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Good morning, everybody. These mics are very loud and sensitive. I'll move that away a bit.

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I'd like to call this meeting on South Florida Water Management District Board to order and

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remind everybody if you could please take a moment to silence your cell phones and the

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microphones. Norman, our board meetings, microphones can be turned on and off. These

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are all on, and so they're very sensitive, and I think actually they pick up conversations

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mentioned in the audience also so it's very interesting before the meeting, listen to everybody.

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And I'd like to recognize Mr. Porchwondo for the Pledge of Allegiance.

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It's a pleasure to be here in the village of Kivas, I think we should have all of our

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meetings here from now on.

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Second.

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What a beautiful location.

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Mr. Porchwondo, would you like to introduce the local officials today?

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Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you for providing me the opportunity to welcome the governing

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board to Miami-Dade County for this month's workshop and business meetings. Holding our

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meetings at different locations gives local citizens an opportunity to participate in

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district meetings and let us know what issues and concerns are important to them. I'm

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particularly pleased that the meetings are being held in my hometown of Kibis,

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Those of us that are fortunate enough to live here, consider it an island paradise and like the district, the village is very engaged and committed to protecting and enhancing the environment and our beautiful natural resources.

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We thank the village for allowing us to use the chambers and we appreciate the hospitality and assistance their staff has provided.

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At this time I would like to introduce Village Manager John Gilbert to say a few words.

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We're also pleased to have Doug Yoder from Miami-Dade Water and Sewer who is going to address us on behalf of the county.

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And from representative Rashim, Katie Loach, and Erin Muir are here from the office and

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Senator Nelson's office is represented by Willstein Lawson and I believe she would like

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to address the group as well.

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Mr. Gilbert.

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If I may, good morning.

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My name is John Gilbert.

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I'm the Village Manager for the Village of Kivas King.

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On behalf of the Mayor, Mr. Franklin Kaplan and the Vice Mayor, Ms. Myra Lindsey-Penya

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And all of the council members, I want to welcome you.

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I know that you have a lot of important business to conduct today.

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I share the sentiment I live and work here, so this is a great place.

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We look forward to having you back in the future, but again, I want to welcome you on

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behalf of the village, hopeful for a very outstanding meeting today and the outcomes

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of what you're seeking.

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And if we can do anything at all, please, not a seconds' hesitation and we'll correct

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whatever it is, including rain, weather, whatever it may be.

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It's, again, welcome and thank you very much.

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Thank you, John.

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Good morning.

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I'm Doug Yoder with Miami-Dade Water and Sewer.

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I want to welcome you on behalf of Mayor Carlos Salmenes, who is on a trade mission in Spain

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at the moment, and Chairwoman Rebecca Sosa and the County Commission, my director, John

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Renfrow.

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If you look at today's Miami Herald, you'll see on the editorial page a letter from

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John that describes in a little bit of detail some of the work that we're

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undertaking to restore our water and sewer infrastructure. We've got as big a

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job in dollar terms as restoring the Everglades just right here in Miami-Dade

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County. Our commission did authorize over four billion dollars worth of bonds

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the first sale of which is in the works.

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And one of the projects on that bond list is

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our South Miami Heights Water Treatment Plant, which is

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the last remaining piece of infrastructure

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that's in our current water use permit.

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That's going to be three-quarters Florida aquifer,

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brackage water, and one-quarter fresh Biscayne water

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to serve our southern service areas, so we expect that to be completed in the next two

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to three years, hopefully.

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Another issue of note, Commissioner Sosa is sponsoring a resolution

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to create a task force to evaluate the consequences of sea level rise with respect to all types

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of infrastructure. We've begun to look at that with respect to our wastewater plants,

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one of which is just right down the road. You went by it, though you may not have seen

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it. And I think that's going to be a set of issues that we jointly are going to have

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to deal with. I think that over the next 20 to 30 years is going to become the issue that

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dominates water management as well as local development decisions. So there's plenty left

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to do. In the meantime, enjoy your time here and we're glad that you came.

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Thank you, Doug.

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Ms.

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Lawson from Senator Nelson's office.

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Yes, good morning.

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Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak today and to bring comments on behalf of Senator Bill Nelson.

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The past few weeks have been good ones for the Glades.

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First, water flow freely under the newly built Tamiami Trail Bridge.

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in nearly seven years, and after nearly seven years, the Senate passed the Water Resources

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Development Act of 2013, which paves the way for four additional Glades projects.

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Despite this progress, we are in danger of losing an opportunity to move forward with

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the single most important restoration initiative thus far. Decades of research and science

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coupled with efforts of state and federal partners led to a new initiative called

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the Central Everglades Planning Project, CEP. The CEP is the missing link in

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restoration. It is a comprehensive solution for treaty and storing an on

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average 200,000 acre feet of water each year before sending it south into

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to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.

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This plan will also lessen discharges

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to Kalusa Hatchey and St. Lucie etuaries by about 25%.

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The Senate Paz Werder bill authorizes water resources

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projects that have been completed.

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They have a completed chiefs report

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from the Army Corporate Engineers

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by the date of the bill's enactment.

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Therefore, it is imperative that the Chief's report for SEP be finished before the word

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of bill makes it to the President's desk.

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But to move forward with the Chief's report and subsequent authorization, the Governing

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Board must send a letter of approval to the Army Corps of Engineers, which is what

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the Senator is asking for.

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I understand South Florida Water Management District is responsible for developing and

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analyzing SEP water models.

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These models are integral in the study and scoping process for SEP and must balance the

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needs of ecosystems and municipalities in South Florida.

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I urge you to work closely and efficiently with the county's and agricultural interests

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to ensure that your modeling base signs are acceptable to them.

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Again, thank you for the opportunity to speak and to represent the views of Senator Nelson

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here today.

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Thank you, Ms. Walsh.

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Chairman, I think that's all the members.

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Thank you.

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Thank you, Juan.

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Okay, we're going to call on Reagan Walker for any revisions to the agenda.

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Yes, Mr. Chair, under the Consent Agenda, items 13, 14, and 24 are revised, and item

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25 was deleted under the public hearings.

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items 41 was revised. In addition, the settlement agreement for McDaniel Ranch under item 13

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has been pulled.

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Thank you, Reagan. Okay.

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Next up on the agenda is the Executive Director

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position. As you are aware, our Executive Director for the last two years, Mohsen

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Meeker resigned with an effective date of June 13, 2013, and probably first and foremost,

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I think it's worthy of noting Melissa's tremendous efforts over the last two years and the progress

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and accomplishments that this district has been able to make under her leadership. She put

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together.

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Great senior leadership team. And we have really accomplished some historic achievements

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of the last two years. And not only that, but also appoint the district in the right direction

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and had a significant impact. And I think all of us share in our appreciation for Ms. Meeker's

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efforts.

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And I'm going to ask all the board members, give them an opportunity to comment

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on Ms. Meeker, I think also that brings up the issue

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that we do need to have an interim executive director

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to hold us over and keep out the progress going

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until the determination of Ms. Meeker's replacement

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is determined.

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So with that, I guess I'll pass the other board members

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if they'd like to comment on Ms. Meeker

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or the executive director position.

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I'll just echo your sentiment, Mr. Chair.

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You know, I mean, Ms. Beaker stepped in

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at a very challenging time and in front of us

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is an awesome senior leadership team

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and they stand in front of an awful lot of accomplishments

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under Ms. Beaker's leadership.

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And that didn't, that was, she was a great team leader

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and she took that agency,

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we're in a better fiscal position as a result of that

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And what do you mean, sir?

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Yeah, for my part, I agree.

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Melissa did a tremendous job, very difficult circumstances,

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having to deal with a much reduced budget,

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and handled that and brought in some additional folks,

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including our new general counsel.

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And she showed tremendous leadership in that regard.

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And I think today's effective date.

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I'm speaking out of both sides of my mouth.

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No attorney jokes. I knew I shouldn't have

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recognized our general counsel. But I think today is not only the effective date of her

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resignation, but today is her birthday. And I do believe so we have to be very careful

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here. I do believe she's monitoring this from Colorado where she has gone from the, you

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pan through the fire because she is in the Colorado Springs area where she's raging there.

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So that was her doing.

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You spoke long enough.

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But as part of this process now, Mr. Chairman, are we – are you looking now for nominations

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for our interim executive director?

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And is this the part of our meeting where we're going to have an open discussion

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among the board members, about the process to accept applications and have discussions

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concerning the next permanent executive director.

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I think that now would be an appropriate time to have that discussion.

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Before

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we go there, I do want to also – I'm not

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supposed to speak.

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Maybe let's hold on just a second and see if we have this resolved because we might want

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to shut down the meeting for a couple minutes if that's going to keep happening.

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Yeah.

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Let's give another try, Mitch.

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Okay.

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I do want to commend Melissa.

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I think she's, as everybody indicated, done a wonderful job in a very difficult time.

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And she's done it with Poison, with Grace, and I appreciate her effort.

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And I think that the state ought to be grateful for her service.

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As you indicated, I think her legacy is a district that is focused on a core mission and has an excellent leadership team.

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That's one that I look forward to seeing continue.

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And I won't try and take it as a personal offense that she waited until Rick Barber was appointed to resign.

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But I'm sad to see her go.

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I was looking forward to having the opportunity to work with her more.

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Thank you.

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Thank you.

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Yes, Mr. Chairman, thank you.

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I also second everybody's feelings about Melissa.

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She came on very difficult times.

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She came on board almost at the same time as I did, and she has done an extraordinary

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job of right-sizing the agency and putting together a really top-notch executive team.

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And on that note, Mr. Chairman, I feel strongly that as we go forward with both the interim

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and the new executive director that I, for one, would like to make it very clear that

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I feel that the organization needs some stability at the top and that we need to have this team in place going forward.

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Thank you, Juan. And I would agree with the fact that we're dealing with so many complex issues and certainly we've put together a great leadership team.

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we've had transition and belt tightening over the last two years, and I do think it is a

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time when we need our senior folks to stay. We've got a good team. There's no sense in

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disassembling that team and reassembling it, in my personal opinion. Anybody else with

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comments? If there aren't, then may I throw out for discussion and consideration? I think

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that Ernie Barnett would be an excellent candidate for the interim executive director, and his

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respect and leadership is felt, I think, across the spectrum of our stakeholders. He has an

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incredible wealth of knowledge regarding the Everglades, the core mission of the

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district, the priorities and the massive challenges that we have right now. And really

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in the next, you know, we can't afford to pause. We can't wait 60 or 90 days or even

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30 days. We have very important works of the district that have to happen and this board

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is responsible to make sure that they happen. So in my opinion, I think Ernie would make

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an excellent interim executive director.

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Well, I second that. But in addition, I don't know when we're going to take up

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the discussion. I don't know if it is for today, probably shouldn't be for today to

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have a permanent executive director, but the executive director in the next 30 days for

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my part is extremely important because I think we're all aware that with regard to CEP we

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need to have that teed up and we need to have a vote on that next month. And so whoever

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this executive director is, if it's the interim executive director and I presume

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that, you know, we'll all be in favor of Ernie taking us for the next 30 days

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and then beyond. But that's some real important leadership and some guidance

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that we're going to need in the next 30 days, because we'll have a separate discussion I'm

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sure today and next month on SEPA. We need to have a vote on that. We need to have a

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vote on that in 30 days. And I would vote yes. I second it, and I would vote yes in

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favor of Ernie taking us in that direction in the next 30, 40 days, whatever it is.

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Okay, but I didn't make a motion yet, so don't jump into that.

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I took your nomination as a motion, so I'll make the motion then for Ernie Barnett

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to serve as our Interim Executive Director.

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Second.

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Okay, we have a motion and a second.

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Any further discussion regarding the Interim Executive Director?

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Just to take off comment on what Glenn said,

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and I have all the respect and confidence in the world in Ernie,

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and I feel even better that this won't be a 30-day wait.

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I mean, he will take charge and get this thing moving

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and move the agency promptly in the direction it needs to go.

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Ernie's done a great job. He knows the agency inside and out and knows the issues inside

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and out and a place of great confidence in him.

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And just to be clear, I fully support the motion. I think obviously Ernie's got a lot of expertise

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and skill in this area. I want to make it clear, though, that I think it is appropriate for

230
00:23:48,110 --> 00:23:53,010
us to have a full and robust discussion about the executive director position so that we have a full

231
00:23:53,010 --> 00:23:57,930
understanding of what are the characteristics, what are the leadership skills, what's the vision

232
00:23:57,930 --> 00:24:01,130
that we see going forward because we want to make sure that we have that opportunity.

233
00:24:01,550 --> 00:24:07,090
So before we finalize an executive, permanent executive director decision, I want to make

234
00:24:07,090 --> 00:24:08,270
sure we have that conversation.

235
00:24:10,330 --> 00:24:10,850
I agree.

236
00:24:11,070 --> 00:24:14,450
Any further discussion on the interim executive director proposition?

237
00:24:15,050 --> 00:24:17,430
If not, we have a motion and a second.

238
00:24:17,970 --> 00:24:18,670
All those in favor?

239
00:24:19,450 --> 00:24:19,850
Aye.

240
00:24:20,370 --> 00:24:21,050
All those opposed?

241
00:24:22,070 --> 00:24:23,290
The motion carries unanimously.

242
00:24:23,290 --> 00:24:30,210
obviously. And Mitch, I agree. I think we need to have a discussion about the permanent

243
00:24:30,210 --> 00:24:38,750
executive director position. And I think that it's up to the board, but I think that it

244
00:24:38,750 --> 00:24:43,690
may be an opportunity for the board to voice some opinions about what we're looking for

245
00:24:43,690 --> 00:24:52,550
in that executive director role and ultimately have that vote. Maybe we have it next month.

246
00:24:53,210 --> 00:24:56,090
30 days from now with the game.

247
00:25:05,250 --> 00:25:06,270
This is going to be-

248
00:25:06,270 --> 00:25:07,470
There's a joke that goes with that.

249
00:25:09,090 --> 00:25:10,670
It's like a pharmaceutical joke.

250
00:25:16,840 --> 00:25:20,900
Anybody want to give their opinions or comments on the executive director position?

251
00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:23,960
Now is the appropriate time.

252
00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:27,640
Yeah, right there with Mitch in terms of the discussion,

253
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:31,040
but I don't want to see it go any more than 30 days.

254
00:25:31,740 --> 00:25:32,760
I think time is of the essence.

255
00:25:33,660 --> 00:25:35,640
The quicker we get there, the quicker we move on.

256
00:25:36,260 --> 00:25:41,420
And the biggest thing for me is that it's a candidate that can hit the ground running.

257
00:25:43,270 --> 00:25:43,950
Mr. Williams.

258
00:25:44,690 --> 00:25:50,710
I would just like to say that I think we need a person for the Executive Director position

259
00:25:50,710 --> 00:25:54,110
who knows South Florida issues, who can hit the ground running,

260
00:25:54,890 --> 00:25:56,970
who has institutional knowledge of the district,

261
00:25:56,970 --> 00:26:04,090
who can help us negotiate our way in Tallahassee and who the staff will rally around to get

262
00:26:04,090 --> 00:26:11,850
the job done, and also someone who knows the incredibly complicated issues that are Everglades

263
00:26:11,850 --> 00:26:12,590
restoration.

264
00:26:14,510 --> 00:26:17,010
So that's who we ought to be looking for, in my opinion.

265
00:26:21,020 --> 00:26:21,720
Other comments?

266
00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:23,320
Executive Director?

267
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:25,760
I just want to...

268
00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:26,780
Did we get an accident?

269
00:26:26,780 --> 00:26:27,920
I can't hear you going...

270
00:26:35,460 --> 00:26:40,960
Did we get an acceptance from Mr. Barnett should Mr. Barnett can we hear a firm that he will

271
00:26:40,960 --> 00:26:44,760
Or would you like to address the board?

272
00:26:52,330 --> 00:26:53,270
Chairman, I would be honored.

273
00:26:54,410 --> 00:27:00,910
I am buoyed by the confidence that the board has placed in me that ACTAs are in this critical time period.

274
00:27:01,630 --> 00:27:08,130
I think the stability of the agency going forward in the next 30 days, I have such complete confidence.

275
00:27:08,550 --> 00:27:15,810
And men and women sitting next to me at the table and those behind me and the 1600 people who come to work every day

276
00:27:15,810 --> 00:27:18,970
and carry out the mission of the Water Management District

277
00:27:18,970 --> 00:27:20,430
and we'll be honored to do that.

278
00:27:20,650 --> 00:27:26,370
I think I would provide a sense of continuity

279
00:27:26,370 --> 00:27:28,810
as you go through the process of selecting

280
00:27:28,810 --> 00:27:30,050
the permanent executive director.

281
00:27:30,770 --> 00:27:33,870
And I also would like to say that whoever is selected

282
00:27:33,870 --> 00:27:36,030
as the executive director, I think

283
00:27:36,030 --> 00:27:38,370
I speak for each and every one of us sitting here at the table.

284
00:27:38,830 --> 00:27:41,490
We are very honored and flattered by the comments

285
00:27:41,490 --> 00:27:43,530
of wanting to keep the executive team together.

286
00:27:43,690 --> 00:27:44,630
I think that's very important.

287
00:27:44,630 --> 00:27:49,010
And I will tell you that I think it's still comfortable speaking on behalf of all my colleagues

288
00:27:49,010 --> 00:27:53,510
because I think we are a lifeline to this that each and every one of us pledges our full support

289
00:27:54,050 --> 00:27:57,310
for making whoever becomes the next executive director a success.

290
00:27:58,110 --> 00:28:03,090
We owe it to the citizens and taxpayers of our district, we owe it to our fellow employees

291
00:28:03,630 --> 00:28:07,250
and equally important to you and each and every one of you sitting up there at the dais.

292
00:28:07,410 --> 00:28:12,990
So I'm honored, I'm flattered, I'm humbled and I would be honored to be part of this

293
00:28:12,990 --> 00:28:16,430
continue to be part of this leadership team, and we'll all work together pushing forward

294
00:28:16,430 --> 00:28:20,050
the mission for the next 30 days while you deliberate on the permanent executive director.

295
00:28:20,710 --> 00:28:26,630
Thank you very much, Ernie, and it's a testament to your professionalism that there's enormous

296
00:28:26,630 --> 00:28:35,250
support here for you to serve in that role, and the institutional knowledge, the relationship,

297
00:28:35,250 --> 00:28:41,110
have people skills, technical skills, that you have and embody are, you know, really

298
00:28:41,110 --> 00:28:41,370
a service.

299
00:28:43,830 --> 00:28:46,590
Can we make that stop happening?

300
00:28:49,230 --> 00:28:54,030
So thank you very much. So with that, unless

301
00:28:54,030 --> 00:28:57,630
there's further discussion about the process, I think this will come back up as an agenda

302
00:28:57,630 --> 00:29:04,510
item next month for further consideration of the permanent position.

303
00:29:04,510 --> 00:29:08,790
And just under that, and I appreciate that, since I'm one of the newer board members,

304
00:29:08,890 --> 00:29:13,510
I haven't really had the opportunity to hear a lot about your vision and direction.

305
00:29:13,770 --> 00:29:16,430
And so I wanted to share with you a little bit about what I was looking for,

306
00:29:16,570 --> 00:29:19,870
and it's very similar to what you guys have stated.

307
00:29:20,150 --> 00:29:24,330
But, you know, obviously the South Florida Water Management District has a very unique set

308
00:29:24,330 --> 00:29:27,250
of issues, so we need somebody that clearly understands those issues.

309
00:29:27,870 --> 00:29:31,810
I'm looking for somebody that has an appreciation for the executive team,

310
00:29:31,810 --> 00:29:34,650
because I think we have a fantastic executive team.

311
00:29:35,370 --> 00:29:38,870
I'm proud that they're here and I look forward to continue working with them.

312
00:29:39,410 --> 00:29:41,730
I think we need somebody that's committed to transparency.

313
00:29:42,230 --> 00:29:48,090
I've seen in the past where as a regulated user it's been difficult to interact with

314
00:29:48,090 --> 00:29:52,730
the agency and I think that's been dramatically improved over the last number of years and

315
00:29:52,730 --> 00:29:54,010
I want to see that continue.

316
00:29:54,290 --> 00:29:59,030
I think we need somebody that's a strong communicator, is an innovative problem solver

317
00:29:59,030 --> 00:29:59,490
and it's demonstrated.

318
00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:05,140
That through their work effort. Somebody that recognizes that the governing board is the policy

319
00:30:05,140 --> 00:30:10,720
agent and will allow us to make those policy decisions. And somebody that's got a track

320
00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:17,240
record of streamlining and driving efficiency with focus on core mission. One of the other

321
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:22,580
issues is I think we need somebody that has a very strong understanding of the operation

322
00:30:22,580 --> 00:30:26,700
and maintenance. That's an area that I've got a concern. The funding of those ongoing

323
00:30:26,700 --> 00:30:31,200
operation and maintenance, so I want somebody that completely grasps that, because I think

324
00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:36,060
that's one of those quiet tigers in the background that we're going to have to live up to one

325
00:30:36,060 --> 00:30:36,560
of these days.

326
00:30:36,860 --> 00:30:39,380
So that's just my outline of what we're looking for.

327
00:30:39,860 --> 00:30:40,920
I'm looking for it.

328
00:30:43,320 --> 00:30:43,920
Mr. Sgt.

329
00:30:44,140 --> 00:30:47,800
I'll just real quick thank Melissa for her leadership.

330
00:30:48,380 --> 00:30:52,360
Wish her a happy birthday, Ernie, congratulations, I know you're going to do a great job

331
00:30:52,860 --> 00:30:57,760
leading this organization, and I think we're all on the same page as far as the

332
00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:01,800
direction that we need to go and the type of leader that we're looking for to bring

333
00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:04,040
in and run this agency long term.

334
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:06,820
Okay.

335
00:31:06,940 --> 00:31:08,220
I just want to make one more comment.

336
00:31:08,620 --> 00:31:14,460
You know, I'm looking at some folks sitting in front of us, the executive team, you know,

337
00:31:14,540 --> 00:31:18,240
with Tommy, with Ernie, with Len, Dan, you know, there's a number of people here that,

338
00:31:18,360 --> 00:31:21,460
in my view, could lead this agency as the executive director that are right here in

339
00:31:21,460 --> 00:31:22,780
this room and others that are behind them.

340
00:31:23,380 --> 00:31:28,540
But if we're bringing in, if it happens that we bring in someone from outside

341
00:31:28,540 --> 00:31:33,980
the district, I think we must insist that that person, not that we tie their hands,

342
00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:40,080
but that we insist that they keep our executive team in place because, and I know some of

343
00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:43,480
you are new, but you're very experienced in matters, you know, in South Florida with

344
00:31:43,480 --> 00:31:47,480
water management and our core mission, but this next executive director, if we do it

345
00:31:47,480 --> 00:31:50,460
in 30 days or if we do it in 60 days, that's going to be our third executive director

346
00:31:50,460 --> 00:31:53,980
in the last two years, because we had Carol Whealy, she resigns, Melissa comes

347
00:31:53,980 --> 00:31:57,140
in, she resigns, and now we're going to have another person, and we have to

348
00:31:57,140 --> 00:32:01,880
think about morale from the rank and file, the 1600 employees that Ernie referred to,

349
00:32:02,020 --> 00:32:06,000
and it's not just the morale of the rank and file, but it's the morale and the job security

350
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:11,240
of the executive team that brings us the institutional knowledge and the real depth of understanding

351
00:32:11,240 --> 00:32:15,040
of the really unique issues that this district faces.

352
00:32:16,020 --> 00:32:21,180
So I just want to put that out there so as we consider, and maybe we will separately

353
00:32:21,180 --> 00:32:27,360
received phone calls from applicants, from folks in Tallahassee, from stakeholders, I

354
00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:32,960
just would urge you to consider that we need to be demanding of that type of commitment

355
00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:38,040
from whoever it is, if perchance this person, this applicant comes from outside the district.

356
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:41,660
If that's an unofficial motion, I'll unofficially second it.

357
00:32:43,860 --> 00:32:44,980
He's very eloquent.

358
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:45,700
Mr. Pertuando.

359
00:32:46,040 --> 00:32:46,640
Yes, Mr. Chairman.

360
00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:56,840
And I would just like to add to Glenn's comment that one of my key concerns ever since I arrived

361
00:32:57,670 --> 00:33:07,160
here has been the continuity issue and the wealth of knowledge and experience that sits

362
00:33:07,160 --> 00:33:12,220
in front of us at every meeting and the realization that each one of these folks has been around

363
00:33:13,340 --> 00:33:24,140
for a while. And because of that I had had discussions with Melissa about putting in place

364
00:33:24,140 --> 00:33:34,780
a succession plan and make sure that we have a knowledge bank and I start grooming the people

365
00:33:34,780 --> 00:33:40,480
that will come when the fine folk on the executive team decide that they've done enough

366
00:33:40,480 --> 00:33:43,600
And it's time to ride another elephant.

367
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:52,720
And I think we should make that one of the top priorities, as we may or may not enter

368
00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:55,440
into discussions with the different applicants.

369
00:33:56,140 --> 00:34:01,160
I think that it's the kind of thing that falls by the wayside because we're in the nature

370
00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:01,980
of fighting fires.

371
00:34:02,420 --> 00:34:06,280
But unless we make it a priority, it will always be next months and next months and

372
00:34:06,280 --> 00:34:07,460
really never gets done.

373
00:34:08,100 --> 00:34:14,700
And I agree completely, Juan, and I think that that type of a senior mentoring program

374
00:34:15,500 --> 00:34:19,560
may have started in the past and then fell off, like you said, with all the other priorities,

375
00:34:19,700 --> 00:34:23,160
but I agree that that needs to really be a priority.

376
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,540
And I think that the message from the board to the executive director

377
00:34:26,540 --> 00:34:30,740
and to all the leadership needs to be that that needs to be a priority.

378
00:34:30,900 --> 00:34:34,460
We need to make that happen, and it really needs to be kind of throughout the organization

379
00:34:34,460 --> 00:34:38,300
because it's not just at the senior management level also.

380
00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:40,400
It's in the field.

381
00:34:40,640 --> 00:34:45,480
It's the folks that really do the stuff that makes our flood control

382
00:34:45,480 --> 00:34:47,480
and our operations and our systems function.

383
00:34:48,100 --> 00:34:50,280
And a lot of them have been doing it for a very long time

384
00:34:50,280 --> 00:34:52,200
as we see when we have the recognition awards

385
00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:55,260
and how long these people have been serving the district.

386
00:34:55,820 --> 00:35:00,120
And it is important to make sure that that knowledge is being passed on

387
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:01,200
and then forward and trained.

388
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:06,900
So I agree with you a hundred percent. I think we need to make that a big priority for for the district on foreign

389
00:35:06,900 --> 00:35:14,240
if there's no other comments at this time, then we'll look to

390
00:35:14,900 --> 00:35:17,580
agenda this item for next month and

391
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:22,020
And have further consideration of the executive director position

392
00:35:23,560 --> 00:35:28,620
Do we have to formally accept Melissa's resignation or I I think we may

393
00:35:28,620 --> 00:35:30,820
Carolyn, do we need to formally accept?

394
00:35:31,100 --> 00:35:33,620
Okay, was that a motion to formally accept?

395
00:35:33,860 --> 00:35:38,140
I'll make a motion, sadly, that we formally accept

396
00:35:38,140 --> 00:35:39,540
the resignation.

397
00:35:41,020 --> 00:35:42,600
I'll say, electrically second it.

398
00:35:44,740 --> 00:35:46,140
Okay, we have a motion and a second.

399
00:35:47,240 --> 00:35:48,720
Discussion, all those in favor?

400
00:35:49,300 --> 00:35:49,740
All right.

401
00:35:50,060 --> 00:35:52,800
Oppose no motion to accept Melissa's

402
00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:56,680
Meeker's resignation reluctantly, passes unanimously.

403
00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:01,580
Okay. Now, abstentions by board members from any of the comments?

404
00:36:01,580 --> 00:36:12,720
Mr. Chairman, if I may, just before we break from this topic, it just occurred to me that it might be possible that we identify a candidate before the 30 days.

405
00:36:13,420 --> 00:36:25,980
And if so, we may want to have the flexibility to have perhaps a special meeting or we can leave it the way it is and look at it next month.

406
00:36:28,640 --> 00:36:34,020
Yeah, I think we're, you know, I'd be flexible on that, I think, with Ernie as the interim

407
00:36:34,020 --> 00:36:40,140
DE that might not be necessary, but certainly it's, you know, if somebody wants to request

408
00:36:40,140 --> 00:36:46,340
it and there's support for it, then we'd – I mean, you know, I personally don't

409
00:36:46,340 --> 00:36:47,140
think it's necessary.

410
00:36:47,420 --> 00:36:50,600
I think, you know, certainly we're in good hands for the time being.

411
00:36:52,380 --> 00:36:56,920
I would just say that if there are candidates, I'd like to make sure that I'm aware of it,

412
00:36:56,920 --> 00:37:00,840
because I want to sit down and have a face-to-face conversation with whoever we're considering

413
00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:02,560
before we make a decision.

414
00:37:03,120 --> 00:37:07,560
I think being able to look at them in the eyes and ask them the questions is important

415
00:37:07,560 --> 00:37:09,140
before I get ready to make any decision.

416
00:37:10,580 --> 00:37:10,980
Agreed.

417
00:37:11,880 --> 00:37:12,280
Okay.

418
00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:15,120
We're going to close this matter.

419
00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:18,900
We're going to put it on the agenda for next month, and now we're going to pull

420
00:37:18,900 --> 00:37:22,400
all the board members for any abstentions or items on the agenda.

421
00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:23,460
Mr. Barber.

422
00:37:25,160 --> 00:37:26,260
Yes, Mr. Chairman.

423
00:37:29,220 --> 00:37:34,380
Under individual permits by authority, delegated executive director in

424
00:37:34,380 --> 00:37:39,040
Coyer County, item one, that's a current client of ours,

425
00:37:39,180 --> 00:37:43,440
although we did not work on this permit with abstain.

426
00:37:43,780 --> 00:37:44,380
Okay, noted.

427
00:37:45,500 --> 00:37:46,240
No, Mr. Chair.

428
00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:47,360
None.

429
00:37:47,860 --> 00:37:48,600
None, Mr. Chair.

430
00:37:48,900 --> 00:37:49,000
None.

431
00:37:52,040 --> 00:37:55,740
No, and I have to just have one more comment to make.

432
00:37:55,960 --> 00:38:00,540
One of our fellow board members, there's not an empty chair here, but Sandy Batchelor is

433
00:38:00,540 --> 00:38:04,260
not here, and I just wanted to recognize Sandy who could not be with us, because as I think

434
00:38:04,260 --> 00:38:07,980
most of us know, her father passed away earlier this week.

435
00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:13,100
For those of you who didn't know that, so if anyone wants to get a word to her or

436
00:38:13,100 --> 00:38:15,760
do it through the executive office, certainly that can happen.

437
00:38:15,760 --> 00:38:20,100
but I wanted to recognize our colleague, Sandy, whose father passed away earlier this week,

438
00:38:20,180 --> 00:38:22,300
and to let her know that our thoughts are with her.

439
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:23,540
Thank you, Glenn.

440
00:38:24,240 --> 00:38:24,940
Yeah, thanks, Glenn.

441
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:28,920
That's a good point, particularly when we're down here in her backyard in Miami-Dade,

442
00:38:29,020 --> 00:38:36,180
and it's unfortunate that she has that heartfelt tragedy to deal with,

443
00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,180
and certainly our thoughts and prayers are with her.

444
00:38:39,840 --> 00:38:47,500
So on the back to the abstentions, I have no abstentions this month and so we will move

445
00:38:47,500 --> 00:38:51,560
on to Mr. Sargent and a report on the RAC committee.

446
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:53,360
Thank you, Mr. Chair.

447
00:38:53,680 --> 00:38:58,040
Well, we had a very exciting and outstanding meeting on June 6th at District Headquarters.

448
00:38:58,780 --> 00:39:03,200
Jeff Kivitt provided an update on district flood control operations and discussed

449
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:05,580
district activities in preparation of the wet season.

450
00:39:05,580 --> 00:39:06,920
It was very timely.

451
00:39:08,920 --> 00:39:14,820
Vice Chair Kevin Powers invited anyone that wanted to to go back and check out the control

452
00:39:14,820 --> 00:39:15,160
room.

453
00:39:16,340 --> 00:39:22,120
Staff provided an update on the land assessment activities and recommendations for the semi-area.

454
00:39:23,540 --> 00:39:29,700
Ray Palmer will be presenting this information later today, so he'll incorporate any RAC comments

455
00:39:29,700 --> 00:39:30,620
in his presentation.

456
00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:35,680
The group also received an update on the Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan.

457
00:39:36,740 --> 00:39:38,660
We'll not be discussing that today.

458
00:39:38,900 --> 00:39:44,920
However, I will call on Terry Bates to give us kind of the comments from RAC on the plan.

459
00:39:47,140 --> 00:39:49,620
Just a quick update in the interest of time.

460
00:39:49,800 --> 00:39:50,940
We'll schedule this for July.

461
00:39:51,080 --> 00:39:52,660
Normally, we would have presented it this month.

462
00:39:53,140 --> 00:39:54,220
I think we had a very good discussion.

463
00:39:54,420 --> 00:39:58,020
Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan are largest, most complex water supply plan.

464
00:39:58,020 --> 00:40:05,860
112 local governments, 50 utilities, major agricultural industry, all of our really significant

465
00:40:05,860 --> 00:40:08,820
environmental resources in the Everglades Biscayne National Park.

466
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:13,260
I think one of the things that we were encouraged to hear in the feedback from RAC,

467
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:17,600
we spent a lot of time working with the different stakeholders from agriculture,

468
00:40:18,380 --> 00:40:22,280
from utilities and getting the demand numbers right that everybody agreed with

469
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:27,880
going into the plan and what the expected future water demands were going to be.

470
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:32,540
So we'll have our next public meeting, first time of rolling out the entire plan together.

471
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:36,040
And that's what I really wanted to share with you, and that's June 27th.

472
00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,460
That will be at the South Florida Regional Planning Council.

473
00:40:38,900 --> 00:40:41,760
We did include a copy of the presentation in your backup folder.

474
00:40:42,200 --> 00:40:48,120
We appreciate Mr. Portuano, who has kind of served as our governing board member liaison for the Lower East Coast Water Supply Plan.

475
00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:53,960
And probably the one interesting thing of note from a public water supply standpoint of where we were with the boom

476
00:40:53,960 --> 00:40:59,920
And the expected growth that has certainly been moderated is out of our 50 utilities.

477
00:41:00,180 --> 00:41:06,580
There are only seven utilities that have projects that are needed to meet their future demands in 2030.

478
00:41:07,140 --> 00:41:13,580
So our utilities have really stepped up having infrastructure in place and permits in place to meet that 2030 demand.

479
00:41:13,820 --> 00:41:15,360
So it's eased some of that pressure.

480
00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:19,660
the big focus is going to be on the environmental restoration projects that

481
00:41:19,660 --> 00:41:23,040
help to make the water supply bigger both for the environment for water supply

482
00:41:23,040 --> 00:41:28,440
and for agriculture. So we'll do our very first big public meeting on June 27th

483
00:41:28,440 --> 00:41:34,080
and we'll bring that feedback to the board in July. Thank you, Teri. Lynn Lindo

484
00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:39,000
and his staff also discussed the, with the group, the proposed revisions

485
00:41:39,000 --> 00:41:43,040
for the delegation of consumptive use permits. A lot of great discussion

486
00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:47,660
around this. Lynn, do you want to try to summarize that discussion?

487
00:41:48,320 --> 00:41:52,540
Yes, sir. Thank you. And I'd like to, on behalf of the staff, just quickly congratulate

488
00:41:52,540 --> 00:41:57,080
Ernie Barnett on being the name, the interim executive director we look forward to his leadership

489
00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:02,400
and are there to support him. On the delegation, we had brought this to our May meeting

490
00:42:03,380 --> 00:42:07,980
for the board and took it back to RAC. We had changed the items a little bit from a discussion

491
00:42:07,980 --> 00:42:11,940
as far as the key points that would trigger it to be elevated up to the board.

492
00:42:12,600 --> 00:42:17,880
Overall, there was a very, very strong feeling that nothing should change,

493
00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:20,940
that the delegation should stay the way that it is.

494
00:42:22,020 --> 00:42:27,120
The efficiencies that have come about through delegating everything to the executive office

495
00:42:27,120 --> 00:42:32,940
is significant, and the benefits they don't want to lose, risk losing.

496
00:42:33,620 --> 00:42:40,000
There were some support with regards to change in the process, and if you did change the process,

497
00:42:40,180 --> 00:42:44,940
you would want to have very, very specific – even much more specific than our revised criteria

498
00:42:44,940 --> 00:42:52,940
so that it would not be something that the Executive Director would just be able to elevate on their call.

499
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:55,040
It would be something that would be very specific.

500
00:42:55,040 --> 00:43:02,060
But, by far, the majority of the RAC members were in support of keeping the process the

501
00:43:02,060 --> 00:43:02,460
same way.

502
00:43:03,520 --> 00:43:04,020
Okay.

503
00:43:04,500 --> 00:43:10,340
Lynn, from a staff perspective, so what's the next step in this, or what's your plan?

504
00:43:11,140 --> 00:43:16,700
Our plan would be to work with the interim executive director and the executive director

505
00:43:16,700 --> 00:43:21,220
and determine if this is something that we would bring back to the board and the

506
00:43:21,220 --> 00:43:21,840
timing of that.

507
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:22,280
Okay.

508
00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:22,960
Thank you.

509
00:43:24,980 --> 00:43:29,880
Ernie Burnett provided an update on the legislative session to the group.

510
00:43:30,460 --> 00:43:36,600
He updated members on the SEP and the conceptual agreement to acquire the Mecca property.

511
00:43:37,300 --> 00:43:41,020
Several members requested that SEP be brought back to RAC,

512
00:43:41,260 --> 00:43:44,020
and staff is looking at options for a special RAC meeting in July.

513
00:43:45,000 --> 00:43:49,580
However, I did want to discuss this because as Glen pointed out,

514
00:43:49,580 --> 00:43:52,420
You know, we want to be able to vote on this at the next meeting.

515
00:43:52,600 --> 00:43:55,140
There is no scheduled RAC meeting in July.

516
00:43:56,280 --> 00:43:58,420
And I just wanted to kind of get the board's feel.

517
00:43:59,400 --> 00:44:03,920
If you look at the Central Everglades Plan, the plan's in place,

518
00:44:04,140 --> 00:44:08,000
so there's not really a change to the overall plan.

519
00:44:08,200 --> 00:44:10,660
And Ernie, you can help me out on this if I misspeak.

520
00:44:11,500 --> 00:44:15,380
But it's more of the legal ease that we're kind of looking at

521
00:44:15,380 --> 00:44:18,040
and trying to get into the draft PIR.

522
00:44:18,520 --> 00:44:23,860
So I'm not sure if it would be appropriate to bring it back to RAC or not.

523
00:44:24,460 --> 00:44:29,020
I just wanted to get Kevin and you've been in the RAC a long time and get your input.

524
00:44:29,240 --> 00:44:31,140
But some members did request that we bring it back.

525
00:44:31,260 --> 00:44:36,720
I'm just not sure what kind of comments they would provide given the issues that we're trying to work through.

526
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:47,740
You know, yeah, it would be difficult to obviously change the schedule and throw a July rack on there.

527
00:44:49,180 --> 00:44:52,020
You know, I think we just have to see what we have in August.

528
00:44:52,260 --> 00:44:59,900
Definitely solicit, perhaps, that we can email solicit feedback that way, you know, and make sure that they have access.

529
00:45:00,000 --> 00:45:05,320
Thanks to the latest and the most current information on this, is a thought.

530
00:45:06,340 --> 00:45:06,700
Okay.

531
00:45:09,430 --> 00:45:09,990
Yes, Ernie?

