Specifications

Executive Summary
requirements to maintain noise generation, local water contamination and air
emissions within required limits.
Permanent habitat losses due to land conversion to deep water and structures
within the footprint would be offset by the gain in habitat quality in Lake
Okeechobee, the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries and the Everglades.
Permanent adverse effects include: effects on existing habitats, including
irreversible commitment and loss of atypical and remnant wetland habitats
inside the project footprint; loss of unique farmland and their agricultural
productivity; and potential effects on cultural resources, endangered species and
visual aesthetic effects. The selected plan would affect three farm parcels
covering approximately 32,000 acres and displace a maximum of 20 non-resident
owners. It would not impact any known historic or cultural resources. There
would be no adverse impacts on minority or disadvantaged populations.
Coordination is ongoing to assure that there are no adverse impacts on
endangered species. Consultation on the effects of the reservoir to the long-term
survival of the Florida panther is also on-going.
The selected plan ranked highest overall among the alternatives evaluated
based on the National Ecosystem Restoration (NER), National Economic
Development (NED), Environmental Quality (EQ), and Regional Economic
Development Effects (RED) accounts. Other considerations, including footprint,
construction risk and uncertainty, and public acceptability, were included in
plan comparison and selection considerations.
PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
Section 601(f)(2)(A) of WRDA 2000 provides that in carrying out an activity
authorized under WRDA 2000, the Secretary of the Army may determine that
the activity is justified by the environmental benefits derived by the South
Florida ecosystem and that no further economic justification is necessary,
provided that it is determined that the activity is cost-effective. This report
contains data and evaluations demonstrating that the selected plan is the most
cost-effective means of achieving system-wide benefits for the South Florida
ecosystem (including other water-related needs of the region) and
the benefits of
the project. The selected plan is justified through: its incremental contribution
toward improving the functions and quality of estuarine habitat in the St. Lucie
and Caloosahatchee estuaries consistent with restoration objectives for those
estuaries; improving ecosystem function and increasing the spatial extent of
viable fish and wildlife in Lake Okeechobee; and improving ecosystem function
and increasing the spatial extent of viable fish and wildlife habitat in the
Everglades Protection Area, including Everglades National Park. Therefore, no
additional economic justification of the selected plan is included in the report.
EAA Storage Reservoirs Revised Draft PIR and EIS February 2006
ES-xii