Excerpts from Executive Summary - Final Conceptual Plan for Achieving Long-term Water Quality Goals - March 17, 2003 draft
Everglades Protection Area Tributary Basins
03/17/2003
ES-1EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The long-term Everglades water quality objective is to implement the optimal combination of
source controls, Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs), Advanced Treatment Technologies
(ATTs), and/or regulatory programs to ensure that all waters discharged to the Everglades
Protection Area (EPA) achieve water quality standards by December 31, 2006, consistent with
the requirements of Florida’s 1994 Everglades Forever Act (EFA). This document sets forth a
recommended plan and strategy for achieving that objective and permitting the State of Florida
and the South Florida Water Management District (District) to proceed to fulfillment of their
obligations under both the EFA (F.S. 373.4592) and the federal Everglades Settlement Agreement
(Case No. 88-1886-CIV-HOEVELER).
Substantial progress towards reducing phosphorus levels discharged into the EPA has been made
by the State of Florida and other stakeholders. The combined performance of the regulatory
program in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) and the STAs constructed under the 1994
Everglades Construction Project (ECP), both mandated by the EFA, has exceeded expectations.
Current projections suggest that, once all STAs are operational, the best estimate of the long-term
flow-weighted mean TP concentrations in discharges from the ECP to the EPA is approximately
35 ppb (with a potential range of 25-45 ppb), as compared to the interim goal of 50 ppb
established in the EFA. In addition, some source control measures have been implemented in
urban and other tributary basins included in the Everglades Stormwater Program. Nonetheless,
additional measures are necessary to ensure that all discharges to the Everglades achieve and
maintain compliance with water quality standards.
The EFA requires that:
(10) LONG-TERM COMPLIANCE PERMITS -- By December 31, 2006, the department (Florida
Department of Environmental Protection) and the district (SFWMD) shall take such action as
may be necessary so that water delivered to the Everglades Protection Area achieves state water
quality standards, including the phosphorus criterion, in all parts of the Everglades Protection
Area.
(a) By December 31, 2003, the district shall submit to the department a permit modification to
incorporate changes to the Everglades Construction Project and the permits issued pursuant
to subsection (9). These changes shall be designed to achieve compliance with the
phosphorus criterion and the other state water quality standards by December 31, 2006.
(
b) If the Everglades Construction Project or other discharges to the Everglades Protection Areaare not in compliance with state water quality standards, the permit application shall
include:
1) A plan for achieving compliance with the phosphorus criterion in the Everglades
Protection Area.
2) A plan for achieving compliance in the Everglades Protection Area with state water
quality standards other than the phosphorus criterion.
3) Proposed cost estimates for the plans referred to in subparagraphs 1 and 2.
4) Proposed funding mechanisms for the plans referred to in subparagraphs 1 and 2.
5) Proposed schedules for implementation of the plans referred to in subparagraphs 1 and
2.
A summary listing of the basins addressed in this Conceptual Plan is presented in Table ES-1;
they are organized into two primary groupings:
Those basins for which an interim water quality improvement strategy has been implemented
through the 1994 Everglades Construction Project (the ECP Basins)
Urban and other tributary basins not addressed by the 1994 ECP (the Everglades Stormwater
Program, or ESP, Basins). Two other basins (C-111 Basin and Boynton Farms Basin) will be
addressed by other District and Federal programs, and are not
further discussed herein.
Table ES.1 Summary of Hydrologic Basins Addressed in This Conceptual Plan
|
Everglades Construction Project (ECP) Basins |
|
|
Hydrological Basins |
Receiving Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) |
| C-51 West |
STA-1E |
| S-5A |
STA-1W, STA-1E |
| S-6 |
STA-2 |
| S-7/S-2 |
STA-3/4 |
| S-8/S-3 |
STA-3/4, STA-6 |
| C-139 |
STA-5, STA-3/4 |
| C-139 Annex |
STA-6 |
| Everglades Stormwater Program (ESP) Basins | |
| Acme Improvement District, Basin B (Acme B) | |
| North Springs Improvement District (NSID) | |
| North New River Canal (NNRC) | |
| C-11 West | |
| L-28 | |
| Feeder Canal | |
The location of the basins is shown in Figure ES-1.
Figure ES-1. Overview of the Everglades Protection Area and Tributary Basins
As an important step towards development of the Long-Term Compliance Permit application
required under the EFA, the District recently completed Basin-Specific Feasibility Studies for the
thirteen basins referenced above, all of which presently discharge to the EPA (Burns &
McDonnell, October 2002; Brown & Caldwell, October 2002). The following conclusions may
be taken from those studies:
1) The total estimated capital cost to implement treatment measures to achieve the mandates of
the EFA, if developed independent of CERP and other regional initiatives, could aggregate to
hundreds of millions of dollars. Analyses presented in Part 6 of this Conceptual Plan suggest
a total of approximately $646 million in the ESP basins, and an additional $116 million in the
ECP basins.
2) Several of the more costly measures, particularly those in the C-11 West, North New River
Canal, North Springs Improvement District, and L-28 basins, are directed at discharges which
contribute a small percentage of the phosphorus delivered to the
EPA.
3) Many of those measures would be unnecessary, or greatly reduced in required scope, once
presently scheduled CERP projects come on-line, as:
• Many CERP projects call for diversion of water away from the EPA.
•
Several CERP projects as presently structured specifically incorporate water qualityimprovement measures.
