Specifications

Section 4 Identification of Problems and Opportunities
EAA Storage Reservoirs Revised Draft PIR and EIS February 2006
4-1
4.0 IDENTIFICATION OF PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES
4.1 STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Water resources projects are planned and implemented to solve problems, meet
challenges, and seize opportunities. A problem can be thought of as an
undesirable condition, while an opportunity offers a chance for progress or
improvement. The identification of problems and opportunities focuses the
planning effort and aids in the development of objectives. Problems and
opportunities can also be viewed as local and regional resource conditions that
can be modified in response to expressed public concerns. This section identifies
the concerns and needs of the affected public and describes problems the EAA
Storage Reservoir project is attempting to resolve, as well as opportunities to
benefit the natural and human environment.
The Study Area encompasses the Lake Okeechobee Service Areas, which
includes agricultural, Tribal, and municipal water users in the local basins
within the Lake Okeechobee watershed and the Everglades Agricultural Area.
Water from the lake also serves as a backup source of water supply for the
heavily populated and growing areas of the lower East Coast of Florida. Current
operations for the C&SF Project involve water supply and flood releases to
manage water levels in Lake Okeechobee, the WCAs, and the East Everglades.
System changes have resulted in peak flows that are higher, following major
rain events, and flow rates that decline more abruptly following the end of the
wet season. Flows to the Everglades from Lake Okeechobee have shifted from
primarily wet season flows in response to rainfall, to controlled dry season
deliveries in response to urban and agricultural water demands. Channelization
and impoundment have disrupted the annual pattern of rising and falling water
depths in the remaining wetlands of South Florida.
Lake management practices result in higher than desirable lake levels
associated with periodic large freshwater discharges to both the Caloosahatchee
and St. Lucie River Estuaries, which has severely disrupted productivity in the
ecological communities in those estuaries. The high lake levels also damage the
ecological communities within the lake’s littoral zone. Environmentalists and
scientists within the environmental community endorse lowering lake levels
while recognizing the need to maintain existing levels of water supply for
agricultural and public purposes. These issues highlight the balance that the
CERP, and the EAA Storage Reservoir project as an integral part of the CERP,
must achieve to be successful.
4.1.1 Public Input in Developing Statement of Problems and Opportunities
NEPA requires full public participation in the planning and decision-making
process. As such, a Public Involvement Program was established for this Project