Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir A-1: Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; South Florida Water Management District

The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) proposes to construct and operate an above-ground reservoir, with a capacity of 190,000 acre feet at an approximate depth of 12 feet. The reservoir would be constructed on a 16, 768-acre parcel of land situated north of Storm water Treatment Area 3/4 and between the Miami and North New River Canals in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) in Palm Beach County, Florida. As proposed, construction of the project would impact approximately 16,252.68 acres of atypical jurisdictional areas (farmed sugarcane fields), 187.63 acres of jurisdictional nonagricultural wetlands, and 163 acres of jurisdictional canals and ditches by dredging, filling, and/or flooding. The SFWMD would need to obtain a Department of the Army permit pursuant to Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. This Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) evaluates the environmental effects of 5 alternatives including the SFWMD's proposed action, the EAA Reservoir A-1 project, and the no action alternative. The purpose of the EAA Reservoir A-1 is to store water from stormwater runoff and releases from Lake Okeechobee at any given time. Without this project, the 190,000 acre-feet of water will potentially cause flooding in the EAA, and will need to be pumped to Stormwater Treatment Area 3/4, bypassed to tide, or released to the estuaries from Lake Okeechobee. This project will improve timing of water deliveries from the EAA to the Water Conservation Areas, reduce Lake Okeechobee regulatory releases to the estuaries, meet supplemental agricultural irrigation demands, and increase flood protection within the EAA.