Everglades National Park receiving more water thanks to COP

Posted 3/8/23

Decades of work on Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) projects are showing results ...

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Everglades National Park receiving more water thanks to COP

Flow under the Tamiami Trail to Everglades National Park has increased thanks to CERP projects. [Art courtesy USACE]
Flow under the Tamiami Trail to Everglades National Park has increased thanks to CERP projects. [Art courtesy USACE]
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Decades of work on Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) projects are showing results with improved water flow to Everglades National Park (ENP)

While some environmental activist groups have claimed the farms in the Everglades Agricultural Area prevent water from Lake Okeechobee from flowing south, information shared at South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) meetings and data from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reports show this allegation is false.

What factors DO impact flow of freshwater to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay?

According to the 2023 Combined Operational Plan (COP) Biennial Report, the major constraints that affect water management operations throughout the project area include:

• Protection of the nesting grounds of a subpopulation of the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow, which require seasonal (9 month) closures of for water control structures S-12A. S-12-B, S-343A, S-343B and S-343D.

• U.S. Highway 41/Tamiami Trail south of the L-29 Borrow Canal: This is being addressed by projects to raise sections of the road to allow water to flow underneath.

• Flood protection for the 8.5 square mile area (Las Palmas community), which is west of the East Coast Protection Levy: This problem is being addressed with an underground seepage wall which will keep water from seeping east through the ground from Everglades National Park into the Las Palmas area.

• Water supply releases to the lower east coast from the Water Conservation Areas (WCAs) during low water conditions.

• Maintenance of marsh vegetation in the WCAs to prevent wind tides.

• High rates of seepage from WCA-2B and WCA-3B which limit regulation schedules for these WCAs.

• WCA-3B release capacity: The original design release capacity from WCA-3B is approximately 3,305 cubic feet per second (cfs).

• WCA-3A release capacity: The S-12s are not capable of achieving the original design capacity of 32,000 cfs. Outlet capacity of the S-12s has either reduced over time or was never as large as assumed for the original design routings.

• S-12 stability and risk of overtopping: “The top of the gates at the S-12s (A/B/C/D) is 11.0 ft NGVD. When the S-12s headwater approaches this level, the S-12s may be opened an amount only to prevent water from overtopping the structure gates to protect gate instrumentation,” the report explains.

• Pump Station Mechanical Longevity: Individual pump units at pump stations will be operated to avoid conditions that could lead to mechanical breakdowns of the pump units.

Goals of COP include:

• Improve the water deliveries to ENP and restore the natural hydrological conditions in ENP.

• Maximize progress toward restoring hydrological conditions in the Taylor Slough, Rocky Glades and eastern panhandle of ENP.

• Protect the intrinsic ecological values associated with WCA-3A and ENP.

• Minimize damaging freshwater flows to Manatee Bay/Barnes Sound through the S-197 structure and increase flows through Taylor Slough and coastal creeks.

• Include consideration of cultural values and tribal interests and concerns within WCA-3A and ENP.

COP operations started on Sept. 1, 2020 and has resulted in improved water flow to ENP, according to the report.

• The report states Water Years (WY) 2021 and 2022 had longer discontinuous hydro-periods in Shark River Slough and Taylor Slough. (A water year runs from May 1 to April 30 of the following year.)

• The volume of flow to the L-29 canal and across the Tamiami Trail into ENP has consistently increased since 2016.

• WY2021 and WY 2022 had fewer days of dry-down in Shark River Slough than he baseline period of WY 2002-2015.

• During COP implementation in WY 2021 and WY 2022, there was less soil oxidation potential throughout the system compared to the baseline period of WY 2002-2015. The areas with the greatest decrease in soil oxidation were the eastern marl prairies and Taylor Slough.

The Combined Operational Plan (COP) Water Control Plan (WCP) was implemented September 1, 2020. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), Everglades National Park (ENP), and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) have published a Biennial Report as outlined in the Adaptive Management and Monitoring Plan of the COP Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). The report presents operational activities since implementation of COP, as they relate to the goal and objectives, summarized by data based on the Water Quality & Hydrology Monitoring Plan and Ecological Monitoring Plan, and corresponding performance measures. The 2023 report covers a period of record (POR) from September 1, 2020, through April 30, 2022, The report is available online at https://www.saj.usace.army.mil/COP

Everglades, Taylor Slough, Shark River Slough, Lake Okeechobee

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