Specifications

Executive Summary
blooms, which will continue to adversely affect submerged aquatic vegetation
and the habitat, diversity, and abundance of in-lake fish populations. During
dry times, withdrawals of Lake Okeechobee water for irrigation and municipal
and Tribal water supplies would continue to create harmful low water levels in
the lake and reduce the availability of water to maintain optimum flows and
levels in the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Estuaries.
Since discharging excess water during wet periods to tide is expected to continue
without the project, it is also expected that there will be less water available
than is necessary to maintain desirable water levels in the Everglades
Protection Area (including Everglades National Park) during dry periods.
ALTERNATIVE PLANS CONSIDERED
Initial plan formulation involved consideration of management measures that
would increase the capability to manage high water levels in Lake Okeechobee
and provide additional storage in the South Florida region. These were screened
from further consideration since it was reaffirmed through cost-effectiveness
analysis that an above-ground storage reservoir within the EAA is the most cost-
effective means of achieving the goals and objectives of the Comprehensive
Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and the specific benefits of the EAA
Storage Reservoirs project. To complete the plan formulation and evaluation, a
final array of alternative plans with differing configurations, depths, footprints,
and construction techniques were compared to determine the most cost-effective
plan.
All of the alternative plans include storing flood control releases from Lake
Okeechobee, providing an additional source of water for the Everglades
Protection Area, and providing an alternate source of agricultural water supply
for the EAA.
In addition to the “No-Action” alternative, five alternative plans that would
provide 360,000 acre-feet of storage in the EAA were developed. The alternative
plans are:
No- Action (future without project);
An approximately 62,000 acre earthen embankment reservoir with a
maximum normal pool storage depth of six-feet;
An approximately 38,000 acre earthen embankment reservoir with a
maximum normal pool storage depth of ten-feet;
EAA Storage Reservoirs Revised Draft PIR and EIS February 2006
ES-iv