Specifications

Section 1 Introduction
EAA Storage Reservoirs Revised Draft PIR and EIS February 2006
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1.4.3 Other Areas Affected
Other areas that will be affected by the EAA Storage Reservoir project include:
littoral and marsh areas of Lake Okeechobee; the downstream estuaries of St.
Lucie Canal (C-44) and the Caloosahatchee River (C-43); the northern WCAs,
including WCA-3A north of I-75, WCA-2A; and the Arthur R. Marshall
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (WCA-1).
Lake Okeechobee is located in south Central Florida, and occupies portions of
Glades, Hendry, Martin, Okeechobee, and Palm Beach Counties. The lake has
an area of approximately 700 square miles with its approximate center near 26°
56’ 55” north latitude, 80° 56’ 34” west longitude.
The St. Lucie Estuary is located within portions of both Martin and St. Lucie
Counties on the southeast coast of Florida. The two forks of the St. Lucie
Estuary, the North Fork and South Fork, flow together near the Roosevelt
Bridge at the City of Stuart, and then flow eastward approximately six miles to
the Indian River Lagoon and Atlantic Ocean at St. Lucie Inlet.
The Caloosahatchee River is the only flood-control outlet leading west from Lake
Okeechobee. It is part of the Okeechobee Waterway - the only navigable passage
in the State of Florida between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. The
river extends approximately 70 miles from Lake Okeechobee, through the
Caloosahatchee River Estuary, to the lower Charlotte Harbor Basin at San
Carlos Bay. The Caloosahatchee River passes through parts of Charlotte,
Glades, Hendry, and Lee Counties and dips slightly into Collier County.
The three WCAs cover 1,372 square miles and are located south of the Study
Area. WCA-1, also known as the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National
Wildlife Refuge, includes 227 square miles of Everglades wetland habitat. WCA-
2, the smallest, encompasses approximately 210 square miles. The area is
divided into two cells by a levee constructed in 1961. The north cell, WCA-2A,
covers 173 square miles, and the south cell, WCA-2B, covers 37 square miles.
WCA-3 was originally constructed as one basin covering an area of 915 square
miles. It is now divided into WCA-3A and WCA-3B by the L-67 borrow canals
which run northeast to northwest across the Broward-Dade County line. WCA-
3A has an area of 772 square miles and WCA-3B is 108 square miles.
Prior to the C&SF Project, the entire geographic area was a single large wetland
area comprised of sawgrass marshes, wet prairies, aquatic sloughs, and tree
island communities- all of which benefited from the expansive sheet flows of
water from Lake Okeechobee. Water management issues and problems,
prolonged seasonal patterns of water levels (hydroperiods), and increased
nutrient levels have resulted in the loss of tree island communities, conversion of