CEPP’s goal is to deliver a finalized plan, Project Implementation Report (PIR), for a suite of restoration projects in the central Everglades to prepare for congressional authorization, as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). Broward County participated in the project development team meetings and sub groups such as the water supply group to review plans, make suggestions, voice concerns, and verify results. The CEPP initiative involved linking many previously planned projects into one that could be implemented sequentially to provide immediate benefit and restore traditional sheet flows through the central everglades.
The Broward County Secondary Canal Improvement Project, as part of the CERP, is a water management project that will optimize the integration and operation of the County's secondary canal system and support Everglades restoration by reducing the County's reliance on water from the regional system.
Authorized and to be funded by the U.S. Congress, State of Florida, and local government, the goals of the Broward County Secondary Canal Improvement Project are to capture as much annual rainfall as possible for storage and recharge of the Biscayne Aquifer, to maintain water levels in wetlands, and to stabilize saltwater intrusion. Additionally, through more efficient management of the local water resources, urban demand on the regional system is expected to be reduced, as well as seepage losses from the WCAs, as the project has the potential to raise groundwater levels on the east side of the levee.
This project includes a series of water control structures, pumps, and canal improvements located in the C-9, C-12, and C-13 Canal Basins and east basin of the North New River Canal in central and southern Broward County. Excess water in the basins will be pumped into the coastal canal systems to maintain canal stages at optimum levels. When basin water is not sufficient to maintain canal stages, the canals will be maintained from other CERP projects and/or Lake Okeechobee and the Water Conservation Areas.
Water Preserve Areas (WPA)
The Water Preserve Areas (WPA) are a series of marshes, reservoirs, and groundwater recharge areas along the eastern side of the Water Conservation Areas in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade Counties. In Broward County, the WPA extends along the western urban limits, adjacent to Levees 37 and 68A. The projects within the WPA are intended to serve multiple uses such as increasing the spatial extent of wetlands, reducing seepage losses from the Water Conservation Areas, improving water supply and quality, and establishing a buffer between the Everglades and developed areas. The conceptual plan for the WPA is contained in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Specific size, location, operational aspects, and engineering design of the components are in the WPA Feasibility Study, which was completed October, 2001. Other water-related needs and issues addressed in the Feasibility Study include: water quality, seepage barriers, salt water intrusion, urban development impacts, and the presence of exotics in the proposed WPA.
Lower East Coast Regional Water Supply Plan (LECRWSP)