532
00:45:13,390 --> 00:45:14,490
Or should I call you Mr. ...

533
00:45:14,490 --> 00:45:14,610
Yeah.

534
00:45:14,750 --> 00:45:15,570
... or the executive director?

535
00:45:17,270 --> 00:45:17,630
Yeah.

536
00:45:18,190 --> 00:45:18,950
We're going to go by titles.

537
00:45:19,230 --> 00:45:19,850
Thank you, sir.

538
00:45:20,710 --> 00:45:25,650
You know, I, you know, based on Mr. Hutchcraft and others' comments, I do believe, you

539
00:45:25,650 --> 00:45:27,490
know, transparency is really, really important.

540
00:45:28,250 --> 00:45:32,350
I think it is unfortunate, it's just by chance that there's not a RAC meeting scheduled.

541
00:45:32,730 --> 00:45:36,230
But I don't think there's anything to preclude us from noticing a public meeting.

542
00:45:36,570 --> 00:45:37,690
You know, the agency can do a workshop.

543
00:45:38,750 --> 00:45:42,530
You know, we can – I think it would be very, very important to have all the stakeholders,

544
00:45:42,770 --> 00:45:47,870
you know, input and thought on the draft plan that would be being brought forward for the board.

545
00:45:48,550 --> 00:45:52,150
I think it'd be difficult, but, I mean, we could even schedule it the Tuesday,

546
00:45:52,450 --> 00:45:54,250
you know, prior to the Governing Board meeting.

547
00:45:55,310 --> 00:45:58,390
I think it'd be important to hear from the RAC members who have raised the concern,

548
00:45:58,390 --> 00:46:04,270
know because there is the sort of institution that is RAC and the role that it plays and

549
00:46:04,270 --> 00:46:08,390
I think that's very important to the agency as well but we'll make every effort if it's

550
00:46:08,390 --> 00:46:14,250
the will of the board to have additional opportunities for public comment and input by scheduling

551
00:46:14,250 --> 00:46:20,870
a workshop and embedding the plan publicly and inviting all of the stakeholders to

552
00:46:20,870 --> 00:46:21,270
participate.

553
00:46:21,730 --> 00:46:26,070
There is a very considerable sunshine issue that we would need to be careful of because

554
00:46:26,070 --> 00:46:28,470
Because it makes it awkward for RAC members.

555
00:46:28,630 --> 00:46:34,910
They can't come together in that forum because they would be discussing issues that often

556
00:46:34,910 --> 00:46:36,690
come before the board.

557
00:46:36,830 --> 00:46:38,090
So I think that's an important consideration.

558
00:46:38,430 --> 00:46:40,650
We just need to figure out if there's any way to make that happen.

559
00:46:41,310 --> 00:46:45,210
Maybe other representatives from those interest groups and stakeholders can participate.

560
00:46:45,810 --> 00:46:50,850
And there's always written comment and we'll meet individually with anyone because this

561
00:46:50,850 --> 00:46:54,770
is a very important step in the process and we need to make sure we have all the

562
00:46:54,770 --> 00:47:01,730
opportunities to get input. Okay. Thank you Ernie. Any other? Mr. Sergeant, I think we'd

563
00:47:01,730 --> 00:47:07,270
leave it to your leadership to whether or not you want to schedule a workshop as kind

564
00:47:07,270 --> 00:47:12,930
of a compromise item and maybe with the advice of council as if that is an effective alternative.

565
00:47:14,350 --> 00:47:20,330
Okay. Okay, thank you. Is that it on the record board? No Mr. Chair, we have some

566
00:47:20,330 --> 00:47:20,590
more.

567
00:47:21,350 --> 00:47:22,570
It keeps coming up.

568
00:47:23,450 --> 00:47:29,730
Dan DeLisi also shared with members the potential changes to the attendance provision in RAC policy.

569
00:47:30,350 --> 00:47:32,390
And boy, did he get some comments.

570
00:47:33,670 --> 00:47:38,990
And we have pulled that item from this month's agenda to allow...

571
00:47:38,990 --> 00:47:40,210
Look how responsive we are.

572
00:47:40,350 --> 00:47:41,470
We listen.

573
00:47:42,750 --> 00:47:49,150
So this will allow our staff time to reach out to more people on RAC to get their

574
00:47:49,150 --> 00:47:55,310
specific input and to make changes as necessary and then bring back something to you that

575
00:47:55,310 --> 00:47:58,450
I think RAC should be comfortable with.

576
00:47:58,750 --> 00:47:59,410
Thanks Dan.

577
00:48:00,610 --> 00:48:06,110
Members also requested future presentations on updates to the Central Florida water initiative,

578
00:48:06,650 --> 00:48:13,810
water farming, aquifer storage and recovery, and the district's physical year 14 budget.

579
00:48:15,510 --> 00:48:21,330
The last thing, there's a RAC issues workshop on June 17th at district headquarters and the

580
00:48:21,330 --> 00:48:25,850
next regularly scheduled RAC meeting will be on August 8th.

581
00:48:25,850 --> 00:48:26,750
And that's it, Mr. Chair.

582
00:48:26,930 --> 00:48:27,190
Thank you.

583
00:48:27,970 --> 00:48:28,950
Thank you, Mr. Sergeant.

584
00:48:29,230 --> 00:48:30,330
Mark your calendars accordingly.

585
00:48:31,710 --> 00:48:34,590
Do we have any public comment on the RAC report?

586
00:48:35,890 --> 00:48:36,370
Okay.

587
00:48:36,370 --> 00:48:42,850
Okay, then I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize Lourdes Casio with Congressman

588
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:58,550
Mario Diaz de Lard is here and I'd like to give her an opportunity to address the board.

589
00:49:02,710 --> 00:49:04,790
Deliver a letter from the congressman?

590
00:49:04,910 --> 00:49:07,510
Support obviously of the Central Library's planning project.

591
00:49:07,510 --> 00:49:11,430
Okay, well thank you for taking the time to come out and hand deliver that to us and we'll

592
00:49:11,430 --> 00:49:13,670
certainly take that under due consideration.

593
00:49:21,300 --> 00:49:22,580
Reagan will get copies of that

594
00:49:22,580 --> 00:49:24,100
to the board members.

595
00:49:26,610 --> 00:49:26,790
Okay.

596
00:49:29,660 --> 00:49:34,540
Are there any items, Mr. Bauer? If I can, Mr. Chair, before we move away from

597
00:49:34,540 --> 00:49:37,980
rat comment, I want to have a conversation

598
00:49:39,120 --> 00:49:42,140
briefly about the delegation of on

599
00:49:42,140 --> 00:49:46,820
on Consumptive Use Permits, you know, it's one of those,

600
00:49:46,940 --> 00:49:49,960
I don't see any reason to wait to have the conversation.

601
00:49:51,620 --> 00:49:54,440
RAC has just gone through it and weighed in.

602
00:49:54,880 --> 00:49:58,100
I think I would like to see it come back to this board

603
00:49:58,100 --> 00:49:59,300
sooner rather than later.

604
00:49:59,540 --> 00:50:01,960
It's our discussion, it's a policy discussion

605
00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:04,560
regardless of where any executive director

606
00:50:04,560 --> 00:50:05,600
is gonna land on it.

607
00:50:06,680 --> 00:50:08,040
What I don't wanna happen,

608
00:50:08,180 --> 00:50:09,740
I don't wanna wait for that permit

609
00:50:09,740 --> 00:50:15,780
that's floating out there to drive us to that point where now we've got to have a conversation.

610
00:50:16,060 --> 00:50:20,580
Let's go ahead and have a conversation while there's nothing out there if we're going to do that.

611
00:50:21,420 --> 00:50:27,500
I tend to agree. I think it's a policy decision that is right that might stick it up and have that discussion

612
00:50:27,500 --> 00:50:31,360
and come up with a conclusion. So writing one more thing for next month's agenda.

613
00:50:33,080 --> 00:50:33,960
Thank you, Mr. Powers.

614
00:50:33,960 --> 00:50:42,960
Okay, are there any items that any of the board members would like to pull from for discussion from the consent agenda?

615
00:50:46,520 --> 00:50:50,360
If none, then are there any comments on the consent agenda?

616
00:50:52,880 --> 00:50:59,760
And then if there are none, then do we have a motion to accept the consent agenda or approve the consent agenda item?

617
00:50:59,900 --> 00:51:00,200
So moved.

618
00:51:00,640 --> 00:51:00,840
Second.

619
00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:02,860
The motion is second.

620
00:51:03,360 --> 00:51:03,740
Discussion?

621
00:51:04,020 --> 00:51:04,640
All those in favor?

622
00:51:05,200 --> 00:51:05,560
Aye.

623
00:51:06,100 --> 00:51:06,600
Opposed?

624
00:51:06,600 --> 00:51:07,820
motion carries.

625
00:51:19,120 --> 00:51:23,960
Okay, this is an opportunity now for general public comment. Reagan, do

626
00:51:23,960 --> 00:51:26,820
we have any general public comment speakers?

627
00:51:35,150 --> 00:51:36,750
That's not going to sound okay.

628
00:51:39,940 --> 00:51:40,800
I thought

629
00:51:40,800 --> 00:51:51,840
we had one coming forth. Okay, so then next up is our voluntary bates for

630
00:51:52,820 --> 00:51:54,000
ecological conditions report.

631
00:52:03,740 --> 00:52:05,020
Just don't turn the mics up.

632
00:52:07,820 --> 00:52:12,020
And I'll make this a shorter report. I kind of condensed it down just to focus on a couple

633
00:52:12,020 --> 00:52:15,820
of issues because you have such a full agenda today. But I did want, and you do have a copy

634
00:52:15,820 --> 00:52:19,700
of this presentation. It might be a little easier to see than what's on the screen there.

635
00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:25,000
But certainly in the St. Lucie Estuary we're seeing declining salinity levels.

636
00:52:25,380 --> 00:52:29,740
This month on the right here you can see versus where we were back in May.

637
00:52:29,740 --> 00:52:36,720
And I will say that's all from basin inflow with a significant amount of rainfall that time you'll go through seven, eight inches of rainfall.

638
00:52:37,220 --> 00:52:46,120
There has been no discharges from Lake Okeechobee. This is really all just basin inflow coming in from C44, C23, 24 and 25.

639
00:52:46,460 --> 00:52:51,360
You can see on the graphic here, very significant inflows coming in through the basin.

640
00:52:51,620 --> 00:52:58,900
That started to subside. Discharges now through the S80 structure from basin inflow is about 500 CFS.

641
00:52:58,900 --> 00:53:03,360
this morning. Similar condition in the Clucinaceae estuary with all the rainfall.

642
00:53:03,900 --> 00:53:06,600
You can see the salinity has been pushed substantially downstream.

643
00:53:07,520 --> 00:53:11,240
It's really fresh water conditions all the way through the middle estuary.

644
00:53:11,860 --> 00:53:14,560
Those discharges continue again from the basin inflow.

645
00:53:14,740 --> 00:53:20,800
They were at a peak up about 5,000 CFS this morning as I looked that they had ramped back up.

646
00:53:21,340 --> 00:53:25,160
And so we're trying to again moderate those local basin inflow.

647
00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:28,080
So no discharges coming from Lake Okeechobee through the system.

648
00:53:30,380 --> 00:53:34,760
One issue to mention, both in Lake Okeechobee and the Kalusa Hatchee, it's not uncommon

649
00:53:34,760 --> 00:53:40,400
this time of year as the conditions heat up and you get some cloudy days and nutrients

650
00:53:40,400 --> 00:53:43,280
working over time that you start to see some algal bloom conditions.

651
00:53:44,200 --> 00:53:48,740
We're seeing some sporadic areas of algal bloom in Lake Okeechobee, kind of small

652
00:53:48,740 --> 00:53:52,760
scale, but also in the Kalusa Hatchee, as you can see the picture there, pretty

653
00:53:52,760 --> 00:53:56,820
much along the shoreline where you don't get good water flow, and so it's kind of stagnant

654
00:53:56,820 --> 00:54:01,800
conditions in the shoreline. It was significant enough for the Olga Water Treatment Plant,

655
00:54:01,920 --> 00:54:07,480
which is located just upstream of S79. That's one of the very few facilities that relies

656
00:54:07,480 --> 00:54:12,340
on surface water for public water supply. It's very difficult for them to moderate their

657
00:54:12,340 --> 00:54:18,580
treatment system to deal with big changes in the algal level. So they have brought

658
00:54:18,580 --> 00:54:24,220
that facility offline and are transferring the demands to the other facilities in Lee

659
00:54:24,220 --> 00:54:26,080
County to meet the public water supply demands.

660
00:54:26,960 --> 00:54:30,880
Biscayne Bay, I'm only going to show this to you because now a good many of you have

661
00:54:30,880 --> 00:54:35,100
had a chance to get out there in the field and see beautiful Biscayne Bay and so you

662
00:54:35,100 --> 00:54:41,060
will forever now know where this station is, this BBC W-10 that wooden platform was

663
00:54:41,060 --> 00:54:45,480
the last place that we visited yesterday afternoon and you can see here the salinity

664
00:54:45,480 --> 00:54:50,760
levels from all those discharges coming out of the canal who have really moderated salinity

665
00:54:50,760 --> 00:54:55,140
levels in those near shore areas, and I'm glad I got a chance to see it where you could

666
00:54:55,140 --> 00:54:58,980
actually see the mixing of the fresh and salt water, but when we showed you this slide,

667
00:54:59,360 --> 00:55:02,640
that's that one station that you all had a chance to visit yesterday out in the

668
00:55:02,640 --> 00:55:02,880
field.

669
00:55:04,160 --> 00:55:08,580
The STAs, I'll just mention how high the levels are, and that certainly has been

670
00:55:08,580 --> 00:55:09,880
a constraint on our operations.

671
00:55:09,880 --> 00:55:17,960
This bar across horizontal bar is the operating level we try and maintain the STAs from a vegetation

672
00:55:17,960 --> 00:55:23,500
standpoint and treatment efficiency. With all of the rainfall directly over this area,

673
00:55:23,680 --> 00:55:27,720
6 to 7 inches, the STAs have jumped up substantially in depth.

674
00:55:28,160 --> 00:55:32,300
We don't want to keep them at those depths for very long because of the impacts to vegetation.

675
00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:36,480
We get a lot of pressure, move more water south, move more water south,

676
00:55:36,480 --> 00:55:39,820
But we really are constrained with our STAs and water quality treatment.

677
00:55:40,020 --> 00:55:45,400
If you overload those STAs with too much water for too long, you lose your treatment capacity

678
00:55:45,400 --> 00:55:46,580
and we can't let that happen.

679
00:55:46,720 --> 00:55:51,860
Last time, that occurred with discharges trying to not send water from Lake Okeechobee

680
00:55:51,860 --> 00:55:52,400
to the estuaries.

681
00:55:52,600 --> 00:55:53,280
We sent it south.

682
00:55:53,800 --> 00:55:59,020
We ended up with STA-1 West was literally offline for almost two years before we could

683
00:55:59,020 --> 00:56:03,780
rehabilitate it and get the treatment level back in efficient operations.

684
00:56:03,780 --> 00:56:08,100
And this just kind of gives you a graphical depiction of the major STAs.

685
00:56:08,680 --> 00:56:12,700
We had cells that were offline in STA1Es due to construction.

686
00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:19,080
And where you see the depths that are bluer, that's much deeper than we want to see these conditions persist in the STA.

687
00:56:19,480 --> 00:56:23,760
Similar in STA3-4, we had vegetation rehabilitation going on.

688
00:56:24,120 --> 00:56:25,200
Those cells were offline.

689
00:56:25,960 --> 00:56:31,440
The other cells, we maximized the depths that we thought those facilities could withstand.

690
00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:37,220
and then ultimately ended up needing to divert water around from the SDAs directly to the

691
00:56:37,220 --> 00:56:40,420
refuge, and Tommy will address a little bit more of that in his presentation.

692
00:56:41,500 --> 00:56:46,580
You can see the change in water depth throughout the Everglades in response to a really early,

693
00:56:46,720 --> 00:56:48,640
very strong start to the wet season.

694
00:56:49,800 --> 00:56:54,340
And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions or let Tommy pick up on him.

695
00:56:54,740 --> 00:56:59,040
Thanks, Terry. Any questions or comments on Terry's report?

696
00:57:02,020 --> 00:57:03,660
Tommy is going to address water conditions.

697
00:57:05,400 --> 00:57:06,540
He's got a wet report.

698
00:57:07,900 --> 00:57:08,560
Not much.

699
00:57:17,190 --> 00:57:17,630
No,

700
00:57:22,170 --> 00:57:22,830
it's not yet.

701
00:57:25,690 --> 00:57:26,750
We've got two up over here.

702
00:57:39,240 --> 00:57:39,880
Good morning.

703
00:57:40,060 --> 00:57:47,360
Just briefly, I'll cover the significant amount of rain that we received in the early part of this month.

704
00:57:47,540 --> 00:57:51,400
But before we get there, just give you a sense of the dry season overall.

705
00:57:51,760 --> 00:57:54,260
And we'll talk a lot about distribution of rainfall.

706
00:57:54,260 --> 00:57:58,400
but we had a number of very dry months early in the dry season.

707
00:57:58,920 --> 00:58:04,880
It could have been a record had we not received the rain that we received in the last part of the dry season,

708
00:58:04,900 --> 00:58:06,760
which turned out was the start of the wet season.

709
00:58:07,320 --> 00:58:10,040
When you had all that together, we had an average dry season.

710
00:58:10,780 --> 00:58:13,900
So the experience through each month was obviously a little different than that.

711
00:58:14,720 --> 00:58:20,380
In May, we started to see rainfall particularly on the Lower East Coast intensify.

712
00:58:21,180 --> 00:58:28,640
Districtwide received 6.08 inches, about 163 percent of average, or around 2.3 inches above average.

713
00:58:29,180 --> 00:58:33,540
All the basins but one recorded above average rainfall, and that was in the western EAA.

714
00:58:33,840 --> 00:58:37,380
And as I mentioned, the wet season started early around May 18th.

715
00:58:38,360 --> 00:58:42,520
That pattern has obviously continued into June with Tropical Storm Andrea.

716
00:58:42,520 --> 00:58:45,160
Andrea district wide so far we've had

717
00:58:45,160 --> 00:58:46,440
5.15

718
00:58:47,200 --> 00:58:52,620
Inches of rain which is over like 200% of average or 2.67 inches above average and

719
00:58:53,380 --> 00:58:58,020
Tropical storm Andrea produced around 3.1 inches district wide. We'll talk about that in a minute

720
00:58:58,020 --> 00:59:02,060
But this is the distribution that I mentioned you see from November

721
00:59:02,700 --> 00:59:07,900
Through March we had below average rainfall with March in November being particularly dry

722
00:59:07,900 --> 00:59:11,480
November was the dryest November we've had since 1932

723
00:59:11,480 --> 00:59:16,860
but again in April and May the early onset of the wet season changed those

724
00:59:16,860 --> 00:59:21,240
conditions significantly. And then tropical storm Andrea produced about as

725
00:59:21,240 --> 00:59:24,820
mentioned 3.1 inches district wide. Our meteorologist kind of came up with a

726
00:59:24,820 --> 00:59:30,620
baseball statistic that is interested. Tropical storm Andrea provided in those

727
00:59:30,620 --> 00:59:36,200
three or four days the same amount of rain as we get on average annual from

728
00:59:36,200 --> 00:59:40,340
tropical activity. So you know if you look at an average year we've already

729
00:59:40,340 --> 00:59:46,780
used up our tropical average rainfall. So anything we get is grading from now on.

730
00:59:49,360 --> 00:59:53,700
And again, just to point out there is where we were hit the hardest, the conservation areas here.

731
00:59:54,040 --> 00:59:59,400
Conservation area 2 was hit pretty heavily around 8 to 10 inches of rain.

732
01:00:00,000 --> 01:00:05,820
Conservation area 1, the central portion of the air blade's agricultural area, anywhere from

733
01:00:05,820 --> 01:00:12,020
5 to 6 inches. Rain in conservation area 3 and some of the balance of the glorious coast

734
01:00:12,020 --> 01:00:16,760
was around 4 to 5. So significant rainfall that occurred in the period between June 5th

735
01:00:16,760 --> 01:00:22,220
and June 8th. As a result, we had a lot of flood control operations that we had to move

736
01:00:22,220 --> 01:00:30,960
into obviously C-51, Western C-51 again, similar to Isaac, was hit fairly significantly. Maximum

737
01:00:30,960 --> 01:00:38,180
discharges were made out of C-51 canal via 155A in the center part of the basin and 155 out

738
01:00:38,180 --> 01:00:43,660
the coast to discharge water tide to mitigate any flooding. We also were put in a situation

739
01:00:43,660 --> 01:00:49,940
of having Terry mention to divert around some of the STAs. She mentioned STA-1 East

740
01:00:49,940 --> 01:00:57,040
in one west. It was a diversion directly to Conservation Area 1 via G300301. That diversion

741
01:00:57,040 --> 01:01:01,980
started on June 7th and around 4.30 in the afternoon. It was terminated on the 11th and

742
01:01:01,980 --> 01:01:06,940
around 2.30. And again, she covered very well the hydraulic capacity limitations that we

743
01:01:06,940 --> 01:01:11,160
have in the STAs that were part of that issue.

744
01:01:12,480 --> 01:01:17,780
As I mentioned, we had excessive rain in the central portion of the EAA, south of

745
01:01:17,780 --> 01:01:22,640
Lake Okeechobee. And because of that, flood control pumping to the lake at S2, typically

746
01:01:22,640 --> 01:01:28,780
referred to as back pumping, started on June 6th around 4 p.m. That was secured at 6 a.m.

747
01:01:28,980 --> 01:01:33,660
on the 12th. And again, the southern pump station, as Teri mentioned, was moving water

748
01:01:33,660 --> 01:01:38,240
to the maximum extent we could without negatively impacting the central flowway of STA-34.

749
01:01:39,440 --> 01:01:46,280
And at the same time, we were diverting around STA-34 via G373. That initiated

750
01:01:46,280 --> 01:01:55,140
and around 12 p.m. on the Miami Canal on June 7th and was terminated at midnight on June 11th.

751
01:01:55,240 --> 01:02:00,600
And again, the capacity limitations that we had of moving water through the STAs were discussed by Terry Earley.

752
01:02:01,100 --> 01:02:02,800
When we look regionally, yes, sir.

753
01:02:03,460 --> 01:02:09,180
Can you go back, yeah, on the S2, does that mean that that was also, was that ongoing or is that terminated there?

754
01:02:09,380 --> 01:02:10,160
It's terminated.

755
01:02:10,240 --> 01:02:10,900
Okay, thank you.

756
01:02:11,240 --> 01:02:13,600
Yeah, it was secured at 6 a.m. on the 12th.

757
01:02:13,720 --> 01:02:14,220
Okay, thank you.

758
01:02:16,740 --> 01:02:22,220
So regionally, now where we are with regard to water levels, you can see in the upper

759
01:02:22,220 --> 01:02:27,380
chain of lakes, Lake Toho, we were kind of following the recession, we moved through,

760
01:02:27,620 --> 01:02:31,900
we started seeing significant rainfall there at the early start of the wet season.

761
01:02:32,420 --> 01:02:35,020
We didn't really get as low as we typically get to.

762
01:02:35,560 --> 01:02:39,740
Then Andrea hit and now you're seeing water levels bounce up and they'll probably bounce

763
01:02:39,740 --> 01:02:43,600
right into the regulation schedule here in the next week or so, if not earlier.

764
01:02:44,460 --> 01:02:49,180
Similar situation for Lake Kissimmee and for Lake District Hoga.

765
01:02:49,440 --> 01:02:53,340
So the water in those areas will, as rainfall continues in the wet season,

766
01:02:53,500 --> 01:02:57,880
will move up to the regulation schedule, which point there'll be a regulatory release

767
01:02:57,880 --> 01:03:01,180
south through the river down to Lake Okeechobee.

768
01:03:01,180 --> 01:03:03,820
In the water conservation areas, a similar pattern.

769
01:03:04,100 --> 01:03:08,240
Water levels rose pretty significantly above the regulation schedule.

770
01:03:08,240 --> 01:03:12,260
And, of course, as the wet season progresses, that will be something we'll need to focus

771
01:03:12,260 --> 01:03:16,380
on as we try to move water in coordination with the Corps of Engineers from the water

772
01:03:16,380 --> 01:03:18,840
conservation areas down into Everglades National Park.

773
01:03:20,200 --> 01:03:26,800
So when we look at Lake Okeechobee, today the current elevation is around 13.9, a little

774
01:03:26,800 --> 01:03:27,360
above that.

775
01:03:27,860 --> 01:03:30,880
You can see here the jump as a result of Andrea.

776
01:03:31,600 --> 01:03:37,120
We may see continued increases to some degree, but we think it's moderating a little

777
01:03:37,120 --> 01:03:41,360
bit right now to be independent on what rainfall we get moving forward.

778
01:03:42,220 --> 01:03:43,800
Again, today's stage is 1392.

779
01:03:44,160 --> 01:03:46,000
The bottom one-third of the load is subman.

780
01:03:46,180 --> 01:03:49,540
The tributary hydrologic conditions are in the normal classification for this week.

781
01:03:49,620 --> 01:03:56,620
And the guidance under the water control plan is the 2000 CFS at S79, up to 730 at S80.

782
01:03:57,140 --> 01:04:00,780
No releases to the water conservation area since they're above the regulation schedule.

783
01:04:01,540 --> 01:04:07,420
As of June 6, the Corps was continuing. S79 discharges around 1,500 cubic feet per second.

784
01:04:08,080 --> 01:04:13,680
And an S80 discharges to the east coast around 250 CFS.

785
01:04:13,860 --> 01:04:18,340
And it's important to note that S308, which releases water from Lake Okeechobee to the east,

786
01:04:18,740 --> 01:04:20,200
had been closed since May 20.

787
01:04:20,720 --> 01:04:27,880
So prior to the event, there had been no releases from the lake to the lower east coast.

788
01:04:27,880 --> 01:04:31,240
Adaptive protocols obviously aren't applied in this condition.

789
01:04:32,400 --> 01:04:38,320
And Terry talked about the STA operations and Lake Okeechobee regulatory releases.

790
01:04:38,680 --> 01:04:41,940
Someone will go into that in detail just to say there are a number of issues that can

791
01:04:41,940 --> 01:04:44,960
strain our limited ability to move excess water south from Lake Okeechobee.

792
01:04:45,560 --> 01:04:48,180
Obviously, the regulation schedule needs to call for that.

793
01:04:48,700 --> 01:04:51,700
We have to be mindful of flood control operations in the EAA.

794
01:04:52,000 --> 01:04:55,840
And of course, our limitations on stage and flow do either ongoing construction

795
01:04:55,840 --> 01:05:02,360
and includes maintenance and vegetation management or issues with endangered or protected species.

796
01:05:04,690 --> 01:05:11,750
And just to just again count statistics, so far in 2013, there have been 22 weeks, 14 of those weeks,

797
01:05:12,150 --> 01:05:19,090
releases south from the lake were recommended to the south into the conservation areas.

798
01:05:19,650 --> 01:05:23,870
For about 10 weeks releases were made into the order of 200 to 250 CFS.

799
01:05:23,870 --> 01:05:28,730
And those four weeks where those releases were not made were either due to limitations in the EAA

800
01:05:28,730 --> 01:05:33,090
because of flood control operations or the high stages in water conservation area 3A.

801
01:05:33,250 --> 01:05:40,170
But given those constraints, we released about 85,000 acre feet south from the lake into the water conservation areas.

802
01:05:40,190 --> 01:05:42,790
That was the largest quantity since 2006.

803
01:05:44,270 --> 01:05:49,710
And since we're here in South Florida, we're going to talk a little bit about Biscayne Bay and S700 operations.

804
01:05:49,710 --> 01:05:57,170
This is a hydrograph of flows and you can see as we're going through the test that we've briefed you on just about every month through that period,

805
01:05:57,250 --> 01:06:06,510
you can see that water that was moved through this area here further to the right are more of our storm flow operations that are typical of S-700.

806
01:06:07,490 --> 01:06:13,570
We look forward to the U.S. seasonal precipitation outlook, climate prediction center, at least through June and August.

807
01:06:13,570 --> 01:06:19,890
I'm actually, the rest of the wet season are showing an equal chance of an average above average or below average rainfall.

808
01:06:21,610 --> 01:06:28,650
Lake Okeechobee, as we look forward again, you can follow this magenta line through the last position analysis assessment,

809
01:06:28,770 --> 01:06:31,410
but this little circle represents where we are today.

810
01:06:32,010 --> 01:06:34,670
And that's sort of the lower end of the probability scale.

811
01:06:34,770 --> 01:06:39,250
But that's going to shift, obviously, the pattern that we talk about as we move forward,

812
01:06:39,250 --> 01:06:45,290
Because as it stands, from that projection, we were in pretty good space pretty much right

813
01:06:45,290 --> 01:06:50,690
where you want a hydrograph of Lake Okeechobee to fall within that shaded band with a very

814
01:06:50,690 --> 01:06:56,630
small percentage, obviously, of going into the lower regions of the regulation schedule

815
01:06:57,430 --> 01:07:01,690
and also an equally low chance of it rising into higher stages.

816
01:07:02,150 --> 01:07:06,610
That's changed with this latest outcome and we'll present the implications of

817
01:07:06,610 --> 01:07:07,390
that to you next month.

818
01:07:08,010 --> 01:07:09,370
Again, it's hurricane season.

819
01:07:09,670 --> 01:07:15,030
Last month, I wasn't able to show you the National Hurricane Center projections.

820
01:07:15,150 --> 01:07:18,550
There are between 13 and 20 named storms.

821
01:07:19,290 --> 01:07:20,610
Colorado State was 18.

822
01:07:21,790 --> 01:07:25,790
Obviously, yet we've had no landfall events from hurricanes.

823
01:07:26,230 --> 01:07:31,430
But, again, we don't look at this from an indication of what to prepare for in the way of storms.

824
01:07:31,530 --> 01:07:32,710
We're always prepared for that.

825
01:07:32,710 --> 01:07:37,810
But there could be issues, obviously, if we have a significant number of hurricanes.

826
01:07:38,010 --> 01:07:38,770
So does that get any questions?

827
01:07:39,410 --> 01:07:40,330
I'd be glad to answer them.

828
01:07:40,430 --> 01:07:41,770
If not, we can move forward.

829
01:07:42,650 --> 01:07:45,250
Any questions for Tommy on water conditions?

830
01:07:46,110 --> 01:07:47,470
Do you have one public comment?

831
01:07:47,990 --> 01:07:48,210
Okay.

832
01:07:48,470 --> 01:07:49,250
Mr. Drew Martin?

833
01:07:49,550 --> 01:07:49,750
I'm sorry.

834
01:07:49,970 --> 01:07:52,830
I will just say thanks, Tommy, and your team.

835
01:07:53,210 --> 01:07:56,390
And Susan, they did a great job during the last rain event.

836
01:07:57,410 --> 01:08:00,750
My neighborhood was in the crosshairs of that last event,

837
01:08:00,750 --> 01:08:04,570
and no problems. The system worked great. Good job.

838
01:08:04,970 --> 01:08:06,450
We have all you on the map, by the way.

839
01:08:09,310 --> 01:08:10,310
You're ahead of schedule.

840
01:08:16,170 --> 01:08:16,970
Jerry Martin.

841
01:08:18,730 --> 01:08:23,530
Drew Martin. I'm here on behalf of the Locke-Satchee Group of the Sierra Club up in Palm Beach County.

842
01:08:24,610 --> 01:08:30,570
I just wanted to comment a little on the salinity issues and the fresh water and what's going on in both the

843
01:08:30,570 --> 01:08:37,530
Klusatchee and the Indian River Lagoon, St. Lucie River area, were just, I was at the

844
01:08:37,530 --> 01:08:44,450
South Atlantic Fisheries Management Council meeting yesterday, and a lot of the anglers

845
01:08:44,450 --> 01:08:50,050
are really concerned about water quality, and they really felt that this is impacting

846
01:08:50,670 --> 01:08:58,750
the industry, and particularly the wasters, which cannot tolerate this amount of fresh

847
01:08:58,750 --> 01:09:04,430
water, and I think we're going to talk about SEP and how important it is, but just to talk

848
01:09:04,430 --> 01:09:10,250
about why we need to change how things are happening, because this is causing huge damage,

849
01:09:10,870 --> 01:09:16,310
and they were not even able to release water from what I understand in the newspapers

850
01:09:16,910 --> 01:09:22,330
on the east side, because the canal system was already so full that they couldn't even

851
01:09:22,330 --> 01:09:25,590
release water from Okeechobee into the canal system.

852
01:09:25,590 --> 01:09:34,610
So it just demonstrates why we need to fix this problem so that we do not continue to inundate these estuaries. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Martin.

853
01:09:35,430 --> 01:09:40,610
Okay. We're going to call on Tommy for the next technical report on flood control operations.

854
01:09:41,350 --> 01:09:46,310
Great. Just very, very briefly because I know the number of very important items on the agenda. I'll move this pretty quickly.

855
01:09:46,990 --> 01:09:50,350
This June is typically our flood awareness month. We had our first flood awareness.

856
01:09:50,550 --> 01:09:52,090
This is a very important topic.

857
01:09:53,050 --> 01:09:53,830
I'm with you.

858
01:09:54,670 --> 01:09:56,210
So I'm going to just give you a brief summary.

859
01:09:56,210 --> 01:10:02,510
We're going to focus on Dade County and some of the issues over the past decade or so that have affected flood control in this area.

860
01:10:03,010 --> 01:10:06,370
Again, the Central and Southern Florida Project, everyone here is familiar with that.

861
01:10:06,650 --> 01:10:12,630
It was authorized in 49 and constructed between 50 and 70, and we were created by the legislature to be a local sponsor,

862
01:10:12,690 --> 01:10:18,130
and we operate the system largely under the auspices of the federal sponsor, the Corps of Engineers.

863
01:10:18,130 --> 01:10:25,490
And again, the basic plan for the system was to wall off the Everglades, and that was basically

864
01:10:25,490 --> 01:10:29,450
what we now call the East Coast Protective Levy, was to separate what was going to be

865
01:10:29,450 --> 01:10:37,290
the urban area and also the area south of Lake Okeechobee in the EAA from inundation

866
01:10:37,290 --> 01:10:44,350
while maintaining water levels to some natural extent in the impounded water conservation areas

867
01:10:44,350 --> 01:10:47,530
with the intent of providing flow to Everglades National Park.

868
01:10:48,330 --> 01:10:52,530
Also, to drain in those improved areas to the ocean.

869
01:10:53,210 --> 01:10:56,450
In the 1950s, it was relatively inexpensive. It was pretty

870
01:10:56,450 --> 01:11:00,330
effective. There have obviously been a lot of impacts associated with that

871
01:11:00,330 --> 01:11:04,230
because we've lost a lot of water. And I'm sure you'll be talking about more of that later.

872
01:11:05,230 --> 01:11:08,570
Again, this is more of the flow directional, but again

873
01:11:08,570 --> 01:11:12,490
we focus our flood control operations in areas south of the lake

874
01:11:12,490 --> 01:11:18,970
in urbanized areas all along both the east coast, the west coast, and areas north of Lake Okeechobee.

875
01:11:19,850 --> 01:11:26,610
We have eight regional fuel stations across the district, and they were established to provide a two-hour response time

876
01:11:26,610 --> 01:11:31,170
with vehicles and equipment. So that's why they're distributed the way they are.

877
01:11:31,530 --> 01:11:35,850
And of course, our major function is maintenance for the structures, pump station canals and levees,

878
01:11:35,850 --> 01:11:42,910
in the operation on a 24-hour basis with orders given from the control room in West Palm Beach

879
01:11:42,910 --> 01:11:48,110
by the operators and engineers there, and they're affected in the field by the field staff.

880
01:11:49,550 --> 01:11:53,550
Again, the primary and secondary system and tertiary systems are important.

881
01:11:53,710 --> 01:11:54,830
It's important that they work together.

882
01:11:55,590 --> 01:11:57,910
One of the reasons, Mr. Sargent, your neighborhood didn't flood was

883
01:11:57,910 --> 01:12:02,870
because you had a well-designed secondary tertiary system as well as the primary canal.

884
01:12:02,870 --> 01:12:08,870
And the canals operate a lot like street systems where you have neighborhoods that have their own streets

885
01:12:08,870 --> 01:12:12,430
and they connect to county or city streets which connect to the Interstate Highway.

886
01:12:12,990 --> 01:12:14,590
Our canals are more like the Interstate Highway.

887
01:12:14,810 --> 01:12:18,470
It's a federal project where the locals sponsor a lot like Interstate 95.

888
01:12:19,190 --> 01:12:22,370
Then you have the secondary canals that are much like state and county roads.

889
01:12:22,530 --> 01:12:26,930
So it's a cooperative effort and we work a lot with our local entities.

890
01:12:27,490 --> 01:12:31,530
But the surface water regulation program provided a big benefit to the system.

891
01:12:31,530 --> 01:12:36,310
It's one of the reasons that we haven't enlarged canals the way you see roads being enlarged

892
01:12:36,310 --> 01:12:41,990
because we tried to store the additional runoff from these neighborhoods in the neighborhoods

893
01:12:41,990 --> 01:12:45,290
in a way that is non-damaging or doesn't have an impact.

894
01:12:46,450 --> 01:12:51,030
And so that ensures that the peak rate of flow from a developed area is no greater

895
01:12:51,030 --> 01:12:53,130
than it was when it was in some developed condition.

896
01:12:54,450 --> 01:12:57,210
And the voices have to increase the capacity of the canals.

897
01:12:57,210 --> 01:13:01,590
So here's an example of a residential system that is working as designed.

898
01:13:01,850 --> 01:13:04,730
Now, most residents wouldn't see it that way because the streets are all flooded,

899
01:13:04,810 --> 01:13:07,950
but you'll notice all the houses are above the flood elevation.

900
01:13:08,390 --> 01:13:11,830
There's no damage associated with that flood, and the inundation

901
01:13:11,830 --> 01:13:15,550
of the streets is relatively limited to a few hours or a day.

902
01:13:15,890 --> 01:13:21,110
And again, that's a major event, one that would occur once every 10 to 25 years.

903
01:13:22,610 --> 01:13:25,070
Storm readiness is a big part of what we do.

904
01:13:25,070 --> 01:13:30,070
We've conducted on-site table top exercises and all of our field stations, provided district-wide

905
01:13:30,070 --> 01:13:34,750
training on our emergency roles and coordinated with all the water management districts, DOT

906
01:13:34,750 --> 01:13:39,750
and the Department of Environmental Protection, coordinated renewal of our debris contracts

907
01:13:39,750 --> 01:13:43,290
so that when large storms come and there are damage that we need to clean for our canal,

908
01:13:44,390 --> 01:13:51,270
we have the facilities and the people available to clean those canals and move that material out.

909
01:13:52,010 --> 01:13:56,430
We had our annual Hurricane Freddie exercise, which simulated the impact from the category

910
01:13:56,430 --> 01:13:57,210
four storm.

911
01:13:57,730 --> 01:14:04,570
We fully activated the EOC for a day, and our system information line, the Lewis and

912
01:14:04,570 --> 01:14:10,270
Field Station COOP simulation, and participation of our external partners.

913
01:14:11,990 --> 01:14:14,810
With that, I just want to talk a little bit about some of the past hurricanes, and

914
01:14:14,810 --> 01:14:18,530
again, focusing on Miami-Dade County and some of the lessons that we've learned

915
01:14:18,530 --> 01:14:19,030
from that.

916
01:14:19,030 --> 01:14:21,630
Our tropical system operations, you're familiar with that.

917
01:14:21,750 --> 01:14:25,150
We have pre-storm operations based on Hurricane Center watches and warnings.

918
01:14:25,930 --> 01:14:29,290
We have preliminary storm facility and field inspections.

