The Project Delivery Team (PDT) members include only the federal officials and elected officers of state, local or tribal governments or their designated employees with authority to act on their behalf acting in their official capacities.

Members of the public are welcome to attend the government agency PDT meeting and provide comment during designated periods.

Upcoming BBSEER Project Delivery Team (PDT) Meeting Dates: April 8, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, (USACE), Jacksonville District invites Project Delivery Team (PDT) members, stakeholders, partners, and members of the public to attend an in-person and virtual PDT Meeting for the Biscayne Bay and Southeastern Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (BBSEER) Project study on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

“The BBSEER team is excited to reengage with our public Project Delivery Team. The team will present the results of evaluations for the BBSEER Final Array of Alternatives and respond to feedback on improvements to the alternatives to provide the most benefits in the BBSEER study area. We thank you for your continued engagement, comments on the performance of the Final Array of Alternatives, and your support throughout this iterative process as the team makes progress towards the Tentatively Selected Plan milestone,” said Jennifer John, BBSEER Senior Project Manager.

BBSEER alternative plans are intended to improve freshwater flows to freshwater Everglades wetlands of the Southern Glades, Model Lands, coastal wetlands and estuarine areas of Biscayne Bay and the Southeastern Everglades including Card Sound, Barnes Sound, and Manatee Bay.

Please join the BBSEER Team for an in-person and virtual Project Delivery Team (PDT) Meeting on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Town of Cutler Bay Council Chambers, 10720 Caribbean Blvd Ste 105, Cutler Bay, FL 33189.

BBSEER PDT Meeting:

Tuesday, April 8, 2025, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Microsoft Teams Login: Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 993 271 193 650

Passcode: DM7YG6uG 

Dial in by phone: 1-601-262-2433

Phone conference ID: 737 140 458#

BBSEER Meeting Objectives:

•           Reengage with the public Project Delivery Team after a 6-month technical pause.

•           Present evaluations of the Final Array of Alternatives for PDT comment and discussion.

•           Identify changes that may provide greater ecological performance of individual plans.

•           Receive PDT and Public Comments

•           Next Steps and Closing Comments

Tentative Agenda:

•           9:00 – 9:15 AM:         Welcome, Meeting Objectives, and Study Objectives

•           9:15 – 10:15 AM:       Final Array evaluations and discussion 

•           10:15 – 11:00 AM:     Tentatively Selected Plan recommendation and discussion

•           11:00 – 11:30 AM:     TSP Optimization and discussion

•           11:30 – 11:45 AM:     Public Comment

•           11:45 – 12:00 PM:     Next Steps and Closing Comments

Virtual Meeting Instructions:

• Unless you are calling in only and will not be viewing the virtual meeting, please sign in on the virtual meeting website first and, when prompted, select the audio connection “Call Me” option. This will allow the meeting to call you directly and may operate better than if you opt to dial in.
• At the beginning of the meeting, please sign in via chat and include your first and last name, agency or group affiliation if applicable, and email. PDT members should also include the PDT designation.
• Please mute your phone unless you are speaking, and do not put the call on hold.
• PDT members should provide their full name and the agency or group that they represent when speaking.
• Members of the public will have an opportunity to provide comments during the specified public comment periods.

For additional information on the BBSEER Project: https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/BBSEER/

If you have any questions, please send an email to BBSEERComments@usace.army.mil.

USACE is in the planning phase for the Biscayne Bay and Southeastern Everglades Ecosystem Restoration (BBSEER) Project, an important part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The South Florida Water Management District is our partner as the non-federal sponsor for this project.

The BBSEER Study is focused on formulating plans to restore parts of the south Florida ecosystem in freshwater wetlands of the Southern Glades and Model Lands, the coastal wetlands and subtidal areas, including mangrove and seagrass areas, of Biscayne Bay, Biscayne National Park, Manatee Bay, Card Sound and Barnes Sound. These areas have been affected by over-drainage and by large-volume freshwater releases from canals, such as the C-111 Canal. As part of the study, the USACE will publish information in a Draft Integrated Project Implementation Report (PIR) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) document.

To meet BBSEER objectives, this study will identify, consider, and assess a comprehensive list of features and operational changes. The features and operational changes may include, but are not limited to, canal plugs and backfilling, structure removal, conveyance features, stormwater treatment areas, reservoir and storage areas, seepage capture, treated wastewater, new levees or berms and controlled burns. During the study, additional measures may be added, and project locations and dimensions will be specified in the draft integrated PIR/NEPA document.

Like other CERP studies where multiple components are combined into one planning effort and Project Implementation Report, the BBSEER Study will also include more than one CERP component. The BBSEER Study will begin with six CERP components identified in the 1999 study known as the “Restudy” or “Yellow Book.” These components include:

•           Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands

•           Biscayne Bay Coastal Canals

•           C-111N Canal Project

•           South Miami Dade County Reuse

•           West Miami Dade Reuse

•           North Lake Belt

View the Biscayne Bay and Southeastern Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Project (BBSEER) Fact Sheet at https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p16021coll11/id/5451.

The Everglades ecosystem encompasses a system of diverse wetland landscapes that are hydrologically and ecologically connected across more than 200 miles from north to south, and across 18,000 square miles of southern Florida. In 2000, the U.S. Congress authorized the federal government, in partnership with the state of Florida, to embark upon a multi-decade, multi-billion-dollar Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) to further protect and restore the remaining Everglades ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs of the region.

The Biscayne Bay Southeastern Everglades Restoration (BBSEER) Project, a part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), that seeks to protect and restore the remaining Everglades ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs in the region, is being undertaken in partnership with the South Florida Water Management District.   

The construction of roads, railways and ditches, along with the connection of the South Dade Conveyance System to the sea through the C-111 canal, dramatically altered the distribution of freshwater across the landscape of Southeastern Florida. These man-made barriers and drainage features starved some areas of freshwater and increased the supply to others converting what was a healthy productive aquatic ecosystem into a distressed environment. 

The purpose of the BBSEER project will be to improve the quantity, quality, timing and distribution of freshwater to estuarine and nearshore subtidal areas, including mangrove and seagrass areas, of Biscayne Bay, Biscayne National Park, Card Sound, Barnes Sound and Manatee Bay.  This project will also seek to improve hydroperiods and freshwater marsh habitat in the Model Lands and Southern Glades, to re-establish hydrological and ecological connectivity between these areas and to improve the resiliency of these important marsh and coastal habitats to future sea level change.

Implementation of the project will provide multiple benefits to the aquatic environment including improved habitat for juvenile and prey-fish species, improved conditions for recreationally and commercially important aquatic species and fish and improved habitat for wading birds that were once common in this area prior to extensive drainage, all while maintaining the current level of flood protection.