23735238, 40E-10.021 - Florida Administrative Rules, Law, Code, Register

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Notice: 23735238

Notice of Proposed Rule

Department:

WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS

Division:

South Florida Water Management District

Chapter:

Water Reservations

Overview

RULE:

40E-10.021	Definitions
40E-10.031	Water Reservations Implementation
40E-10.061	Water Reservation Areas: Lower East Coast Planning Area

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 discharge to the Lower East Coast Everglades waterbodies.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY:

373.044, 373.113, 373.171 FS.

LAW:

373.016, 373.026, 373.036, 373.1501, 373.1502, 373.219, 373.223, 373.4592, 373.4595, 373.470 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:

No reference(s).

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