South Florida Ecosystem Restoration (SFER) Operations & Maintenance (O&M)

April 2022

FACT SHEET

SOUTH FLORIDA ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION (SFER)
OVERVIEW (O&M)

Operations and Maintenance
Congressional Districts: 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27

1. DESCRIPTION

The South Florida Ecosystem Restoration (SFER) Program stretches from the southern Orlando area southward across the Everglades, the Florida Keys, and the contiguous and near-shore waters of South Florida, and across South Florida from east to west including portions of the drainage areas of the Indian River Lagoon and the Caloosahatchee River, as well as population centers along the southeast and southwest coasts. The project area is defined by the political boundaries of the South Florida Water Management District and includes all of the Everglades. It encompasses an area of approximately 18,000 square miles, which includes all or part of 18 counties in the southeast part of the State of Florida. Principle areas are the Kissimmee River Basin, Lake Okeechobee, Everglades Agricultural Area, Upper East Coast, Lower East Coast, Big Cypress Basin, Water Conservation Areas, Everglades National Park, Southwest Florida, Florida Bay and the Florida Keys.

The Central & Southern Florida (C&SF) project (includes the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan) was originally authorized for construction under the Flood Control Act of 1948.  Subsequent Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) authorizations include WRDA 1996 (Public Law [P.L.] 104-303), Section 528 (b)(3); WRDA 1999, Section 208; WRDA 2000 (P.L. 106-543), Section 601 (e) (4); WRDA  2007 (Section 6006); WRDA 2014; WRDA 2016; WRDA 2018; and WRDA 2020.

The Modified Water Deliveries (MWD) to Everglades National Park (ENP) was authorized under the Everglades Expansion Act of 1989 (P.L. 101-229).

Everglades & South Florida: Seminole Big Cypress Reservation Water Conservation Plan, part of the Critical Restoration Projects Program was authorized in WRDA 1996 (P.L. 104-303), Section 528 (b)(3).  WRDA 2000 (P.L. 106-543), Section 601 (e) (4), authorized cost sharing for operation, maintenance, repair, replacement and rehabilitation.  The project was deauthorized in WRDA 2020 and will be fiscally closed out.

2. FUNDING

Allocation for FY22 $8,950,000
President’s Budget FY23  $10,665,000
 

3. SPONSOR

South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) 
3301 Gun Club Road
West Palm Beach, Florida 33406

Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)
2600 Blair Stone Road, MS 3570
Tallahassee, Florida 32399

Lee County Board of Commissioners
Post Office Box 398
Ft. Myers, Florida 33902-0398

Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department
Post Office Box 16097
West Palm Beach, Florida 33416-6097

U.S. Department of the Interior (USDOI)
849 C St. NW
Washington, D.C. 20240

4. STATUS

PROJECTS

Central & Southern Florida Project: FY22 funding for Operations & Maintenance was provided via the primary appropriation bill in the amount of $8,024,000. The FY22 budget allows the USACE to fully meet its legal requirements of biological opinions and meet its required O&M cost share responsibility for annual water management operation of project features.

C&SF Programmatic: FY22 funding for Operations & Maintenance in the amount of $950,000 includes O&M Management oversight actions to meet biological opinion requirements and Cooperative Stream gaging efforts.

South Dade County (C-111): FY22 Operations & Maintenance in the amount of $1,003,000 includes operation and maintenance work needed to meet cost share requirements of the pump station O&M.

Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park, Conveyance and Seepage Control Features: FY22 Operations & Maintenance in the amount of $921,000 covers cost share responsibilities for operation and maintenance of the features and for legally required endangered species monitoring.

Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan: The FY22 budget allows the USACE to meet its cost share requirements for OMRR&R on transferred features of the following projects: Melaleuca Eradication and Other Exotic Plants, Picayune Strand Restoration, Site 1 Impoundment, Indian River Lagoon - South, Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands, and Broward County Water Preserve Areas.

Everglades and South Florida: The FY22 budget allows the USACE to fiscally close out OMRR&R on Seminole Big Cypress Reservation Water Conservation Plan, which was deauthorized in WRDA 2020.