Jacksonville, Fla -- JACKSONVILLE, Fla. May 31, 2024 --- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District reflects on the hard work and dedicated efforts of their state partners as well as the scientist and engineers within USACE and their unwavering commitment to Everglades restoration. USACE, and its state partners are making strategic efforts to restore, rehabilitate and reverse the damage inflicted in the past. This mission is no small task, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is an intensive project with far-reaching impacts on both the Everglades and its diverse wildlife, as well as the entire population of Florida.
CERP is one of the largest restoration programs in the United States. CERP is the result of dedicated efforts from hundreds of scientists and engineers from over 30 agencies that saw the need to save the Everglades and constructed a plan to make it happen.
“The Everglades are an American treasure on par with the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and California’s ancient redwoods. There is no other place else like them in the world,” said Joseph W. Westphal, Former Assistant Secretary of the Army.
CERP contains 68 components that will “get the water right” by addressing quantity, quality, timing, and distribution problems. The best available scientific and technical information was used during the development, implementation, and evaluation of the plan.
These components balance the amount of water available for the natural system and urban and agricultural water supply, while maintaining flood protection. CERP promotes restoration of more natural flows of water- getting clean water to the right places at the right time to restore the health of Everglades habitats and increase abundance of fish and wildlife.
“Increased funding over the last few fiscal years plus an additional $1.1B from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law have spurred momentum and propelled the program to the peak of implementation in the program’s history,” said Eva Velez, USACE Jacksonville Chief of the Ecosystem Branch.
Restoration of more natural hydrologic conditions will result in improvements to native flora and fauna, including threatened and endangered species. This plan was designed to enlarge the region’s supply of fresh water and to improve how water is delivered to the natural system.
The South Florida area included in the CERP project encompasses about 18,000 square miles and includes sixteen counties from Orlando in the center of the state to the Florida Keys at the southern tip. Major areas include Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee, St. Lucie River & Indian River Lagoon, Everglades Agricultural Area, Water Conservation Areas, Upper East Coast (Martin and St. Lucie Counties), Lower East Coast (Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade County), Biscayne Bay, Everglades National Park, Big Cypress Basin, Florida Bay, Whitewater Bay and the Ten Thousand Islands, Florida Keys and Reef Tract.
Currently the SFER program has 3 feasibility efforts underway, the Lake Okeechobee Component A Reservoir (LOCAR) section 203 study by the South Florida Water Management District is under development, 7 projects are currently in construction, and operational planning efforts are underway in every region of the system.
In November 2021, construction was complete on the Indian River Lagoon-South (IRL) C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area (STA). The IRL Watershed captures local runoff from the C-44 basin, reducing average annual total nutrient loads and improves salinity in the St. Lucie Estuary. The IRL is home to 4,300 species of plants and animals the C-44 Reservoir and 6 cell STA provide a total of 60,500 acre-feet of new water storage. The C-44 STA will soon be open for public recreation use allowing Florida locals and visitors to get back out into nature and enjoy the new wetlands.
In December 2023, the completion of a pump station at the Caloosahatchee (C-43) Reservoir was completed. The C-43 Reservoir provides water storage and supports healthy salinity levels in the Caloosahatchee Estuary. The pump station will move water from the Caloosahatchee River into the 18 square mile reservoir and reduce harmful flows of fresh water, improving the health of the Estuary.
In January 2024, construction was complete at the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) A-2 STA. The EAA A-2 STA covers 6,500 acres and will filter nutrients out of the water from Lake Okeechobee before it flows into the EAA Reservoir. The EAA Reservoir is a critical component to Everglades restoration and will aide in moving water south and rehydrating the wetlands. Construction is still underway on the EAA Reservoir, once fully complete the 10,500-acre reservoir will cover approximately 16-square miles with the capacity to store 240,000-acre-feet of water.
In May 2024, the Faka Union Canal at Picayune Strand is plugged. Plugging 48 miles of canals was the last major component of the Picayune Strand Restoration project. This project will restore the natural water flow across 85 square miles in western Collier County, rehydrating drained wetlands in the Picayune Strand State Forest, and improving water flows into Collier Seminole State Park, Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge and the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.
South Florida’s ecosystems and waters are connected and progress made in each respective area supports efforts in the others to deliver essential benefits. Every incremental success complements the overall efforts to restore this national treasure. These efforts will ultimately improve 2.4 million acres of south Florida’s ecosystem (including Everglades National Park), reduce high-volume discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the estuaries, improve water deliveries to Florida and Biscayne Bays, and enhance water supply.
To make sure we are continuing to move in the right direction, an interagency team of scientists, engineers, and modelers, known as RECOVER (Restoration, COordination & VERification), was developed to ensure that science continues to guide implementation of CERP. We need science to continue to measure results and learn as we go to maximize the benefits to the ecosystem, and meet authorized project purposes as we operate more projects.
Incorporating the most up to date science and information into the planning of CERP projects is vital for Everglades restoration as new science and monitoring data are continuously evolving. Through evaluation, assessment, and planning, RECOVER provides support throughout all phases of a project from design through operations and monitoring. RECOVER developed the CERP Monitoring and Assessment Plan (MAP) to provide a framework that supports measurement of systemwide responses to determine how well CERP is achieving its goals and objectives; and to support and enable adaptive management that guides management operations (particularly water management operations) for updating and improving CERP when needed.
Everglades restoration provides critical benefits to improve the health of the ecosystem including endangered species habitat, improves water supply, manages flood risk, and improves resilience to climate change. A healthy and resilient Everglades directly supports the economy and sustainability of South Florida’s communities.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue to work with Federal, state, tribal and local agencies to restore the Everglades. Restoring the Everglades is about the relationships between the people who live in South Florida and the ecosystem in which they live.
(The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District on the district’s website at https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JacksonvilleDistrict and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/JaxStrong.