919
01:14:29,530 --> 01:14:32,610
We lower the regional canal network in response to areas that may be impacted

920
01:14:32,610 --> 01:14:35,610
and we coordinate extensively with local governments, 298 districts,

921
01:14:36,050 --> 01:14:39,370
and of course we're prepared for onslaught and post-storm operations.

922
01:14:40,430 --> 01:14:43,630
Just to kind of wind back the clock and look at some of the history,

923
01:14:43,630 --> 01:14:49,090
In 1992, Hurricane Andrew hit south Florida. It was a devastating wind event.

924
01:14:49,690 --> 01:14:52,630
We were fortunate that it wasn't a very wet storm.

925
01:14:52,850 --> 01:14:55,590
Here's an example of what that storm looked like.

926
01:14:55,710 --> 01:14:59,970
You can see all the trees that were in areas adjacent to our canals were either in...

927
01:15:00,000 --> 01:15:03,960
In some cases, crossing the canal. Here's our water control structure here. Had it been

928
01:15:03,960 --> 01:15:08,380
a wet event, that would have been a severe impact to flow along the area. And, of course,

929
01:15:08,480 --> 01:15:13,260
the wind was devastating in Homestead and Florida City in areas that weren't affected

930
01:15:13,260 --> 01:15:19,720
by flooding. Significant storm surge. This boat floated in between the structure and

931
01:15:19,720 --> 01:15:26,080
this home, and landed just a few yards from that. So you can get a sense of just

932
01:15:26,080 --> 01:15:32,080
how high the storm surge was was generated from the high winds in Andrew. After the storm

933
01:15:32,080 --> 01:15:37,820
was extensive cleanup and it took months to get everything that was in the landscape,

934
01:15:38,540 --> 01:15:44,220
trees, houses, cars, out of our canals, some airplanes, and the bottom right-hand corner,

935
01:15:44,500 --> 01:15:52,240
you can see the tree impact to the canal system. In 1999, Hurricane Irene crossed the southern

936
01:15:52,240 --> 01:15:59,780
part of the state. It dropped anywhere from 10 to 15 inches across most of Miami-Dade County,

937
01:15:59,920 --> 01:16:06,920
Homestead, and into Broward County. This map represents the actual phone calls we had gotten

938
01:16:06,920 --> 01:16:12,120
into our citizen information line to demonstrate where the flooding was. Flooding was extensive

939
01:16:12,120 --> 01:16:18,960
across all of South Florida. A year later, it was considered a 100-year event, a one

940
01:16:18,960 --> 01:16:23,240
percent chance of reoccurrence. A year later, we had almost exactly the same amount of rain

941
01:16:23,240 --> 01:16:28,520
in exactly the same place. No name storm was not tropical, it was subtropical. It later

942
01:16:28,520 --> 01:16:34,380
became subtropical depression Leslie. It was in October of 2000. And again, once again,

943
01:16:34,460 --> 01:16:39,600
the areas, the similar areas we saw in Irene were flooded extensively in for a period

944
01:16:39,600 --> 01:16:44,420
of several days to a week. As a result of Irene, Miami-Dade created a flood management

945
01:16:44,420 --> 01:16:50,020
task force, we participate in that along with communities that were affected and the Florida

946
01:16:50,020 --> 01:16:52,340
Division of Emergency Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

947
01:16:53,580 --> 01:16:58,480
After the no-name storm, the Governor, Governor Bush created the South Florida Flood Task

948
01:16:58,480 --> 01:17:03,560
Force that was a little bit more widely participating in with participation from FEMA and National

949
01:17:03,560 --> 01:17:04,220
Park Service.

950
01:17:05,180 --> 01:17:10,700
And also at that 2000 event, the Water Management District created a technical team to look

951
01:17:10,700 --> 01:17:16,500
look at alternatives for improving flood protection. We looked at forward pumping, canal conveyance

952
01:17:16,500 --> 01:17:21,300
and storage improvements and improvements to the secondary canal system. And so what

953
01:17:21,300 --> 01:17:25,600
came about, this is one of the areas that hit the heart, it's the C4 and the C6 area

954
01:17:26,010 --> 01:17:31,780
and here's the graphic representation of flow areas and flow vectors in those canals.

955
01:17:32,440 --> 01:17:39,100
And what came out of that was two forward pumping stations, one at S25B, S26, improvements

956
01:17:39,100 --> 01:17:45,540
to manually operate Structure G93, we automated that, and we constructed a detention basin

957
01:17:45,540 --> 01:17:50,920
in the western end of C4 to try to bring water like we did in Isaac up in C51, bring water

958
01:17:50,920 --> 01:17:55,600
to the west to get it out of the basin as well as trying to push more aggressively to

959
01:17:55,600 --> 01:17:55,980
the east.

960
01:17:56,500 --> 01:18:01,900
Here's a photograph of the emergency detention basin, there west of Sweetwater, one of

961
01:18:01,900 --> 01:18:06,100
the pump stations associated with that, it's around 1,000 acres in total,

962
01:18:08,860 --> 01:18:08,860
each

963
01:18:08,860 --> 01:18:11,420
for total storage of 4,000 acre feet

964
01:18:11,420 --> 01:18:12,700
that we could divert from the basin.

965
01:18:13,840 --> 01:18:14,600
Here's the pump station.

966
01:18:14,740 --> 01:18:15,920
Here's a spillway, gravity.

967
01:18:16,200 --> 01:18:17,700
Before this pump station was constructed,

968
01:18:18,080 --> 01:18:21,080
the only way water could get out of the C4 basin

969
01:18:21,080 --> 01:18:22,980
was by gravity through the structure.

970
01:18:23,600 --> 01:18:26,220
During Irene, the storm surge was so high

971
01:18:26,220 --> 01:18:28,800
that it was higher than the water level in our canal.

972
01:18:29,080 --> 01:18:30,740
We had to close the gate in order

973
01:18:30,740 --> 01:18:32,960
to prevent water from making flooding worse,

974
01:18:33,100 --> 01:18:34,680
water from the bay making flooding worse.

975
01:18:34,820 --> 01:18:38,720
Of course, that was a very popular operational action

976
01:18:38,720 --> 01:18:44,400
and we had several months explaining that in response to that we built a pump station

977
01:18:44,400 --> 01:18:48,280
that could push water out regardless of the level of the tide.

978
01:18:49,080 --> 01:18:55,180
And we also did it as 26 and here's a photograph of that pump station in operation and we use

979
01:18:55,180 --> 01:19:00,040
them literally in every rain event we have in Miami-Dade since that time.

980
01:19:00,900 --> 01:19:05,800
We're also making canal bank improvements to raise the level of the canal bank so

981
01:19:05,800 --> 01:19:10,220
that water from the canal doesn't back into the adjacent communities. We have three of

982
01:19:10,220 --> 01:19:14,320
those segments completed and three are under design and they go all the way from the Palmetto

983
01:19:14,320 --> 01:19:19,480
Expressway West to Southwest 132nd Avenue. And here's a photograph of some of those

984
01:19:19,480 --> 01:19:24,220
completed phases in Berlin and Sweetwater. And this is an area where in Sweetwater

985
01:19:24,220 --> 01:19:29,620
we sort of incorporated a linear park into that. So the town of Sweetwater has a park

986
01:19:29,620 --> 01:19:32,100
along the canal but it also serves as a flood water.

987
01:19:34,210 --> 01:19:35,310
In addition to that, not

988
01:19:35,310 --> 01:19:40,590
not necessarily in response to the storm event in the intervening decade since those

989
01:19:40,590 --> 01:19:45,350
two storms, a number of pump stations and flood control systems have been put in.

990
01:19:45,990 --> 01:19:51,070
The ones in C-4, 14 pump stations in all in the last decade, the ones I mentioned here

991
01:19:51,070 --> 01:19:55,710
in yellow on C-4 as a result of those two storms in 1999 and 2000.

992
01:19:56,430 --> 01:20:01,710
But along the L-31 East, as part of the Mod Waters Project, the Corps of Engineers

993
01:20:01,710 --> 01:20:03,910
is built as part of the Sparrow Emergency,

994
01:20:04,150 --> 01:20:06,310
as part of the C-111 South Dade Project.

995
01:20:06,730 --> 01:20:08,250
There have been a number of pumping stations

996
01:20:08,250 --> 01:20:11,570
that have been installed to mitigate the need

997
01:20:11,570 --> 01:20:13,950
to increase water levels in Everglades National Park.

998
01:20:14,390 --> 01:20:16,930
The C-111 Spurter Canal is another example of that.

999
01:20:17,410 --> 01:20:20,310
So all of this pumping horsepower has been put in place

1000
01:20:20,310 --> 01:20:22,810
to help manage floods when we're trying

1001
01:20:22,810 --> 01:20:24,730
to restore the ecosystem to the east

1002
01:20:24,730 --> 01:20:26,670
and maintain flood protection,

1003
01:20:27,070 --> 01:20:28,250
I'm sorry, into the west

1004
01:20:28,250 --> 01:20:29,870
and maintain flood protection to the east.

1005
01:20:29,870 --> 01:20:32,690
A couple of projects that have been recently constructed.

1006
01:20:32,810 --> 01:20:35,450
You've seen these, the C-111 spreader canal project.

1007
01:20:35,890 --> 01:20:38,750
We have the frog pine detention basin in this photograph at the bottom.

1008
01:20:39,290 --> 01:20:41,210
The S-200 pump station is at the north.

1009
01:20:41,810 --> 01:20:46,150
Construction cost of PR estimate, which was a planning level estimate, was around 46 million.

1010
01:20:46,350 --> 01:20:48,110
The actual cost came in around 16.

1011
01:20:49,230 --> 01:20:52,450
The C-111 spreader canal also had an aeroged extension.

1012
01:20:53,150 --> 01:20:56,070
S-99 pump station and concrete line channel.

1013
01:20:56,070 --> 01:21:02,190
The estimated cost for 16.7 million, the actual construction cost came in a little over 12.

1014
01:21:03,030 --> 01:21:07,210
And then the Biscayne Bay during the state pump station that we've been talking about

1015
01:21:07,210 --> 01:21:11,690
for the past few months is also there to help during flood times.

1016
01:21:12,090 --> 01:21:16,670
The estimated cost of 7.4 actual cost was just a little under 5 million.

1017
01:21:17,210 --> 01:21:21,330
And we have some valuable partnerships that I want to take an opportunity just to highlight.

1018
01:21:21,330 --> 01:21:25,830
And that, the one of the most important ones, is with the National Weather Service.

1019
01:21:25,990 --> 01:21:31,350
They continue to be a key partner with our meteorologists in dealing with flood events.

1020
01:21:31,970 --> 01:21:38,530
For the past 15 years, there's been coordination between our meteorologists and the meteorologists

1021
01:21:38,530 --> 01:21:44,230
of the National Weather Service to best predict flood events and to help us operate the system.

1022
01:21:44,230 --> 01:21:50,690
In 2000, we coordinated with the Weather Service and their participation in developing the

1023
01:21:50,690 --> 01:21:57,150
U.S. Drought Monitor, and during the dry season every month, we show you that tool that gives

1024
01:21:57,150 --> 01:22:00,370
us an indication of what the projections are for drought conditions.

1025
01:22:01,010 --> 01:22:03,390
Obviously, emergency weather communications are important.

1026
01:22:03,530 --> 01:22:05,370
We don't broadcast flood alerts.

1027
01:22:06,070 --> 01:22:12,470
Our responsibility is to operate the system, but the Weather Service is in the forefront

1028
01:22:12,470 --> 01:22:12,970
of that.

1029
01:22:12,970 --> 01:22:19,590
Every area that looks to get flooded from either high-intensity rainfall could be very localized or could be regional.

1030
01:22:20,110 --> 01:22:23,770
They issue immediate flood watch and hazard bulletins.

1031
01:22:24,090 --> 01:22:25,770
It's been a great tool for us.

1032
01:22:26,370 --> 01:22:28,670
That started around 2011.

1033
01:22:29,190 --> 01:22:37,910
And Robert Malita, who is one of the chief meteorologists here today, is the forerunner of that effort.

1034
01:22:38,690 --> 01:22:44,210
We also were given a distinction in 2012 to be the first agency in South Florida to receive

1035
01:22:44,210 --> 01:22:48,730
the National Weather Service's storm-ready government designation, and we're proud of

1036
01:22:48,730 --> 01:22:51,050
that again, it's with cooperation with the Weather Service.

1037
01:22:51,590 --> 01:22:55,370
And if I could just take a minute to ask Mr. Malita to come up, I'd like to present

1038
01:22:55,370 --> 01:22:59,430
him with a little token of our gratitude, and maybe say a few words.

1039
01:22:59,650 --> 01:23:00,030
Absolutely.

1040
01:23:00,350 --> 01:23:00,570
Thank you.

1041
01:23:01,990 --> 01:23:02,350
Welcome.

1042
01:23:06,470 --> 01:23:18,440
Thank you very much. This is an honor and a pleasure to collaborate with the district.

1043
01:23:18,980 --> 01:23:25,840
As you mentioned, it's an ongoing effort. We started the briefings that you see there,

1044
01:23:25,980 --> 01:23:33,560
the picture there. We started those back in 2010, if I'm not mistaken.

1045
01:23:33,560 --> 01:23:38,460
in the fall of 2010, we started with the dry season outlook. We have two outlooks that

1046
01:23:38,460 --> 01:23:42,260
we do every year, the dry season outlook, which we do, of course, in the fall, then

1047
01:23:42,260 --> 01:23:47,240
the wet season outlook sometime in early or mid-May. And they've been rule-successful

1048
01:23:47,240 --> 01:23:56,440
from a press standpoint, press participation. I think it's great to have a unified effort

1049
01:23:56,440 --> 01:24:01,180
to get the word out as far as what the current water conditions are and what we might see

1050
01:24:01,180 --> 01:24:06,600
down the road. And I know we've worked closely with Susan Sylvester and Gabe Margesack to

1051
01:24:06,600 --> 01:24:13,280
coordinate to get those briefings scheduled and get people out there so that they can

1052
01:24:13,280 --> 01:24:18,360
at least have an idea what might happen down the road. These outlooks are obviously they're

1053
01:24:18,360 --> 01:24:24,640
not 100% accurate forecast. When you're looking at conditions three, four, five, six months

1054
01:24:24,640 --> 01:24:28,260
down the road, you have to give us a little bit of leeway. But I think for the most

1055
01:24:28,260 --> 01:24:32,980
part, especially for the dry season outlooks, we've done a pretty decent job of anticipating

1056
01:24:32,980 --> 01:24:38,640
what the water conditions or what the variations in the rainfall might be during that time

1057
01:24:38,640 --> 01:24:38,920
of year.

1058
01:24:39,780 --> 01:24:43,100
Actually, I want to briefly mention that you talked about the warnings that we issue,

1059
01:24:43,220 --> 01:24:43,720
flood warnings.

1060
01:24:44,240 --> 01:24:48,940
Just last week, we had an excellent example of how the district rainfall, the data

1061
01:24:48,940 --> 01:24:51,100
that we have access to, really helps.

1062
01:24:51,480 --> 01:24:56,040
One of the gauges, I believe it was S-29 up in North Miami, they recorded over

1063
01:24:56,040 --> 01:25:00,160
14 inches of rain in really about six, seven hours.

1064
01:25:00,260 --> 01:25:01,440
It was a very short period of time.

1065
01:25:01,800 --> 01:25:03,800
And we were monitoring that gauge real time.

1066
01:25:04,280 --> 01:25:08,420
And that information really helped us as far as not only

1067
01:25:08,420 --> 01:25:10,680
putting out that flood warning for northeast state and

1068
01:25:10,680 --> 01:25:13,760
southeast Broward, but also monitoring it and letting

1069
01:25:13,760 --> 01:25:16,380
people know that the rainfall in that area was

1070
01:25:16,380 --> 01:25:18,160
extreme in a very localized area.

1071
01:25:18,600 --> 01:25:23,080
So we really appreciate and we use and depend on the

1072
01:25:23,080 --> 01:25:24,040
information of the district.

1073
01:25:24,040 --> 01:25:30,520
And lastly, the storm ready designation. That's something that we just don't hand out freely.

1074
01:25:30,960 --> 01:25:37,800
We work hard with the entities. The example here from the district, we worked with the

1075
01:25:37,800 --> 01:25:45,200
emergency management folks back in 2011. And really all the plans are in place. There's

1076
01:25:45,200 --> 01:25:50,360
absolutely no reason to think that the district is not ready. Of course, you all know this

1077
01:25:50,360 --> 01:25:58,080
district is fully ready to handle any kind of severe weather events for the

1078
01:25:58,080 --> 01:26:02,880
employees and also for the people that they serve. So on that note, I thank you

1079
01:26:02,880 --> 01:26:08,200
again very much. Thank you very much. We really appreciate it. And thanks to have

1080
01:26:08,200 --> 01:26:13,540
the expertise of your organization to utilize. I just wanted to point out that

1081
01:26:13,540 --> 01:26:16,780
we don't have any billboards to broadcast those flood warnings, so I'm

1082
01:26:18,320 --> 01:26:20,480
an insight. What would I say?

1083
01:26:23,460 --> 01:26:26,300
Mr. Chairman, that's it. I mean, that's your

1084
01:26:26,300 --> 01:26:29,200
main question. Thank you, Tommy. Any board questions for

1085
01:26:29,200 --> 01:26:33,660
Tommy? Tommy, I understand from what you said, you just

1086
01:26:33,660 --> 01:26:39,360
presented us that we had three 100-year events in a period of about eight years. We certainly

1087
01:26:39,360 --> 01:26:45,440
had two 100-year events in two consecutive years. That doesn't mean that we're okay

1088
01:26:45,440 --> 01:26:46,460
for the next 200 years.

1089
01:26:46,460 --> 01:26:46,760
No, sir.

1090
01:26:46,920 --> 01:26:47,320
Not at all.

1091
01:26:47,860 --> 01:26:48,720
Not at all.

1092
01:26:48,820 --> 01:26:50,920
It's a 1% chance of occurrence every year.

1093
01:26:52,160 --> 01:26:52,880
Thank you, Tommy.

1094
01:26:53,680 --> 01:26:54,360
Any public comment?

1095
01:26:54,840 --> 01:26:55,480
Yes, Mr. Chair.

1096
01:26:55,600 --> 01:26:56,000
Mark Perry.

1097
01:27:04,200 --> 01:27:05,140
Mr. Perry, good morning.

1098
01:27:05,480 --> 01:27:05,660
Welcome.

1099
01:27:06,520 --> 01:27:06,840
Good morning.

1100
01:27:07,240 --> 01:27:07,820
Good morning, board.

1101
01:27:08,000 --> 01:27:08,380
Thank you.

1102
01:27:09,360 --> 01:27:14,100
Yes, as we get ready for rainy season here and, you know, preparation for that, just

1103
01:27:14,100 --> 01:27:18,840
like last year in the tropical storm, Isaac came by and dropped lots and lots of rain.

1104
01:27:18,840 --> 01:27:23,540
in September, October we're discharging a lot of water out of the canals and that's

1105
01:27:23,540 --> 01:27:28,360
what's happening now on the Upper East Coast area particularly as you know we're

1106
01:27:28,360 --> 01:27:32,580
trying to get the lake down but they can't open 308 because you know the

1107
01:27:32,580 --> 01:27:36,300
canals are full and we've been discharging out of there and in that

1108
01:27:36,300 --> 01:27:39,700
basin when when we're getting ready for these rain events and trying to

1109
01:27:39,700 --> 01:27:46,800
prepare for that you know we've got out of that 480 and 498,000 acre basin

1110
01:27:46,800 --> 01:27:49,440
in St. Lucie Estuary, Indian River Lagoon,

1111
01:27:50,000 --> 01:27:53,120
there are eight major basins and 186 subbasins.

1112
01:27:53,620 --> 01:27:58,200
And even in the major canal basins, C44, C23, and C24,

1113
01:27:58,400 --> 01:28:01,580
those major canals, there are 91 of those subbasins.

1114
01:28:02,060 --> 01:28:06,120
And I'm asking the district to really look at managing those

1115
01:28:06,120 --> 01:28:10,400
so that we have that same kind of water management guide

1116
01:28:10,400 --> 01:28:12,580
up in that basin, you know,

1117
01:28:12,900 --> 01:28:14,880
irregardless of LACO discharges.

1118
01:28:14,880 --> 01:28:19,760
Laco discharges are going to come once the lake gets higher and 308 is going to open

1119
01:28:20,220 --> 01:28:22,900
and it will come down as well to add to that.

1120
01:28:23,620 --> 01:28:29,060
But having all those discharges come into the system is really causing a lot of bad

1121
01:28:29,060 --> 01:28:30,040
things to happen.

1122
01:28:30,280 --> 01:28:36,540
And the oysters, as we mentioned, are pretty much good standing just before these events,

1123
01:28:36,620 --> 01:28:41,100
but as the salinity drops below that five parts per thousand, which it has now for

1124
01:28:41,100 --> 01:28:46,280
seven days at the Roosevelt Bridge area, we're going to start to see some degradation of

1125
01:28:46,280 --> 01:28:51,040
our oysterry, so we're doing everything, I know everybody's trying to do everything

1126
01:28:51,040 --> 01:28:57,560
they can to prevent water from discharging any canals out there, and the lake as well

1127
01:28:57,560 --> 01:29:03,820
trying to keep the lake down, but as we get these rain events, they're all coming through

1128
01:29:03,820 --> 01:29:09,080
the basin and this is really a difficult time to really put all that fresh water

1129
01:29:09,080 --> 01:29:12,160
input inflow as well as all the nutrients that come with it.

1130
01:29:12,360 --> 01:29:18,120
So we're real concerned about those systems up in that upper coast and it really, as I

1131
01:29:18,120 --> 01:29:26,120
understand the back pumping S2 into the lake started back in early June and I think the

1132
01:29:26,120 --> 01:29:32,760
protocol is that when those canals reach 12.5 feet, but as I saw them still discharging

1133
01:29:32,760 --> 01:29:37,320
or have back pumping into the lake and the canals dropped down to 10.5 feet, I was

1134
01:29:37,320 --> 01:29:41,140
still questioning why we continue to back-pump when they didn't need to.

1135
01:29:41,360 --> 01:29:45,640
So the more water that goes back into the lake, either from the north and all the

1136
01:29:45,640 --> 01:29:49,220
semi-valley or back-pumping in, is going to eventually end up in the coastal

1137
01:29:49,220 --> 01:29:53,280
estuaries and we're real concerned about that as we go forward and prepare

1138
01:29:53,280 --> 01:29:57,840
for this rainy season. Thank you. Thank you for your comments. Any other public comments?

1139
01:29:58,340 --> 01:29:59,020
None, Mr. Chairman.

1140
01:30:00,000 --> 01:30:06,620
Okay, next up is Mr. Barnett to talk about Central Everglades Complaining Project.

1141
01:30:07,180 --> 01:30:18,340
I think we have quite a few people here who are interested in this topic and have signed up for public comment following Ernie's presentation.

1142
01:30:19,060 --> 01:30:22,640
Mr. Chairman, thank you. This will be sort of a joint presentation.

1143
01:30:23,000 --> 01:30:28,780
I'll introduce the topic and I do have Lieutenant Colonel Greco and Kim Taplin here with me.

1144
01:30:28,780 --> 01:30:34,840
There's also Mr. Greg Munson from DEP, the Deputy Secretary, who is with us as well.

1145
01:30:35,480 --> 01:30:40,680
As we've gone over the last three or four governing board meetings, sort of the status

1146
01:30:40,680 --> 01:30:46,220
of the update of the key issues that we're working diligently to resolve in order to

1147
01:30:46,220 --> 01:30:52,060
be able to release the draft project implementation report, water quality remains the most paramount

1148
01:30:52,060 --> 01:30:56,460
issue that we're working on, as well as cost share, the savings clause, project

1149
01:30:56,460 --> 01:31:01,220
and water supply analysis we're doing, implementation, phasing, and cost.

1150
01:31:01,920 --> 01:31:03,560
I'll give you a brief update of each of those.

1151
01:31:04,740 --> 01:31:07,960
Starting with water quality, I would like to introduce Mr. Greg Munson.

1152
01:31:08,180 --> 01:31:14,760
He's been working in close coordination with us with dialogue with Washington

1153
01:31:14,760 --> 01:31:20,780
and sharing some information on the water quality language that we would like to see in the draft PIR.

1154
01:31:21,060 --> 01:31:22,560
So with that, I'd like to introduce Greg briefly.

1155
01:31:24,950 --> 01:31:26,130
Greg, welcome. Good morning.

1156
01:31:27,770 --> 01:31:32,090
Good morning and thank you. Appreciate the chance to address the governing board today.

1157
01:31:32,210 --> 01:31:36,190
Thank you for having me at your meeting. And I will address the

1158
01:31:36,190 --> 01:31:40,250
water quality piece. I'll tell you what I know on that. I'd like to take a minute if it's

1159
01:31:40,250 --> 01:31:44,010
alright to just sort of talk generally. It's the first time that I've spoken to the board

1160
01:31:44,010 --> 01:31:48,150
as a group about Central Everglades and I wanted to come down here today

1161
01:31:48,150 --> 01:31:51,830
and sort of remedy that omission that the department has been relatively silent

1162
01:31:51,830 --> 01:31:55,290
and talking to the board, and that's partly why I'm here.

1163
01:31:55,390 --> 01:31:57,290
But I wanted to start with a recognition that it was just

1164
01:31:57,290 --> 01:31:59,510
about a year ago that the district and the department

1165
01:31:59,510 --> 01:32:01,050
reached agreement with the federal government

1166
01:32:01,050 --> 01:32:02,330
on restoration strategies.

1167
01:32:03,770 --> 01:32:06,750
And that is obviously still a historic milestone

1168
01:32:06,750 --> 01:32:08,870
in Everglades restoration that garnered the support

1169
01:32:08,870 --> 01:32:11,430
of stakeholders in the environmental, agricultural,

1170
01:32:11,610 --> 01:32:12,550
and South Florida community.

1171
01:32:12,710 --> 01:32:15,450
And it was a testament to everybody's efforts involved

1172
01:32:15,450 --> 01:32:15,750
here.

1173
01:32:16,450 --> 01:32:19,150
And as most of you know, Governor Scott recently signed

1174
01:32:19,150 --> 01:32:25,850
House Bill 7065 into law, bringing this kind of opening phase of restoration strategies

1175
01:32:25,850 --> 01:32:26,590
to a close.

1176
01:32:27,310 --> 01:32:33,430
That law incorporates the plan that we developed by our agencies and the law identified a dedicated

1177
01:32:33,430 --> 01:32:35,370
funding source through the completion of the project.

1178
01:32:35,570 --> 01:32:39,430
So first, I think I just want to start by saying congratulations to the Governing

1179
01:32:39,430 --> 01:32:43,750
Board for getting through this, what I consider the opening phase of restoration strategies.

1180
01:32:44,250 --> 01:32:50,890
Obviously, I'm here mainly today to talk to you about SEP, and as I said, just trying

1181
01:32:50,890 --> 01:32:56,090
to be here to signal that the department sees our role as a shared responsibility with the

1182
01:32:56,090 --> 01:32:56,870
Water Management District.

1183
01:32:57,090 --> 01:32:57,730
It wasn't so much.

1184
01:32:57,970 --> 01:32:59,970
Thanks for restoration strategies and so on.

1185
01:33:00,310 --> 01:33:01,050
You're on your own now.

1186
01:33:01,450 --> 01:33:03,470
We're still here to work hand in glove with the district.

1187
01:33:04,590 --> 01:33:06,190
And SEP has a lot of potential.

1188
01:33:07,230 --> 01:33:11,930
It promises to sort of be the light at the end of the tunnel, implementing hopefully

1189
01:33:11,930 --> 01:33:16,710
much of what the National Academy of Sciences has recommended for Everglades Restorations.

1190
01:33:17,490 --> 01:33:21,530
But the department and working with your staff and just watching your governing board meeting,

1191
01:33:21,670 --> 01:33:26,550
I've seen the concerns. And we share those concerns. I take them very seriously. Any

1192
01:33:26,550 --> 01:33:31,450
plan that comes out of the SEP process needs to meet state water quality standards and

1193
01:33:31,450 --> 01:33:34,870
needs to address all the issues that Mr. Barnett has up on his slide that you

1194
01:33:34,870 --> 01:33:36,910
all have been tracking. We take those very seriously.

1195
01:33:39,490 --> 01:33:40,610
And they can't just be

1196
01:33:40,610 --> 01:33:43,290
waived away, and I'm not here to say that. That's going to take a little time to work

1197
01:33:43,290 --> 01:33:47,530
through those issues. They deserve our collective time and attention, and they'll get that.

1198
01:33:47,930 --> 01:33:51,410
And without, of course, any unnecessary delay, but it's important to get the issues right.

1199
01:33:52,930 --> 01:33:59,810
So I guess I don't have any specific comments on any individual issues, although I guess

1200
01:33:59,810 --> 01:34:04,650
I'll end it to address water quality. But just generally, the key to success in

1201
01:34:04,650 --> 01:34:09,010
getting this done to me is first and foremost, good communication between the district

1202
01:34:09,010 --> 01:34:13,110
and the department moving forward, and my pledge is here to continue to work hand in

1203
01:34:13,110 --> 01:34:18,110
glove with the Water Management District and the staff in particular to make sure we've got good

1204
01:34:18,110 --> 01:34:25,110
coordination, and then beyond that, to continue working on good communication with all the affected groups.

1205
01:34:25,310 --> 01:34:29,250
In fact, my first question to my staff is typically, they come to me with an issue, well, where's the

1206
01:34:29,250 --> 01:34:33,290
district on this? And that will continue to be my first question. So I continue to

1207
01:34:33,290 --> 01:34:37,230
commit that level of coordination and look forward to generally working through these issues.

1208
01:34:37,230 --> 01:34:40,470
I'm optimistic that we will, but we'll take it issue by issue.

1209
01:34:41,010 --> 01:34:44,710
And in water quality, the only thing I'd say is that in an effort to try to move through

1210
01:34:44,710 --> 01:34:51,930
this issue, we, myself and a lawyer with the Army Corps of Engineers have been trying

1211
01:34:51,930 --> 01:34:55,530
to, we've been talking about concepts that we might get into the PIR that would address

1212
01:34:55,530 --> 01:34:56,370
everybody's concerns.

1213
01:34:56,450 --> 01:35:01,910
Of course, I've been doing that after talking with Mr. Barnett, with your general counsel,

1214
01:35:02,130 --> 01:35:03,950
just to make sure I'm getting those thoughts in there.

1215
01:35:03,970 --> 01:35:04,810
And we're making progress.

1216
01:35:04,810 --> 01:35:09,930
We just lost about a week, frankly, because I just came back from vacation last night,

1217
01:35:09,990 --> 01:35:11,290
so we lost a little bit of time there.

1218
01:35:12,310 --> 01:35:14,950
But I think I feel like we're headed in the right direction.

1219
01:35:15,070 --> 01:35:16,390
I don't want to make any commitments yet.

1220
01:35:17,010 --> 01:35:21,090
And I will continue to work with your staff, and I know they will be in touch with you

1221
01:35:21,090 --> 01:35:25,310
to try to get something that we can all get comfortable with that safeguards the district's

1222
01:35:25,310 --> 01:35:26,810
interests over the long term.

1223
01:35:29,110 --> 01:35:31,330
And one's a good time for questions, Mr. Chair.

1224
01:35:31,430 --> 01:35:31,890
Would you like me to?

1225
01:35:31,990 --> 01:35:32,910
I'm happy to take them.

1226
01:35:32,950 --> 01:35:33,530
I can do it now.

1227
01:35:33,530 --> 01:35:36,630
Now I can wait until the end of Mr. Barnett's presentation, however you'd like to do it.

1228
01:35:37,330 --> 01:35:43,790
Let's wait until the end of Ernie's presentation, and great thanks for your comments, and I

1229
01:35:43,790 --> 01:35:49,730
know that you are working very hard to try to come up with solutions and maybe the concerns

1230
01:35:49,730 --> 01:35:53,870
that everybody has and do that in a positive manner, so I appreciate your hard work on

1231
01:35:53,870 --> 01:35:54,830
that important issue.

1232
01:35:55,070 --> 01:35:55,390
Thank you.

1233
01:35:56,110 --> 01:35:56,210
Great.

1234
01:35:58,550 --> 01:36:00,030
Thanks, Greg, and Mr. Chairman.

1235
01:36:00,030 --> 01:36:06,010
And I also, in the form of sort of the introductory remarks on all of these issues, I think it's,

1236
01:36:06,110 --> 01:36:09,770
as Greg mentioned, you know, there's no light between us and the department.

1237
01:36:10,130 --> 01:36:13,530
You know, we are long-standing partners in everybody's restoration.

1238
01:36:13,850 --> 01:36:17,330
And I think the same holds very much true between us and the Army Corps of Engineers.

1239
01:36:18,530 --> 01:36:22,310
These issues could easily be characterized as issues that the district is raising,

1240
01:36:22,310 --> 01:36:30,190
but these are issues that we jointly share for a steadfast commitment to work through

1241
01:36:30,190 --> 01:36:37,150
as fast as possible. There's no light between us on these kind of key issues. And I think

1242
01:36:37,150 --> 01:36:42,230
we've made considerable progress since the last time we've met. We're moving closer

1243
01:36:42,230 --> 01:36:45,610
toward resolution, and that's the intent of this presentation, which is to sort

1244
01:36:45,610 --> 01:36:50,630
of give you an update. I think if you go back to the original intent of SERP as

1245
01:36:50,630 --> 01:36:55,710
as well as the planning objectives under SEP, you'll hear people talk about table 5.1,

1246
01:36:56,330 --> 01:37:02,530
water supply and the assurances language which date back to the word of 2000 are very, very important.

1247
01:37:03,530 --> 01:37:08,950
We did collectively agree that we would need to potentially do some additional water supply

1248
01:37:08,950 --> 01:37:15,550
and project assurances analysis. The overarching objective of that is the last two bullets

1249
01:37:15,550 --> 01:37:18,570
that we would be able to evaluate the selected plan

1250
01:37:18,570 --> 01:37:20,770
and if the modeling was successful,

1251
01:37:20,770 --> 01:37:22,570
we would identify that there is additional water

1252
01:37:22,570 --> 01:37:26,190
available for water supply in the project assurances

1253
01:37:26,190 --> 01:37:29,830
and to be able to document and get robust analysis

1254
01:37:29,830 --> 01:37:32,210
that would meet the requirements under NEPA analysis

1255
01:37:32,210 --> 01:37:34,610
for making sure that we demonstrate

1256
01:37:34,610 --> 01:37:36,950
to all the stakeholders in this restoration process,

1257
01:37:36,950 --> 01:37:40,090
not just those who we share joint objectives with

1258
01:37:40,090 --> 01:37:41,010
of restoring the Everglades,

1259
01:37:41,110 --> 01:37:42,370
but also those who want to make sure

1260
01:37:42,370 --> 01:37:47,130
that we don't inadvertently cause a loss of level of service of their water supply or

1261
01:37:47,130 --> 01:37:54,230
flood protection. And that initial analysis is a three-step process. We have the initial

1262
01:37:54,230 --> 01:37:59,850
model results in. It looks very promising. Our initial sort of assumptions that this

1263
01:37:59,850 --> 01:38:04,590
selected plan would provide water supply benefits. It looks like it's coming to fruition.

1264
01:38:05,050 --> 01:38:11,830
We still have some concerns in Miami-Dade County as well as Biscayne Bay. We have

1265
01:38:11,830 --> 01:38:13,890
some stakeholders that we're working very closely with.

1266
01:38:14,370 --> 01:38:16,810
I think through the next iteration of the modeling,

1267
01:38:17,230 --> 01:38:18,630
the refinement of the model,

1268
01:38:18,750 --> 01:38:20,830
and some operational tweaks of the plan,

1269
01:38:21,150 --> 01:38:22,870
we'll be able to sort of work those things out

1270
01:38:22,870 --> 01:38:24,430
and be able to document that the plan

1271
01:38:24,430 --> 01:38:26,790
actually provides the environmental benefits as attended

1272
01:38:26,790 --> 01:38:28,770
as well as meeting some of the other

1273
01:38:28,770 --> 01:38:30,130
water related needs of the region.

1274
01:38:30,730 --> 01:38:33,750
We are on track to have that final modeling

1275
01:38:33,750 --> 01:38:35,930
hopefully completed in early July

1276
01:38:35,930 --> 01:38:37,290
as we're working towards that,

1277
01:38:37,390 --> 01:38:40,070
the July governing board for the next round

1278
01:38:40,070 --> 01:38:44,270
of discussion and decisions to be brought forward to the board.

1279
01:38:45,910 --> 01:38:52,550
The other key thing is, in the implementation and phasing, there's a lot of other stakeholders

1280
01:38:52,550 --> 01:38:59,410
who have other CERT projects that already have chiefs reports that are already in the

1281
01:38:59,410 --> 01:39:04,050
queue for authorization of this King Bay Coastal Wetlands, C111 South Day, the Broward

1282
01:39:04,050 --> 01:39:09,330
WPA and C43. Each of those projects are very, very important. And there's also other

1283
01:39:09,330 --> 01:39:13,330
elements of the restoration projects that this plan is dependent upon being completed,

1284
01:39:13,470 --> 01:39:18,250
such as the restoration strategies, the governor's plan to meet water quality standards in the

1285
01:39:18,250 --> 01:39:23,090
Everglades, the sort of cornerstone of the success of this plan means that we're meeting

1286
01:39:23,090 --> 01:39:27,270
the QBEL, we're discharging good clean water into the Everglades, and that's important

1287
01:39:27,270 --> 01:39:31,470
prior to going forward with the hydropattern restoration and the backfilling of the

1288
01:39:31,470 --> 01:39:36,180
Miami Canal and some of the other key elements that are required under SEP to

1289
01:39:36,180 --> 01:39:43,720
forward, as well as the other elements such as the modified water deliveries next step

1290
01:39:43,720 --> 01:39:46,000
project, completion of modified water deliveries and others.

1291
01:39:47,080 --> 01:39:52,840
But for us, there's also a very, because we are legally bound as a permit holder under

1292
01:39:52,840 --> 01:39:57,040
the MPDS program, our discharges, discharge directly into the Everglades Protection

1293
01:39:57,040 --> 01:39:57,420
Area.

1294
01:39:58,020 --> 01:40:02,220
We just need to make sure that the proper language is included in the project implementation

1295
01:40:02,220 --> 01:40:02,900
report.

1296
01:40:02,900 --> 01:40:08,820
That's just a restatement of law, a reiteration of the fact that these project elements can't

1297
01:40:08,820 --> 01:40:12,840
proceed unless it's determined that the construction operation in the future won't cause or contribute

1298
01:40:12,840 --> 01:40:14,360
to a violation of water quality standards.

1299
01:40:15,120 --> 01:40:20,060
We couldn't be the local sponsor, nor could the court build an operator project that

1300
01:40:20,060 --> 01:40:23,440
doesn't meet water quality standards, as Mr. Munson mentioned.

1301
01:40:23,740 --> 01:40:27,780
That is just a restatement of fact, but it is very important as you look at the

1302
01:40:27,780 --> 01:40:29,120
implementation in sequencing.

1303
01:40:29,920 --> 01:40:33,480
We can't cause or contribute to a violation of the permits and the discharge limits,

1304
01:40:33,740 --> 01:40:37,240
the MPDS and the EFA permits that we hold in the specific conditions.

