JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District is issuing a Notice of Availability of the Environmental Assessment (EA) and proposed Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) to support the interim operations plan for the L-28 South gated culverts (S-229A, S-229B, and S-229C).
The gated culverts are currently under construction by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and Jacksonville District is evaluating the interim operational plan pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 408 in response to a request from the SFWMD (i.e., requestor). The SFWMD anticipates a construction completion date of May 2027.
Current water management operations in the area are governed by the System Operation Manual Volume 4, for the Water Conservation Areas (WCAs), Everglades National Park (ENP), and ENP to South Dade Conveyance System approved August 28, 2020 (i.e., Combined Operational Plan (COP) Water Control Plan (WCP)).
The SFWMD is seeking a Section 408 approval of the interim operations plan to allow operation of the culverts once construction is completed and prior to them being incorporated into a WCP (i.e., Central Everglades Planning Project Operations Plan 1.0, etc.).
The L-28 South gated culverts are features of the Western Everglades Restoration Plan (WERP), which is a component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).
Since a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) between the Corps and the SFWMD has not yet been completed for WERP, all project construction and operational plans are to be reviewed (with preparation of NEPA as appropriate) pursuant to 33 U.S.C. 408 until the PPA is executed.
A public notice for the Section 408 request was released on September 29, 2025.
The L-28 South levee is in the western areas of Broward and Miami-Dade counties and forms the western boundary of WCA 3A. The L-28 South levee is constructed with a borrow canal located on its west side between US 441 and S-344 and on its east side north of S-344. S-229A is located approximately 2.5-miles upstream (north) of S-344. S-229B and S-229C are located downstream (south) of S-344, approximately 2.9-miles and 4.4-miles, respectively.
The SFWMD Hydrology and Hydraulics Bureau has completed regional hydrologic modeling with the Regional Simulation Model (Glades Lower East Coast Service Area (RSM-GL)) to support the development and evaluation of their preferred alternative (ALTA Optimized), which includes the operation of S-229A, S-229B, and S-229C when stages in WCA 3A are in Zone A of the Regulation Schedule subject to downstream constraints.
The EA and proposed FONSI are available for your 30 day review on Jacksonville District’s environmental planning website under “Multiple Counties”: https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/About/Divisions-Offices/Planning/Environmental-Branch/Environmental-Documents/.
Please direct any comments, questions or requests for additional information to Melissa Nasuti by telephone at (904) 232-1368 or by email at melissa.a.nasuti@usace.army.mil. The deadline for comments is 11 May 2026. The project number for this project is SAJ-408-2024-0186.
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