"This innovative and game-changing project will use the latest science and technology to address a number of water management and environmental concerns for the entire region now and in the future," said SFWMD Governing Board Member and WRAC Facilitator Brandon Tucker. "This TSP will reduce harmful releases to the northern estuaries, benefit lake ecology, protect endangered and threatened species and improve water supply. With changes made based on public input, it also addresses the concerns of communities around Lake Okeechobee."
As part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Restoration Project is a joint planning effort being conducted by SFWMD and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) that began in 2016. The goal is to identify opportunities to improve the quantity, timing and distribution of flows into the 730-square-mile Lake Okeechobee.
The 920,000-acre study area - where placement of potential features was being considered - covers a large portion of the Lake Okeechobee Watershed north of the lake. The goals and objectives of the project include increasing water storage capacity in the watershed, helping manage Lake Okeechobee water levels, improving the quantity and timing of discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, as well as restoring wetlands and improving existing and future water supply.
The TSP unveiled on Thursday includes a wetland attenuation feature with a shallow holding capacity of 43,000 acre-feet that can store water before it reaches the lake or be integrated with Lake Okeechobee operations to provide flexibility and efficiency. The plan also incorporates 80 Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) wells distributed throughout the watershed. The ASR wells will use established technology in concert with the wetland attenuation feature to maximize water storage efficiency. In addition, the TSP includes 5,300 acres of wetland restoration in the Kissimmee River floodplain.
This plan would reduce the number of discharge events from Lake Okeechobee to the northern estuaries by 67 percent, when used in conjunction with other authorized projects. The TSP would also reduce the frequency of water supply cutbacks to existing permitted users during the dry season.
Public Meeting
SFWMD and USACE will hold a public meeting for landowners in the project area on June 18 at 6 p.m. at the Williamson Center of Indian River State College in Okeechobee. The draft implementation report for the project is also expected to be available for review by the public and regulatory agencies starting June 29.