1305
01:40:37,720 --> 01:40:42,360
Once again, just a restatement of fact, but very important that everybody involved in this understands

1306
01:40:42,360 --> 01:40:48,220
that implementing this federal project will not put this district in jeopardy of violating

1307
01:40:48,220 --> 01:40:53,160
an enforceable permit requirement that we currently are obligated to do

1308
01:40:53,160 --> 01:40:57,800
as we move forward in implementing the project features needed to meet the water quality standards

1309
01:40:57,800 --> 01:41:03,020
in the Everglades. And then the last bullet is also consistent with the Clean Water Act,

1310
01:41:03,180 --> 01:41:06,740
you know, that there's reasonable assurances exist that there won't be adverse effects

1311
01:41:06,740 --> 01:41:11,060
on flora and fauna in the areas influenced by the project. And this is really intended

1312
01:41:11,060 --> 01:41:17,200
to say, in the future, if there's an overwhelming agreement and relief provided by EPA and

1313
01:41:17,200 --> 01:41:22,620
DEP under the Clean Water Act, we could move forward with restoration sooner, as long

1314
01:41:22,620 --> 01:41:25,780
as we stay within the four corners of the Clean Water Act, and we make sure that

1315
01:41:25,780 --> 01:41:28,600
We're always in compliance with our permit limits,

1316
01:41:28,780 --> 01:41:33,660
as well as our obligations under the USA case as well.

1317
01:41:33,980 --> 01:41:37,680
So these are just very important phasing and legal mandates.

1318
01:41:38,680 --> 01:41:41,140
Nothing controversial here, just a restatement of law.

1319
01:41:41,220 --> 01:41:43,200
But I think this will be one of the driving factors

1320
01:41:43,200 --> 01:41:45,120
going forward in restoration.

1321
01:41:46,440 --> 01:41:48,080
The other elements are also going

1322
01:41:48,080 --> 01:41:51,540
to be very strongly dependent upon other factors,

1323
01:41:51,540 --> 01:41:54,400
including when the authorization for this project

1324
01:41:54,400 --> 01:42:00,940
and other projects occur, the level of federal and state appropriations, the state funding

1325
01:42:00,940 --> 01:42:05,080
that comes forward, and then any available cost share credits for some of the other

1326
01:42:05,080 --> 01:42:10,280
projects that are necessary for this plan to be successful. We have to, as I mentioned

1327
01:42:10,280 --> 01:42:13,940
earlier in great detail, be in compliance with state water quality standards, including

1328
01:42:13,940 --> 01:42:19,440
the QBEL and Appendix A under the settlement agreement and consent decree. Nothing goes

1329
01:42:19,440 --> 01:42:26,900
forward until we execute a project partnership agreement and the letter of local sponsor

1330
01:42:26,900 --> 01:42:30,940
support will be the next step and the letter of financial capability will be the next step

1331
01:42:30,940 --> 01:42:36,940
but this board in the state of Florida will not be financially liable and have any financial

1332
01:42:36,940 --> 01:42:42,140
exposure going forward until such time post authorization and there is a negotiated

1333
01:42:42,140 --> 01:42:48,020
contract and only at that such time will we be contractually bound to committing

1334
01:42:48,020 --> 01:42:50,740
the financial resources of the district and the state.

1335
01:42:51,620 --> 01:42:55,020
And we also will have the opportunity going forward

1336
01:42:55,020 --> 01:42:57,460
with incremental operational and adaptive managing,

1337
01:42:57,540 --> 01:42:58,800
which is sort of a cornerstone

1338
01:42:58,800 --> 01:43:00,540
in which the project will go forward.

1339
01:43:00,920 --> 01:43:03,000
There's no particular order and sequence

1340
01:43:03,000 --> 01:43:04,740
of these groups of projects,

1341
01:43:04,840 --> 01:43:06,120
but you can see what we've done

1342
01:43:06,120 --> 01:43:08,220
through looking at these project elements.

1343
01:43:08,520 --> 01:43:10,700
They'll, certain ones will work together

1344
01:43:10,700 --> 01:43:13,260
at accomplishing incremental benefits

1345
01:43:13,640 --> 01:43:16,040
in some form of sequencing that includes

1346
01:43:16,040 --> 01:43:23,060
Not only these projects, but also the other projects outside of SERP that are dependent upon the planet for success

1347
01:43:23,060 --> 01:43:30,320
or dependent upon will be included in the draft PIRs as a sequencing of how the projects will go forward.

1348
01:43:31,180 --> 01:43:34,140
So just a refresher, these are the tentatively selected plan.

1349
01:43:34,480 --> 01:43:41,500
If you look to the north, those are the project features that are very much dependent upon us achieving the QBEL

1350
01:43:41,500 --> 01:43:46,600
and being in compliance with our permits and consent orders as well as the

1351
01:43:46,600 --> 01:43:50,780
features to the south and I think they'll come up sort of in sequence. Also

1352
01:43:50,780 --> 01:43:55,420
you just saw at the very southern end of the system the C111 South Dade

1353
01:43:55,420 --> 01:43:59,720
modified water deliveries project those two projects together are essential.

1354
01:44:00,140 --> 01:44:06,320
The next set of projects going forward would be the A1 Res award to

1355
01:44:06,320 --> 01:44:08,960
the north so that means we've completed restoration strategies and

1356
01:44:08,960 --> 01:44:09,800
in achieving the Q-Bell.

1357
01:44:10,460 --> 01:44:13,460
You see the project features that just showed up

1358
01:44:13,460 --> 01:44:14,520
in the north part in white,

1359
01:44:14,680 --> 01:44:16,100
where the restoration strategies,

1360
01:44:16,360 --> 01:44:19,360
that would come next in one logical set of sequencing.

1361
01:44:20,080 --> 01:44:23,080
That would require the achievement of the Q-Bell

1362
01:44:23,080 --> 01:44:24,280
to redistribute flows

1363
01:44:24,280 --> 01:44:27,040
into currently unimpacted portions of the Everglades.

1364
01:44:27,920 --> 01:44:30,740
And then the next feature would be the Miami Canal.

1365
01:44:31,960 --> 01:44:33,960
That would be benefits arrived

1366
01:44:33,960 --> 01:44:36,820
in water conservation area 3A from rehydrating

1367
01:44:36,820 --> 01:44:42,660
the overdrained portions of the north everglades. The L6 degrade and shifting

1368
01:44:42,660 --> 01:44:48,380
flows over into that area comes next and you see the benefits showing up in

1369
01:44:48,380 --> 01:44:53,860
water conservation area 3A and then the the little purple dot just showed a box

1370
01:44:53,860 --> 01:44:58,340
just showed up would be the C11 impoundment is next that provides

1371
01:44:58,340 --> 01:44:59,980
water quality improvements that flow

1372
01:45:02,040 --> 01:45:29,040
And then you begin to get benefits in the water concentration at 3B that just showed up. And then you'll have the next step of the additional up to five miles of bridging for the Tamiama Trail next steps on the L29, and then the device structures to redistribute the flow into Northeast Shark River Slough, and those benefits then accrue into the southern part of the system.

1373
01:45:29,040 --> 01:45:34,940
And then, of course, the water conservation area 3A benefits come in with the blue shanty

1374
01:45:34,940 --> 01:45:37,420
and the additional features on the L-67 canal.

1375
01:45:37,640 --> 01:45:42,180
So there's a very logical set of sequencing dependent upon some external projects being

1376
01:45:42,180 --> 01:45:42,660
completed.

1377
01:45:43,220 --> 01:45:47,260
Then all in all, we feel this is a very good plan that long-term achieves great benefits

1378
01:45:47,260 --> 01:45:53,000
to the Everglades, and it's the logical next step after we achieve the water quality

1379
01:45:53,000 --> 01:45:55,080
standards through the governor's plan to the north.

1380
01:45:56,850 --> 01:46:06,190
And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions, and the Colonel and Kim here as well that could address any concerns or questions the district has.

1381
01:46:07,730 --> 01:46:12,310
Lieutenant Colonel, would you want to address any items before we get to questions?

1382
01:46:12,790 --> 01:46:19,330
Sir, no items in particular. But I did just want to reiterate the point that I've been making, and we discussed.

1383
01:46:20,070 --> 01:46:24,730
You know, I think Ernie's spot on, we are working very closely together to resolve these issues.

1384
01:46:25,010 --> 01:46:28,590
They're being worked at several different levels within the core and within the state, obviously.

1385
01:46:29,590 --> 01:46:35,010
But we clearly recognize that there's a need to resolve these policy issues to your satisfaction and to our satisfaction.

1386
01:46:35,750 --> 01:46:38,570
But I also want to reiterate something that I mentioned a couple of months ago.

1387
01:46:38,850 --> 01:46:42,270
When we were talking about the release of the draft PIR, which is vital to this process,

1388
01:46:42,750 --> 01:46:48,810
I mentioned to this board that, you know, it's not really an ending point when we release

1389
01:46:48,810 --> 01:46:49,330
the draft PR.

1390
01:46:49,590 --> 01:46:54,770
In many respects, it's a starting point, especially when it comes to public comment and continued

1391
01:46:54,770 --> 01:46:55,730
input by stakeholders.

1392
01:46:55,970 --> 01:47:00,090
So, to that end, as we're doing right now as partners and with stakeholders working

1393
01:47:00,090 --> 01:47:03,750
very closely to, you know, move this process along.

1394
01:47:03,950 --> 01:47:08,170
But once the draft PR is released, I think it's vitally important that we continue

1395
01:47:08,170 --> 01:47:15,030
the dialogue and continue analyzing the plan to ensure and provide as much visibility on

1396
01:47:15,030 --> 01:47:19,530
it as possible because we are seeking to provide the best benefits to the central Everglades

1397
01:47:19,530 --> 01:47:24,230
and I think this plan is getting us there. We are working very hard in concert with

1398
01:47:24,230 --> 01:47:27,730
the Water Management District and again with stakeholders to solve these issues.

1399
01:47:27,890 --> 01:47:31,110
Like I said, many of them are technical issues that are being worked on at this

1400
01:47:31,110 --> 01:47:35,970
level and I think there's a strong commitment by many to see this through to the end

1401
01:47:35,970 --> 01:47:39,990
And we're committed to doing that and to working with your staff to get it done.

1402
01:47:40,230 --> 01:47:41,110
Thank you very much.

1403
01:47:41,190 --> 01:47:42,070
So subject to your questions, sir.

1404
01:47:42,450 --> 01:47:42,690
Okay.

1405
01:47:42,910 --> 01:47:49,950
Board members or comments or questions to either Lieutenant Colonel Ernie or Greg with the DEP?

1406
01:47:50,530 --> 01:47:50,750
Mitch?

1407
01:47:51,670 --> 01:47:54,030
I just wanted to comment on good communication.

1408
01:47:54,430 --> 01:47:56,070
I heard it mentioned by a number of folks.

1409
01:47:56,210 --> 01:47:57,150
And I appreciate that.

1410
01:47:57,370 --> 01:48:03,390
And I'm thankful that Kim Taplet and Lieutenant Colonel Greco were able to participate in the briefings.

1411
01:48:03,390 --> 01:48:07,490
I think it's helpful to see that there's that ongoing communication on all levels,

1412
01:48:07,570 --> 01:48:10,010
and I'm thankful to see Greg here as well.

1413
01:48:10,150 --> 01:48:13,490
And I know everybody's been working hard on resolving these issues.

1414
01:48:14,350 --> 01:48:19,490
And we've gotten a lot of, I've gotten a lot of communication about moving forward in June.

1415
01:48:19,690 --> 01:48:23,910
And so one of the questions I have is, is the PIR ready to be released right now?

1416
01:48:24,630 --> 01:48:28,490
Or are we still putting the finishing touches on those additional items?

1417
01:48:28,990 --> 01:48:32,310
Sir, as we discussed, the quick answer is no.

1418
01:48:32,530 --> 01:48:36,470
If you were to vote today to release it tomorrow, we would not be able to do it.

1419
01:48:37,090 --> 01:48:41,330
The outstanding issues that Ernie mentioned, the policy issues that are being resolved,

1420
01:48:41,870 --> 01:48:44,370
but there's also a matter, there are technical issues.

1421
01:48:44,550 --> 01:48:47,950
Savings clause, we've always discussed in this forum and others that it has to be

1422
01:48:47,950 --> 01:48:51,530
compliant with federal laws. One of those is the savings clause.

1423
01:48:51,890 --> 01:48:56,070
And the other piece which we still have to work through and provide final information on

1424
01:48:56,070 --> 01:49:00,330
it is overall cost, which is forthcoming within the next couple of weeks, so no, sir.

1425
01:49:00,770 --> 01:49:02,950
And we are working to get it done as soon as possible.

1426
01:49:03,610 --> 01:49:04,710
Thank you for your answer.

1427
01:49:04,870 --> 01:49:06,250
And again, I appreciate all your hard work.

1428
01:49:07,330 --> 01:49:08,130
Mr. Perchlondo.

1429
01:49:08,850 --> 01:49:09,250
Yes.

1430
01:49:09,410 --> 01:49:10,170
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

1431
01:49:11,150 --> 01:49:19,830
Ernie, if you could just touch briefly on how the plan is addressing not only the

1432
01:49:19,830 --> 01:49:24,270
construction costs of these projects, but each one of these projects that gets built

1433
01:49:24,270 --> 01:49:32,870
comes with an operation and maintenance cost and perpetuity and, you know, if you could just briefly.

1434
01:49:33,630 --> 01:49:36,890
Mr. Portuondo, great question, and I missed my last slide.

1435
01:49:37,330 --> 01:49:38,690
Oh, sorry.

1436
01:49:39,090 --> 01:49:40,150
I thought I'd get forward.

1437
01:49:40,150 --> 01:49:40,730
Do you want to go to your thunder?

1438
01:49:40,990 --> 01:49:43,110
No, no, no, sir, you were a very good question.

1439
01:49:43,530 --> 01:49:44,610
I stopped prematurely.

1440
01:49:45,070 --> 01:49:49,090
We, as Lieutenant Colonel Greco mentioned, there is a team.

1441
01:49:49,090 --> 01:49:54,230
We're going through the core process to refine their overall construction costs.

1442
01:49:54,770 --> 01:49:59,270
Right now we just have gross estimates of construction and contingency and operational costs.

1443
01:49:59,810 --> 01:50:03,050
Between now and the end of the month, we'll refine those construction costs.

1444
01:50:03,130 --> 01:50:08,110
There'll be a higher level of certainty of what the actual cost of the construction will be.

1445
01:50:08,530 --> 01:50:14,370
As that changes, our contingency will drop because there's higher level of certainty.

1446
01:50:15,810 --> 01:50:19,790
Conversely, the overall construction cost will probably go up somewhat as well, but probably

1447
01:50:19,790 --> 01:50:20,450
not one-to-one.

1448
01:50:21,170 --> 01:50:26,510
But that will be in the final draft PIR that you'll have for consideration before you take

1449
01:50:26,510 --> 01:50:26,810
a vote.

1450
01:50:26,870 --> 01:50:30,090
We've made a firm commitment that this board would kind of know what the overall cost

1451
01:50:30,090 --> 01:50:31,270
of the plan itself is.

1452
01:50:31,630 --> 01:50:38,550
And as well, we're doing the same analysis and computations of what the long-term

1453
01:50:38,550 --> 01:50:42,650
ongoing annualized operation maintenance cost of adding these additional features

1454
01:50:42,650 --> 01:50:43,850
to the system will be.

1455
01:50:43,850 --> 01:50:50,270
So you'll have sort of a full cost accounting of both the construction and the cost of the

1456
01:50:50,270 --> 01:50:54,990
district for operating these features will be prior to any consideration of the release

1457
01:50:54,990 --> 01:50:55,690
of the final PIR.

1458
01:50:56,030 --> 01:50:56,430
Okay.

1459
01:50:56,650 --> 01:51:04,350
And if you could just reiterate what those who haven't heard it before, the cost sharing

1460
01:51:05,110 --> 01:51:05,670
agreements.

1461
01:51:06,710 --> 01:51:07,170
Yes, sir.

1462
01:51:07,690 --> 01:51:13,170
Under the Water Resource Development Act of 2000, SERP is unique and it has, if

1463
01:51:13,170 --> 01:51:20,610
If approved by Congress, these projects are eligible for 50-50 cost share for the operation

1464
01:51:20,610 --> 01:51:24,150
and maintenance cost of the additional features that are added into the system.

1465
01:51:24,590 --> 01:51:28,830
We are also working very closely with the Corps to include language that since the project

1466
01:51:28,830 --> 01:51:33,990
is dependent on using our water quality features for treatment, the additional incremental

1467
01:51:33,990 --> 01:51:39,330
O&M cost that would be associated with flowing the water through our water treatment facilities,

1468
01:51:39,330 --> 01:51:47,730
the A-1 Reservoir, STA-34, we would cost share that pro-rata incremental benefit 50-50 as

1469
01:51:47,730 --> 01:51:52,570
well. And we've been working on that language. I don't know if we'll get complete resolution

1470
01:51:52,570 --> 01:51:57,730
on the second part, but we will certainly have a recommendation in the PIR will be

1471
01:51:57,730 --> 01:52:02,770
50-50 cost share on O&M on the features that are generated from this project, and

1472
01:52:02,770 --> 01:52:09,490
that will carry forward to the chief's report that gets approved by the chief of engineers.

1473
01:52:10,090 --> 01:52:16,330
We will also have the opportunity to fully describe that, cost share expectation, and

1474
01:52:16,330 --> 01:52:21,670
we will be able to condition our financial capability letter contingent upon full knowledge

1475
01:52:21,670 --> 01:52:27,090
of what the construction and O&M costs will be and the expectation and requirement on

1476
01:52:27,090 --> 01:52:28,850
our end that it be a 50-50 cost share.

1477
01:52:30,090 --> 01:52:35,490
Thank you, Ernie, and Mr. Chairman, I think that's critical to the success of this project

1478
01:52:35,490 --> 01:52:42,630
because usually you have a conflict between the entity that's building something and the

1479
01:52:42,630 --> 01:52:43,990
entity that has to operate it.

1480
01:52:44,050 --> 01:52:48,330
They want to build it as cheaply as possible, which results in the highest maintenance cost

1481
01:52:48,330 --> 01:52:49,050
down the line.

1482
01:52:49,310 --> 01:52:55,090
And the fact that we're all responsible jointly in perpetuity, I think, is a very, very

1483
01:52:55,090 --> 01:52:59,430
a very good sign for this project.

1484
01:53:00,530 --> 01:53:01,270
Mr. Walman.

1485
01:53:01,490 --> 01:53:04,170
Ernie, in any previously executed PIR,

1486
01:53:04,410 --> 01:53:07,130
do we have a 50-50 cost share in operations and maintenance?

1487
01:53:07,690 --> 01:53:08,470
Or is this new?

1488
01:53:09,170 --> 01:53:12,430
Yeah, Mr. Walman, in all of the SERP features

1489
01:53:12,430 --> 01:53:15,570
that we have PIRs since the passage of work 2000

1490
01:53:15,570 --> 01:53:19,690
under that authorization, the Indian River Lagoon C-44,

1491
01:53:20,850 --> 01:53:22,830
Reservoir and STA, as well as PICCUM,

1492
01:53:22,930 --> 01:53:24,750
we do have that 50-50 cost share.

1493
01:53:24,750 --> 01:53:28,850
There are older authorizations prior to Word of 2000 that isn't eligible.

1494
01:53:29,050 --> 01:53:33,930
We have some where it's 100% local sponsor and other different types of percentages.

1495
01:53:34,130 --> 01:53:37,670
But since the passage of Word of 2000 and the projects that are planned under that authorization,

1496
01:53:38,110 --> 01:53:40,230
we have been able to get the 50-50 cost-trival.

1497
01:53:40,370 --> 01:53:43,030
So what we're negotiating and asking for here is not new?

1498
01:53:43,750 --> 01:53:44,110
No, sir.

1499
01:53:44,330 --> 01:53:49,070
The only little nuance is the flow-throughs are facilities.

1500
01:53:49,070 --> 01:53:52,950
And in the scheme of things, it's not the giant cost,

1501
01:53:53,210 --> 01:53:55,310
you know, an overwhelming number.

1502
01:53:55,570 --> 01:53:57,450
It is just something that we feel pretty strongly

1503
01:53:58,310 --> 01:54:01,010
about protecting the financial interest of the district.

1504
01:54:01,470 --> 01:54:03,930
If the plan is dependent on flowing water through our STAs,

1505
01:54:04,070 --> 01:54:07,230
it's a small, incremental increase in operational cost of our facilities.

1506
01:54:07,470 --> 01:54:08,990
That incremental cost should be cost shared.

1507
01:54:09,070 --> 01:54:10,410
That's the only nuance that's new,

1508
01:54:10,710 --> 01:54:13,130
and we'll continue to try to ask for that.

1509
01:54:13,230 --> 01:54:18,530
But the overwhelmingly more paramount question is the cost share of the new features

1510
01:54:18,530 --> 01:54:19,470
It's pretty standard.

1511
01:54:21,110 --> 01:54:27,410
And I heard that the PIR is not now ready for us to review and authorize, certainly, at this meeting.

1512
01:54:27,570 --> 01:54:33,090
We couldn't do it now, but do you both anticipate having it for us in advance of the next meeting,

1513
01:54:33,090 --> 01:54:37,510
so it's something that we can review in advance of sitting together and then, you know,

1514
01:54:38,190 --> 01:54:41,570
asking questions because it won't be helpful not to have reviewed it before the meeting?

1515
01:54:41,890 --> 01:54:41,970
Yes.

1516
01:54:42,470 --> 01:54:47,990
Mr. Walman, it will not be from a lack of effort from the district or the core or DEP staff.

1517
01:54:47,990 --> 01:54:50,130
We're working diligently to resolve these issues.

1518
01:54:50,490 --> 01:54:57,230
As Mr. Munson said, the big one is the water quality sort of external factors are outside

1519
01:54:57,230 --> 01:54:59,810
of our complete control of that, but we're hopeful that can be worked out.

1520
01:55:02,490 --> 01:55:07,170
Our goal is to get this done as soon as we can to bring it to the board for a vote, and

1521
01:55:07,170 --> 01:55:10,990
we'll do everything possible to meet the next board meeting.

1522
01:55:11,310 --> 01:55:14,930
With the understanding there are some factors that, particularly the water quality one,

1523
01:55:14,970 --> 01:55:15,870
is a little bit unknown.

1524
01:55:16,610 --> 01:55:21,570
The reason I ask that is because I'm sure you're aware, but we're being made aware from

1525
01:55:21,570 --> 01:55:26,550
stakeholders that the window is closing on the time within which we need to authorize

1526
01:55:26,550 --> 01:55:31,090
this PIR because of the potential for funding in Congress.

1527
01:55:31,330 --> 01:55:36,170
So that's why I ask because this is just not one of those kinds of things that if we

1528
01:55:36,170 --> 01:55:40,510
delay this until potentially August or September while all these issues are being worked

1529
01:55:40,510 --> 01:55:43,570
out we may lose the opportunity here.

1530
01:55:44,710 --> 01:55:48,490
Well, let me clarify one thing, so I think it's important for the stakeholders and the

1531
01:55:48,490 --> 01:55:50,730
board to understand the next step.

1532
01:55:51,130 --> 01:55:53,630
The next step will be the release of the draft PIR.

1533
01:55:53,950 --> 01:55:59,150
There will be no formal action or approval of the board until October, and that would

1534
01:55:59,150 --> 01:56:03,910
be whether the draft is released in July or August.

1535
01:56:04,430 --> 01:56:09,250
Our real deadline for the board action is in October, and that's sort of the critical

1536
01:56:09,250 --> 01:56:14,870
path to be able to meet the Chiefs Report final PIR and the rest of the review to have

1537
01:56:14,870 --> 01:56:19,110
the letter of support and the letter of financial capability, and that will be the formal board

1538
01:56:19,110 --> 01:56:21,530
vote of support in October.

1539
01:56:22,450 --> 01:56:23,930
We are with the Corps.

1540
01:56:24,190 --> 01:56:26,630
We're trying to do whatever we can to resolve these issues.

1541
01:56:27,210 --> 01:56:29,890
As I mentioned, the modeling came back favorable.

1542
01:56:31,010 --> 01:56:33,350
That was one of the big unknowns, the initial round of modeling.

1543
01:56:33,490 --> 01:56:36,890
There's still additional work and post-modeling processing that the Corps is going to have

1544
01:56:36,890 --> 01:56:37,250
to do.

1545
01:56:37,250 --> 01:56:41,850
We're going to do everything we can to get all of the modeling done by the end of this

1546
01:56:41,850 --> 01:56:45,010
month and then we'll hand it over to the core and it will be somewhat in their hands

1547
01:56:45,010 --> 01:56:45,810
on the scheduling.

1548
01:56:47,090 --> 01:56:48,250
It's really joint effort.

1549
01:56:48,650 --> 01:56:51,850
There's the savings cost analysis and the water management district staff does.

1550
01:56:52,230 --> 01:56:56,070
So modeling is coming out July 1st and then we will all be looking at it processing

1551
01:56:56,070 --> 01:57:02,050
it and going through stakeholder coordination with the final results and like I said,

1552
01:57:02,050 --> 01:57:06,790
Like Colonel Greco mentioned, our cost estimate will do the end of July, so we'll incorporate

1553
01:57:06,790 --> 01:57:07,190
that.

1554
01:57:07,590 --> 01:57:11,530
So there is some footwork to get the report actually put together, but we will have a

1555
01:57:11,530 --> 01:57:16,210
plan that's been evaluated and we can present to the board and talk about the plan and

1556
01:57:16,210 --> 01:57:20,210
what we've heard from stakeholders about the support about it, but actually getting

1557
01:57:20,670 --> 01:57:26,150
the final report written will take a little more time in a couple weeks, I think.

1558
01:57:26,490 --> 01:57:27,050
Thank you, Kim.

1559
01:57:29,450 --> 01:57:36,310
Actually I have two or three questions. Do you mention about the draft PIR? It was my

1560
01:57:36,310 --> 01:57:39,070
understanding that the board would have to vote on that. Isn't that not the case?

1561
01:57:41,590 --> 01:57:47,210
What we, the direction we received at the April governing board meeting was that we as

1562
01:57:47,210 --> 01:57:53,030
staff and the board would want to have these issues all resolved prior to a draft PIR.

1563
01:57:53,030 --> 01:58:02,110
So that is not a formal vote in the traditional set of how you get the process through.

1564
01:58:02,310 --> 01:58:04,210
The formal sort of approval of the plan.

1565
01:58:04,250 --> 01:58:06,290
You still haven't approved the plan at that point.

1566
01:58:06,730 --> 01:58:11,670
Your final approval of the plan would come when we actually have gone through all of the public review.

1567
01:58:11,910 --> 01:58:13,390
The draft PIR is out there.

1568
01:58:13,810 --> 01:58:19,330
You've gone through the public review of the plan, received public comment from various stakeholders.

1569
01:58:19,330 --> 01:58:22,450
that would be then incorporated into the final PIR.

1570
01:58:23,030 --> 01:58:26,750
And the final PIR is where you do the letter of support

1571
01:58:26,750 --> 01:58:28,450
and letter of financial capability.

1572
01:58:28,870 --> 01:58:32,670
And that is the approval that takes place under the critical path

1573
01:58:32,670 --> 01:58:35,390
to get the chief's report done by December.

1574
01:58:35,670 --> 01:58:36,570
That date is October.

1575
01:58:37,710 --> 01:58:41,510
And so we are not agreeing as a district or staff

1576
01:58:42,090 --> 01:58:45,630
or nor is the core prepared to release the draft PIR

1577
01:58:45,630 --> 01:58:48,530
until these issues that we're working diligently on are resolved.

1578
01:58:48,530 --> 01:58:51,190
And we were going to come back to the board prior to that decision.

1579
01:58:52,230 --> 01:58:56,970
What are the mechanics of the district consenting to the draft PIR?

1580
01:58:57,490 --> 01:59:01,590
It would be a board approval. We've inserted that into the plan.

1581
01:59:02,210 --> 01:59:05,390
And I apologize for the confusion. It's not the...

1582
01:59:05,390 --> 01:59:13,050
But you're still not, even at that point, nor we, nor is the chief of engineers agreeing that the plan has approved yet.

1583
01:59:13,050 --> 01:59:17,330
But there's still another step before there's final approval of the PIR.

1584
01:59:18,430 --> 01:59:21,450
This is just getting the draft ready to move forward.

1585
01:59:21,870 --> 01:59:27,170
The final approval of the draft PIR will still come back to the board for support in October

1586
01:59:27,170 --> 01:59:31,610
and then by the end of the year for a chief's report for the Army to approve the plan.

1587
01:59:32,210 --> 01:59:36,990
It still has to go through the Civil Works Review Board and the process in which

1588
01:59:36,990 --> 01:59:38,430
the Army follows as well.

1589
01:59:38,430 --> 01:59:42,470
Well, the point in that is there's still some more work to be done and additional steps

1590
01:59:42,470 --> 01:59:47,530
for approval prior to December in order to have a final chief's report done.

1591
01:59:48,970 --> 01:59:51,050
I'm not understanding you, Mary.

1592
01:59:51,430 --> 01:59:51,690
Okay.

1593
01:59:54,250 --> 01:59:59,770
How does the South Florida Water Management District consent to the draft PIR?

1594
01:59:59,770 --> 01:59:59,790
Thank you very much for your time.

1595
01:59:59,910 --> 01:59:59,950
Thank you.

1596
02:00:00,000 --> 02:00:02,520
Is it by vote of this board or is it by staff decision?

1597
02:00:02,860 --> 02:00:09,700
No, sir, vote of the board. We have always said since the issues and concerns were raised

1598
02:00:09,700 --> 02:00:16,680
in April, we have said and continue to say this agency will not release the draft until

1599
02:00:16,680 --> 02:00:21,940
these issues are resolved and the board approves that. We don't resolve and approve the resolution.

1600
02:00:22,140 --> 02:00:26,380
We'll make a recommendation to you. You are the decision-making body. You will approve

1601
02:00:26,380 --> 02:00:30,040
the draft to be for us to be able to consent to the release.

1602
02:00:30,040 --> 02:00:32,240
And you're telling us that that won't be until October?

1603
02:00:32,500 --> 02:00:34,860
No, sir. That's the next step, is the draft.

1604
02:00:36,020 --> 02:00:39,240
After the draft is released, there will be a process,

1605
02:00:39,740 --> 02:00:43,740
the federal process will go through, and there will be public comment,

1606
02:00:44,100 --> 02:00:48,720
there will be input, that will all get rolled up into a final PIR.

1607
02:00:49,380 --> 02:00:52,740
And at that point, there will be a second point of approval

1608
02:00:52,740 --> 02:01:00,240
by the governing board and we're shooting for the October timeline to have the letter

1609
02:01:00,240 --> 02:01:04,320
of support, that's the formal letter of support of the final PIR and the letter of financial

1610
02:01:04,320 --> 02:01:05,840
capability at that point in time.

1611
02:01:06,280 --> 02:01:10,540
So you'll be asking for two votes by this board as to the PIR.

1612
02:01:10,880 --> 02:01:13,460
One will be for the draft and one will be for the final.

1613
02:01:13,700 --> 02:01:14,040
Yes, sir.

1614
02:01:14,100 --> 02:01:15,120
The final will be in October.

1615
02:01:15,820 --> 02:01:16,900
On this schedule, yes, sir.

1616
02:01:17,700 --> 02:01:18,920
When will the draft be?

1617
02:01:19,200 --> 02:01:19,500
What month?

1618
02:01:19,500 --> 02:01:24,780
We're shooting for trying to get everything we can and working arm-in-arm with the court to get it as soon as possible

1619
02:01:24,780 --> 02:01:32,040
We're shooting for July. Okay. So so in other words, you'll come back to us next month and ask for us to vote on the draft

1620
02:01:32,040 --> 02:01:37,600
PIR subject to these issues being resolved and most importantly the water quality piece being resolved. Yes, sir

1621
02:01:37,600 --> 02:01:44,060
All right, just a couple more questions if I'm in this dream, you know, we've been working on this for 19 months and

1622
02:01:45,060 --> 02:01:49,380
And during that time, we've been working, you've been working, everyone's been working

1623
02:01:49,380 --> 02:01:51,900
on getting these key issues resolved.

1624
02:01:52,740 --> 02:01:58,840
Issues to be resolved, water quality, savings clause, implementation, phasing and cost,

1625
02:01:59,500 --> 02:02:06,020
and I know everybody's working hard, but I'm not hearing any proposed solutions for

1626
02:02:06,020 --> 02:02:06,940
these key issues.

1627
02:02:07,220 --> 02:02:11,180
I mean, here it is, we're coming up in July, going to be asked to vote on a PRR, maybe

1628
02:02:11,180 --> 02:02:18,020
be on October for the final vote, and we haven't seen any proposed solutions for these problems.

1629
02:02:18,860 --> 02:02:19,860
When will we see that?

1630
02:02:21,320 --> 02:02:22,540
Prior to the July vote.

1631
02:02:22,760 --> 02:02:27,540
We will, we are, we are, have not resolved these issues to our satisfaction yet.

1632
02:02:28,040 --> 02:02:31,080
We've made great progress, and that was the intent of this presentation.

1633
02:02:31,840 --> 02:02:35,900
For example, to give you sort of cost of, you know, estimates of timelines.

1634
02:02:35,900 --> 02:02:41,280
For example, on the water quality assurances, the draft model results just came in.

1635
02:02:41,740 --> 02:02:43,000
We're now doing the model refinement.

1636
02:02:43,260 --> 02:02:48,600
We're targeting to have that completed prior to the 1st of July, and then we will know

1637
02:02:48,600 --> 02:02:52,780
that the savings clause analysis is sufficient and we're ready to go forward with that.

1638
02:02:53,240 --> 02:02:59,420
Our target is to bring something back as soon as possible.

1639
02:03:00,340 --> 02:03:04,240
We want everything possible for all these issues to be resolved.

1640
02:03:04,240 --> 02:03:09,380
The only big concern is that there are a few items that are outside the control of just

1641
02:03:09,380 --> 02:03:13,580
this agency and this board, most importantly, is the higher level.

1642
02:03:13,680 --> 02:03:18,860
There has to be agreement on the water quality piece, and that is not something that I can

1643
02:03:18,860 --> 02:03:25,140
look at, modeling resources, staff time, the NEPA analysis type of preparation that

1644
02:03:25,140 --> 02:03:28,320
we have to do jointly with the court that can give you a rest estimate of the time.

1645
02:03:28,440 --> 02:03:31,100
We're hopeful that will be resolved prior to the next board meeting.

1646
02:03:31,100 --> 02:03:38,080
Well, thank you. But, of course, most of these major issues to be resolved aren't minor tweaks.

1647
02:03:38,880 --> 02:03:45,340
You know, these are monumental problems. Water quality, for instance, whereby we're constrained

1648
02:03:45,340 --> 02:03:51,580
by the consent order and by the restrictions on what does it appendix A for the park.

1649
02:03:51,960 --> 02:03:57,620
I mean, are we going to have proposed solutions for those problems?

1650
02:03:58,500 --> 02:04:02,160
Yes, sir, there will be language in the – you want to take that on the – because Greg's

1651
02:04:02,160 --> 02:04:03,960
been taking the lead on the water quality piece.

1652
02:04:04,240 --> 02:04:04,500
Sure.

1653
02:04:04,880 --> 02:04:07,680
Thank you for the chance to address your question, Mr. Moran.

1654
02:04:08,380 --> 02:04:08,900
You're right.

1655
02:04:09,000 --> 02:04:09,780
Those are huge issues.

1656
02:04:10,380 --> 02:04:14,920
And so far in conversations with the Army Corps, they recognize that.

1657
02:04:15,160 --> 02:04:19,880
And I don't feel like they have been – or I should say I think they've been cooperative.

1658
02:04:20,580 --> 02:04:24,180
They obviously have to be careful about language they put in this PIR and how it could

1659
02:04:24,180 --> 02:04:29,040
come back and affect them in other situations nationally but I have not heard them saying

1660
02:04:29,040 --> 02:04:34,600
absolutely not. We're not going to help you out there. We're continuing to try to work

1661
02:04:34,600 --> 02:04:39,460
through it. I appreciate your concern about don't dump this on us and expect us to make

1662
02:04:39,460 --> 02:04:44,400
a huge decision. I think the PIR language that will be in front of you pertaining

1663
02:04:44,400 --> 02:04:50,160
to water quality is probably all confined to about a three-page section. And it's

1664
02:04:50,160 --> 02:04:54,700
It's fairly manageable, it's not technically complex, so I think it will be fairly straightforward

1665
02:04:54,700 --> 02:04:56,740
if and when it does arrive in your hands for review.

1666
02:04:57,200 --> 02:05:05,460
Well, will it be a solution, a proposed solution, or just a condition that there's be a solution

1667
02:05:05,460 --> 02:05:06,060
in the future?

1668
02:05:08,260 --> 02:05:12,020
Boy, I hesitate to say at this time, I'm not sure exactly what that's going to look

1669
02:05:12,020 --> 02:05:14,200
like or if those are even mutually exclusive.

1670
02:05:14,940 --> 02:05:16,080
You may see elements of both.

1671
02:05:16,420 --> 02:05:16,940
I don't know.

1672
02:05:18,060 --> 02:05:20,640
Okay, thank you. And I do have one more question for Ernie, if I may.

1673
02:05:20,820 --> 02:05:21,200
Absolutely.

1674
02:05:22,780 --> 02:05:26,600
Cost. I mean, that's not the whole question.

1675
02:05:28,540 --> 02:05:33,340
But this is another situation where we've been looking at this for 19 months,

1676
02:05:33,720 --> 02:05:36,560
and we're getting ready to make some big votes on it,

1677
02:05:36,720 --> 02:05:40,660
and we haven't seen dollar one estimate of how much it's going to cost

1678
02:05:40,660 --> 02:05:43,520
or where that money is proposed to come from.

1679
02:05:44,080 --> 02:05:45,020
When do we see that?

1680
02:05:45,960 --> 02:05:51,640
The actual final cost will be done through this collaborative partnership following the

1681
02:05:51,640 --> 02:05:55,260
course process for cost estimating that will go into the PIR.

1682
02:05:55,520 --> 02:06:00,020
So prior to any consideration, before July, the end of this month is the target date.

1683
02:06:00,120 --> 02:06:07,720
We'll have the final cost determination for both the construction cost, operational

1684
02:06:07,720 --> 02:06:09,740
cost, and contingencies.

1685
02:06:09,740 --> 02:06:15,800
And that overall project cost will be what will be placed into the PIR, and that also

1686
02:06:15,800 --> 02:06:21,080
has to include the ongoing operation and maintenance costs associated with these additional features.

1687
02:06:21,300 --> 02:06:27,320
So you will have that, and that's one of the things that has been a necessary step

1688
02:06:27,320 --> 02:06:32,180
that has yet to be done collaboratively with us in the Corps to finalize those costs

1689
02:06:32,180 --> 02:06:33,720
so you know exactly what the numbers are.

1690
02:06:33,720 --> 02:06:43,340
So that will be in the recommended plan in the draft report prior to any consideration by the board.

1691
02:06:44,180 --> 02:06:44,900
So you will have that.

1692
02:06:46,140 --> 02:06:48,960
How far in advance of when you ask us to vote on it?

1693
02:06:49,280 --> 02:06:52,940
We're hopeful you'll have it by the end of the month, end of June,

1694
02:06:53,220 --> 02:06:58,980
and we'll have detailed board briefings with each and every one of you prior to any board discussion.

1695
02:06:59,600 --> 02:07:01,240
Ernie, when you get some preliminary numbers,

1696
02:07:01,240 --> 02:07:05,060
You might want to give a pre-briefing to Mr. Moran and some of the other board members

1697
02:07:05,060 --> 02:07:13,920
because it sounds like the more advanced notice everybody has for consideration, the more useful that information is, Mr. Chair.

1698
02:07:14,440 --> 02:07:16,620
Thank you, gentlemen. Mr. Sargent.

1699
02:07:17,560 --> 02:07:18,960
Thanks, Ernie, for the update.

1700
02:07:19,320 --> 02:07:27,040
And thank Lieutenant Colonel Greco and Kim for coming in and meeting with us all personally, and thank you, Greg, for coming down today.

