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Title:	Supplemental Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact : Installation, Testing and Monitoring of a Physical Model for the Water Conservation Area 3 Decompartmentalization and Sheetflow Enhancement Project : Phase 2
Authors:	United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Jacksonville District.
Keywords:	Everglades (Fla.) Flood control Hydrology Environmental protection Restoration ecology
Publisher:	United States. Army. Corps of Engineers. Jacksonville District.
Abstract:	Section 601(b) (1) of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000), Public Law 106-541, authorized the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) as a framework for modifications and operational changes to the Central and South Florida (C&SF) Project to restore, preserve, and protect the South Florida ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs of the region including water supply, and flood protection. The Water Conservation Area (WCA) 3 Decompartmentalization and Sheetflow Enhancement (DECOMP) Project is a component of CERP (USACE 1999). CERP addressed decompartmentalization of WCA 3A in three separate components, to be constructed in two phases, the first of which was conditionally authorized and contained two of the four components. The first phase was one of ten projects that were conditionally authorized for implementation in Section 601(b) (2) (C) (viii) (ix) of WRDA 2000, in order to expedite project construction by eliminating the need to return to Congress for approval of a Project Implementation Report (PIR). The main purpose of the DECOMP Project is to restore natural landscape patterns and native flora and fauna in WCA 3A and Everglades National Park (ENP) by redistributing water entering the system and removing natural barriers to sheetflow in order to restore natural hydroperiods, flow and water depths, and to reestablish ecological connectivity. Scientific uncertainties hampered progress on the DECOMP Project. In an effort to avoid continuing decline in the ecosystem and achieve restoration results more quickly, a multiple PIR approach was pursued in 2007. Construction and real estate costs associated with the DECOMP Project increased significantly since the first phase was conditionally authorized. Therefore, the initially authorized component was expected to exceed the WRDA 1986 Section 902(b) cost increase limitations, and additional Congressional authorization would be necessary. Planning efforts for PIR 1 focused on restoration of WCA 3A resulting from backfilling the Miami Canal, construction of a hydropattern restoration feature located along the northern boundary of WCA 3A, and improvements to the North New River Canal (Figure 1-2) (USACE 2012a). Planning efforts for PIRs 2 and 3 were to focus on restoration of WCAs 3A and 3B and ENP by backfilling the southern portion of the Miami Canal within WCA 3B and the southern 7.5 miles of the L-67A Borrow Canal; removing the L-68A, L-67C, L-29, L-28, and L-28 Tieback Levees and Borrow Canals; and elevating both the eastern and western segments of the Tamiami Trail. Eight passive weir structures were also envisioned to be located along the entire length of the L-67A Canal under the DECOMP Project (USACE 1999).
Description:	Environmental Assessment/Finding of No Significant Impact
Rights:	Approved for Public Release; Distribution is Unlimited
URI:	http://hdl.handle.net/11681/26820
Size:	90 pages/2.141 Mb
Appears in Collections:	Environmental Documents