Specifications

Section 5 Formulation of Alternative Plans
EAA Storage Reservoirs Revised Draft PIR and EIS February 2006
5-1
5.0 FORMULATION OF ALTERNATIVE PLANS
5.1 PRIOR FORMULATION FROM THE COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW
STUDY
In 1999, USACE completed a comprehensive review study of the C&SF project
(a.k.a. “Restudy”). The purpose of the Restudy was to reexamine the C&SF
Project to “determine the feasibility of structural or operational modifications to
the project essential to the restoration of the Everglades and the South Florida
ecosystem, while providing for other water-related needs such as urban and
agricultural water supply and flood protection in those areas served by the
project" (WRDA 1996). The intent of the study was to evaluate conditions within
the South Florida ecosystem and make recommendations to modify the C&SF
project to restore important functions and values of the Everglades and South
Florida ecosystem and plan for the water resources needs of the people of South
Florida for the next 50 years. The selected plan (Alternative D13-R) was
published as the “Final Integrated Feasibility Report and Programmatic Impact
Statement (PEIS) for the C&SF Project” in April 1999.
The plan formulation and evaluation process employed during the Restudy
utilized a base set of management measures identified during the
reconnaissance phase of the study from which the team formulated
comprehensive plan alternatives in a “building block” fashion to achieve desired
objectives. In building alternative plans, the Restudy Team considered cost-
effective means to achieving the desired output. For example, if a particular
least cost component (e.g., increased in-lake storage was the least cost storage
option) resulted in an unacceptable adverse impact, then the team selected the
next least cost component (e.g., the EAA storage reservoirs) that was effective
(greater output) for achieving planning objectives without creating unacceptable
adverse impacts elsewhere in the system. The evaluations conducted during the
Restudy confirmed that Alternative D13-R resulted in substantial improvements
over the other alternative plans in natural system areas in the WCAs and ENP
without compromising Lake Okeechobee water levels or water supply to the
Lake Okeechobee and Lower East Coast Service Areas in a cost-effective
manner.
Since storage of water within the EAA had been established as one of the
primary management measures contributing to the goals and purposes of the
Restudy, approximately 45,000 acres were acquired in the EAA (the Talisman
Lands Exchange Transaction) using federal funds appropriated to the
Department of Interior under the authority of the 1996 Farm Bill (Federal
Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996, Public Law 104-127, 110 Stat.
1022). As the Restudy neared completion, there was an effort to identify early
opportunities to obtain system-wide benefits by utilizing readily available lands.
Therefore, the EAA Storage Reservoirs component of the CERP was separated