1701
02:07:27,480 --> 02:07:29,100
This is a big issue that's coming up.

1702
02:07:29,100 --> 02:07:32,180
and we're getting a lot of correspondence from stakeholders.

1703
02:07:32,600 --> 02:07:34,820
And I just want to make sure that the stakeholders understand

1704
02:07:34,820 --> 02:07:36,340
that we're for this plan.

1705
02:07:36,760 --> 02:07:38,700
We believe it's the right thing to do.

1706
02:07:38,820 --> 02:07:41,160
However, there are some hard constraints here.

1707
02:07:41,540 --> 02:07:44,220
And that's what the team is working on, from my understanding,

1708
02:07:44,580 --> 02:07:46,780
working on very deadly, very hard

1709
02:07:46,780 --> 02:07:50,540
to get those hard constraints resolved prior

1710
02:07:50,540 --> 02:07:51,480
to the July meeting.

1711
02:07:52,020 --> 02:07:54,820
And so I see all the emails and they say,

1712
02:07:54,960 --> 02:07:56,900
well, please be the local sponsor.

1713
02:07:56,900 --> 02:07:59,000
Well, we're up here to be the local sponsor.

1714
02:07:59,240 --> 02:08:04,760
We're working hand in hand with the Corps and DEP to resolve these issues and move this

1715
02:08:04,760 --> 02:08:05,800
plan forward.

1716
02:08:06,300 --> 02:08:09,060
So I think thanks for your help and just wanted to clarify that.

1717
02:08:09,540 --> 02:08:10,180
Thank you.

1718
02:08:10,540 --> 02:08:17,540
And a couple of times it's been mentioned about the Lieutenant Colonel and Kim attending

1719
02:08:17,540 --> 02:08:18,560
the briefings.

1720
02:08:18,620 --> 02:08:24,200
And for those who aren't in the details of this with the board, as we went through

1721
02:08:24,200 --> 02:08:30,160
In this process, we had our staff briefings on SEP, which we've had numerous briefings

1722
02:08:30,160 --> 02:08:30,340
on.

1723
02:08:30,720 --> 02:08:36,080
But the last ones, Lieutenant Colonel and Kim from the Army Corps, both attended those

1724
02:08:36,080 --> 02:08:39,340
briefings and were there to answer questions and concerns that we had.

1725
02:08:39,580 --> 02:08:45,080
And so the comments with that regard were regarding their involvement in the board briefings,

1726
02:08:45,120 --> 02:08:48,160
which at least for the two years that I've been here, we've never done something

1727
02:08:48,160 --> 02:08:48,900
like that before.

1728
02:08:48,900 --> 02:08:55,240
and it was very helpful, and I think it also shows the level of commitment from the Army

1729
02:08:55,240 --> 02:08:59,320
Corps to work through these tough issues with us.

1730
02:08:59,620 --> 02:09:01,440
There was no light between them.

1731
02:09:03,280 --> 02:09:04,660
Someone can explain that to me later.

1732
02:09:05,760 --> 02:09:07,160
I'm just taking Ernie's lead there.

1733
02:09:07,280 --> 02:09:07,540
I know.

1734
02:09:08,420 --> 02:09:10,940
If you want to ride that elephant, that's fine.

1735
02:09:12,000 --> 02:09:14,580
I want to apologize to Melissa about the elephant comment.

1736
02:09:14,580 --> 02:09:22,260
We were not calling Melissa, Mr. Walden.

1737
02:09:22,660 --> 02:09:26,680
Ernie, I've been getting some questions from some local officials in Broward County and

1738
02:09:26,680 --> 02:09:27,660
from some other stakeholders.

1739
02:09:28,140 --> 02:09:34,160
There appears to be some confusion with what Mr. Moran calls rightfully the cost associated

1740
02:09:34,160 --> 02:09:38,580
with SEP and what the board has already committed to spend to resolve some of the other issues

1741
02:09:38,580 --> 02:09:42,280
in the federal litigations, the 880 million.

1742
02:09:42,980 --> 02:09:47,320
how much, if any, so that you can answer this directly in this public form, how much, if any,

1743
02:09:47,460 --> 02:09:52,480
of the set anticipated cost, whatever they might be, overlap with what we've already committed

1744
02:09:52,480 --> 02:09:57,660
to spend, if any of it overlaps. And if it doesn't, we need to know that, too, because this is

1745
02:09:57,660 --> 02:10:02,220
a separate financial commitment that we're going to be, I guess, preliminarily authorizing,

1746
02:10:02,440 --> 02:10:05,740
perhaps as early as next month and then finally so in October.

1747
02:10:05,740 --> 02:10:27,320
Yeah, Mr. Wallman, there's no overlap of the 880 million. There's an implementation relationship between the two because the plan is dependent upon those features being built and implemented and achieving the QBEL, the water quality standards in order for these features to go forward.

1748
02:10:27,320 --> 02:10:35,560
So it's not in parallel, it's in series, it's in sequencing.

1749
02:10:35,900 --> 02:10:37,920
So you're going to have to do the restoration strategies.

1750
02:10:38,740 --> 02:10:41,140
That is the implementation sequencing

1751
02:10:41,140 --> 02:10:42,780
as we best understand it today.

1752
02:10:43,400 --> 02:10:44,500
Achieve the cue bell.

1753
02:10:45,360 --> 02:10:48,440
And then other features are necessary outside of CEP,

1754
02:10:48,600 --> 02:10:51,380
such as the Broward WPA, you know,

1755
02:10:51,480 --> 02:10:53,500
the C11 impoundment is necessary

1756
02:10:53,500 --> 02:10:56,000
for water quality improvements going in the S9 structure

1757
02:10:56,000 --> 02:11:01,520
that discharged into the L-67, as well as a lot of the project benefits are dependent

1758
02:11:01,520 --> 02:11:06,720
upon mod waters being completed, which is very close, as well as the C-111 South Dade

1759
02:11:06,720 --> 02:11:11,060
project being completed, as well as the Tamiami Trail next steps project being completed.

1760
02:11:11,760 --> 02:11:18,180
So SEP builds upon all of those activities achieving the incremental benefits that each

1761
02:11:18,180 --> 02:11:19,160
of them achieve.

1762
02:11:19,740 --> 02:11:25,760
So there's no overlap, but there's benefits that build upon the benefits from each

1763
02:11:25,760 --> 02:11:27,900
of those individual projects and programs.

1764
02:11:29,060 --> 02:11:32,460
So it does, and it ties into the overall sequencing

1765
02:11:32,460 --> 02:11:38,160
of the plan, and then to alleviate any concerns

1766
02:11:38,160 --> 02:11:42,520
of SERP stakeholders outside of this planning region,

1767
02:11:42,660 --> 02:11:46,200
we do have to complete Picky and Strand, the Broward,

1768
02:11:46,420 --> 02:11:50,300
I mean, excuse me, the Indian River Lagoon C44 project,

1769
02:11:50,560 --> 02:11:51,980
and as well as the C43.

1770
02:11:52,160 --> 02:11:54,960
Those are also in the mix, and then the new projects

1771
02:11:54,960 --> 02:12:01,680
to get authorized under the next word, which would include the Broward, I mean, excuse me,

1772
02:12:01,760 --> 02:12:07,260
the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands, C-11 spreader canal, and I guess I mentioned C-43 already

1773
02:12:07,880 --> 02:12:14,640
as well. So there's a lot of opportunities for restoration to move forward. This plan

1774
02:12:14,640 --> 02:12:19,660
is in sync with those. It builds upon the successes of the others, and to a large degree

1775
02:12:19,660 --> 02:12:23,760
is very dependent upon those projects being completed and done, and that was the intent

1776
02:12:23,760 --> 02:12:28,380
of showing this sequencing and how all these elements relate to each other.

1777
02:12:28,540 --> 02:12:31,980
So there's no overlap, but it is built upon those other projects.

1778
02:12:34,910 --> 02:12:35,170
All right.

1779
02:12:35,290 --> 02:12:35,830
Thank you, Ernie.

1780
02:12:35,890 --> 02:12:40,690
I mean, the short answer was no overlap, but all the other information was very helpful.

1781
02:12:41,250 --> 02:12:43,810
I got that, but Ernie was trying to put a good face on that.

1782
02:12:44,270 --> 02:12:45,070
Mr. Portuondo.

1783
02:12:46,610 --> 02:12:47,630
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

1784
02:12:47,810 --> 02:12:49,370
I have a couple of follow-up questions.

1785
02:12:49,370 --> 02:12:57,870
And first I'd like to jump in on what Mr. Sargent said that, you know, it's really critical

1786
02:12:57,870 --> 02:13:03,510
that everybody understand that we are very much committed to being the local sponsor

1787
02:13:04,070 --> 02:13:04,650
of SEP.

1788
02:13:05,170 --> 02:13:11,450
What you're hearing is we want to know what that means in terms of dollars and cents

1789
02:13:11,450 --> 02:13:16,270
before we sign off on a check, in fact.

1790
02:13:18,190 --> 02:13:24,930
Ernie, you mentioned that the cost estimate will follow the Army course process.

1791
02:13:25,610 --> 02:13:28,410
Is that both for construction and O&M?

1792
02:13:28,690 --> 02:13:33,890
And do we participate in any way in the development of those estimates?

1793
02:13:34,590 --> 02:13:35,570
Yes, we do.

1794
02:13:36,290 --> 02:13:36,630
Yes.

1795
02:13:36,910 --> 02:13:42,610
The tool we're using is a tool that we actually jointly use to budget O&M of your current facilities.

1796
02:13:42,610 --> 02:13:46,470
So if, you know, we have to plan the O&M budget with you all five years in advance.

1797
02:13:46,630 --> 02:13:52,690
So we're using the same tool to estimate what O&M of these pump stations and new features will be that we use today to budget.

1798
02:13:53,910 --> 02:13:54,610
Thank you.

1799
02:13:59,520 --> 02:14:00,880
After the timing,

1800
02:14:02,950 --> 02:14:12,350
do we need to commit to be the local sponsor by July in order to be eligible for congressional authorization this year?

1801
02:14:12,350 --> 02:14:21,690
or is that or do we have until October until October what what what are the

1802
02:14:21,690 --> 02:14:29,170
deadlines in other words that this board has to comply with in order to ensure

1803
02:14:29,170 --> 02:14:37,150
that we get authorization this year the the the timeline that we're striving for

1804
02:14:37,150 --> 02:14:40,390
is to get if we can we're doing everything possible to get to the

1805
02:14:40,390 --> 02:14:42,730
July board for the release of the draft.

1806
02:14:42,970 --> 02:14:45,290
I understand, but there's a possibility we may not.

1807
02:14:45,650 --> 02:14:48,210
And if we don't, there still would be time with August.

1808
02:14:48,470 --> 02:14:49,230
It's my understanding.

1809
02:14:49,450 --> 02:14:53,330
I need to defer to the colonel and to Kim.

1810
02:14:54,250 --> 02:14:56,590
If the July date is not met, because there's not

1811
02:14:56,590 --> 02:14:58,270
resolution of the water quality language, for example,

1812
02:14:58,950 --> 02:14:59,970
I still don't think you're.

1813
02:15:00,340 --> 02:15:14,220
You're boxed out of still getting to the December date, just that month, losing that month makes it very, very difficult as far as, and I think the way that Colonel has described it, and he must not be in the room, oh, there you are.

1814
02:15:17,560 --> 02:15:24,040
Certainly, ideally next month, July, but I think, and I've asked the board before and

1815
02:15:25,000 --> 02:15:30,140
you guys are committed to this, we all are, we'll continue to work with, you know, timing

1816
02:15:30,140 --> 02:15:34,180
this to make sure it's done properly and within the power of the chairman and the rest of

1817
02:15:34,180 --> 02:15:38,260
the board, perhaps moving up the governing board in August or holding a special one

1818
02:15:38,260 --> 02:15:42,920
in July would be suitable, but again, and as we all recognize and I think we've been

1819
02:15:42,920 --> 02:15:47,260
discussing it, you know, times of the essence. But again, we're trying to jointly solve these

1820
02:15:47,260 --> 02:15:49,820
policy issues, so we'll get there.

1821
02:15:50,900 --> 02:15:58,500
So if I understand correctly, by no later than August, we have to commit to continue as a

1822
02:15:58,500 --> 02:16:03,880
local sponsor. And then in October, we have to approve the PIR.

1823
02:16:04,200 --> 02:16:10,260
Sir, what we're seeking in July is for you to endorse the release of the draft

1824
02:16:10,260 --> 02:16:14,260
FPIR, which is basically the plan for public comment.

1825
02:16:14,480 --> 02:16:19,580
You make your, as Ernie mentioned, you make your official commitment after that public

1826
02:16:20,160 --> 02:16:22,680
review period of 45 days, so more about October.

1827
02:16:23,680 --> 02:16:24,240
Okay.

1828
02:16:24,440 --> 02:16:29,760
So the commitment really comes in October when we approve the final PIR on this trip.

1829
02:16:30,220 --> 02:16:30,400
Thank you.

1830
02:16:31,380 --> 02:16:32,240
Mr. Sardin.

1831
02:16:32,840 --> 02:16:39,360
I just wanted to ask Ernie, as we approach the July meeting, we look at these costs.

1832
02:16:39,360 --> 02:16:44,160
I think it's important that we also look at the cost of the other projects that you showed that

1833
02:16:44,160 --> 02:16:51,320
Must be completed before these are implemented for example to Broward WPA and some of the other projects so that we can see

1834
02:16:51,320 --> 02:16:52,680
They're you know, they're not

1835
02:16:53,420 --> 02:16:55,720
That they're in addition to what we're talking about here

1836
02:16:55,720 --> 02:16:59,740
So we can see the full picture the timing and where we propose to get those funds from

1837
02:17:00,500 --> 02:17:03,720
So we know we go into this knowing exactly where we stand

1838
02:17:04,740 --> 02:17:09,680
We'll include that. And I think it was the camouflage why I could see him before.

1839
02:17:14,880 --> 02:17:15,520
Any

1840
02:17:17,560 --> 02:17:25,460
other comments, questions for Ernie or for the Army Corps or for Greg from DEP?

1841
02:17:26,480 --> 02:17:27,820
Okay, seeing none,

1842
02:17:30,330 --> 02:17:34,590
we'll open this for public comment. I know we have...

1843
02:17:36,110 --> 02:17:42,390
about 24 public comment. Normally we do three minutes on public comment. I'm going to ask

1844
02:17:42,390 --> 02:17:53,030
in the interest of time if we could limit our comments to two minutes today. And if your

1845
02:17:53,630 --> 02:17:57,010
comment really is just the same thing that somebody else has said, if you could just

1846
02:17:57,010 --> 02:18:02,590
to indicate your support or opposition to SEP

1847
02:18:02,590 --> 02:18:04,370
and why we would appreciate that.

1848
02:18:04,890 --> 02:18:05,630
So Ray, you want to?

1849
02:18:06,710 --> 02:18:09,750
First up, we have State Representative Jose Javier Rodriguez.

1850
02:18:12,670 --> 02:18:15,030
Welcome, Representative, and thank you for taking time

1851
02:18:15,030 --> 02:18:15,910
to attend our meeting today.

1852
02:18:16,310 --> 02:18:18,510
Thank you, Mr. Chair and board members.

1853
02:18:19,430 --> 02:18:22,350
I actually wanted to do the same for you to welcome you.

1854
02:18:23,270 --> 02:18:26,510
I represent a district in the Florida Legislature that

1855
02:18:26,510 --> 02:18:30,670
It includes a lot of the city of Miami, part of Coral Gables, and a village of Keevis Cain,

1856
02:18:30,810 --> 02:18:31,190
so welcome.

1857
02:18:31,790 --> 02:18:35,370
A lot of us are very happy that you decided to have your board meeting here.

1858
02:18:35,950 --> 02:18:41,270
And I simply wanted to say, with respect to the decision you're going to take, you know,

1859
02:18:41,390 --> 02:18:45,050
as you're looking, I know you mentioned the cost and that some of the questions that

1860
02:18:45,050 --> 02:18:49,190
are unanswered may require the state to be a partner in going forward.

1861
02:18:49,550 --> 02:18:55,630
And I just wanted to say that myself representing this district, and I know that a lot

1862
02:18:55,630 --> 02:19:01,090
of my colleagues would be very enthusiastic about working with you to try to get that done.

1863
02:19:01,410 --> 02:19:09,070
So I just wanted to ask you just to express my support as a Florida resident, resident

1864
02:19:09,070 --> 02:19:15,790
of South Florida, but also just to offer myself as a partner with you and other legislators

1865
02:19:15,790 --> 02:19:18,410
at those future steps.

1866
02:19:18,950 --> 02:19:19,450
So thank you.

1867
02:19:19,870 --> 02:19:20,470
Thank you.

1868
02:19:20,470 --> 02:19:23,750
we appreciate those offers of cooperation

1869
02:19:23,750 --> 02:19:25,950
and we probably will be reaching out to you

1870
02:19:25,950 --> 02:19:27,950
because it's gonna take everybody

1871
02:19:27,950 --> 02:19:29,110
pulling together on this one.

1872
02:19:29,370 --> 02:19:29,650
Absolutely.

1873
02:19:30,050 --> 02:19:30,410
Thank you.

1874
02:19:31,970 --> 02:19:32,750
Mr. Moran,

1875
02:19:38,490 --> 02:19:40,570
Reagan, thanks, public speaker.

1876
02:19:41,370 --> 02:19:44,310
We have Joan Gale-Blank, followed by Michael Chenoweth.

1877
02:19:52,490 --> 02:19:54,390
Welcome and if everybody could state their name

1878
02:19:54,390 --> 02:19:55,470
and address for the record

1879
02:19:56,190 --> 02:19:58,010
at the introduction of their comments,

1880
02:19:58,150 --> 02:19:59,550
it'd be fantastic, thank you.

1881
02:19:59,550 --> 02:20:00,490
I'm

1882
02:20:05,480 --> 02:20:15,480
rather small in the degree of height, stature, but hopefully I'm known on Keebus

1883
02:20:15,480 --> 02:20:23,180
Gaines as an author, and I was taken under Marjorie Stoneman Douglas's wing, I thought

1884
02:20:23,180 --> 02:20:32,580
I'd bring her spirit in today, and also I have a picture here of her sitting in the

1885
02:20:32,580 --> 02:20:33,340
Everglades,

1886
02:20:35,750 --> 02:20:42,150
where she was certainly the person who raised our conscience, whether she went

1887
02:20:42,150 --> 02:20:46,830
out and sat in a chair, raised

1888
02:20:49,170 --> 02:20:55,190
our water conscience so we finally understood that we in the entire

1889
02:20:55,190 --> 02:21:03,590
state and South Florida would be unable to live here if we did not have the flow of

1890
02:21:03,590 --> 02:21:07,030
the Everglades and the water from the Everglades.

1891
02:21:07,610 --> 02:21:09,550
So I think we should think about her today.

1892
02:21:10,290 --> 02:21:14,310
I think I would like to urge you all to proceed

1893
02:21:15,090 --> 02:21:20,910
with your job, to be responsible to all of us

1894
02:21:20,910 --> 02:21:23,450
who hope to live in Florida in the future.

1895
02:21:25,010 --> 02:21:30,630
And I would like to say that she knew

1896
02:21:30,630 --> 02:21:33,230
the governors of the state very well

1897
02:21:33,230 --> 02:21:40,930
and knew they were very important to saving the Everglades and they included such people

1898
02:21:40,930 --> 02:21:51,330
as Governor Collins, Graham, Askew, all the guys and I'm hoping that because of her interest

1899
02:21:52,170 --> 02:22:01,250
and because of her recognition by nationally that also we will definitely get the congressional

1900
02:22:01,250 --> 02:22:01,850
money.

1901
02:22:02,450 --> 02:22:13,830
So it's time to proceed. We've got climate change right behind us, and I think that we better do this before we get fish coming out of our faucets.

1902
02:22:15,430 --> 02:22:22,910
And so I hope that you all will vote for our natural resources as you fought for them.

1903
02:22:23,170 --> 02:22:26,130
Thank you very much for your comments. We appreciate you taking time to come down today.

1904
02:22:26,790 --> 02:22:27,330
Next up, Reagan.

1905
02:22:27,330 --> 02:22:29,490
Mr. Tinois, followed by Joanne Davis.

1906
02:22:30,590 --> 02:22:31,150
Welcome.

1907
02:22:32,030 --> 02:22:35,890
Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Board.

1908
02:22:36,590 --> 02:22:37,730
That's a hard act to follow.

1909
02:22:38,370 --> 02:22:39,590
My name is Michael Tinois.

1910
02:22:39,650 --> 02:22:42,070
I live at 31 Garden Cove Drive in Key Largo.

1911
02:22:42,570 --> 02:22:44,350
I'm the president of the Florida Keys Chapter

1912
02:22:44,350 --> 02:22:45,910
of the Issa Walton League of America.

1913
02:22:46,650 --> 02:22:51,250
I'm here today to ask the district, urge the district

1914
02:22:51,250 --> 02:22:54,910
to again affirm its role as the local sponsor

1915
02:22:55,610 --> 02:22:57,470
for this important project.

1916
02:22:57,470 --> 02:23:07,270
To quote Mr. Barnett, nothing goes forward without a project, partnership agreement and

1917
02:23:07,680 --> 02:23:08,590
local sponsor.

1918
02:23:09,360 --> 02:23:16,050
In 1969, I was fortunate to be recruited by Marjorie Stoneman Douglas to be the first

1919
02:23:16,050 --> 02:23:17,470
member of Friends of the Everglades.

1920
02:23:18,220 --> 02:23:23,670
For 30 years or so after that, we worked on Everglades issues together.

1921
02:23:23,670 --> 02:23:32,330
too often during that period, it seemed like the district was not on the same page as we were.

1922
02:23:33,410 --> 02:23:40,870
But in 2000, with the passage of WERDA at that time, things changed.

1923
02:23:41,690 --> 02:23:47,410
And since then, the district has done important work as the local sponsor for SERP.

1924
02:23:47,410 --> 02:23:56,610
And we have seen that Everglades restoration, including the whole panoply of certain projects,

1925
02:23:57,130 --> 02:24:02,310
is critical to the district's ability, effectively, to carry out its duties and responsibilities

1926
02:24:02,310 --> 02:24:05,290
for both flood control and water supply.

1927
02:24:06,150 --> 02:24:12,890
With the rain events' variabilities due to climate change that we're seeing with

1928
02:24:12,890 --> 02:24:20,610
with a dry, a record dry November, and then two rain events in two years, the 100-year

1929
02:24:20,610 --> 02:24:26,230
storms, and with rising sea levels, this is going to be increasingly important.

1930
02:24:28,390 --> 02:24:35,830
The district's continued participation as the local sponsor is essential for protection

1931
02:24:35,830 --> 02:24:38,730
of the resources on which we own the pen.

1932
02:24:38,730 --> 02:24:41,710
John, thank you for your comments if you could wrap up real quickly.

1933
02:24:41,850 --> 02:24:42,190
Yes, sure.

1934
02:24:42,610 --> 02:24:50,890
The Congress is considering WERDA right now, and I ask you to have the confidence in your

1935
02:24:50,890 --> 02:24:58,950
staff and our work with the Corps of Engineers and the watermen and the DEP to work out

1936
02:24:58,950 --> 02:25:05,910
the details, but to affirm your local sponsorship now so that we don't lose the ability

1937
02:25:05,910 --> 02:25:07,710
to get the WERDA funding for this project.

1938
02:25:07,710 --> 02:25:08,670
Thank you.

1939
02:25:10,690 --> 02:25:12,590
Ms. Davis, followed by Eric Draper.

1940
02:25:16,300 --> 02:25:16,700
Good morning.

1941
02:25:17,420 --> 02:25:19,620
Joe and Davis representing 1,000 friends of Florida.

1942
02:25:20,180 --> 02:25:23,440
The address is 1029 North Lakeside Drive, Lake Worth.

1943
02:25:25,800 --> 02:25:27,360
I won't take much time.

1944
02:25:27,840 --> 02:25:29,100
I'm sure you're going to hear it all.

1945
02:25:29,620 --> 02:25:31,240
We want to thank you for your engagement

1946
02:25:31,240 --> 02:25:33,540
in this very, very important issue.

1947
02:25:34,460 --> 02:25:36,860
The Everglades can't wait, and I know that you know that.

1948
02:25:36,860 --> 02:25:45,980
And we're looking forward to you all making the right decision and moving forward and releasing the draft PIR so that we can all get to work on it.

1949
02:25:46,180 --> 02:25:46,820
Thank you.

1950
02:25:49,570 --> 02:25:51,610
Mr. Draper, followed by Mr. Eikenberg.

1951
02:25:52,370 --> 02:25:53,190
Mr. Draper, welcome.

1952
02:25:54,950 --> 02:25:58,410
Thank you very much. Eric Draper, I'm the Executive Director of Audubon, Florida.

1953
02:25:59,410 --> 02:26:03,870
I think your staff pretty much said it all when they said they were doing everything they

1954
02:26:03,870 --> 02:26:10,430
could to get this to you by July for your tentative approval before your October approval, so

1955
02:26:10,430 --> 02:26:11,430
I won't add much to that.

1956
02:26:11,530 --> 02:26:15,710
I do want to commend Colonel Bregman and the staff at the Corps for their good efforts

1957
02:26:15,710 --> 02:26:16,730
and keep at it.

1958
02:26:17,410 --> 02:26:21,950
And same thing with the commend Greg Munson, who I worked with closely on water quality

1959
02:26:21,950 --> 02:26:26,410
issues over the past year, and that was quite an accomplishment, Greg, and I know

1960
02:26:26,410 --> 02:26:29,430
that you will be able to get this water quality issue work through.

1961
02:26:29,550 --> 02:26:31,710
I also want to commend Ernie for that very good presentation.

1962
02:26:32,230 --> 02:26:36,310
Certainly as a master of the details and the same encouragement to him.

1963
02:26:37,130 --> 02:26:41,410
I came here as many others did today to encourage the board to, in fact,

1964
02:26:41,510 --> 02:26:44,450
prepare yourselves to endorse this proposal.

1965
02:26:44,730 --> 02:26:47,490
It sounds like listening to most of you, although there are some doubts

1966
02:26:47,490 --> 02:26:51,270
that are expressed about the water quality issue and the cost

1967
02:26:51,270 --> 02:26:58,190
that you are moving in the direction of offering a tent of approval in July, so

1968
02:26:58,190 --> 02:27:01,570
I'm not going to walk past the cell. I just encourage you to keep an open mind and

1969
02:27:01,570 --> 02:27:05,430
trust your good staff that they will in fact bring back to you something in July

1970
02:27:05,430 --> 02:27:08,470
that you'll be able to send forward. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr.

1971
02:27:08,550 --> 02:27:08,730
Draven.

1972
02:27:11,480 --> 02:27:16,420
Mr. Eichenberg, followed by Prudence Gill, then Steve Hagan. Welcome.

1973
02:27:17,140 --> 02:27:21,700
Good morning. Good morning, Karen. Eric Eichenberg with the Everglades Foundation.

1974
02:27:21,700 --> 02:27:24,360
It's a pleasure to be here at my first meeting.

1975
02:27:24,860 --> 02:27:29,020
I share with Greg the good work that you all do,

1976
02:27:29,140 --> 02:27:31,960
and thank you for your service to not only the 16 counties,

1977
02:27:31,960 --> 02:27:33,080
but also to our state.

1978
02:27:34,280 --> 02:27:36,640
I'm a little perplexed, actually,

1979
02:27:36,800 --> 02:27:38,680
and I had some remarks to give,

1980
02:27:38,820 --> 02:27:40,580
but I'll be brief on my confusion

1981
02:27:40,580 --> 02:27:42,520
based on the presentation we just heard.

1982
02:27:43,440 --> 02:27:46,760
The foundation we met with Assistant Secretary of the Army,

1983
02:27:47,020 --> 02:27:49,440
Joellen Darcy, twice in the last 60 days

1984
02:27:49,440 --> 02:27:53,380
in her offices in the Pentagon, and she was pretty clear to us,

1985
02:27:53,540 --> 02:27:56,900
go back to Florida and work with the district to get a July

1986
02:27:57,480 --> 02:28:01,580
decision for the district to be a local sponsor. Secretary Darcy,

1987
02:28:01,700 --> 02:28:05,780
the colonel's boss, said that when that happens, the Corps has a 45-day

1988
02:28:05,780 --> 02:28:08,660
public comment period followed by another 30-day period.

1989
02:28:09,220 --> 02:28:13,540
She laid out to us the process that would take the

1990
02:28:13,540 --> 02:28:17,300
SEP plan through the fall. With the hopes

1991
02:28:17,300 --> 02:28:21,960
and the desire to have a chief's report submitted to Congress by December of this year.

1992
02:28:22,680 --> 02:28:24,920
As you know, the word of bill is moving through the Congress.

1993
02:28:25,080 --> 02:28:29,180
It's already passed the Senate with four of the five projects included.

1994
02:28:29,620 --> 02:28:34,040
CEP was not included in the Senate bill because we don't have the process finalized.

1995
02:28:34,380 --> 02:28:37,780
But the House is already beginning to figure out its own approach.

1996
02:28:38,540 --> 02:28:43,120
And having spent some time in Washington to understand the need and the importance of a word of bill.

1997
02:28:45,360 --> 02:28:49,180
So they're working through their own processes in the House side.

1998
02:28:49,260 --> 02:28:55,080
We have to ensure that as the House moves the word of bill forward that we are sticking to these schedules

1999
02:28:55,080 --> 02:29:02,160
that are, in our view, quite solid that the core and the district have informed of us as the foundation.

2000
02:29:03,140 --> 02:29:07,700
I encourage you to keep the staff at the table. We will do the same.

2001
02:29:07,920 --> 02:29:09,520
The water quality issue that was discussed.

2002
02:29:09,520 --> 02:29:13,180
We are also sympathetic to that point that will be worked out.

2003
02:29:13,780 --> 02:29:15,720
But we cannot miss this opportunity.

2004
02:29:16,200 --> 02:29:18,740
Congress is talking about a word of bill every seven years.

2005
02:29:18,940 --> 02:29:21,420
We're no longer in this two-year cycle of a word of bill.

2006
02:29:21,540 --> 02:29:23,400
So let's not miss the chance.

2007
02:29:24,320 --> 02:29:25,980
You're going to authorize it.

2008
02:29:26,060 --> 02:29:27,640
We're not asking you to appropriate it.

2009
02:29:28,260 --> 02:29:30,300
When we go to Washington, we talk to authorizers,

2010
02:29:30,380 --> 02:29:31,440
and we talk to appropriators.

2011
02:29:31,540 --> 02:29:33,720
When we come before you all, you play both roles.

2012
02:29:34,260 --> 02:29:37,940
This first step, in order to allow the additional water

2013
02:29:37,940 --> 02:29:42,160
that's needed in the Central Everglades is for you to become that local sponsor.

2014
02:29:42,580 --> 02:29:43,500
Authorize the plan.

2015
02:29:44,080 --> 02:29:47,240
July is what we were told by the Assistant Secretary of the Army.

2016
02:29:47,740 --> 02:29:49,680
This is the first I've heard of an October issue.

2017
02:29:50,380 --> 02:29:52,400
I'm sure it all fits in with the timeline.

2018
02:29:54,040 --> 02:29:58,960
Let's do it next month so we can all come back in a month to herald the great work

2019
02:29:58,960 --> 02:29:59,160
work.

2020
02:30:00,000 --> 02:30:04,700
The efforts that this district and the state are committed to the next phase of Everglades

2021
02:30:04,700 --> 02:30:06,200
restoration. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

2022
02:30:06,500 --> 02:30:07,480
Thank you.

2023
02:30:08,240 --> 02:30:10,200
Prudence Gill, followed by Steve Hagan.

2024
02:30:14,580 --> 02:30:15,320
Ms. Gill, welcome.

2025
02:30:18,250 --> 02:30:24,010
My name's Prudence Gill. I live at 600 Great Tree Drive. I'm Keebus Kane. And I'm an artist

2026
02:30:24,010 --> 02:30:28,190
and I address issues of water and environment and our relationship with nature through

2027
02:30:28,190 --> 02:30:33,750
my art. And I want to say I appreciate everything people have been saying here. Some

2028
02:30:33,750 --> 02:30:39,790
Some of it has been confusing, and I'm hoping that what the last gentleman said about clarifying

2029
02:30:39,790 --> 02:30:44,650
timelines is going to be taken into consideration so that everybody knows when they need to

2030
02:30:44,650 --> 02:30:49,530
have things done, and I appreciate all the work of people who are trying to bring this

2031
02:30:49,530 --> 02:30:50,930
forward in a timely manner.

2032
02:30:51,810 --> 02:30:58,070
Previous centuries' ideas of human progress as paramount over nature is an approach to

2033
02:30:58,070 --> 02:31:01,710
our future that will not work, and I think all of us know that here today.

2034
02:31:02,410 --> 02:31:07,790
In this new century, we have the opportunity and the ability to step forward and correct

2035
02:31:07,790 --> 02:31:10,810
our well-intentioned but naive mistakes of the past.

2036
02:31:11,430 --> 02:31:16,410
I thank all the experts who have spoken today and hope that they will bring this draft before

2037
02:31:16,410 --> 02:31:18,150
you by the July deadline.

2038
02:31:18,990 --> 02:31:24,770
I ask this governing board to act for the benefit of all, just as we are one nation

2039
02:31:24,770 --> 02:31:31,790
and indivisible, so too do we reside within one ecological system, indivisible.

2040
02:31:33,190 --> 02:31:38,750
Please vote in favor of sponsoring this crucial project to restore the water flow to the Everglades.

2041
02:31:38,910 --> 02:31:39,890
Thank you very much.

2042
02:31:41,550 --> 02:31:41,970
Thank you.

2043
02:31:42,590 --> 02:31:44,650
Mr. Hagen, followed by Jennifer Hecker.

2044
02:31:46,190 --> 02:31:48,570
I think Mr. Hagen had to leave, Jennifer.

2045
02:31:54,470 --> 02:31:57,630
Good morning. Jennifer Hecker on behalf of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida

2046
02:31:57,630 --> 02:32:02,390
in our more than 5,000 members here today to express our strong support for the district

2047
02:32:02,390 --> 02:32:07,690
becoming a local sponsor for the Central Everglades Planning Project. As an advocacy group focused

2048
02:32:07,690 --> 02:32:12,010
on preserving the natural resources in Southwest Florida and the Western Everglades, we recognized

2049
02:32:12,010 --> 02:32:16,390
the critical importance of moving water south not only in benefiting the Central Everglades

2050
02:32:16,390 --> 02:32:20,250
but also in order to reduce the harmfully high flows from Lake Okeechobee to the

2051
02:32:20,250 --> 02:32:24,890
Klusahatchee River. We know that this will complement other Everglades restoration

2052
02:32:24,890 --> 02:32:29,690
efforts in our region, including the proposed C-43 reservoir, which is equally important

2053
02:32:29,690 --> 02:32:33,610
for restoring the ecological health of our portion of the Greater Everglades ecosystem.

2054
02:32:34,370 --> 02:32:39,510
As such, our expectation is that the district would continue to support the C-43 reservoir

2055
02:32:39,510 --> 02:32:44,450
project and will not defer or delay it as a result of supporting SEP.

2056
02:32:45,010 --> 02:32:49,210
The current preferred alternative for our provides immense ecological benefits while

2057
02:32:49,210 --> 02:32:51,530
not compromising existing levels of water supply.

2058
02:32:52,210 --> 02:32:53,290
Timing is critical.

2059
02:32:53,290 --> 02:32:57,730
We need the district to advance this project in order to ensure that it can move forward

2060
02:32:57,730 --> 02:32:59,930
for congressional authorization in a timely manner.

2061
02:33:00,330 --> 02:33:05,670
Specifically we're asking you to take such actions as necessary to allow the draft project

2062
02:33:05,670 --> 02:33:08,190
implementation plan to be released as soon as possible.

2063
02:33:08,690 --> 02:33:13,550
Doing so will not obligate the district to funding, nor preclude any opportunities

2064
02:33:13,550 --> 02:33:15,190
to resolve water quality concerns.

2065
02:33:16,050 --> 02:33:19,630
As Marjorie Stoneman Douglas so eloquently said, there is no other Everglades in

2066
02:33:19,630 --> 02:33:19,990
the world.

2067
02:33:20,490 --> 02:33:24,510
Today, you have a historic opportunity to advance restoration of this unique international

2068
02:33:24,510 --> 02:33:29,070
treasure by becoming the local sponsor and supporting the release of the PIR, and we urge

2069
02:33:29,070 --> 02:33:29,590
you to do so.

2070
02:33:29,710 --> 02:33:30,310
Thank you so much.

2071
02:33:30,570 --> 02:33:31,470
Thank you very much.

2072
02:33:32,350 --> 02:33:36,270
That's Samantha Knapp, followed by Nancy Lee, Ben Christina, Margolis.

2073
02:33:40,580 --> 02:33:41,400
Ms. Knapp, good morning.

2074
02:33:41,520 --> 02:33:41,700
Welcome.

2075
02:33:44,820 --> 02:33:46,260
My name is Samantha Knapp.

2076
02:33:46,660 --> 02:33:51,560
I live at 7350 Southwest 89th Street in Miami.

2077
02:33:52,260 --> 02:33:54,280
Thank you for this opportunity to comment today.

2078
02:33:54,900 --> 02:34:01,660
I was born and raised in Miami and when I was a kid I was told how the Everglades were

2079
02:34:01,660 --> 02:34:04,020
shrinking, how it was a vanishing ecosystem.

2080
02:34:05,180 --> 02:34:08,240
Back then it was let's save the Everglades for future generations.

2081
02:34:08,880 --> 02:34:10,800
Back then I was that future generation.

2082
02:34:11,160 --> 02:34:15,420
Now I'm the one standing here before you today to say let's return the Everglades

2083
02:34:15,420 --> 02:34:20,380
to their natural state to the way they should be for future generations for the

2084
02:34:20,380 --> 02:34:25,380
kids who are now hearing about how fragile the Everglades are, how precious they are,

2085
02:34:25,580 --> 02:34:27,600
and how it could all be gone in the blink of an eye.

2086
02:34:29,100 --> 02:34:33,760
Step is a step in the right direction. Right now the southern Everglades are starved for

2087
02:34:33,760 --> 02:34:38,680
water because it's been diverted through canals that dump gallons of fresh water into

2088
02:34:38,680 --> 02:34:42,540
the gulf and the Atlantic when it rains too much, instead of bringing that water

2089
02:34:42,540 --> 02:34:46,900
down south. Our fresh water is being sent to the

2090
02:34:46,900 --> 02:34:52,880
ocean engineers in the 40s and 50s didn't understand how the Everglades worked and didn't

2091
02:34:52,880 --> 02:34:58,280
think that freshwater would ever be a valuable resource. I'm here today to ask the South

2092
02:34:58,280 --> 02:35:03,860
Florida Water Management District Governing Board to commit to being the local sponsor

2093
02:35:03,860 --> 02:35:08,560
for the Central Everglades Planning Project so that when funding becomes available through

2094
02:35:09,520 --> 02:35:15,060
Governor Scott and U.S. Congress' Everglades Restoration Plan, you will preserve the

2095
02:35:15,060 --> 02:35:19,300
opportunity to restore our Everglades and get back another part of what makes

2096
02:35:19,300 --> 02:35:25,160
Florida such a special place. Thank you. Thank you. Nancy Lee followed by Christina

2097
02:35:25,160 --> 02:35:25,600
Margolis.

2098
02:35:27,980 --> 02:35:29,100
Then we'll take Drew Martin.

2099
02:35:32,420 --> 02:35:35,760
Nancy Lee, 20448, Northeast 34th Court,

2100
02:35:35,940 --> 02:35:42,580
Aventura, Florida. Thank you for coming close by. I'm a Kramudian and I find going

2101
02:35:42,580 --> 02:35:48,540
to these Ackerman meetings torture but I really think it's important.

