFWMD-OWNED LANDS)

FISHEATING CREEKINDIAN PRAIRIES-65DS-65ETAYLOR CREEK/NUBBIN SLOUGH

SUB-BASINS

Not to Scale

AQUIFER, STORAGE & RECOVERY (ASR)

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Fish Slough

IP-10

Kissimmee River

Lake O West

Paradise Run

Indian Prairie

Six-MileMarsh

FisheatingCreek

BootheelCreek Lake O

East

POTENTIAL WETLAND SITES

FISHEATING CREEKINDIAN PRAIRIES-65DS-65ETAYLOR CREEK/NUBBIN SLOUGH

SUB-BASINS

Not to Scale

Wetland Restoration Component• 3,500 acre CERP Yellow Book Target• Sites ranked on the following performance

measures:

PLAN FORMULATIONPHASE 2: FORMULATION TO INCREASE SPATIAL EXTENT OF HABITAT

WITHIN LAKE AND SURROUNDING WATERSHED

Top 4 Sites for conceptual design, cost, and habitat unit calculations • Kissimmee River ~3,300 acres• Lake Okeechobee West ~2,800 acres• Paradise Run ~4,000 acres• IP-10 ~3,500 acres

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PLAN FORMULATIONPHASE 3: FORMULATION FOR IMPROVEMENT OF DAMAGING HIGH DISCHARGES TO ESTUARIES

DEEP INJECTION WELLS DIWs provide an additional outlet for excess

Lake Okeechobee water to reduce damaging regulatory releases to the coastal estuaries

DIWs would be used strategically only when regulatory Lake Okeechobee releases are being triggered by high water levels, thus diverting portions of excess flows into DIWs, rather than discharging to the estuaries

Modeling shows no impact to lake stages or water supply (due to conservative operational rules)

Proposing range of 30-90 DIWs in 3 alternatives (15 million gallons/day capacity each)

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INITIAL ARRAY OF ALTERNATIVES

1ST ROUND OF MODELING 2ND ROUND OF MODELING

1st round of modeling and benefits calculation to optimize water storage and recovery for improvement in high and low lake stages and estuary releases,

2nd round of modeling and benefits calculation to optimize water management measures for improvement in undesirable high regulatory discharges to northern estuaries along with wetland restoration measures

Alternative

Reservoir Component ASR Component DIW Component

Compatible Wetland ComponentsReservoir (s)

Storage Capacity

(acre-feet)

# of ASR wells (assuming 5mgd

capacity)

# of DIWs (assuming

15mgd capacity)

No Action

Alternative 1 K05 North and K05 South 267K 60 - 110 30-90 Kissimmee River

Paradise Run

Alternative 2a K-05 North, K-05 South, and K-42 437K 60 - 110 0

Kissimmee RiverParadise RunLake O West

IP-10

Alternative 2b* K-05 North and K-42 291K 60 - 110 30-90

Kissimmee RiverParadise RunLake O West

IP-10

Alternative 3 K-42 and I-01 295K 60 - 112 30-90Kissimmee River

Paradise RunLake O West

*Note: this alternative was a later add-on and was not included in first round of modeling)

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PROJECT ALTERNATIVES

Alternative 1Reservoirs (Blue)• K05 North (~8,000 acres)• K05 South (~10,000 acres)

Compatible Wetlands (Green)• Kissimmee River (~3,300

acres)• Paradise Run (~4,000 acres)

• ASR wells: 60-110 at 5mgd capacity

• DIWs: 30-90 at 15mgd capacity

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PROJECT ALTERNATIVESAlternative 2a

Reservoirs (Blue)• K05 North (~8,000 acres)• K05 South (~10,000 acres)• K42 (~12,000 acres)

Compatible Wetlands (Green)• Kissimmee River (~3,300

acres)• Paradise Run (~4,000 acres)• Lake O West (~2,800 acres)• IP-10 (~3,500 acres)

• ASR wells: 60-110 at 5mgd capacity

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PROJECT ALTERNATIVESAlternative 2b

Reservoirs (Blue)• K05 North (~8,000 acres)• K42 (~12,000 acres)

Compatible Wetlands (Green)• Kissimmee River (~3,300

acres)• Paradise Run (~4,000 acres)• Lake O West (~2,800 acres)• IP-10 (~3,500 acres)

• ASR wells: 60-110 at 5mgd capacity

• DIWs: 30-90 at 15mgd capacity

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PROJECT ALTERNATIVESAlternative 3

Reservoirs (Blue)• K42 (~12,000 acres)• I-01 (~10,000 acres)

Compatible Wetlands (Green)• Kissimmee River (~3,300

acres)• Paradise Run (~4,000 acres)• Lake O West (~2,800 acres)

• ASR wells: 60-110 at 5mgd capacity

• DIWs: 30-90 at 15mgd capacity