An Interview with Mark Perry on the Everglades Restoration Plan. 

1 - What is the CERP? 
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) was authorize by Congress in November 2000. In 1994 and 1996 Congress directed the US Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to do a comprehensive review of the South Florida Flood Control Project of 1948 with the purpose of restoring South Florida's ecosystems. This was known as the "Restudy" and became CERP at the beginning of 2000 when it went through Congress. The Plan contains 50 construction projects, 9 operational projects and 6 pilot projects. The total costs is $7.8 billion and $172 million annual operation. The construction projects include 300 deep wells, above ground storage reservoirs, stormwater treatment areas, wastewater treatment facilities and some restoration of sheetflow. This is the largest environmental restoration project in the history of the country. 

2 - What are ASR wells and why are they the #1 project of CERP'? 
The Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR) wells are deep wells, down beyond 1,000 feet into the Floridan Aquifer. This deep aquifer is highly mineralized and the theory is they will pump millions of gallons per day of excess fresh surface water down into the Aquifer where it will float on top of the high salinity water. Then when they need the freshwater it can be pumped out or "recovered" from the well. Currently, 1.6 billion gallons per day of fresh water go to the Atlantic or Gulf from the South Florida Flood Control Project. This is fresh water that would have gone to the Everglades to recharge the groundwater aquifers for drinking water but is now being wasted to tide. The Plan is to put 200 ASR wells around the top of Lake Okeechobee, each at 5 million gallons per day, to capture some of this "wasted' fresh water. There are many concerns including the change in the quality of the water upon recovery, the regional hydrology might change local conditions in the aquifer, the hydrostatic pressure may cause fractures in the confining layers, recovery percentages would not be predictable and more. The technology has never been tested on this big of a scale and pilot projects may not provide enough answers. The Plan also calls for 130 additional ASR wells in the Caloosahatchee basin and western Palm Beach County. 

3 - What is an STA? 
The Stormwater Treatment Areas (STA) are areas of land in the Plan that would have marsh-like vegetation and take water from a reservoir or canal and allow the vegetation to uptake the nutrients, phosphorus and nitrogen, before the water flowed out of the STA. The STA's would be flooded with 1-2 feet of water most all of the time and act as a filter for the flow from reservoirs and canals before returning the water to a natural system such as the estuary or Lake. 

4 - Why does the flood control project supply water and drainage to agriculture? 
The original Central and South Florida Flood Control Project of 1948 has evolved into an expansive system of canals, pump stations and structures which provide drainage for surrounding land so that it can be used for agriculture. Canals are very effective at draining the surrounding land and agriculture has tied in the smaller lateral drainage ditches of the farms into the main canal systems, The main canals are also manipulated to be maintained at a specified level for drainage and water supply. The South Florida Water Management District has issued hundreds of water allocation permits totaling billions of gallons per year for agriculture and other users to take water from these canals. Many stakeholders are demanding the connecting canals and Lake Okeechobee be maintained at levels which continue to provide the supply and drainage they require. This is all done at public expense, providing free water and drainage to agriculture and other interests who should be responsible to get their own water and store excess on site with no runoff which damages the natural systems. 

5- How will the Plan affect the Treasure Coast? 
The Plan has two components that are in the Treasure Coast, C-44 (St. Lucie Canal) Basin Storage and C-23,24,25/Northfork and Southfork Basin Storage. The purpose of these features are to capture local runoff in the basins and slow the flows into the St. Lucie River Estuary and Indian River Lagoon. The two components have been combined into the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Feasibility Study by the District and the Corps of Engineers. The Study is recommending specific "alternatives" which will go forward to be recommended for funding by the US Congress as the implementation of CERP. Specifically the Study is recommending a C44 reservoir to handle 30,000 acre-feet of storage with an attached 2,000 acre stormwater treatment area (STA), a C-23-24 combined reservoir to handle 92,000 acre-feet with an attached 2,400 acre STA, 90,000 acres of natural area wetiand enhancement, a C-25 STA and a C-23 to C-44 Connector canal. 

6 - What is the Connector Canal? 
The Study team recommended a Connector Canal to divert excess surface water from the C-23 basin south to the C-44 canal and allow the water to enter the South fork of the estuary instead of the North fork. In one alternative the Connector Canal would operate to divert water from the C-44 canal north to C-23 when water is needed for agriculture use. Water quality will be a problem as the water from C-23 is very high in phosphorus, and building another canal can cause drainage of the surrounding lands and aquifer, lowering the water table. Storage and treatment of water should happen within each basin. 

7 - What do you see as a solution to the South Florida water problem? 
To truly restore the Everglades and have water for a "sustainable" South Florida we need to restore the functions of the natural systems. In short, restore the natural flows of the Kissimmee River valley, allow Lake Okeechobee average water level to be around 13 feet, have no discharges from canals into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries, buy back and restore the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) to the "river of grass" and allow the sheet flow of water south from the Lake, through the water conservation areas and into the Everglades. This will rehydrate the aquifers, recycle the 1.6 billion gallons of fresh water each day that is currently wasted, prevent the estuaries from being destroyed, restore the natural rivers and the natural hydroperiod to the Everglades and deliver the right amount of unpolluted water to Florida Bay and save the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. 

8 - What can I do as a concerned citizen? 
Get involved. Write letters to your state legislators and Congressional Representatives and the Governor of Florida. Ask them to require the government agencies to be responsible and take the right course of action to restore South Florida. Ask them to require agriculture and others to be accountable for their own water supply, drainage and pollution runoff. Each of us should do our part and conserve our use of water. We should not over fertilize and not over drain our property. We all need to become a part of the solution. 

from Marine Minutes, a bi-monthly publication of the Florida Oceanographic Society
© 2001, Florida Oceanographic Society