2102
02:35:51,360 --> 02:35:52,180
I used to

2103
02:35:52,180 --> 02:35:55,240
have a list of them so I knew what you were talking about but you know gave up

2104
02:35:55,240 --> 02:36:00,020
on that you know can't even do my computer anymore but anyway I thought

2105
02:36:00,020 --> 02:36:06,580
it was really important to be here to for you to do set even though I don't

2106
02:36:06,580 --> 02:36:11,920
really know what it stands for but in any it's just important to get the

2107
02:36:11,920 --> 02:36:19,740
Everglades going I look at you as doctors, and you know the everglades is on life support and I need you guys to you know

2108
02:36:19,740 --> 02:36:22,900
try to help this person will this place and

2109
02:36:24,540 --> 02:36:25,020
I

2110
02:36:25,020 --> 02:36:29,700
Also feel like don't forget this came Bay. You know, I know that's part of it

2111
02:36:29,700 --> 02:36:34,900
I love this guy because he actually goes like this. So you know you think he's listening. So I'm really looking

2112
02:36:36,560 --> 02:36:38,160
I'm listening. I really am

2113
02:36:38,160 --> 02:36:40,160
I really appreciate that.

2114
02:36:40,380 --> 02:36:42,200
A lot of people just text.

2115
02:36:45,300 --> 02:36:50,460
Anyway, I just really hope that you do this by July,

2116
02:36:50,820 --> 02:36:51,920
and don't wait till October.

2117
02:36:52,440 --> 02:36:54,060
Just get this done.

2118
02:36:54,980 --> 02:36:57,300
You know, this has been going on for so many years.

2119
02:36:57,500 --> 02:36:59,480
I've been watching it, and you got me out of bed,

2120
02:36:59,540 --> 02:37:01,800
which I hate to get up this early.

2121
02:37:02,320 --> 02:37:04,740
Just to come here for you to help.

2122
02:37:04,980 --> 02:37:05,380
Thank you.

2123
02:37:05,620 --> 02:37:06,020
Thank you.

2124
02:37:06,080 --> 02:37:07,520
Thank you for taking time to come in and dress us.

2125
02:37:08,280 --> 02:37:09,280
Ms. Margolis?

2126
02:37:20,920 --> 02:37:26,740
I'm Christina Margolis. I live at 420 Southwest 12th Avenue, Miami, Florida.

2127
02:37:27,300 --> 02:37:33,980
And I'm speaking today as a member of the Miami-Dade County community. I'm urging you

2128
02:37:33,980 --> 02:37:38,980
to please, you know, accept the alternative 4R for the Central Everglades Planning Project.

2129
02:37:39,600 --> 02:37:44,000
We as a community need the South Florida Water Management District to take a lead

2130
02:37:44,000 --> 02:37:50,020
before it is too late. Unless we approve and take action now, we will be needlessly delaying

2131
02:37:50,020 --> 02:37:55,000
the opportunity for Congress to authorize this monumental step to environmental protection

2132
02:37:55,000 --> 02:38:00,860
and conservation, and we risk irreversible harm to the already weakened Everglades ecosystem.

2133
02:38:01,380 --> 02:38:05,260
If we're concerned about the cost now, I can't even imagine what the cost would

2134
02:38:05,260 --> 02:38:10,420
be in another seven years. This opportunity comes around only every seven years, and

2135
02:38:10,420 --> 02:38:12,540
as a community cannot afford to remain passive.

2136
02:38:13,440 --> 02:38:15,580
By approving and sponsoring the plan,

2137
02:38:16,460 --> 02:38:18,980
you would be pushing forward vital efforts

2138
02:38:18,980 --> 02:38:21,140
to provide restoration to the Everglades.

2139
02:38:21,880 --> 02:38:25,740
Not only that, we'd be creating over 20,000 jobs

2140
02:38:25,740 --> 02:38:27,800
that are necessary in South Florida.

2141
02:38:28,600 --> 02:38:30,060
Approval of a plan will not

2142
02:38:31,720 --> 02:38:34,280
affect meeting existing water supply demands,

2143
02:38:34,640 --> 02:38:36,600
nor does it reduce the impact

2144
02:38:36,600 --> 02:38:38,880
of the existing water level supply we have now.

2145
02:38:39,360 --> 02:38:44,560
Because of the vast benefits that Alternative 4R would provide to our own water supply and

2146
02:38:44,560 --> 02:38:49,480
because of the lack of adverse impacts, I urge you to please approve the plan by in

2147
02:38:49,480 --> 02:38:49,720
July.

2148
02:38:50,500 --> 02:38:50,900
Thank you.

2149
02:38:51,200 --> 02:38:51,900
Thank you for your comments.

2150
02:38:53,140 --> 02:38:56,520
Mr. Martin, followed by Bruce Matheson, then Barbara Miedema.

2151
02:38:58,160 --> 02:39:02,360
Through Martin, I'm here on behalf of the Locks Edge Group of the Sierra Club and

2152
02:39:02,360 --> 02:39:07,200
our 3,600 members, I'm also elected to the Palm Beach County Soil and Water Conservation

2153
02:39:07,200 --> 02:39:12,420
conservation district and protection of water resources is so important to us in Palm Beach.

2154
02:39:13,120 --> 02:39:17,600
In the Everglades and the reason, I think one of the reasons the South Florida Water

2155
02:39:17,600 --> 02:39:22,260
Management District was created was to help restore the Everglades.

2156
02:39:22,660 --> 02:39:26,500
And so when we talk about cost, that is part of your budgeting.

2157
02:39:26,920 --> 02:39:29,600
And I don't really think you cannot do this project.

2158
02:39:30,160 --> 02:39:33,220
I grew up in San Francisco and I remember I learned how to drive with a clutch

2159
02:39:33,220 --> 02:39:36,840
And there were these very steep hills, and at the very top there was always a stop sign.

2160
02:39:37,240 --> 02:39:40,860
And you had a choice to go forward or race backward.

2161
02:39:41,660 --> 02:39:45,960
And I think racing backward was much more dangerous than moving forward.

2162
02:39:46,100 --> 02:39:47,520
So I think you're in the same position.

2163
02:39:48,200 --> 02:39:52,000
You need you really don't want to, you know, race backwards.

2164
02:39:52,320 --> 02:39:53,800
You want to you want to move forward.

2165
02:39:54,160 --> 02:39:55,360
It's the opportunity.

2166
02:39:55,920 --> 02:40:02,080
And I really think that the cost is going to be part of done part by the federal government,

2167
02:40:02,080 --> 02:40:06,780
part by the state, but what's important to remember is that that is part of the

2168
02:40:06,780 --> 02:40:10,920
responsibility of the South Florida Water Management District, and I don't believe

2169
02:40:10,920 --> 02:40:15,940
that not doing this will save money for you, because if you don't do this you will

2170
02:40:15,940 --> 02:40:19,260
have to do it in a different way, and you will spend the money regardless

2171
02:40:19,260 --> 02:40:22,980
whether you do this or not. And I think Eric Eichenberg made it very clear

2172
02:40:22,980 --> 02:40:26,560
that you're on a very tight timeline. We don't really want to miss the

2173
02:40:26,560 --> 02:40:30,580
Chief's report, and so it's, there are going to be, you need to have time

2174
02:40:30,580 --> 02:40:33,600
to work through some of these issues, so you really don't want to delay this, you want

2175
02:40:33,600 --> 02:40:40,620
to get it done quickly. I do not believe it will affect water for the area, and I think

2176
02:40:40,620 --> 02:40:44,660
that it will protect water, it will increase water supplies, and so I don't think you're

2177
02:40:44,660 --> 02:40:48,260
going to have issues with the savings clause. Water quality, I think you can do that,

2178
02:40:48,420 --> 02:40:52,140
but regardless, you will have to meet those water quality standards based on the

2179
02:40:52,140 --> 02:40:56,040
consent decrees. You will not get out of that, so I don't see any benefit to you

2180
02:40:56,040 --> 02:41:00,020
in not moving forward in getting this done and being the local sponsor. So we encourage

2181
02:41:00,020 --> 02:41:01,740
you to move forward. Thank you.

2182
02:41:02,000 --> 02:41:02,520
Thank you, Drew.

2183
02:41:03,600 --> 02:41:04,700
Mr. Matheson.

2184
02:41:09,810 --> 02:41:10,330
Barbara.

2185
02:41:11,350 --> 02:41:13,510
Followed by Martha Musgrove and Mark Peary.

2186
02:41:16,370 --> 02:41:18,810
Thank you. I want to...

2187
02:41:18,810 --> 02:41:21,390
My name is Barbara Amidamal with Sugar King Growers Co-operative.

2188
02:41:21,450 --> 02:41:24,410
I appreciate the opportunity to be able to address you again today.

2189
02:41:24,930 --> 02:41:28,130
I have been following this issue as closely as I possibly can.

2190
02:41:28,570 --> 02:41:31,470
It's difficult for stakeholders to get their arms around it

2191
02:41:31,470 --> 02:41:32,690
because so much is going on.

2192
02:41:32,690 --> 02:41:36,570
We applaud the work of the staff, the questions by the board.

2193
02:41:36,890 --> 02:41:38,870
You've raised all of the right issues.

2194
02:41:39,550 --> 02:41:44,610
We too want to get a better grasp or handle on what the solutions are.

2195
02:41:45,050 --> 02:41:50,730
In private business, we don't agree to move forward with an item or a contract

2196
02:41:50,730 --> 02:41:53,670
or a bid on a job until we have the answers.

2197
02:41:53,830 --> 02:41:57,130
We know what it's going to cost and how it fits into our overall budget.

2198
02:41:57,570 --> 02:42:00,570
And I think you're all asking the right questions.

2199
02:42:00,570 --> 02:42:05,770
We too would like to see more clarity, particularly on the water quality pieces.

2200
02:42:06,190 --> 02:42:09,530
We believe that's where we all can get tripped up.

2201
02:42:10,170 --> 02:42:14,290
Our future water supply is going to be dependent on getting the savings clause.

2202
02:42:14,950 --> 02:42:16,070
Issues correct.

2203
02:42:16,890 --> 02:42:21,070
The sub team for water supply, I understand that earlier this week.

2204
02:42:21,890 --> 02:42:27,790
We only get peaks into that, but apparently our future water supply is going to be dependent

2205
02:42:27,790 --> 02:42:33,070
on the complete build-out of the Indian River Lagoon South Project, which is $1.8 billion.

2206
02:42:34,010 --> 02:42:35,290
You've got $880 million.

2207
02:42:35,930 --> 02:42:40,550
This one's estimated at 2.2, preliminarily, you've got a lot of money in front of you,

2208
02:42:40,870 --> 02:42:43,990
you've got to see the whole big picture, and I applaud all of your efforts.

2209
02:42:44,450 --> 02:42:46,390
We will stay engaged in the process.

2210
02:42:46,670 --> 02:42:47,070
Thank you.

2211
02:42:47,410 --> 02:42:47,950
Thank you, Barbara.

2212
02:42:49,730 --> 02:42:50,610
Ms. Musgrove?

2213
02:42:52,010 --> 02:42:56,150
For the record, my name is Martha Musgrove, and I'm representing the Florida Wildlife

2214
02:42:56,150 --> 02:43:01,930
I live in West Palm Beach, Florida, 2432 Edgewater Drive.

2215
02:43:03,350 --> 02:43:05,410
I won't repeat a lot of things.

2216
02:43:05,590 --> 02:43:08,810
You heard Senator Nelson's letter read into the record,

2217
02:43:09,190 --> 02:43:14,270
and you have the letter that we sent last week

2218
02:43:14,270 --> 02:43:16,530
from the Florida Wildlife Federation

2219
02:43:16,530 --> 02:43:23,150
urging you to go ahead and vote today to release this draft PIR.

2220
02:43:23,150 --> 02:43:34,290
Now, we have been discussing, or these people, your staff and the Corps have been discussing

2221
02:43:34,290 --> 02:43:37,710
the same three issues for more than six months now.

2222
02:43:38,290 --> 02:43:41,130
Each time we're saying, oh, we're going to work through it.

2223
02:43:41,290 --> 02:43:49,770
Working through it hasn't yielded, apparently, the results that your staff wants.

2224
02:43:51,330 --> 02:43:57,510
To my knowledge, I have never seen any draft language on these water quality issues.

2225
02:43:57,730 --> 02:44:01,330
They are serious issues. There is no doubt about that.

2226
02:44:01,510 --> 02:44:06,770
But you don't escape from the water quality issues through a draft PIR.

2227
02:44:07,330 --> 02:44:11,010
You escape them through meeting the standards in the court,

2228
02:44:11,730 --> 02:44:14,810
because you've got both a court and a statute to deal with,

2229
02:44:14,850 --> 02:44:17,250
and there's nothing that you can do in a PIR,

2230
02:44:17,250 --> 02:44:25,090
or that the Army Corps of Engineers can do to change the statute or the consent decree.

2231
02:44:26,130 --> 02:44:32,510
So I would ask you to go ahead, not put yourself in the bind because of the tight schedule.

2232
02:44:33,250 --> 02:44:39,550
You don't know how fast, we don't know how fast the House will act, but we do know

2233
02:44:39,550 --> 02:44:45,390
that you do have to have a draft report to get out there to the public to start the

2234
02:44:45,390 --> 02:44:50,190
process to get to the chief's report so the sooner you do it the better and I'd

2235
02:44:50,190 --> 02:44:56,230
like to see it done today even if it's conditional. Thank you Martha. Mr. Perry

2236
02:44:56,810 --> 02:44:59,850
followed by Farina Khadir. Welcome back. Yes.

2237
02:45:00,000 --> 02:45:04,640
Thank you, Mark Perry, for the record. I thought there were a lot of good questions

2238
02:45:04,640 --> 02:45:10,300
by the governing board members, particularly Mr. Waldman and also Mr. Sargent, and relating

2239
02:45:10,300 --> 02:45:15,440
to when Ernie said that there's no overlap in those cost and factors. And I heard last

2240
02:45:15,440 --> 02:45:20,620
meeting in May at the governing board about the $2.2 billion figure of roughly cost

2241
02:45:20,620 --> 02:45:26,460
estimate. So when we talk about no overlap or you question, well, what is the sequencing

2242
02:45:26,460 --> 02:45:30,140
of these projects that are really dependent projects.

2243
02:45:30,460 --> 02:45:32,320
They're dependent projects if they get done

2244
02:45:32,320 --> 02:45:34,420
and there are cost associated with those

2245
02:45:34,420 --> 02:45:36,720
so I appreciate if you can get that sequencing done

2246
02:45:36,720 --> 02:45:39,520
and be that part of your decision.

2247
02:45:39,720 --> 02:45:43,260
Overall, I mean, supporting CEP is obviously something

2248
02:45:43,260 --> 02:45:45,780
that a lot of us have been working on

2249
02:45:45,780 --> 02:45:47,200
and following for a long time

2250
02:45:47,200 --> 02:45:49,880
and it's a first plan of trying to make

2251
02:45:49,880 --> 02:45:52,440
that missing link connection between Lake Okeechobee

2252
02:45:52,440 --> 02:45:54,700
and the Central Everglades and the Everglades plan.

2253
02:45:54,700 --> 02:45:59,740
And you look at the flow out of Lake Okeechobee, 2.2 million acre-feet coming out of the

2254
02:45:59,740 --> 02:46:06,160
lake on an average year, over 1.4 million acre-feet goes east and west to the estuaries, and

2255
02:46:06,160 --> 02:46:11,200
about only 200,000 acre-feet is going to roughly come south in SEP.

2256
02:46:11,440 --> 02:46:16,280
So it's a small piece, it's an increment, and we keep making sure that we want to

2257
02:46:16,280 --> 02:46:21,320
mention in the preface of the SEP plan that it's an increment, a first increment,

2258
02:46:21,320 --> 02:46:25,180
that more should be done as we move this forward

2259
02:46:25,180 --> 02:46:27,020
because that's important to know

2260
02:46:27,820 --> 02:46:30,640
that there's not enough going to the Everglades right now.

2261
02:46:30,760 --> 02:46:33,280
Only 13% of the water coming out of the Everglades,

2262
02:46:33,420 --> 02:46:35,060
out of the lake gets to the glades.

2263
02:46:35,360 --> 02:46:37,260
So we need more to go to the glades

2264
02:46:37,260 --> 02:46:39,560
and less obviously to go to the coastal estuaries.

2265
02:46:39,860 --> 02:46:42,260
So making this first step or this first increment

2266
02:46:42,260 --> 02:46:44,240
and the water quality component,

2267
02:46:44,360 --> 02:46:47,060
that 880 million cost is really,

2268
02:46:47,360 --> 02:46:49,060
it's got to be split up more

2269
02:46:49,060 --> 02:46:54,400
with the state and the EAA, including the state and federal government. Thank you.

2270
02:46:57,400 --> 02:47:00,200
This could be here followed by Laura Reynolds and Don Cherry.

2271
02:47:04,530 --> 02:47:10,530
Good morning. I'm a graduate student here at the University of Miami originally from England

2272
02:47:10,530 --> 02:47:16,770
and this project is very important to me because the first time I visited Miami a few years ago

2273
02:47:16,770 --> 02:47:23,010
I came with my brother and sister and we all had our own ideas of how to spend a week in Miami

2274
02:47:23,010 --> 02:47:27,390
me but one thing that all three of us agreed upon was that we had to take a

2275
02:47:27,390 --> 02:47:32,930
trip to the Everglades and since being here everyone who's visited me has you

2276
02:47:32,930 --> 02:47:37,990
know commented on it being one of their top things to do whilst here so I think

2277
02:47:37,990 --> 02:47:43,170
it's important to realize that this project is monumental not only for

2278
02:47:43,170 --> 02:47:48,570
Florida but also worldwide because it's an area that people feel strongly

2279
02:47:48,570 --> 02:47:54,310
about and love to visit when they come here so I think that's something that's

2280
02:47:54,310 --> 02:47:57,330
very significant too. Thank you. Thank you very much.

2281
02:48:04,820 --> 02:48:07,480
Hi thanks for being here. I hope

2282
02:48:07,480 --> 02:48:11,340
to keep my voice throughout the day but as you know from yesterday's field trip

2283
02:48:11,340 --> 02:48:17,340
I'm starting to lose it a little bit so anyway first of all one thank you for

2284
02:48:17,340 --> 02:48:20,560
going out on Biscayne Bay yesterday and thank you for being on Key Biscayne.

2285
02:48:20,640 --> 02:48:22,660
I know there's a number of people that would love to go to your

2286
02:48:22,660 --> 02:48:28,720
meetings, but of course they're on beach. So this makes a big difference. What I wanted

2287
02:48:28,720 --> 02:48:35,040
to remind you, I hear all the questions and the comments you're making on SEP. Two things

2288
02:48:35,040 --> 02:48:41,200
really. One is I made the rounds last year to all the county commissioners in Dade County

2289
02:48:41,200 --> 02:48:47,640
who had major concerns that this was going to impede, you know, water coming to Miami

2290
02:48:47,640 --> 02:48:51,400
Dade County and also impact the water flow to Biscayne.

2291
02:48:51,880 --> 02:48:59,220
Yet they were able to see that water is an issue of our future, that tourism is a huge

2292
02:48:59,220 --> 02:49:04,820
economic driver for Dade County, and they passed a resolution on, I think it was the

2293
02:49:04,820 --> 02:49:07,260
second of October last year.

2294
02:49:07,900 --> 02:49:12,280
And in their resolution, they talked about moving this forward this summer.

2295
02:49:13,120 --> 02:49:15,080
They support SEP.

2296
02:49:15,080 --> 02:49:20,300
And so what they did is they took a leap of faith, not knowing that everything was going

2297
02:49:20,300 --> 02:49:24,880
to work out okay, not knowing that the science was going to work out fine.

2298
02:49:24,940 --> 02:49:29,080
In fact, the current set of data that you have on there shows some impacts to Dade

2299
02:49:29,080 --> 02:49:34,900
County, but yet they're willing to take this leap and have bold action because

2300
02:49:34,900 --> 02:49:37,960
they see that water is an issue of our future.

2301
02:49:38,360 --> 02:49:43,840
They see that if we did not have more water flowing south that Dade County would

2302
02:49:43,840 --> 02:49:49,900
have to pay ten times more for their water supply. So Tropical Audubon asks you today to

2303
02:49:49,900 --> 02:49:54,820
take that bold leadership and move SEP forward in July. Thank you.

2304
02:49:55,440 --> 02:49:55,880
Thank you.

2305
02:49:57,360 --> 02:49:59,960
Don Cherives, followed by Miranda Stasali.

2306
02:50:00,600 --> 02:50:03,520
Good morning. Don Cheriffs at the National Parks Conservation Association.

2307
02:50:04,340 --> 02:50:08,800
Firstly, I don't want the point to get lost. The Water Management District staff under your

2308
02:50:08,800 --> 02:50:12,900
guidance has done an enormous amount of work to get this project to where it is

2309
02:50:13,360 --> 02:50:18,260
There's been more stakeholder support than we've ever seen before in an Everglades Restoration Project.

2310
02:50:18,700 --> 02:50:22,720
There's broader support, consensus. I mean, it's really mind-blowing.

2311
02:50:22,980 --> 02:50:27,460
So I really want to make sure that that gets highlighted because it should certainly be commended.

2312
02:50:28,120 --> 02:50:33,880
I'm not even going to give into the temptation to list all the ecological benefits, although it's difficult for me to do that.

2313
02:50:34,280 --> 02:50:35,940
But I want to focus on a couple of things.

2314
02:50:37,780 --> 02:50:44,880
What everyone has been asking for today is for a July date to move forward because it

2315
02:50:44,880 --> 02:50:50,060
will preserve the opportunity for us to continue to working together, resolving the remaining

2316
02:50:50,060 --> 02:50:50,580
issues.

2317
02:50:50,780 --> 02:50:58,000
There was a slide up on this PowerPoint presentation that highlighted the legal mandates that

2318
02:50:58,000 --> 02:50:59,400
would stop implementation.

2319
02:50:59,940 --> 02:51:05,160
We would not turn on this project and build this project if we had not squared away

2320
02:51:05,160 --> 02:51:09,200
the water quality concerns, and I know folks are working on that, but I want to really

2321
02:51:09,200 --> 02:51:13,840
separate this idea between authorization and implementation, because right now we're not

2322
02:51:13,840 --> 02:51:14,320
there yet.

2323
02:51:14,400 --> 02:51:20,080
We have that stopped in place in the future, so this is not going to create a problem

2324
02:51:20,080 --> 02:51:23,480
that would put the water management district on the hook for water quality violations.

2325
02:51:24,240 --> 02:51:26,160
Secondly, the fiscal reality.

2326
02:51:27,320 --> 02:51:30,420
I love knowing where my money's coming from when I'm getting ready to spend

2327
02:51:30,420 --> 02:51:32,020
a bill, but we're not spending a bill yet.

2328
02:51:32,020 --> 02:51:35,660
We're getting authorization so that we can continue to sort of advance this.

2329
02:51:35,860 --> 02:51:42,360
This is not like a resolution to litigation, where you are on the hook for $7 million annually

2330
02:51:42,360 --> 02:51:43,940
if that money is not available.

2331
02:51:44,460 --> 02:51:48,200
We are committed to helping identify the money through both state and federal partners,

2332
02:51:48,460 --> 02:51:52,580
but we can't do that unless we get this advanced forward.

2333
02:51:53,080 --> 02:51:58,600
I heard that staff feels that their direction is to resolve all conditions to their

2334
02:51:58,600 --> 02:52:00,660
satisfaction before they bring it back to you.

2335
02:52:00,660 --> 02:52:05,060
I would ask that you redirect them and ask for staff to bring it back to you in July

2336
02:52:05,660 --> 02:52:08,860
so that you can determine whether or not the conditions have been met to your satisfaction

2337
02:52:08,860 --> 02:52:10,280
and advance this.

2338
02:52:11,000 --> 02:52:14,900
The reality is the Everglades can't wait and Congress is not going to.

2339
02:52:15,280 --> 02:52:16,100
Thank you for your comments.

2340
02:52:17,600 --> 02:52:20,220
Miranda Sasali, followed by Angela Steiner.

2341
02:52:25,410 --> 02:52:26,450
Angela Steiner.

2342
02:52:31,170 --> 02:52:32,770
And then we'll take Raphael Tiberon.

2343
02:52:41,020 --> 02:52:41,640
Good morning.

2344
02:52:42,200 --> 02:52:46,160
My name is Angela Steiner and my address is 912 Ortega Avenue,

2345
02:52:46,160 --> 02:52:51,000
Coral Gables, Florida. I'm a Yale graduate student and I'm studying

2346
02:52:51,000 --> 02:52:56,160
environmental policy, but I'm here to speak to you today as a Miami-Dade County

2347
02:52:56,160 --> 02:53:02,540
resident since 1983. And I want to thank you for your support of CEP and express

2348
02:53:02,540 --> 02:53:09,200
my wishes for pushing forward for July. I wanted to shed a more personal

2349
02:53:09,200 --> 02:53:15,080
experience, my personal experience as a resident here and not reiterate what

2350
02:53:15,080 --> 02:53:18,000
of the ecological reasons everyone else has already gone into.

2351
02:53:18,660 --> 02:53:21,740
The Everglades has had a profound impact on my life.

2352
02:53:22,100 --> 02:53:24,640
My first tangible memories of the environment

2353
02:53:25,180 --> 02:53:27,300
are of going to the Everglades with my family,

2354
02:53:27,780 --> 02:53:31,100
going canoeing, hiking, and even on airboat rides.

2355
02:53:32,240 --> 02:53:36,680
The Everglades also had a profound impact on my career

2356
02:53:36,680 --> 02:53:39,640
as now I am pursuing environmental policy.

2357
02:53:40,680 --> 02:53:43,380
What is this concerning, though, is that through the years

2358
02:53:43,380 --> 02:53:48,340
I have noticed there is a diminished abundance of wildlife in the Everglades, all of the

2359
02:53:48,340 --> 02:53:50,600
waiting birds that I used to look at as a child.

2360
02:53:51,160 --> 02:53:53,880
I've noticed that they have decreased markedly.

2361
02:53:54,520 --> 02:53:57,760
And this is an indication of the ecosystem's degradation.

2362
02:53:58,220 --> 02:54:04,880
Therefore, I express my wishes that you move forward in July once again.

2363
02:54:05,000 --> 02:54:05,340
Thank you.

2364
02:54:05,780 --> 02:54:06,760
Thank you for your comments.

2365
02:54:16,520 --> 02:54:17,160
Good

2366
02:54:27,400 --> 02:54:28,040
morning.

2367
02:54:28,340 --> 02:54:28,620
Good morning.

2368
02:54:29,380 --> 02:54:33,080
My name is Rafael Chubran from Lake Worth, Florida.

2369
02:54:34,740 --> 02:54:42,400
My qualifications to attend this meeting are that I've read this book, The Swamp, I read

2370
02:54:42,400 --> 02:54:50,100
National Geographic, Water Issue, I read Hunter Ipsen's Enemy of the People play in

2371
02:54:50,100 --> 02:54:58,920
high school, and I have a very distinct memory of shedding off the train in 1955 after an

2372
02:54:58,920 --> 02:55:08,560
all-nighter from Philadelphia, and the first two things I noticed were palm trees and the

2373
02:55:08,560 --> 02:55:17,540
aroma wafted off of Lake Worth Lagoon at the hotel we were staying at across from

2374
02:55:20,620 --> 02:55:30,920
I'm grateful that in the interim someone maybe connected with this board has cured that problem

2375
02:55:30,920 --> 02:55:38,000
and there is no longer open sewage running into Lake Worth Lagoon.

2376
02:55:38,820 --> 02:55:44,200
But we have, that was a small example of what the Everglades problem is, I think.

2377
02:55:44,200 --> 02:55:48,060
I think too much of the wrong stuff is going in the wrong place.

2378
02:55:50,860 --> 02:56:01,360
I'm confident that when you, members of the board, talk to your grandchildren someday at the end of this century, maybe,

2379
02:56:02,660 --> 02:56:09,220
you'll be able to look back and say, at a critical point with the environment of Florida,

2380
02:56:11,960 --> 02:56:20,400
We took this issue very seriously. We dissected it. We read the reports. We almost went blind reading those tables.

2381
02:56:21,080 --> 02:56:25,660
And in the end, we made the best human decision possible for the Everglades.

2382
02:56:27,020 --> 02:56:35,880
And we did not count out any special interests in short-term, short-sighted people who were thinking about themselves

2383
02:56:35,880 --> 02:56:43,740
rather than the general welfare that we all want for the country in the future.

2384
02:56:44,060 --> 02:56:44,380
Thank you.

2385
02:56:44,580 --> 02:56:45,520
Thank you very much for your comments.

2386
02:56:46,700 --> 02:56:47,480
Mr. Allman.

2387
02:56:55,620 --> 02:57:00,860
Hi, Jonathan Allman, CR Club, Everglades representative here in Miami.

2388
02:57:01,300 --> 02:57:05,020
I wanted to thank you very much for having this meeting here on Key to Skaen.

2389
02:57:05,340 --> 02:57:09,140
And I also want to thank you for your consideration for holding a vote in July.

2390
02:57:09,460 --> 02:57:11,800
It's extremely important to our future.

2391
02:57:11,800 --> 02:57:17,300
And I also want to thank the people who came out here, the Floridians and especially the

2392
02:57:17,300 --> 02:57:20,400
Kibis Gain residents who came out to this meeting.

2393
02:57:21,500 --> 02:57:28,180
They didn't have to, but they felt strongly about this subject and they hope that Florida

2394
02:57:28,700 --> 02:57:29,920
comes through for them.

2395
02:57:33,040 --> 02:57:40,420
This is going to be the hundredth anniversary of the Miami Canal this year, 1913.

2396
02:57:40,420 --> 02:57:47,720
it was constructed. In 1962, the L-67A canal was constructed.

2397
02:57:47,860 --> 02:57:55,380
So that's a little bit more than 50 years. In 1966, the L-67C was constructed.

2398
02:57:56,640 --> 02:58:01,500
These were decisions that were made to disastrous effects,

2399
02:58:01,760 --> 02:58:05,300
and they're decisions that we're all paying for today.

2400
02:58:06,020 --> 02:58:11,300
But you have an opportunity now to right these wrongs,

2401
02:58:12,040 --> 02:58:15,360
and you have an opportunity to make the Everglades whole again.

2402
02:58:16,000 --> 02:58:19,800
And this is something that will pay off for future generations.

2403
02:58:20,820 --> 02:58:25,020
I encourage you to vote in July,

2404
02:58:25,300 --> 02:58:28,200
because you know that that is the deadline that we have

2405
02:58:29,240 --> 02:58:32,960
to be the local sponsor for this project.

2406
02:58:33,580 --> 02:58:39,320
And once again, make the glaze whole. Please don't let Florida down. Thank you.

2407
02:58:39,780 --> 02:58:40,260
Thank you.

2408
02:58:41,880 --> 02:58:44,240
Mr. Winnipole, followed by Miranda Stisali.

2409
02:58:46,840 --> 02:58:51,360
Hi, I'm Spencer Winnipole. I'll keep it short. I think you guys kind of know how the public feels.

2410
02:58:51,760 --> 02:58:55,180
I grew up in South Florida fishing and recreating in the Everglades.

2411
02:58:55,280 --> 02:58:58,180
I think everyone in front of me realizes its importance.

2412
02:58:58,400 --> 02:59:02,780
And for that reason, I ask that STEP be approved come July. Thank you.

2413
02:59:02,780 --> 02:59:06,660
Thank you for your brevity and thanks for coming out to express your opinion.

2414
02:59:09,660 --> 02:59:10,220
Welcome.

2415
02:59:10,620 --> 02:59:11,540
Good morning.

2416
02:59:12,120 --> 02:59:13,660
My name is Miranda Stessoli.

2417
02:59:14,060 --> 02:59:16,740
I am a resident here in Key to Stain.

2418
02:59:17,240 --> 02:59:22,260
And I've been listening to what everybody's been saying, especially all of you.

2419
02:59:22,440 --> 02:59:26,300
And it sounds like you're already ready to support this.

2420
02:59:26,360 --> 02:59:33,060
You're just waiting on them to come up with all of the details before you can support it.

2421
02:59:33,060 --> 02:59:36,640
So I'm just basically here to say that I support it, too.

2422
02:59:37,360 --> 02:59:39,460
And I wanted to thank everyone.

2423
02:59:39,740 --> 02:59:44,380
I'm like, the water supply and water is very important.

2424
02:59:44,760 --> 02:59:47,580
And I think what everybody in this room is doing

2425
02:59:47,580 --> 02:59:49,020
is really important.

2426
02:59:49,540 --> 02:59:51,080
And I'm very grateful for it.

2427
02:59:51,240 --> 02:59:53,780
I mean, because sitting here all day is just

2428
02:59:53,780 --> 02:59:54,660
like that woman said.

2429
02:59:55,740 --> 02:59:56,600
It's hard.

2430
02:59:56,980 --> 02:59:59,700
But I'm just very thankful and grateful.

2431
03:00:00,000 --> 03:00:04,140
For everybody in the room, so thank you and please support this when it does come.

2432
03:00:05,060 --> 03:00:06,400
Thank you very much.

2433
03:00:06,900 --> 03:00:08,260
That concludes our public comment.

2434
03:00:09,080 --> 03:00:10,860
Okay, that concludes the public comment.

2435
03:00:11,060 --> 03:00:17,020
I would like to mention also that in addition to what we've heard from the stakeholders today,

2436
03:00:17,560 --> 03:00:22,840
I'm sure that all the board members have received a huge amount of e-mail like I have

2437
03:00:22,840 --> 03:00:26,360
from stakeholders with their opinions regarding SEP.

2438
03:00:26,360 --> 03:00:29,640
and I just wanted to kind of publicly acknowledge the comment.

2439
03:00:30,880 --> 03:00:32,240
We missed one?

2440
03:00:35,040 --> 03:00:35,960
Hold on a second, Ernie.

2441
03:00:36,120 --> 03:00:37,000
Sam Van Leer.

2442
03:00:37,620 --> 03:00:39,540
We have one more public comment, Ernie.

2443
03:00:39,740 --> 03:00:40,040
Yes, sir.

2444
03:00:48,370 --> 03:00:51,030
Thank you so much for making a little more time for me.

2445
03:00:51,430 --> 03:00:54,590
I'm Sam Van Leer, president and founder of Urban Paradise Guild.

2446
03:00:54,930 --> 03:00:56,730
We are a Miami-based non-profit.

2447
03:00:57,270 --> 03:01:00,670
We have four coastal resilience projects ongoing

2448
03:01:00,670 --> 03:01:04,750
that served Biscayne Bay with three volunteer opportunities per week.

2449
03:01:06,050 --> 03:01:09,690
We invest thousands of hours in making the Bay a better place,

2450
03:01:09,890 --> 03:01:12,750
and I would like to thank you all for showing your leadership

2451
03:01:12,750 --> 03:01:15,850
in making Biscayne Bay a better place as well.

2452
03:01:16,590 --> 03:01:25,370
I really appreciate the fact that the Phase 1 Biscayne Bay coastal wetland projects

2453
03:01:25,370 --> 03:01:27,270
have shown so much promise,

2454
03:01:27,270 --> 03:01:32,130
and for the tests that have been ongoing that will help make better decisions in the future.

2455
03:01:32,830 --> 03:01:40,290
I'd like to say that the people who are in favor of the July approval for the sponsorship,

2456
03:01:40,310 --> 03:01:44,950
I totally support that. I concur with all the favorable comments that preceded me.

2457
03:01:45,490 --> 03:01:54,590
I'd like to add that the groundwater flows that provide the diffuse water flow into the Biscayne Bay Aquifer

2458
03:01:54,590 --> 03:01:57,910
or rather out of the Biscayne Bay aquifer are really important.

2459
03:01:58,510 --> 03:02:05,290
I think that in terms of working within the available water supply, it's a very economical

2460
03:02:05,290 --> 03:02:11,030
way of doing it, and I'd really appreciate it if you would reserve and protect that supply.

2461
03:02:11,550 --> 03:02:15,870
I also believe that this may help fight salt intrusion into our aquifer.

2462
03:02:16,430 --> 03:02:20,410
So once again, thank you very much for your leadership, and please become that local

2463
03:02:20,410 --> 03:02:20,810
sponsor.

2464
03:02:21,350 --> 03:02:22,210
Thank you for your comments.

2465
03:02:22,210 --> 03:02:28,210
Mr. Van Leer, you turn in a card for 37. Does this conclude your comment for 37? Okay, thank you.

2466
03:02:28,690 --> 03:02:41,250
Okay, Reagan, if we don't have any further comment, then we are going to move to agenda item 31 and ask Ernie Barnett to give us an update on modified water deliveries.

2467
03:02:41,550 --> 03:02:49,930
And Mr. Chairman, if I may, just one moment. There was one major point of clarification based on the public comments that we heard and some of the board comment.

2468
03:02:49,930 --> 03:02:54,150
And if you'll indulge me in one minute, I want to highlight a very important fact I

2469
03:02:54,150 --> 03:02:55,110
think would be important.

2470
03:02:55,210 --> 03:02:55,330
Sure, quickly.

2471
03:02:55,530 --> 03:02:56,350
I'll be very quick.

2472
03:02:57,710 --> 03:03:02,430
This is the central Everglades planning process, and I want to make it abundantly clear the

2473
03:03:02,430 --> 03:03:06,070
dates that we're talking about, and there's no disagreement between what the stakeholders

2474
03:03:06,070 --> 03:03:08,330
are saying and staff's view.

2475
03:03:08,930 --> 03:03:14,930
The next approval of being local sponsor and the draft PIR is that first red arrow.

2476
03:03:15,370 --> 03:03:18,110
And that's where we're at, leading up to the July timeline.

2477
03:03:18,350 --> 03:03:19,170
So that's our target.

2478
03:03:19,170 --> 03:03:22,130
And that's the important date that we're striving for.

2479
03:03:23,070 --> 03:03:25,570
And then that coordinated review process

2480
03:03:25,570 --> 03:03:28,550
goes through where the core process takes that draft plan

2481
03:03:29,050 --> 03:03:30,990
once the board has released it, and you

2482
03:03:30,990 --> 03:03:33,490
go through the coordinated review and public comments received.

2483
03:03:34,250 --> 03:03:36,590
And then the final PIR comes back to the board again.

2484
03:03:37,110 --> 03:03:38,290
So that's the October date.

2485
03:03:38,810 --> 03:03:41,630
We were never saying we've got up until October

2486
03:03:41,630 --> 03:03:43,530
to meet that important deadline, and I

2487
03:03:43,530 --> 03:03:44,970
want to make sure everybody in the room understood that.

2488
03:03:45,010 --> 03:03:46,730
Because based on the comments we were hearing,

2489
03:03:46,730 --> 03:03:49,290
It was obvious there was a lot of confusion.

2490
03:03:50,110 --> 03:03:51,270
And the bottom line is we're shooting

2491
03:03:51,270 --> 03:03:53,770
to toward the December chiefs report.

2492
03:03:54,370 --> 03:03:55,830
And thank you for that indulgence.

2493
03:03:55,970 --> 03:03:56,370
Okay, sir.

2494
03:03:56,910 --> 03:03:57,330
Mine waters.

2495
03:03:58,170 --> 03:04:00,090
I'm gonna turn it over to the core.

2496
03:04:00,850 --> 03:04:02,690
This is, since we're here in Miami-Dade,

2497
03:04:02,810 --> 03:04:06,270
we wanted to, this is one of the key fundamental projects

2498
03:04:06,270 --> 03:04:07,490
that we have to accomplish

2499
03:04:08,030 --> 03:04:09,470
in order for CEP to be successful.

2500
03:04:09,790 --> 03:04:11,590
And that's the sequencing on the implementation

2501
03:04:11,590 --> 03:04:13,110
and update on mine waters.

