23720785, 40E-2.091 - Florida Administrative Rules, Law, Code, Register

Home

Florida Department of State and Division of Library and Information Services

Notice: 23720785

Notice of Proposed Rule

Department:

WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS

Division:

South Florida Water Management District

Chapter:

CONSUMPTIVE USE

Overview

RULE:

40E-2.091

Publications Incorporated by Reference

PURPOSE:

The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir is a critical component of Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The project helps avoid harmful lake discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries and sends more water south to the central Everglades. 
Section 601 of WRDA 2000 and Section 373.470, F.S., require the State to protect water made available for the natural system by CERP projects from allocation to consumptive uses. Legal protection of the water is required before the South Florida Water Management District (District) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) may execute a Project Partnership Agreement (PPA) to cost-share the construction of CERP project features. The District is fulfilling these requirements by adopting rules reserving the water released from the EAA Reservoir Project to the central Everglades.

SUMMARY:

The proposed water reservation rule protects all surface water released from the EAA Reservoir directed to the Lower East Coast Everglades waterbodies through the S-624, S-625, and S-626 structures (Figure 3-6 and 3-7). Model simulations of the draft operating protocol predict the EAA Reservoir, together with existing and planned infrastructure and a modified Lake Okeechobee schedule, will convey 825,000 acre-feet of surface water during an average annual water year (May-April) to the EAA Reservoir Project’s STA, STA-2, STA-3/4, or A-1 FEB, then discharged to the Lower East Coast Everglades waterbodies.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY:

373.044, 373.113, 373.171, 373.216 FS

LAW:

373.042, 373.0421, 373.083, 373.109, 373.196, 373.219, 373.223, 373.224, 373.229, 373.232, 373.233, 373.236, 373.239, 373.250 FS

PRINT PUBLISH DATE:

10/16/2020 Vol. 46/203

COMMENTS:

From 10/16/2020 To 11/6/2020 (21 Days)
The public comment period for this notice has already expired.

REFERENCE MATERIALS:

Ref-05372 Excerpt from ERP Handbook Vol I effective 08/10/14
Ref-09390 Applicant's Handbook Volume 1

Under Florida law, E-mail addresses are public records. If you do not want your E-mail address released in response to a public records request, do not send electronic mail to this entity. Instead, contact this office by phone or in writing.