Specifications

Section 7 Environmental Effects of the Selected Plan
EAA Storage Reservoirs Revised Draft PIR and EIS February 2006
7-17
proposed storage reservoir with the improved conveyance between Lake
Okeechobee and the reservoir.
The principal change in water management will be an increase in the number of
structures (embankments, pumps, weirs, and canals) associated with the storage
reservoir and its operation. A complex operation schedule will be designed and
implemented to maximize the benefits of the storage reservoir. This includes the
start-up operating plan, which would be put into effect upon issuance of the
water quality certification (WQC) for the construction phase of the project. The
release of stored reservoir water through the STA to receiving bodies will be
conducted in a gradual manner in order to ensure that reservoir releases do not
adversely impact the Everglades Construction Project or Everglades Protection
Area. However, water will be pumped into and out of the storage reservoir,
requiring fuel, generating atmospheric emissions, and causing additional noise
in the vicinity of the facilities.
7.12 WATER QUALITY
The proposed action is expected to improve water quality in the EAA, as well as
in Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee Estuary, the St. Lucie Estuary, and the
Everglades Protection Area (Water Conservation Areas). The proposed storage
reservoir will reduce pollution loading into downstream receiving water bodies
through the attenuation of surface flows and reduction of associated pollutant
loads prior to discharge. The metering of water from the proposed storage
reservoir into the STAs will allow them to consistently improve water quality
before release to the WCAs and eventually to the EPA.
7.12.1 Lake Okeechobee
Lake Okeechobee is currently managed for many, often conflicting, uses. The
Preferred Alternative will act to reduce high water conditions in Lake
Okeechobee by up to eight inches compared with the future-without-project
condition. It will provide no measurable improvement in low water conditions in
the lake. The Preferred Alternative will reduce the volume of backpumping from
the EAA into the lake through the S-2 and S-3 structures by about 1,328,898
acre-feet. This will act to reduce nutrient, trace metal, and pesticide loading to
the lake, thereby incrementally improving the lake’s water quality. The reduced
lake levels and improved water quality will provide a positive impact to the
biology of the lake’s 96,000 acre littoral zone.
The primary cause of pollutant loading in Lake Okeechobee is re-suspension of
nutrient-laden lake sediments during strong wind events (Reddy, et. al., 1995).
The proposed action does not address this internal source of pollution.