2502
03:04:14,710 --> 03:04:16,030
Thanks, and I think Ernie and I

2503
03:04:16,030 --> 03:04:17,310
They're going to tag team this a little bit.

2504
03:04:18,730 --> 03:04:22,030
The Modified Water Delivery Project was authorized in 1989,

2505
03:04:22,370 --> 03:04:24,190
and the Corps in the South Florida Water Management

2506
03:04:24,190 --> 03:04:27,750
District signed a project cooperation agreement in 1994.

2507
03:04:28,370 --> 03:04:30,670
And for this particular project, the Corps of Engineers

2508
03:04:32,550 --> 03:04:34,330
funds and constructs the project.

2509
03:04:34,510 --> 03:04:37,510
So it's 100% federal funding for construction

2510
03:04:38,250 --> 03:04:39,090
and for the land.

2511
03:04:39,350 --> 03:04:40,470
And the Water Management District

2512
03:04:40,470 --> 03:04:45,550
takes over those facilities, and 75% of the O&M operations

2513
03:04:45,550 --> 03:04:48,450
cost is reimbursed by the federal government for this project.

2514
03:04:48,890 --> 03:04:53,750
We amended that original PCA in July of 2001, and again in August of 2008,

2515
03:04:54,110 --> 03:04:57,370
to construct the eight-and-a-half-square mile area features of modwaters,

2516
03:04:57,510 --> 03:05:01,170
as well as the Tamiami Trail features, which are currently under construction today.

2517
03:05:03,130 --> 03:05:07,290
And the very important point about there's been some concern about what is modwaters

2518
03:05:07,290 --> 03:05:09,990
and what is the difference between central Everglades and modwaters.

2519
03:05:10,650 --> 03:05:14,770
And so it's important to note here, here shows you the general vicinity of the modwaters project

2520
03:05:14,770 --> 03:05:16,910
along Tamiami Trail here into the south.

2521
03:05:17,370 --> 03:05:22,730
And what's most important about what modified water delivery projects does is it redistributes

2522
03:05:22,730 --> 03:05:25,650
the current water that flows into Everglades National Park.

2523
03:05:26,110 --> 03:05:30,570
It redistributes from most of the water coming through the S-12s on the west and redistributes

2524
03:05:30,570 --> 03:05:34,710
that flow to the eastern segment to restore northeast shark of Verslew.

2525
03:05:34,910 --> 03:05:39,530
And part of this authorization was acquiring that 109,000 acres to increase the park.

2526
03:05:39,530 --> 03:05:46,030
And so the purpose of this project is to redistribute the flow and how it gets to the park and the existing flow.

2527
03:05:46,450 --> 03:05:52,530
And so it includes the Tamiami Trail Bridge and raising the roadway along this stretch of Tamiami Trail.

2528
03:05:52,990 --> 03:05:59,430
It includes an S-356 pump station that as we increase flow out of 3A into Northeast Shark River Slough,

2529
03:05:59,730 --> 03:06:04,370
you're going to increase seepage to the east, and we need to have seepage management to deal with that.

2530
03:06:04,470 --> 03:06:07,410
And the 356 pump station is that facility to do that.

2531
03:06:07,410 --> 03:06:14,570
And lastly, the 8.5 square mile area flood mitigation project that there's a community

2532
03:06:14,570 --> 03:06:19,570
that was west of the protective levee and there's the project features there provide

2533
03:06:19,570 --> 03:06:23,330
a pump station that allows to collect the additional seepage again that would come

2534
03:06:23,330 --> 03:06:28,170
in from increase in close to the northeast shark of a slew and that pumps that pump

2535
03:06:28,170 --> 03:06:33,830
station pumps into the C111 South Day project which is a core water management district

2536
03:06:33,830 --> 03:06:34,910
funded project.

2537
03:06:34,910 --> 03:06:38,490
I think Tommy Straub pointed out today, it's on the ground working today.

2538
03:06:38,630 --> 03:06:40,250
Lots of these features and pumps are online.

2539
03:06:40,870 --> 03:06:41,830
There's the tension area.

2540
03:06:42,250 --> 03:06:46,130
There is one more piece that needs to be completed and that's connecting the existing

2541
03:06:46,130 --> 03:06:50,350
detention areas up to the 8 1⁄2 square mile area so that pump station can pump

2542
03:06:50,350 --> 03:06:50,850
into that.

2543
03:06:51,510 --> 03:06:53,430
And so that's the purpose of the ModWaters.

2544
03:06:53,650 --> 03:06:56,210
Again, I mentioned that Tamiami Trail is under construction.

2545
03:06:56,830 --> 03:06:58,530
We'll complete the construction of that.

2546
03:06:59,050 --> 03:07:02,870
The bridge is opening and water is flowing under the bridge, but we need to raise

2547
03:07:02,870 --> 03:07:08,190
the other portions of the roadway to allow water stages in the L29 canal to be raised

2548
03:07:08,190 --> 03:07:13,830
up to eight and a half to be able to deliver the flows that were shifting to this portion

2549
03:07:13,830 --> 03:07:15,130
of the roadway.

2550
03:07:16,950 --> 03:07:20,710
Now the difference between modified water deliveries and then what the central everglades

2551
03:07:20,710 --> 03:07:25,430
do, and here you see the additional features that are included in the central everglades.

2552
03:07:25,430 --> 03:07:33,250
It provides an increase to this 3-3-3 outlet to deliver more water out of 3A than we're

2553
03:07:33,250 --> 03:07:39,770
getting under Maud waters and it also provides for a flowway where we can put a portion

2554
03:07:39,770 --> 03:07:47,390
of water conservation area 3B, degrade the L29 levee and create the L67C levee and flow

2555
03:07:47,390 --> 03:07:52,430
water through this portion to where the old remnant slews are in northeast Shark River

2556
03:07:52,430 --> 03:07:58,270
slew, removing the remaining portions of L-67 to have flow and further increase the volumes

2557
03:07:58,270 --> 03:08:03,150
of water we're putting into Everglades National Park. And again, that's what SEP does beyond

2558
03:08:03,150 --> 03:08:08,810
what Mondwater is doing. And to move more water into the park, you also need to ensure

2559
03:08:08,810 --> 03:08:12,570
that you're not going to overdrain water conservation area 3A. And that's why Central

2560
03:08:12,570 --> 03:08:16,510
Everglades includes the features to the north that take water that's currently going

2561
03:08:16,510 --> 03:08:21,530
to the estuaries, treats it, directs it south to ensure we're keeping, we want

2562
03:08:21,530 --> 03:08:25,290
to restore conditions in water conservation area 2 as part of Central Everglades.

2563
03:08:25,870 --> 03:08:30,810
And the other features of Central Everglades over mud waters, there's one feature here

2564
03:08:30,810 --> 03:08:35,410
that goes into the, puts water through into the remaining portions of water conservation

2565
03:08:35,410 --> 03:08:36,490
area 3B.

2566
03:08:37,010 --> 03:08:40,490
And we, there's a lot of concerns about the tree islands and the resources of water

2567
03:08:40,490 --> 03:08:41,810
conservation area 3B.

2568
03:08:42,250 --> 03:08:48,170
So we want to stop the continued degradation of this, um, peak soils in that area

2569
03:08:48,170 --> 03:08:51,210
and providing a means to do some rehydration in here

2570
03:08:51,210 --> 03:08:53,610
without getting water levels too deep

2571
03:08:53,610 --> 03:08:54,750
that may affect resources.

2572
03:08:55,450 --> 03:08:57,830
And so, of course, in bringing this additional water

2573
03:08:57,830 --> 03:08:59,610
into Northeast Shark River Slough,

2574
03:08:59,710 --> 03:09:01,770
we need to have additional seepage management.

2575
03:09:02,570 --> 03:09:04,690
And part of this, the Blue Stanley levee,

2576
03:09:04,690 --> 03:09:06,790
serves as a seepage management measure

2577
03:09:06,790 --> 03:09:09,130
by the water that we're gonna concentrate

2578
03:09:09,130 --> 03:09:10,650
and flowing into this portion

2579
03:09:11,790 --> 03:09:14,170
on through Everglades National Park

2580
03:09:14,170 --> 03:09:16,310
under an important part, I forgot to mention,

2581
03:09:16,310 --> 03:09:20,470
and the Tamiami Trail next steps, additional bridging along Tamiami Trail is required for

2582
03:09:20,470 --> 03:09:25,410
this to work. But we need to have additional seepage management and increase in the 356

2583
03:09:25,410 --> 03:09:30,810
pump station as well as seepage management along the L31 North through a seepage barrier.

2584
03:09:31,510 --> 03:09:35,630
So there's the difference between the physical features, mod waters, compared to central

2585
03:09:35,630 --> 03:09:39,670
Everglades. And what that results in is the geographic areas that get benefited

2586
03:09:39,670 --> 03:09:43,570
by the different projects are different. SEP is going to improve conditions within

2587
03:09:43,570 --> 03:09:48,850
water conservation area 3A, 3B, and all of Everglades National Park onto Florida Bay.

2588
03:09:49,590 --> 03:09:54,330
And Modified Water Deliveries Project does primarily its benefits, our south of Tamiami

2589
03:09:54,330 --> 03:09:56,410
Trail within Everglades National Park.

2590
03:09:57,070 --> 03:10:03,090
And this segregation of water conservation area into various zones, that's what we use

2591
03:10:03,090 --> 03:10:06,430
in central Everglades and calculating our habitat units, which I'm going to show

2592
03:10:06,430 --> 03:10:06,870
you next.

2593
03:10:07,450 --> 03:10:11,830
There are different habitats within the areas of water conservation area 3A in the

2594
03:10:11,830 --> 03:10:16,170
Park and it's divided into zones and we looked at specific performance metrics that we're

2595
03:10:16,170 --> 03:10:21,050
trying to achieve within those areas of all of Water Conservation Area 3 and in the Park.

2596
03:10:21,710 --> 03:10:26,470
And whereas the Tamiami Trail and the report that was done for that, it considered the

2597
03:10:26,470 --> 03:10:32,170
benefits of the physical features along Tamiami Trail, putting in the one-mile bridge and

2598
03:10:32,170 --> 03:10:36,650
raising the roadway, what benefits to connecting the system do you get into Northeast

2599
03:10:36,650 --> 03:10:41,890
sharp bruselou, instead of how it comes in today is through the S333 and goes delivered

2600
03:10:41,890 --> 03:10:43,130
through a series of culverts.

2601
03:10:45,980 --> 03:10:52,040
And so this is just further to reiterate where we expect that the benefits for central Everglades

2602
03:10:52,040 --> 03:10:55,420
go above and beyond South of Tamami Trail, which is included in the park.

2603
03:10:55,900 --> 03:11:00,060
And what you can see here, these are the different areas that will be benefited by

2604
03:11:00,060 --> 03:11:00,980
central Everglades.

2605
03:11:01,300 --> 03:11:07,100
The northern estuaries, 75% of the benefit to the estuaries is in the Colusa Hatchee

2606
03:11:07,100 --> 03:11:09,100
and 25% in the St. Lucie.

2607
03:11:09,680 --> 03:11:11,480
And then here's for the greater Everglades,

2608
03:11:11,640 --> 03:11:14,360
all those zones in the Everglades that I've just shown you.

2609
03:11:14,700 --> 03:11:15,600
You can see primarily,

2610
03:11:16,380 --> 03:11:18,160
a lot of the central Everglades benefits

2611
03:11:18,160 --> 03:11:19,400
are for what we're doing

2612
03:11:19,400 --> 03:11:22,200
and restoring Northern Water Conservation Area 3A.

2613
03:11:22,860 --> 03:11:25,320
So ModWaters provides benefits

2614
03:11:25,320 --> 03:11:28,480
primarily south of Tammany Trail and in the park

2615
03:11:28,480 --> 03:11:31,400
and SEP provides a much larger geographic area

2616
03:11:31,400 --> 03:11:33,040
of restoration of flows,

2617
03:11:33,160 --> 03:11:36,000
not only outside of Everglades National Park

2618
03:11:36,000 --> 03:11:41,360
because it does build on what ModWaters does and it increases the volumes of water that

2619
03:11:41,360 --> 03:11:44,820
you move through the park that get on the Florida Bay and increase the benefits of Florida

2620
03:11:44,820 --> 03:11:49,200
Bay and think, Ernie, you were going to cover this.

2621
03:11:49,220 --> 03:11:50,460
I had a question for you, Ken.

2622
03:11:51,020 --> 03:11:55,920
When you were talking about ModWaters and the connection portion of it that hasn't

2623
03:11:56,740 --> 03:12:02,880
completed yet, what's the timing on getting that complete and how much does that affect

2624
03:12:02,880 --> 03:12:07,220
the overall objectives of what ModWater is supposed to do.

2625
03:12:07,360 --> 03:12:09,820
And that is the exact next slide that Ernie was going to cover.

2626
03:12:10,040 --> 03:12:14,660
And be happy to stand back up here and get any questions after he goes through that for you.

2627
03:12:16,100 --> 03:12:21,500
Mr. Chairman, the next steps in order to the structural features that the core is determining

2628
03:12:21,500 --> 03:12:25,180
that are necessary to complete the actual construction of ModWater should be completed

2629
03:12:25,180 --> 03:12:25,980
by the end of the year.

2630
03:12:26,700 --> 03:12:31,680
That is the last remaining feature is the trail bridge and that's the core's determination.

2631
03:12:31,680 --> 03:12:33,220
this is the final feature needed.

2632
03:12:33,740 --> 03:12:35,920
The next steps to actually implement,

2633
03:12:36,500 --> 03:12:38,100
which there's two phases,

2634
03:12:38,300 --> 03:12:40,060
the construction and the operation maintenance,

2635
03:12:40,460 --> 03:12:42,040
we have the age old problem

2636
03:12:42,040 --> 03:12:44,480
before we can implement these changes and flows.

2637
03:12:44,740 --> 03:12:46,960
It's the recurring theme that we've talked about through SEP.

2638
03:12:47,360 --> 03:12:49,080
We have to make sure that we're not causing

2639
03:12:49,080 --> 03:12:50,480
a violation of appendix A.

2640
03:12:50,900 --> 03:12:52,640
We have to do an operational testing

2641
03:12:53,240 --> 03:12:56,240
of this structure, the S356 structure,

2642
03:12:56,320 --> 03:12:58,340
which is designed to return seepage flow back

2643
03:12:58,340 --> 03:13:00,040
and increase flow through the bridge

2644
03:13:00,040 --> 03:13:06,080
and into northeast Shark River Slough, we have what's called the S3273 test, which is

2645
03:13:06,080 --> 03:13:10,020
there's a trigger here that when stages reach a certain height, we want to make sure we're

2646
03:13:10,020 --> 03:13:14,220
not causing water quality problems or flooding the resident state and our square mile area.

2647
03:13:14,800 --> 03:13:20,160
So we're hopeful and we think SEPT has been a great sort of impetus to get resolution

2648
03:13:20,160 --> 03:13:27,320
of some relief on the appendix A sort of discussion that this needs to change in

2649
03:13:27,320 --> 03:13:28,920
in order to implement these features.

2650
03:13:29,560 --> 03:13:31,240
And once that test is done,

2651
03:13:31,340 --> 03:13:33,860
and we can demonstrate that operating the S-356,

2652
03:13:33,980 --> 03:13:35,780
an operational schedule can be developed,

2653
03:13:36,060 --> 03:13:39,320
and that operational schedule for the S-356

2654
03:13:39,320 --> 03:13:41,480
will allow the additional benefits to accrue.

2655
03:13:42,260 --> 03:13:44,340
The other key thing that we need to do

2656
03:13:44,340 --> 03:13:46,260
is Kim mentioned is Finish Contract 8,

2657
03:13:46,520 --> 03:13:50,280
which is the very northernmost construction feature

2658
03:13:50,280 --> 03:13:52,600
of the C-111 South Day project,

2659
03:13:52,700 --> 03:13:54,280
which creates a hydrologic variant

2660
03:13:54,280 --> 03:13:56,180
redistributed flows into Taylor Sloan,

2661
03:13:56,180 --> 03:13:57,900
and keeps good clean water in the Everglades.

2662
03:13:58,920 --> 03:14:02,520
That contract date needs to be moved forward

2663
03:14:02,520 --> 03:14:05,320
once we can resolve some cost share

2664
03:14:05,320 --> 03:14:09,880
and contractual issues with the Army Corps of Engineers

2665
03:14:09,880 --> 03:14:13,060
on the ability for contract date to go forward.

2666
03:14:13,600 --> 03:14:16,200
And then lastly, once all that is done and in place,

2667
03:14:16,360 --> 03:14:18,720
we'll have to develop a combined operational plan

2668
03:14:18,720 --> 03:14:21,760
for both ModWaters and the C-11 South Day Project

2669
03:14:21,760 --> 03:14:22,740
to operate in unison.

2670
03:14:23,160 --> 03:14:24,920
So those are the sequential steps

2671
03:14:24,920 --> 03:14:31,060
that need to take place in order for us to completely resolve and fully

2672
03:14:31,060 --> 03:14:37,740
implement the operational schedules for the model water project to be fully implemented.

2673
03:14:37,780 --> 03:14:43,800
Do we have some idea on schedule? Is that six months, two years, three years?

2674
03:14:44,760 --> 03:14:53,100
The key, we've had some very fruitful discussions with the South Atlantic Division of the Army Corps

2675
03:14:53,100 --> 03:14:55,420
on how to handle contract eight.

2676
03:14:55,960 --> 03:14:59,140
That is critical to this project being completed.

2677
03:15:00,000 --> 03:15:06,420
That really involves a very detailed discussion, which I know we don't have time for, but how to

2678
03:15:06,420 --> 03:15:12,340
manage our cost share credits on real estate and those types of things. My sense in talking

2679
03:15:12,340 --> 03:15:18,100
to Colonel Jackson, and all the way up the vertical chain on the core side, they are

2680
03:15:18,100 --> 03:15:22,700
highly motivated to resolve this, and it really involves making sure we get the proper

2681
03:15:22,700 --> 03:15:27,580
crediting for all of the prior expenditures for real estate that we've made in previous

2682
03:15:27,580 --> 03:15:30,640
issues in order for the C-111 South Day project to be completed.

2683
03:15:31,920 --> 03:15:37,480
But we owe you a better timeline, so we'll have staff develop sort of a reasonable timeline

2684
03:15:37,480 --> 03:15:39,460
working with the Corps and report that back to you.

2685
03:15:40,320 --> 03:15:46,560
But it does lead to sort of our summary point is that you've got to complete mod waters

2686
03:15:46,560 --> 03:15:52,520
and we've got to complete it sooner the better because immediate benefits are derived

2687
03:15:52,520 --> 03:15:53,740
from implementing the project.

2688
03:15:53,740 --> 03:15:59,780
In fact, it is a precursor by law, and more than 2,000, the Mod Waters Project has to

2689
03:15:59,780 --> 03:16:04,420
be completed prior to certain elements, including elements that are included in SEF go forward.

2690
03:16:04,980 --> 03:16:09,400
Most notable, the decompartmentalization of the water conservation areas, Mod Waters needs

2691
03:16:09,400 --> 03:16:10,660
to be completed prior to that.

2692
03:16:11,140 --> 03:16:15,120
And there are significant benefits to the park northeast, Shark River Slough, Mod Waters

2693
03:16:15,120 --> 03:16:20,020
as a standalone project will deliver a significant amount of more flow that's desperately

2694
03:16:20,020 --> 03:16:28,140
needed into the historic deeper part of the Everglades, and so the two projects in closing

2695
03:16:28,140 --> 03:16:34,980
are mutually beneficial to the Everglades National Park, and then SEP brings in the

2696
03:16:34,980 --> 03:16:41,660
additional features to improvements to water conservation aid 3A, 3B, and it is very, very

2697
03:16:41,660 --> 03:16:47,680
important for SEP to rely on the completion of mud waters to be in place for it to

2698
03:16:47,680 --> 03:16:49,060
but she was at the levels.

2699
03:16:52,060 --> 03:16:53,960
Okay, any board questions, Mr. Murray?

2700
03:16:54,420 --> 03:16:57,080
I've got some questions for Kim, if you wouldn't mind,

2701
03:16:58,080 --> 03:17:00,720
because I like her answers better than Ernie's.

2702
03:17:04,020 --> 03:17:06,160
We're talking about moving water into the park.

2703
03:17:06,280 --> 03:17:08,360
I understand that currently we move between 140

2704
03:17:08,360 --> 03:17:10,880
and 170,000 acre feet per year into the park.

2705
03:17:11,560 --> 03:17:13,580
You told me, or I learned from our briefing,

2706
03:17:13,940 --> 03:17:15,720
that when mod waters is complete,

2707
03:17:15,860 --> 03:17:19,580
we'd move about 340,000 acre feet per year

2708
03:17:19,580 --> 03:17:26,100
into the park. And if we did sep and it was complete, we moved 760,000 acre-feet per gear

2709
03:17:26,100 --> 03:17:26,620
into the park.

2710
03:17:26,780 --> 03:17:30,920
That's what the analysis from those two efforts, what the analysis that was done for Maud

2711
03:17:30,920 --> 03:17:34,640
Waters, Tammy, I'm sure I'll report on what we've done in Central Everglades. Those are

2712
03:17:34,640 --> 03:17:34,960
the numbers.

2713
03:17:35,200 --> 03:17:41,440
So if we complete the last leg of Maud Waters, which is the CA project, or if the

2714
03:17:41,440 --> 03:17:48,220
Corps does, then we'd be able to move approximately half of the water that sep

2715
03:17:48,220 --> 03:17:53,900
would move into the park and we could do that for how much money I've heard 20

2716
03:17:53,900 --> 03:18:00,200
million 30 million set sound reasonable to you for the remaining c111 now for

2717
03:18:01,400 --> 03:18:15,180
c8 contract contract a c111 piece yeah and that's around 20 30 million so if I

2718
03:18:15,180 --> 03:18:24,100
If we stand it correctly for 20 or 30 million, just a mere pittance, we could be getting half

2719
03:18:24,100 --> 03:18:28,860
of the water for SEP, and that could be done in a hurry, probably in a year or two.

2720
03:18:28,960 --> 03:18:32,800
But there's a lot of investment, and that's getting the benefits of the investments both

2721
03:18:32,800 --> 03:18:37,880
our agencies have made to date on mudwaters, and there's been 400 million spent on mudwaters

2722
03:18:37,880 --> 03:18:41,920
and another 300 and something already spent on sew and 11.

2723
03:18:41,920 --> 03:18:47,360
So, yes, we're very interested in getting through this hurdle and getting the flow under

2724
03:18:47,360 --> 03:18:49,360
Mondwaters because it is a significant benefit.

2725
03:18:49,580 --> 03:18:53,880
Although Mondwaters has been stagnant since 2009.

2726
03:18:54,200 --> 03:18:55,040
I wouldn't say that.

2727
03:18:55,180 --> 03:18:58,400
I think we've got construction on that bridge going on out there today, and it's expected

2728
03:18:58,400 --> 03:19:01,960
to be done in 2014, 2013, sorry.

2729
03:19:02,520 --> 03:19:03,040
Thank you, sir.

2730
03:19:03,480 --> 03:19:10,680
But you are, your agency is looking forward to a resolution of the situation.

2731
03:19:11,300 --> 03:19:11,600
Absolutely.

2732
03:19:11,600 --> 03:19:15,720
And like I said, we've both invested a lot already in getting there.

2733
03:19:15,880 --> 03:19:19,540
So we have an invested interest to get that done and get it resolved.

2734
03:19:19,940 --> 03:19:20,200
Okay.

2735
03:19:20,540 --> 03:19:24,920
And I understand for money's presentation that in order to get SEP done, that's a precursor.

2736
03:19:25,300 --> 03:19:27,780
That's a condition that has to be completed before SEP.

2737
03:19:28,040 --> 03:19:28,280
Yes.

2738
03:19:28,380 --> 03:19:32,300
There's the word of 2000 had language that you'd have to complete certain features

2739
03:19:32,300 --> 03:19:36,880
in mudwaters before you started the decomp piece of what we've included in central

2740
03:19:36,880 --> 03:19:37,360
Everglades.

2741
03:19:37,520 --> 03:19:38,060
And so that's true.

2742
03:19:38,600 --> 03:19:38,960
Okay.

2743
03:19:39,040 --> 03:19:39,380
Thank you.

2744
03:19:39,380 --> 03:19:46,940
And then lastly, I understand that the remaining bridging of the Tamiami Trail is about, what,

2745
03:19:46,980 --> 03:19:47,560
five miles?

2746
03:19:48,520 --> 03:19:50,920
That total is 5.5 additional miles of bridging.

2747
03:19:51,120 --> 03:19:57,640
It has to be done so that the 760,000 acre-feet per year that we're anticipating under SEP

2748
03:19:57,640 --> 03:20:00,740
would be conditioned on that project being completed as well.

2749
03:20:00,820 --> 03:20:04,240
We need to have the Tamiami Trail next steps work done to allow us to raise

2750
03:20:04,240 --> 03:20:08,680
water levels in the Tamiami Trail canal to deliver that additional water, yes.

2751
03:20:08,680 --> 03:20:10,440
Where does that project stand?

2752
03:20:11,080 --> 03:20:16,280
I'm, DOI is not, I'm not seeing a DOI representative, but, oh, Joan.

2753
03:20:16,560 --> 03:20:21,080
It hasn't been working on long water, but I believe that.

2754
03:20:21,380 --> 03:20:22,840
Well, please speak to that microphone.

2755
03:20:23,380 --> 03:20:25,620
Joan Lawrence, United States Department of the Interior.

2756
03:20:26,220 --> 03:20:30,660
And as I look around, I don't see anyone from Everglades National Park here.

2757
03:20:31,040 --> 03:20:36,640
But it's my understanding that we have an authorization.

2758
03:20:36,640 --> 03:20:43,000
It's a matter of how much do we go forward with and I think 5.5 is what we've been talking

2759
03:20:43,000 --> 03:20:43,400
about.

2760
03:20:43,840 --> 03:20:48,880
And the Department of the Interior has done a major part of funding for modified water

2761
03:20:48,880 --> 03:20:49,800
deliveries already.

2762
03:20:50,620 --> 03:20:59,020
So we don't have the, I mean, I know that they've gotten approval for 30 million in

2763
03:20:59,020 --> 03:21:02,960
the budget and they are currently working on a design bill contract for the first

2764
03:21:02,960 --> 03:21:09,400
2.7 miles that goes along with the Blue Shanty flowway of Central Everglades. So they have

2765
03:21:09,400 --> 03:21:12,760
got funding in design bills. They're working on a design bill contract.

2766
03:21:14,440 --> 03:21:22,940
Any other questions for Kim or Ernie? A question for Ernie. When do you anticipate we can

2767
03:21:22,940 --> 03:21:27,200
start testing? I know you had mentioned that we can't even test it yet until we get

2768
03:21:27,200 --> 03:21:32,480
some type of waiver, I guess, to allow us to put water into there.

2769
03:21:32,480 --> 03:21:38,140
Yeah, as I mentioned, the deliberations that Mr. Munson has been working on with the Secretary

2770
03:21:38,140 --> 03:21:40,020
of the Army involved this exact same issue.

2771
03:21:40,160 --> 03:21:43,540
This just is an earlier need to have it resolved.

2772
03:21:44,220 --> 03:21:45,360
It sounds like we're very close.

2773
03:21:46,180 --> 03:21:52,360
The ability to have some – and what it boils down to is as we redistribute flows

2774
03:21:52,360 --> 03:21:56,460
into the park, there's an understanding that Appendix A is going to change.

2775
03:21:56,680 --> 03:22:00,240
And as discussions have already started with the TOC, there's a special working

2776
03:22:00,240 --> 03:22:01,100
group working for.

2777
03:22:01,100 --> 03:22:06,440
I think the CEP discussion has been a great motivator for resolving this issue, and I think

2778
03:22:06,440 --> 03:22:12,540
the ability to do the testing will come, should break loose right after we reach agreement

2779
03:22:12,540 --> 03:22:14,140
on the water quality language for the CEP plan.

2780
03:22:14,640 --> 03:22:19,580
How long does it take the TOC to act, and should some of these emails be directed to

2781
03:22:19,580 --> 03:22:20,240
the TOC?

2782
03:22:24,760 --> 03:22:27,520
I've never seen Ernie speechless before, this is good.

2783
03:22:27,520 --> 03:22:33,940
I would not encourage that, only because the TSC is really a technical body that's reviewing

2784
03:22:33,940 --> 03:22:34,720
technical data.

2785
03:22:34,860 --> 03:22:40,000
These are policy decisions that are much better left to the South Stair group to handle.

2786
03:22:40,520 --> 03:22:43,780
Any other questions for Ernie or the court?

2787
03:22:45,380 --> 03:22:49,320
I think we have a couple of public comments on mud, water.

2788
03:22:49,760 --> 03:22:50,340
Yes, Mr. Chair.

2789
03:22:50,420 --> 03:22:53,500
We have two public comments, Michael Collins, followed by Martha Musgrove.

2790
03:22:55,530 --> 03:22:56,870
Mr. Collins, good afternoon.

2791
03:23:01,680 --> 03:23:04,860
Can I get, Ernie, can you kick this back a couple?

2792
03:23:07,680 --> 03:23:09,040
Just I think two back.

2793
03:23:09,900 --> 03:23:11,160
Can you go from the other end?

2794
03:23:13,340 --> 03:23:15,000
Stop right there, thank you.

2795
03:23:16,240 --> 03:23:18,260
I worked with the park staff, then Michael,

2796
03:23:18,980 --> 03:23:23,600
Superintendent Mike Finley, and Danny Fassell

2797
03:23:23,600 --> 03:23:26,400
and his staff on the mod waters legislation

2798
03:23:26,400 --> 03:23:35,880
in the late 80s and was pretty much unsuccessful in talking then superintendent into including

2799
03:23:36,900 --> 03:23:42,540
more components for Florida Bay. Representing that, as I do now, Florida Keys Fishing Guides

2800
03:23:42,540 --> 03:23:48,920
Association, you know, we were interested in Florida Bay, but we understood and supported

2801
03:23:48,920 --> 03:23:54,060
mod waters even though it didn't really solve our problems. The problem I've got

2802
03:23:54,060 --> 03:23:59,460
That today is Florida Bay, you know, to the degree that the district can do their work,

2803
03:23:59,620 --> 03:24:01,760
we built the frog pond detention area.

2804
03:24:02,300 --> 03:24:08,000
The water to deal with the salinities in Florida Bay and the restoration of those salinity

2805
03:24:08,000 --> 03:24:10,020
regimes was in the A1 reservoir.

2806
03:24:10,580 --> 03:24:11,440
That was the plan.

2807
03:24:12,640 --> 03:24:15,140
That water is no longer going to be available.

2808
03:24:15,760 --> 03:24:19,140
I've still got a problem, and I've brought this up a couple of times.

2809
03:24:19,140 --> 03:24:24,540
I've met with staff with the idea that we have a whole bunch of habitat units attached

2810
03:24:25,080 --> 03:24:27,200
to SEPP in Florida Bay.

2811
03:24:27,740 --> 03:24:29,460
Nobody has yet explained to me.

2812
03:24:29,580 --> 03:24:35,320
Going back 24 years ago, I understood full well, Tamiami Trail restored Northeast Shark

2813
03:24:35,320 --> 03:24:35,960
River Slope.

2814
03:24:36,840 --> 03:24:42,780
And now I'm being told that basically that project that's at interfaces with SEPP

2815
03:24:42,780 --> 03:24:44,940
now solves Florida Bay's problems.

2816
03:24:44,940 --> 03:24:53,840
I don't want Florida Bay included in the benefits of SEP unless somebody can explain to me how Florida Bay is benefiting.

2817
03:24:54,380 --> 03:24:55,200
Nobody's done that yet.

2818
03:24:56,700 --> 03:25:04,500
I understand full well how water gets there, and the only way water is going to get into Florida Bay through this system,

2819
03:25:04,640 --> 03:25:09,480
whether you put water at Tamiami Trail or not, is out of a pump somewhere way south.

2820
03:25:09,860 --> 03:25:11,040
We can do that today.

2821
03:25:11,040 --> 03:25:15,320
We don't need SEP to start those pumps running, what we need is water.

2822
03:25:15,840 --> 03:25:20,260
So if we're not going to build water storage, I don't understand where the benefit is.

2823
03:25:20,340 --> 03:25:26,340
If you can run the pump today, that seems like a pre-existing situation, pre-project condition.

2824
03:25:27,260 --> 03:25:29,140
I've brought this up a couple of times.

2825
03:25:29,340 --> 03:25:35,980
I would very, very strongly recommend that somebody on the staff either explain to me the benefits of Florida Bay

2826
03:25:35,980 --> 03:25:40,540
or get it out of the benefits that are being listed for SEP.

2827
03:25:40,540 --> 03:25:42,880
I've asked that before, nothing's happened.

2828
03:25:43,860 --> 03:25:47,180
I would ask you guys to support me in requesting that somebody give that to me.

2829
03:25:47,900 --> 03:25:48,420
Thank you.

2830
03:25:48,780 --> 03:25:53,100
All right, thank you, Mike and Ernie, if you can follow up with me on that.

2831
03:25:56,300 --> 03:25:57,340
Ms. Musgrove, welcome back.

2832
03:25:57,400 --> 03:26:00,080
Martha Musgrove, Florida Wildlife Federation.

2833
03:26:01,060 --> 03:26:06,960
And I am so glad that you have finally made the tie between the SEP project and

2834
03:26:06,960 --> 03:26:08,140
the ModWaters project.

2835
03:26:08,140 --> 03:26:16,100
And I'm even greater thrilled that ModWaters will be complete this year because that was

2836
03:26:16,100 --> 03:26:25,500
one that when I was a young and vigorous editorial writer, we worked very hard to get in and to

2837
03:26:25,500 --> 03:26:27,840
get the frog pond detention areas, et cetera.

2838
03:26:28,560 --> 03:26:35,480
I think that the completion of ModWaters helps a lot with the date, South Day's

2839
03:26:35,480 --> 03:26:41,740
see the whole and the understanding of how the flow of water will go.

2840
03:26:42,160 --> 03:26:47,100
So I don't want you to take your attention off of my water,

2841
03:26:47,660 --> 03:26:50,040
because you're very close to completing something.

2842
03:26:50,460 --> 03:26:55,420
And it will be very beneficial, not only to Everglades National Park,

2843
03:26:55,820 --> 03:27:03,540
but also the very parts of Florida Bay that the water coming out of the C111

2844
03:27:03,540 --> 03:27:08,900
Spreader canal should help with this will entity levels and thank you for that

2845
03:27:09,800 --> 03:27:16,660
You're you're taking you're going to get to take the vows of something like four previous sports

2846
03:27:19,020 --> 03:27:25,220
Thank You Martha I know further additional public comment

2847
03:27:25,220 --> 03:27:29,080
Then we're going to go ahead. It's it's

2848
03:27:29,700 --> 03:27:33,520
12.20 we're going to break for lunch. We're going to come back in a half an hour

2849
03:27:34,000 --> 03:27:38,320
and up next will be the land assessment process update. Thank you.

2850
03:31:31,660 --> 03:31:37,480
All right, we'll call the meeting back to order, and we are ready for item number 32 on

2851
03:31:37,480 --> 03:31:42,420
the agenda, and we'll look to rake hallmark for update on the land assessment process.

2852
03:31:43,140 --> 03:31:43,280
Right?

2853
03:31:48,130 --> 03:31:52,950
This afternoon I have two items for you. We'll begin with item 32, which is introduction

2854
03:31:52,950 --> 03:32:01,230
to the Everglades region, our last land assessment region of the five that we began

2855
03:32:01,230 --> 03:32:02,410
with back in January.

2856
03:32:04,760 --> 03:32:10,240
This region has 7 project areas and 27 assessment units. It is the largest

2857
03:32:10,240 --> 03:32:20,240
of the regions that by far it's larger than the other 4 units combined with 434,000 acres

2858
03:32:20,240 --> 03:32:26,920
to be assessed. The properties are located in Broward, Hendry, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach

2859
03:32:26,920 --> 03:32:27,320
counties.

2860
03:32:31,370 --> 03:32:35,350
There are of the seven areas that were talked about, the flow

2861
03:32:35,350 --> 03:32:42,810
equalization basins take up about 35,000 acres. These areas were needed to better

2862
03:32:42,810 --> 03:32:48,850
manage water and nutrient flow into the Everglades. They include the C139 NX,

2863
03:32:49,190 --> 03:32:59,810
the A1 and A2 basins. The stormwater treatment areas are located primarily in

2864
03:32:59,810 --> 03:33:01,590
in Henry and Palm Beach counties.

2865
03:33:04,640 --> 03:33:10,820
We have five different STAs, including one east, one west,

2866
03:33:11,040 --> 03:33:17,900
two, three, three, four, and five, six. There is a small out parcel in part of one west,

2867
03:33:18,520 --> 03:33:22,160
which we'll look at as we go through the process.

2868
03:33:27,920 --> 03:33:31,820
The water conservation areas are

2869
03:33:31,820 --> 03:33:36,660
For the largest part of this assessment, there's almost 240,000 acres.

2870
03:33:37,340 --> 03:33:42,880
In this total footprint of the water conservation areas, it's almost 850,000 acres.

2871
03:33:43,760 --> 03:33:51,160
But the district has ownership of the 240,000, which comprises about 28% of the total area

2872
03:33:51,160 --> 03:33:51,980
of these projects.

2873
03:33:53,320 --> 03:34:00,820
The northern part of the WCA's entails a national wildlife refuge, which is managed

2874
03:34:00,820 --> 03:34:02,460
by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

2875
03:34:06,060 --> 03:34:13,420
The C-139 Annex contains approximately 15,000 acres of – part of it is citrus grove and

2876
03:34:13,420 --> 03:34:17,800
the anticipation is that this will be restored to wet prairie and scattered cypher stones.

2877
03:34:18,440 --> 03:34:23,360
There are a couple of island hammocks and many depression marshes and slew ways that

2878
03:34:23,360 --> 03:34:25,960
will be put back into their natural state.

2879
03:34:28,260 --> 03:34:32,600
The east coast buffer, the maps will show – have two slides that show the northern

2880
03:34:32,600 --> 03:34:36,040
and southern parts, total is 31,000 acres.

2881
03:34:37,020 --> 03:34:40,160
There are 10 assessment units within this area.

2882
03:34:40,700 --> 03:34:43,500
It entails three counties, Palm Beach, Broward,

2883
03:34:43,580 --> 03:34:44,460
and Miami-Dade.

2884
03:34:45,100 --> 03:34:48,020
These include properties that have a variety of functions

2885
03:34:48,020 --> 03:34:50,500
from seepage management, impoundments,

2886
03:34:50,660 --> 03:34:51,620
and restored wetlands.

2887
03:34:52,340 --> 03:34:53,740
Some areas are used for recreation,

2888
03:34:54,620 --> 03:34:56,480
and a few small areas are leased.

2889
03:34:56,880 --> 03:35:01,120
We have some parcels that need closer assessment,

2890
03:35:01,120 --> 03:35:03,780
not supported by the district's core mission.

2891
03:35:08,680 --> 03:35:15,260
The south gate wetlands total almost 37,400 and almost 3,500 acres

2892
03:35:15,260 --> 03:35:18,900
includes the southern glades which is west of US-1,

2893
03:35:19,400 --> 03:35:22,200
model lands which lie east of US-1,

2894
03:35:22,440 --> 03:35:26,320
and the Biscayne Bay coastal wetlands which overlaps the model lands.

2895
03:35:31,220 --> 03:35:34,560
There are three unassociated parcels in this assessment area

2896
03:35:34,560 --> 03:35:41,340
including the L-8 parcel, which is 8,700 acres, along the L-8 canal in Palm Beach County,

2897
03:35:41,940 --> 03:35:48,160
an 800-acre parcel along the west side of the Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge,

2898
03:35:48,640 --> 03:35:52,540
and the Deer Fence parcel, which is about 500 acres located in Hendry County.

