May 2023
FACT SHEET
EVERGLADES AND SOUTH FLORIDA ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION PLAN
Seminole Big Cypress
Construction (C)
Congressional Districts: 17, 18, 19, 20, 26
1. DESCRIPTION
The Seminole Tribe Big Cypress Water Conservation Plan project is located in Hendry County, directly north of the Big Cypress National Preserve (BCNP) and west of Water Conservation Area (WCA) 3A. The Big Cypress Reservation is traversed by the L-28 and L-28I canals and the north and west feeder canals. All of these conveyances were constructed as part of the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) project.
East-side work consists of conveyance canals, which have been designed and constructed by the Seminole Tribe. West-side work consists of several basins, each of which consists of an irrigation storage cell, water resource area (similar to a stormwater treatment area (STA)), pump stations for transferring water, canals for distribution, and inverted siphons to carry effluent under the West Feeder Canal into the reservation's native range. Water will then flow southward into the BCNP.
This project is one of the nine projects comprising the Everglades and South Florida (E&SF) Ecosystem Restoration Program, also known as Critical Restoration Projects Program. This project is no longer funded as it has been deauthorized.
2. FUNDING
| Estimated Total Cost |
$61,900,000 |
| Estimated Federal Cost |
$30,000,000 |
| Allocation thru FY22 |
$30,000,000 |
| Allocation for FY23 |
$0 |
| President's Budget FY24 |
$0 |
3. SPONSOR
Seminole Tribe of Florida
6300 Stirling Road
Hollywood, Florida 33024
4. STATUS
In July 2003, Seminole Tribe construction of the East Side Conveyance Canal System was completed. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) completed construction of water management features in Basins 1, 4, and 2 in 2008, 2013, and 2017, respectively. Because of the high soil porosity and seepage rates noted from the 6 irrigation cells in Basin 1, these features were eliminated from the remaining basins’ design. During Basin 2 construction, the project reached the federal funding cap set by Congress, leaving the Seminole Tribe responsible for providing funding beyond the 50-50 cost share. At their request, an amendment to the Project Cooperation Agreement was executed on 20 August 2018, removing Basin 3 from the authorized project. USACE has transferred construction features to the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the project is currently under Operations and Maintenance. By letter dated 9 March 2020, the Seminole Tribe requested that this project be de-authorized. The Water Resources Development Act of 2020 deauthorized this project in December 2020. Litigation, currently funded by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, is ongoing against the construction contractor.