Based on those conclusions, considerable economic benefits may be realized by synchronizing
EFA mandates with the CERP projects. This Conceptual Plan is structured to achieve costeffective
water quality improvement at the earliest practicable date. The majority of phosphorus
reduction associated with CERP projects is not due to the addition of water quality treatment
measures, but rather, diversion away from the Everglades, consistent with the authorized scope of
the CERP projects. This will result in significant cost avoidance, and not cost increases to CERP
projects to achieve significant water quality benefits to the
Everglades.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection Environmental Regulation Commission is
currently conducting a hearing to adopt by rule a numeric phosphorus criterion for the EPA. The
planning objective for phosphorus levels in discharges to the EPA considered in the Basin
Specific Feasibility Studies was based on guidance contained in the Everglades Forever Act,
which states that:
The phosphorus criterion shall be 10 parts per billion (ppb) in the Everglades Protection Area in
the event the department does not adopt by rule such criterion by December 31, 2003, and
Compliance with the phosphorus criterion shall be based upon a
long-term geometric mean of
concentration levels to be measured at sampling stations recognized from the research to be
reasonably representative of receiving waters in the Everglades
Protection Area.
In the absence of more specific planning guidance, the objective adopted in the development and
evaluation of alternatives for the Basin Specific Feasibility Studies was to obtain a predicted
long-term geometric mean total phosphorus concentration of 10 ppb in discharges to the EPA.
For the purposes of the Basin-Specific Feasibility Studies, and as carried forward herein, "longterm"
is taken as that represented by a 31-year geometric mean based on model simulations. The
Basin-Specific studies were a fact-finding exercise, and not intended to define the final
arrangement, location and character of water quality improvement strategies in the various basins;
no specific recommendations were made for alternatives to be selected and carried forward to
implementation.
On March 12, 2003, the January 29, 2003 draft version of this
Conceptual Plan (draft plan) was
presented to the Governing Board of the District. At that time, the Governing Board
overwhelmingly endorsed the draft plan, with modifications, and the ultimate goal of achieving
the proposed Everglades phosphorus criterion of 10 ppb consistent with its associated natural
variability. The Governing Board made the following two
modifications to the Plan:
1. The Governing Board acknowledged the known limits of phosphorus reduction
technologies, the natural variability of phosphorus levels in the Everglades (as expressed
by the authors and reviewers of the 2003 Everglades Consolidated Report) and the need
for flexibility in achieving the water quality goals of the Everglades. Therefore the
Governing Board changed the plan objective to:
"to obtain through optimization, to the maximum extent practicable, a predicted long
term geometric mean phosphorus concentration in discharges to the Everglades
Protection Area that is within the upper annual concentration limit of the criterion as
calculated by the Department in the 2003 Everglades Consolidated Report."
Everglades Protection Area Tributary Basins
2. In recognition of the long periods of time required for advancements in large-scale
biological treatment systems, the Governing Board defined a more realistic pace towards
achieving the phosphorus criterion in discharges to the Everglades. The Governing
Board directed staff to implement a second 10-yr phase (2017-2026) of continuous
improvement in phosphorus reduction as necessary to achieve the plan objective, after the
2016 planning horizon identified in the draft plan. In order to fulfill this mandate, it is
anticipated that no later than December 2013, updated project scopes, cost estimates and
implementation schedules, will be developed to cover this second 10-year phase, as
necessary to achieve the plan objective.
The Board was clear in its direction to staff that the identified capital project components of the
draft plan are to be implemented. Upon initial review, it appears that the revised plan objective
does not substantively modify the capital improvements or scientific investigations recommended
in the draft plan, only the schedule for ultimately achieving the phosphorus criterion and its
associated natural variability in discharges to the Everglades.
The Governing Board also expressed the need for urgency in finalizing this Conceptual Plan in
order to seek timely Legislative review and ratification. The Board acknowledged the value and
need for widespread public and interagency review, and indicated a desire for additional review
to take place as part of the Legislative deliberations.
Technical representatives of the District, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the
United States Department of the Interior, the Everglades Agricultural Area Environmental
Protection District, and other stakeholders have reviewed the results of the Basin Specific
Feasibility Studies. Those technical representatives have used those results to formulate a
consensus approach to achieving the long-term water quality goals of the Everglades Forever Act;
that recommended approach is set forth in this Conceptual Plan. That approach is embodied in
three primary components:
Pre-2006 Projects: Structural and operational modifications that can be supported by the
current scientific and engineering knowledge base, to be implemented wherever practicable
by December 31, 2006, as well as operation, maintenance and monitoring of the STAs. The
pre-2006 recommended improvements and strategies are considered to be the maximum
scientifically defensible steps that have been identified at this time. There is a possibility that
these steps will meet a planning target of a long-term geometric mean total phosphorus
concentration of 10 ppb in discharges from the various basins. However, it is also possible
that these improvements and strategies will not, in and of themselves, provide adequate
assurance of an ability to consistently meet that objective on a long-term basis. Therefore, the
Post-2006 Strategy discussed below is included in this Plan.
Process Development and Engineering (PDE): Activities designed to:
• Further understanding and optimize water quality performance in existing and proposed
facilities
• Facilitate integration with the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP)
• Maintain (and improve upon where practicable) the contribution of source controls to
overall water quality improvement goals.
• Investigate ways
to accelerate the recovery of previously impacted areas in the EPA.
Post-2006 Strategy: Identification and adaptive implementation of additional water quality
improvement measures that may be considered necessary to comply with water quality
standards following completion of the pre-2006 activities based on ongoing analysis of the
PDE effort. Also includes implementation of steps identified that are capable of accelerating
the recovery of previously impacted areas in the EPA, including final implementation of the
hydropattern restoration activities directed by the EFA once water quality standards are
achieved.