2899
03:35:54,140 --> 03:36:00,840
Our schedule of events for this assessment area includes primarily public meetings,

2900
03:36:00,840 --> 03:36:07,840
which will take place during the comment period, which is that meeting will be held in June 26th.

2901
03:36:08,400 --> 03:36:13,840
There's also a follow-up public meeting during the recommendation period on August 28th.

2902
03:36:14,380 --> 03:36:23,340
We'll bring this also back to the RAC on September 5th and the governing board on September 12th.

2903
03:36:23,420 --> 03:36:26,840
I do want to bring your attention to the second line from the bottom,

2904
03:36:26,840 --> 03:36:32,400
which is Public Recommendation Comment Period concluded, and we don't want that to be misrepresented.

2905
03:36:32,880 --> 03:36:38,580
It is the time just to keep on schedule that we take it off of the website for comments,

2906
03:36:38,720 --> 03:36:44,000
but of course, we accept comments from the public or our staff throughout this process

2907
03:36:44,000 --> 03:36:49,800
and as we move forward with the follow-up phases of this exercise.

2908
03:36:50,460 --> 03:36:57,780
And with that, ask if you have any comments or questions on the Region 5 Everglades region.

2909
03:37:00,140 --> 03:37:03,660
Region 5, any questions on the WAN's update?

2910
03:37:06,470 --> 03:37:09,770
If not, Reagan, are there any public comment on this item?

2911
03:37:13,790 --> 03:37:14,330
Thank you, Ray.

2912
03:37:14,690 --> 03:37:17,010
And you want to move to Agenda Item Number 33.

2913
03:37:28,600 --> 03:37:33,400
The next item I bring to you today is regarding the second of our regions.

2914
03:37:33,400 --> 03:37:38,440
and this one, we have some recommendations for a few other parcels.

2915
03:37:39,340 --> 03:37:45,620
This request, just to give you the sequence of events that we anticipate as we move forward,

2916
03:37:46,320 --> 03:37:55,060
include that we will look into opportunities for exchange or surplus of these few properties.

2917
03:37:55,540 --> 03:38:01,680
We'll follow the DEP guidelines, which asks us to first seek exchanges to obtain lands

2918
03:38:01,680 --> 03:38:06,220
needed to achieve the district's core mission, also to conduct sufficient investigations

2919
03:38:06,220 --> 03:38:11,240
of each property to ground truth the data regarding natural and cultural resources and

2920
03:38:11,240 --> 03:38:15,420
opportunities to receive equal or greater water resource protection and economic value.

2921
03:38:16,880 --> 03:38:21,140
Following all of our investigations and due diligence, we will come back to the board

2922
03:38:21,140 --> 03:38:27,680
with each one of these properties before any exchange or surplus action or donation.

2923
03:38:29,320 --> 03:38:34,240
But this will be just asking your permission to move forward with the due diligence and

2924
03:38:34,240 --> 03:38:39,840
the staff time to investigate each one of the parcels to make sure that what we are recommending,

2925
03:38:40,180 --> 03:38:47,100
coming back to you in the final will be the best use for this property or the best purpose

2926
03:38:47,100 --> 03:38:47,600
for those.

2927
03:38:48,940 --> 03:38:55,580
The summary of results for the Kissimmee Everglades area totaled over 161,000 acres.

2928
03:38:56,840 --> 03:39:01,240
96% of the acre just to remain in its current use based on our recommendation.

2929
03:39:01,900 --> 03:39:06,380
There are only eight parcels recommended for exchange surplus or donation.

2930
03:39:06,820 --> 03:39:14,140
Those include three properties in their entirety and five proposed for only partial disposition.

2931
03:39:15,660 --> 03:39:18,320
I'll go through those eight properties fairly quickly.

2932
03:39:19,340 --> 03:39:23,360
The first one is what we call the Tiger Lake parcel.

2933
03:39:24,320 --> 03:39:29,500
It's a 31.7 acre parcel located on the east side of Tiger Lake.

2934
03:39:29,800 --> 03:39:39,880
When we acquired the lands for the Kissimmee Chain Lakes effort, we, for the most part,

2935
03:39:39,940 --> 03:39:42,500
on this lake, we only acquired easements.

2936
03:39:42,500 --> 03:39:43,760
We did not acquire fee.

2937
03:39:44,420 --> 03:39:50,200
This was one of the few parcels where the owner would not sell us just an easement on the property

2938
03:39:50,200 --> 03:39:51,980
and insisted that we buy the whole thing.

2939
03:39:52,640 --> 03:40:02,260
There are some areas, small areas below the 54-foot contour line for the semi-chain restoration.

2940
03:40:03,360 --> 03:40:08,460
And those areas, we will retain a conservation flow adjustment to meet the requirements

2941
03:40:08,460 --> 03:40:11,840
of the course restoration of these areas.

2942
03:40:11,840 --> 03:40:16,080
and the water elevation changes that are anticipated.

2943
03:40:16,600 --> 03:40:20,820
This is located in Polk County and it has a small older house on it.

2944
03:40:21,020 --> 03:40:27,380
There's no one living in it, but it does in the areas that would be transferred in be unencumbered.

2945
03:40:27,620 --> 03:40:30,260
There's just a few small areas and the house lies in one of those.

2946
03:40:33,160 --> 03:40:37,540
The second are there are two parcels located on the west side of the Kissimmee River

2947
03:40:37,540 --> 03:40:39,020
in what is known as Pool D.

2948
03:40:39,020 --> 03:40:44,740
This is the area poorly e. I'm sorry in the area south of the southern part of the

2949
03:40:44,740 --> 03:40:45,840
the

2950
03:40:45,840 --> 03:40:54,960
semi-river and the canal that is not anticipated to be restored these fall sites were created when the channel was dug and

2951
03:40:56,060 --> 03:41:00,240
Right now they are not linked or associated to any other

2952
03:41:00,240 --> 03:41:03,700
district properties and we feel that the

2953
03:41:03,700 --> 03:41:07,880
The best purpose for these would be to go ahead and surplus those and use those funds

2954
03:41:07,880 --> 03:41:12,200
For efforts that better serve the district's core mission. The

2955
03:41:15,940 --> 03:41:18,380
third entire parcel is a

2956
03:41:18,880 --> 03:41:23,120
20-acre parcel located in St. Cloud in Osceola County

2957
03:41:23,740 --> 03:41:27,080
Parcel was initially acquired to build a field station

2958
03:41:27,080 --> 03:41:33,860
Move the old field station from Kissimmee over to St. Cloud as it turned out there was an eagle's nest on the property

2959
03:41:33,860 --> 03:41:37,020
He has not left. She has not left

2960
03:41:37,680 --> 03:41:43,460
They have not left, and so we never built the field station there.

2961
03:41:43,560 --> 03:41:48,120
We acquired another piece of property for that, and that has already been constructed.

2962
03:41:48,660 --> 03:41:53,180
The property really is not joining anything the district can use as far as its core purpose,

2963
03:41:53,880 --> 03:41:58,320
and we are recommending the sale of this property outright.

2964
03:42:01,080 --> 03:42:07,280
Of the partial dispositions, again with what we call the four E's parcel,

2965
03:42:08,020 --> 03:42:13,060
This is located on both the north. The parcels are located on the north and south side of 98.

2966
03:42:13,280 --> 03:42:16,660
We're proposing to surplus only the part on the south side.

2967
03:42:16,900 --> 03:42:18,680
There are about two-thirds of the property.

2968
03:42:19,020 --> 03:42:23,580
It lies within the 100-year flood plain.

2969
03:42:24,060 --> 03:42:31,800
And we would retain a conservation flow adjustment on that to go along with the restoration of the river.

2970
03:42:32,300 --> 03:42:36,860
The part of the property that lies north and adjacent to the river,

2971
03:42:36,860 --> 03:42:38,900
we would retain that in full.

2972
03:42:43,520 --> 03:42:46,580
The Pierce Locket estate also located on the south side of Highway

2973
03:42:46,580 --> 03:42:52,020
98 adjacent to the river was donated along with a larger parcel on the north side of

2974
03:42:52,020 --> 03:42:56,700
the highway to the district with some very stringent deed restrictions which required

2975
03:42:56,700 --> 03:43:02,140
that the district retain this property for educational and historic purposes. It has

2976
03:43:02,140 --> 03:43:08,080
an old schoolhouse on it that is in poor condition that dates back to about 1915.

2977
03:43:08,080 --> 03:43:14,000
It has a cemetery-owned site that dates back to the 1880s, and it has several structures

2978
03:43:14,000 --> 03:43:20,380
including the historic house of the Pierce Lockett estate, and the requirements were

2979
03:43:20,380 --> 03:43:25,180
that this be retained for educational and historical purposes as part of the de-transfer

2980
03:43:25,680 --> 03:43:31,660
as the district does not have the funding or the expertise to operate a historic site.

2981
03:43:31,660 --> 03:43:38,960
we are recommending that we try to transfer the property to an organization that is better

2982
03:43:38,960 --> 03:43:46,180
able and willing to honor the deed restrictions that go along with this property.

2983
03:43:50,290 --> 03:43:55,930
The Telix Marsh Parcel is a small 20-acre parcel located on the east side of the Simi

2984
03:43:55,930 --> 03:43:58,110
River in Pool E in Okeechobee County.

2985
03:43:58,750 --> 03:44:03,270
It is actually adjacent to an Okeechobee County Park, and Okeechobee County has

2986
03:44:03,270 --> 03:44:07,130
as a long-term management agreement with the district for this property.

2987
03:44:07,570 --> 03:44:14,430
We propose to seek to transfer the property to a Kachove County if they so are willing.

2988
03:44:15,010 --> 03:44:21,410
Otherwise, we'll exchange surplus or donate the property and retain a easement along the

2989
03:44:21,410 --> 03:44:24,970
floodplain areas to protect those areas of the property.

2990
03:44:25,310 --> 03:44:26,610
The bulk of it is uplands.

2991
03:44:32,350 --> 03:44:40,150
The next is four pieces somewhat interconnected by access easements in the Paradise Run and

2992
03:44:40,150 --> 03:44:41,310
north of the lake areas.

2993
03:44:41,830 --> 03:44:48,010
The two northern properties that you see are total about 2,600 acres, more or less.

2994
03:44:48,450 --> 03:44:54,150
We would retain ownership of lands within the river flood plains plus adequate buffer

2995
03:44:54,150 --> 03:44:59,770
and benefit land management operations in these areas too and ensure.

2996
03:45:00,020 --> 03:45:04,240
That wherever possible, we can allow for public access and protect the properties.

2997
03:45:04,720 --> 03:45:11,100
We would seek to exchange or surplus the southern lands which are away from any of the floodplain

2998
03:45:11,100 --> 03:45:17,280
areas and utilize that for either through exchange process to get lands that are better

2999
03:45:17,280 --> 03:45:25,900
suited and to replace lands or acquire lands within the north of the lake and the Paradise

3000
03:45:25,900 --> 03:45:28,680
area, if at all possible.

3001
03:45:33,590 --> 03:45:37,210
The last of the eight parcels is what we call nub and slew. There's

3002
03:45:37,210 --> 03:45:44,070
an existing project you can see in the center of this that is where the white area is located.

3003
03:45:45,290 --> 03:45:52,250
This area is an existing STA that's been constructed and it's operational or almost

3004
03:45:52,250 --> 03:45:57,370
operational. The area in the northwest corner of the property has been restored to its

3005
03:45:57,370 --> 03:46:04,390
natural state and the area in the northeast is about 300 acres of pasture land that is

3006
03:46:04,390 --> 03:46:06,570
currently leased for cattle grazing.

3007
03:46:07,570 --> 03:46:13,170
That is one area that we would propose to seek an opportunity to exchange or surplus

3008
03:46:13,170 --> 03:46:19,990
that property and also about an 80 acre parcel in the bottom that's adjacent to Highway

3009
03:46:19,990 --> 03:46:26,570
710 that is not needed for the project and we would look into opportunities to

3010
03:46:26,570 --> 03:46:35,010
to transfer or exchange that property to someone who could better utilize it and benefit the

3011
03:46:35,010 --> 03:46:42,790
rest of our projects. Just a brief recap of our process. I just wanted to make it clear

3012
03:46:42,790 --> 03:46:49,410
that what we're asking for today is just to request that you all approve to conduct

3013
03:46:49,410 --> 03:46:55,250
additional exchange or surplus investigations, do more in-depth due diligence, including

3014
03:46:55,250 --> 03:46:59,830
in determining what the funding restrictions are and see how that would impact any transfer

3015
03:46:59,830 --> 03:47:03,910
of the properties to look at the land use and deed restrictions on these properties

3016
03:47:03,910 --> 03:47:08,890
to make sure that whatever is decided and brought back to you for a final decision

3017
03:47:08,890 --> 03:47:13,810
is the appropriate thing to do. We will do inquiries to other state and local government

3018
03:47:13,810 --> 03:47:18,730
interests first to make sure that there's no need for any of these properties or

3019
03:47:18,730 --> 03:47:23,390
portions to them, and then we would come back for final approval.

3020
03:47:24,090 --> 03:47:31,010
I did want to bring you up to date on also the rat comments, and we received a few comments

3021
03:47:31,010 --> 03:47:36,110
from that public meeting to retain several of the properties, especially some of the

3022
03:47:36,110 --> 03:47:39,410
properties along the Kissimmee River and the Chain of Lakes.

3023
03:47:40,050 --> 03:47:45,330
There were other comments for the most part that agreed with our recommendations to

3024
03:47:45,330 --> 03:47:49,010
to go ahead and move forward with further investigating each of these properties.

3025
03:47:49,790 --> 03:47:57,590
We had public meetings, two public meetings in this region, plus public comments, and overall

3026
03:47:57,590 --> 03:48:03,710
there was no significant objections from our staff, but we've considered all of those as

3027
03:48:03,710 --> 03:48:06,210
part of our recommendation coming to you today.

3028
03:48:06,990 --> 03:48:14,790
And with that, I'd like to ask the Governing Board to enact on this resolution and request

3029
03:48:14,790 --> 03:48:19,850
in your authorization to keep analyzing district options for the properties identified?

3030
03:48:22,410 --> 03:48:23,210
Thank you.

3031
03:48:23,210 --> 03:48:23,550
Thanks, Ray.

3032
03:48:23,850 --> 03:48:24,730
I just have a quick question.

3033
03:48:25,010 --> 03:48:25,150
Sure.

3034
03:48:26,390 --> 03:48:29,270
Just on the Pierce Locket parcel.

3035
03:48:29,970 --> 03:48:33,770
Why are we not, and maybe it's not possible to give it back to their heirs?

3036
03:48:33,910 --> 03:48:35,550
Because it was donated to the district.

3037
03:48:35,690 --> 03:48:38,610
I don't even know in what year for specific educational purposes.

3038
03:48:38,750 --> 03:48:42,550
And if it's too expensive or we can't do it, shouldn't we just re-deed it?

3039
03:48:43,430 --> 03:48:45,970
That would be one of the things that we would definitely look into.

3040
03:48:46,270 --> 03:48:53,970
I think that has been looked into before and then there was the active members of the family were not interested at that time.

3041
03:48:54,210 --> 03:49:01,570
But we will that's one of the first things that we would do is go back and see if there's any possibility that the family would be interested in taking it back over.

3042
03:49:01,890 --> 03:49:11,010
But up to this point, there hasn't been and that one is a pretty unique property and more than really kind of trying to sell it.

3043
03:49:11,010 --> 03:49:14,950
I think our mission right now is more trying to find a good home for it.

3044
03:49:15,070 --> 03:49:19,050
Oh, absolutely. This one, they're probably not a profit that, you know,

3045
03:49:19,130 --> 03:49:22,570
could take care of it and utilize it better than

3046
03:49:22,570 --> 03:49:24,270
the Water Management District.

3047
03:49:25,550 --> 03:49:28,130
That same parcel, Ray, how long have we had that?

3048
03:49:28,870 --> 03:49:31,850
I don't have the, let me see.

3049
03:49:32,270 --> 03:49:33,890
I might have it in front of me just a moment.

3050
03:49:36,510 --> 03:49:39,810
More than 20 years, yes. And I know it's been that long. Let me see.

3051
03:49:39,810 --> 03:49:45,290
Are there not-for-profits or historical entities that are interested in it that we know of?

3052
03:49:45,490 --> 03:49:51,270
Yes, we've had any number of government agencies that have looked into taking over the property,

3053
03:49:51,410 --> 03:49:55,310
including the county, Fish and Wildlife Conservation Service.

3054
03:49:55,790 --> 03:50:00,170
There's several non-profits who are currently interested in looking at it.

3055
03:50:00,290 --> 03:50:05,410
So we really want to do a lot of due diligence to make sure that if we transfer this,

3056
03:50:05,530 --> 03:50:07,770
it is being protected as the deed requires.

3057
03:50:08,490 --> 03:50:12,170
Well, they'll understand that they can't title it subdued to the dealership.

3058
03:50:12,330 --> 03:50:12,730
Absolutely.

3059
03:50:13,350 --> 03:50:15,210
But we want to get it to someone that can actually perform.

3060
03:50:15,370 --> 03:50:15,470
Right.

3061
03:50:15,730 --> 03:50:15,850
Yeah.

3062
03:50:16,350 --> 03:50:17,490
That's the resources they do it.

3063
03:50:18,850 --> 03:50:19,630
Mr. Petruanda.

3064
03:50:20,210 --> 03:50:20,350
Yes.

3065
03:50:20,610 --> 03:50:26,650
Ray, when you come back to us for final disposition, will there be an estimate of value on these

3066
03:50:26,650 --> 03:50:27,030
parcels?

3067
03:50:27,510 --> 03:50:32,690
Yes, we anticipate the steps will probably be that that's one of the things we will

3068
03:50:32,690 --> 03:50:37,330
need to do is, well, other than doing the due diligence, we will also go ahead

3069
03:50:37,330 --> 03:50:42,570
and acquire an appraisal, I think that'll be a minimum expense compared to what we're

3070
03:50:42,570 --> 03:50:45,550
going and trying to do with these properties for the most part.

3071
03:50:46,070 --> 03:50:50,370
We'll have that appraisal in hand when we come back to you, so you'll have all the

3072
03:50:50,370 --> 03:50:55,090
information and a very good idea if we did sell it or put it out for bid or whatever

3073
03:50:55,090 --> 03:50:59,050
what the minimum value would be to meet the statutes if it goes out for a bid process.

3074
03:50:59,210 --> 03:51:03,470
But we would have that information for you when we come back, including any environmental

3075
03:51:03,470 --> 03:51:06,530
or ecological information that we have or may need.

3076
03:51:06,530 --> 03:51:12,410
Thank you. Mr. Hutchcraft. On the Tiger Lake parcel, do you have an idea about what percentage

3077
03:51:12,410 --> 03:51:18,590
of that property would be encumbered by the flow adjustment? Just a general look at it,

3078
03:51:18,630 --> 03:51:25,510
it looks like it would be about 80, 75, 80% would be encumbered. Only small areas would

3079
03:51:25,510 --> 03:51:31,070
not be this. And they aren't even contiguous. They're one at the very southern edge and

3080
03:51:31,070 --> 03:51:35,270
one in the eastern, middle part of the eastern edge that would be uplands and

3081
03:51:35,270 --> 03:51:38,830
up for them to have highway access and be able to get in if they wanted to build a home.

3082
03:51:39,210 --> 03:51:41,970
And they would have access across the entire property to the lake.

3083
03:51:42,210 --> 03:51:42,430
Okay.

3084
03:51:42,850 --> 03:51:50,850
And then on the St. Cloud Field Station site, would that be free of any district restrictions

3085
03:51:50,850 --> 03:51:53,190
or are you looking at putting district restrictions on it?

3086
03:51:53,630 --> 03:51:58,450
No, we wouldn't put any district restrictions on it because there's really no significant

3087
03:51:58,950 --> 03:52:00,150
wetlands on that property.

3088
03:52:00,150 --> 03:52:04,310
and any protection of the ego would fall under other statutes.

3089
03:52:05,270 --> 03:52:11,150
I do think it's important to kind of point out that this is another step in the process.

3090
03:52:11,990 --> 03:52:17,590
And there's still substantial weighing of costs and benefits that need to occur.

3091
03:52:18,150 --> 03:52:24,630
And, you know, wow, I know there's some stakeholders that would love for the district to never sell any property.

3092
03:52:25,210 --> 03:52:27,470
I think we need to look at what our priorities are

3093
03:52:27,470 --> 03:52:32,330
and then what the values that these properties would generate and weigh that.

3094
03:52:32,510 --> 03:52:38,630
There's going to be circumstances where there's going to be property that has significant fair market value

3095
03:52:38,630 --> 03:52:42,930
and that if we can take that property that we're not getting much benefit out of,

3096
03:52:43,210 --> 03:52:48,090
convert that into real money and then identify real projects that now we can do

3097
03:52:48,610 --> 03:52:52,450
because of liquidating that parcel property,

3098
03:52:52,930 --> 03:52:56,290
then that's a win-win for everybody and that helps us to accomplish our goals.

3099
03:52:56,730 --> 03:53:03,170
There's other circumstances where the market value, once you put on the easements and the

3100
03:53:03,170 --> 03:53:07,090
protections and you look at the tiny pieces that are left over that we might say, you

3101
03:53:07,090 --> 03:53:09,210
know what, the benefit is just not there.

3102
03:53:09,650 --> 03:53:14,350
So this is a step in the process, this isn't the end of the process and there is opportunity

3103
03:53:14,350 --> 03:53:19,910
for more public input, but I think that there could be some, I think, exciting

3104
03:53:19,910 --> 03:53:23,970
opportunities to say, hey, we can do some stuff that we don't have money to do

3105
03:53:23,970 --> 03:53:24,390
right now.

3106
03:53:24,390 --> 03:53:38,570
So I thank Ray and the staff for doing a good job of drilling down on these, and I know it's a tremendous undertaking when you do it, you know, on all the different regions, and then you come back with, you know, 4% of the properties in this region.

3107
03:53:39,650 --> 03:53:50,630
And I really look forward to finding out what are the options, you know, and what are the values and what can we do with those dollars. And so I'm intrigued by what the next round of information will bring.

3108
03:53:50,990 --> 03:53:52,690
Any other board comment, Mr. Powers?

3109
03:53:52,690 --> 03:53:57,610
Just an add on thank you, Mr. Chair. Yeah, Ray, I really, you're going about this the

3110
03:53:57,610 --> 03:54:03,810
right way. I've been fully supportive of including an appraisal, as you've suggested, in all of

3111
03:54:03,810 --> 03:54:07,950
that. So we're going to have current market data as this board goes about making a decision

3112
03:54:07,950 --> 03:54:09,810
on these properties. Thank you.

3113
03:54:12,380 --> 03:54:16,860
Ray, as part of your report, do you include the overhead that each of these parcels

3114
03:54:16,860 --> 03:54:18,280
cost us to maintain each year?

3115
03:54:19,180 --> 03:54:22,680
We anticipate going through that process. We know what it costs us to acquire.

3116
03:54:22,680 --> 03:54:28,180
we know what it costs us to maintain on an ongoing basis, and that'll be part of our decision

3117
03:54:28,180 --> 03:54:29,140
to come back to you.

3118
03:54:29,480 --> 03:54:29,960
Anybody

3119
03:54:32,580 --> 03:54:32,900
else?

3120
03:54:35,650 --> 03:54:37,710
Okay, so we have a public comment.

3121
03:54:38,330 --> 03:54:39,630
We have two public comments.

3122
03:54:39,970 --> 03:54:41,570
Mr. Eric Draper, followed by Drew Martin.

3123
03:54:42,870 --> 03:54:43,350
Welcome

3124
03:54:46,680 --> 03:54:46,960
back.

3125
03:54:47,100 --> 03:54:47,380
Good afternoon.

3126
03:54:47,860 --> 03:54:48,760
Thank you very much.

3127
03:54:49,600 --> 03:54:51,380
It's an interesting listening discussion.

3128
03:54:51,860 --> 03:54:53,220
My organization is a property owner.

3129
03:54:53,360 --> 03:54:55,280
We have extensive holdings throughout the state of Ford.

3130
03:54:55,640 --> 03:55:00,480
I know the trials of having land that you don't necessarily want and trying

3131
03:55:00,480 --> 03:55:00,920
to take care of it.

3132
03:55:00,920 --> 03:55:02,700
land that you really do want to take care of.

3133
03:55:03,640 --> 03:55:10,080
I'm going to ask you today to just consider altering this resolution, some to make it more

3134
03:55:10,080 --> 03:55:16,900
consistent with what it seems to be, the express activities that Ray was talking about in

3135
03:55:16,900 --> 03:55:18,020
the presentation itself.

3136
03:55:18,940 --> 03:55:25,560
The resolution focuses on the word disposal, which has a very specific meaning, and even

3137
03:55:25,560 --> 03:55:29,840
Even though there's the intention of bringing this back, specific items back to the governing

3138
03:55:29,840 --> 03:55:37,500
board, I would ask that you maybe phrase this or give staff direction other than just considering

3139
03:55:37,500 --> 03:55:38,120
disposal.

3140
03:55:38,380 --> 03:55:41,800
Let me tell you why I think you ought to look at something other than just the idea

3141
03:55:41,800 --> 03:55:42,380
of disposal.

3142
03:55:44,100 --> 03:55:50,660
First of all, I just want to say that you are governed at least on some of these lands

3143
03:55:50,660 --> 03:55:59,660
by both statues 373.089 and an article 10 of the Constitution that put determinations

3144
03:55:59,660 --> 03:56:02,640
you have to have on disposable land.

3145
03:56:02,980 --> 03:56:07,480
And so some of these projects actually, some of these lands do in fact have significant

3146
03:56:07,480 --> 03:56:08,500
wildlife values.

3147
03:56:08,780 --> 03:56:11,460
And by the way, I should say that this is not our first time commenting on this.

3148
03:56:11,640 --> 03:56:15,680
My colleague Charles Lee has been at the public hearings and our members have submitted

3149
03:56:16,680 --> 03:56:21,260
extensive comments through the process that the water management district has gone through with.

3150
03:56:21,400 --> 03:56:24,920
I also want to pull back and say just one of the things I was looking through the agenda item.

3151
03:56:25,000 --> 03:56:28,220
I want to make a note of this point, which you're starting out with the Cassini watershed.

3152
03:56:29,140 --> 03:56:35,780
This is, you know, the Northern Everglades is overdue for some love and attention by the

3153
03:56:35,780 --> 03:56:38,080
governing board and the water management district.

3154
03:56:38,240 --> 03:56:41,100
Thank you for acknowledging that, Mr. Executive Director.

3155
03:56:50,520 --> 03:56:56,060
Anyway, we would like you to consider these projects also in the context of what you can

3156
03:56:56,060 --> 03:56:58,860
do for the Northern Epiculate.

3157
03:56:59,120 --> 03:57:03,100
So I'll just point out that a number of these have wildlife values.

3158
03:57:03,240 --> 03:57:09,280
Some of them also have potential for recreational values, and even though that's not the focus,

3159
03:57:09,280 --> 03:57:13,100
particularly under Governor Scott, and I know we changed a little bit the focus of the water management districts,

3160
03:57:13,220 --> 03:57:17,320
the focus less on recreational values, but you do have a lot of land, and part of

3161
03:57:17,320 --> 03:57:21,200
your charge is to provide some recreational opportunities. You've done a great job of restoring

3162
03:57:21,200 --> 03:57:25,100
the Kissimmee River, and some of these lands along the Kissimmee River might

3163
03:57:25,100 --> 03:57:28,640
just be ideal for just small-scale recreational

3164
03:57:29,180 --> 03:57:32,980
activities. I just got to see this film about the thousand miles and

3165
03:57:32,980 --> 03:57:37,100
a hundred days of people hiking and canoeing all the way up the wildlife

3166
03:57:37,100 --> 03:57:42,520
like corridor and the camping they did along the Kissimmee River was just inspiring.

3167
03:57:42,900 --> 03:57:44,720
So make sure the staff consider that.

3168
03:57:44,840 --> 03:57:49,800
All that goes to say that some of these big pieces, the 6,000 acres or so,

3169
03:57:49,860 --> 03:57:54,000
the Paradise Run piece, consider it on that.

3170
03:57:54,280 --> 03:57:57,660
Those pieces probably aren't appropriate where they are right now, but use them,

3171
03:57:57,860 --> 03:58:05,580
leverage those to help get something done with the Kissimmee River restoration.

3172
03:58:05,580 --> 03:58:08,900
There's still more that could be done there, and you could kind of swap those out or use

3173
03:58:08,900 --> 03:58:14,200
them for some kind of distributed water management types of activities that will produce long-term

3174
03:58:14,200 --> 03:58:15,300
conservation benefits.

3175
03:58:15,600 --> 03:58:16,880
I do appreciate your attention on this.

3176
03:58:16,940 --> 03:58:19,980
I would encourage you to maybe take a hard look at the resolution and see whether or

3177
03:58:19,980 --> 03:58:21,680
maybe you want to express it in a slightly different way.

3178
03:58:21,800 --> 03:58:22,460
Thank you very much.

3179
03:58:22,780 --> 03:58:23,380
Thank you.

3180
03:58:23,660 --> 03:58:28,800
And I'll just note that I'm receptive to tweaking the language to provide the

3181
03:58:28,800 --> 03:58:30,120
flexibility in the resolution.

3182
03:58:30,400 --> 03:58:32,780
We'll address that when it comes up.

3183
03:58:33,620 --> 03:58:34,520
Next, public comment.

3184
03:58:40,720 --> 03:58:47,500
I would just say that, you know, I appreciate the fact that, you know, there may be parcels

3185
03:58:47,500 --> 03:58:49,380
that you part with.

3186
03:58:49,720 --> 03:58:54,300
I think it's important to maintain them as they're being used so that if you transfer

3187
03:58:54,300 --> 03:58:59,300
them on to another user or a landowner that they're not going to totally change the

3188
03:58:59,300 --> 03:59:00,540
way the parcel is being used.

3189
03:59:00,860 --> 03:59:02,320
For instance, the schoolhouse.

3190
03:59:03,440 --> 03:59:07,460
I'm not as confident, I know you stated in the parcel that had the eagles nest.

3191
03:59:07,740 --> 03:59:11,260
You said, well, fish and wildlife would take care of that.

3192
03:59:11,440 --> 03:59:17,380
But I'm not as confident that they would do as good a job as the South Florida Water Management District

3193
03:59:17,380 --> 03:59:23,720
and that concerns me because I have seen cases where they have allowed people to build right up next to eagle nests.

3194
03:59:24,700 --> 03:59:31,400
And, you know, eagles, they need a little more space than just, you know, maybe what the rules permit.

3195
03:59:31,400 --> 03:59:38,020
it. So I also feel that, you know, you talk about the cost to overhead to hold these lands.

3196
03:59:38,180 --> 03:59:42,560
There's also a cost. If you transfer the lands to another owner, if they build on it and

3197
03:59:42,560 --> 03:59:48,180
you have to provide flood protection, that's a cost too. So it's not, I don't think, you

3198
03:59:48,180 --> 03:59:56,440
know, in the case, and I think as the Chair stated that in many cases, I believe it's

3199
03:59:56,440 --> 03:59:59,980
the chair, but someone stated there's many cases that you're not going to really...

3200
04:00:00,000 --> 04:00:12,060
Receive that much income out of this, and so I think it makes sense, and I would agree with Eric Draper's comments that the focus should not be just on disposal, but the best use of the lands. Thank you.

3201
04:00:12,720 --> 04:00:25,000
Thank you, Drew. No further public comment, then do we have a motion on the resolution? Mr. Oskar?

3202
04:00:25,000 --> 04:00:32,420
I'd make a motion that, in recognition of Ray's hard work, that 4% of the lands in the

3203
04:00:32,420 --> 04:00:39,480
Katsumi Okajobi region are not deemed to be part of the critical core purpose, and that

3204
04:00:39,480 --> 04:00:45,120
we authorize STAC to take the, to analyze available options, to partner, repurpose,

3205
04:00:45,340 --> 04:00:47,880
trade, donate, or sale those lands.

3206
04:00:48,060 --> 04:00:53,420
And part of that report that comes back, we'd like to take a look at the cost and

3207
04:00:53,420 --> 04:00:57,620
the revenue options and operating and maintenance that we're currently paying.

3208
04:00:58,300 --> 04:01:06,120
Okay, so let me just make sure that I understand what the motion is because we have a proposed resolution in front of us.

3209
04:01:07,100 --> 04:01:08,640
And if

3210
04:01:10,880 --> 04:01:19,060
the motion, if the intent of the motion is to adopt the resolution with some adjustment to the language, let's be specific.

3211
04:01:19,060 --> 04:01:27,680
And perhaps what we could do is consider, it says the resolution of the governing board

3212
04:01:27,680 --> 04:01:31,900
of the South Florida Water Management District directing staff to move forward to analyze

3213
04:01:31,900 --> 04:01:38,020
options, instead of just saying for disposal, we could say to analyze options, including

3214
04:01:38,020 --> 04:01:41,260
but not limited to disposal.

3215
04:01:44,480 --> 04:01:46,540
I just listed a number we can add.

3216
04:01:46,540 --> 04:01:50,480
I said partner repurposed trade, donate, sale, sell.

3217
04:01:51,420 --> 04:01:53,440
About for disposal or other use.

3218
04:01:54,940 --> 04:01:59,540
You could just leave it at options, and that way you don't have to specify, and it could be open to what we choose to do.

3219
04:01:59,620 --> 04:02:04,840
You can just say options of land interest, and then that way we're, I think, covered.

3220
04:02:06,100 --> 04:02:10,660
Okay, well, I'll defer to the motion maker and then to our general counsel.

3221
04:02:11,500 --> 04:02:14,400
Whenever the general counsel stands up, that's what you said.

3222
04:02:15,540 --> 04:02:19,900
I just want to clarify real quickly because what you're looking at on the screen of course

3223
04:02:19,900 --> 04:02:21,100
is the title to the resolution.

3224
04:02:21,780 --> 04:02:27,100
The body of the resolution itself does have a paragraph that further elaborates what the

3225
04:02:27,100 --> 04:02:31,540
resolution itself does and it talks about, it does use a term disposal but then it says

3226
04:02:31,540 --> 04:02:35,360
which recommendations may include and it lists several bullets and those bullets

3227
04:02:35,360 --> 04:02:39,440
right now include conveying to a government entity upon terms and conditions approved

3228
04:02:39,440 --> 04:02:43,720
by the board, it includes conveying as part of an exchange transaction and then

3229
04:02:43,720 --> 04:02:46,500
And it also includes the third bullet, which is offering for the public bid.

3230
04:02:46,960 --> 04:02:50,800
All three of those, though, of course, just to be clear, do involve the conveyance of

3231
04:02:50,800 --> 04:02:52,300
title at some point in the future.

3232
04:02:52,380 --> 04:02:57,660
They don't involve reassessment of whether we hold it and manage it differently, et cetera.

3233
04:02:57,820 --> 04:03:01,380
So I just want to make it clear that we use the term disposal, but I think it's really

3234
04:03:02,100 --> 04:03:05,400
conveyance because the three bullets that follow all would ultimately involve

3235
04:03:05,400 --> 04:03:06,040
a conveyance.

3236
04:03:06,380 --> 04:03:10,080
Okay, but Caroline, if we're going to analyze whether or not to convey something,

3237
04:03:10,080 --> 04:03:16,680
If that's what it says, to analyze the options for conveyance, if you analyze it and determine

3238
04:03:16,680 --> 04:03:22,580
that the fair market value is not sufficient to justify conveying it, then you wouldn't

3239
04:03:22,580 --> 04:03:23,300
do it.

3240
04:03:23,500 --> 04:03:23,780
That's right.

3241
04:03:23,980 --> 04:03:24,220
Absolutely.

3242
04:03:24,500 --> 04:03:30,800
If we could change the title of the resolution to at least say including but not limited

3243
04:03:30,800 --> 04:03:33,720
to disposal, I would feel more comfortable.

3244
04:03:35,540 --> 04:03:36,980
Including but not limited to.

3245
04:03:37,160 --> 04:03:37,500
Absolutely.

3246
04:03:37,800 --> 04:03:38,200
We can do that.

3247
04:03:39,280 --> 04:03:40,820
So I'm fine with that.

3248
04:03:41,160 --> 04:03:42,880
So there's a motion, is there a second?

3249
04:03:43,120 --> 04:03:43,260
Second.

3250
04:03:44,200 --> 04:03:45,440
There's a bunch of seconds.

3251
04:03:46,760 --> 04:03:48,280
Discussion on the resolution.

3252
04:03:49,260 --> 04:03:49,980
Who's seconded?

3253
04:03:50,700 --> 04:03:51,420
Mr. Sergeant.

3254
04:03:52,260 --> 04:03:52,560
None.

3255
04:03:53,480 --> 04:03:54,620
Then all those in favor?

3256
04:03:55,000 --> 04:03:55,440
Aye.

3257
04:03:55,580 --> 04:03:55,700
Aye.

3258
04:03:55,940 --> 04:03:56,400
Opposed?

3259
04:03:56,600 --> 04:03:56,740
No.

3260
04:03:57,020 --> 04:03:57,520
Motion carries.

3261
04:04:02,280 --> 04:04:03,260
Thank you, Ray.

3262
04:04:06,220 --> 04:04:07,040
Raise your hand.

3263
04:04:07,240 --> 04:04:07,420
Anybody?

3264
04:04:10,460 --> 04:04:11,020
Alright.

3265
04:04:11,020 --> 04:04:16,560
Okay, on number 34, fiscal year 14 budget update.

3266
04:04:18,040 --> 04:04:21,820
Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the board.

3267
04:04:22,160 --> 04:04:25,460
I'm here today to provide you an update, a status report

3268
04:04:25,460 --> 04:04:30,520
on where we are in development of our fiscal year 2014 budget.

3269
04:04:32,860 --> 04:04:36,120
This report this year at this time,

3270
04:04:38,000 --> 04:04:44,060
We've done one every year in the run-up to July when we will ask the governing board to

3271
04:04:44,060 --> 04:04:49,320
adopt millage rates that we would then certify to each of the county property praisers for

3272
04:04:49,320 --> 04:04:53,580
inclusion on the truth in millage proposed property tax notices.

3273
04:04:54,220 --> 04:04:57,780
This is a little different than what we've done in previous years by virtue of the

3274
04:04:57,780 --> 04:05:03,260
fact of changes in the statutory process that have been implemented for the first

3275
04:05:03,260 --> 04:05:10,380
time this year, whereby we wrote and submitted a report to the legislature for consideration

3276
04:05:11,160 --> 04:05:16,320
of a preliminary budget back on January 15th of this year.

3277
04:05:18,100 --> 04:05:24,060
So what I'd like to do today is review the preliminary FY14 budget that we submitted

3278
04:05:24,060 --> 04:05:30,860
in Tallahassee very quickly, take you through the update of that budget as it stands here

3279
04:05:30,860 --> 04:05:36,040
now in June, look at some of the key projects, we've got a couple outstanding issues that

3280
04:05:36,040 --> 04:05:41,360
I want to discuss briefly, and then the next steps in taking this process then through

3281
04:05:41,360 --> 04:05:44,460
the remainder of the budget development process.

3282
04:05:45,540 --> 04:05:53,280
So very quickly, in December of last year we presented the preliminary FY 14 budget

3283
04:05:53,280 --> 04:05:59,480
that staff drafted to the governing board and in fact submitted that as I mentioned

3284
04:05:59,480 --> 04:06:07,140
on January the 15th to the legislature for their review presented to the

3285
04:06:07,140 --> 04:06:11,320
legislature and the legislative staff during the January-February timeframe in

3286
04:06:11,320 --> 04:06:18,360
the run-up just before the legislative session whereby their process is

3287
04:06:18,360 --> 04:06:24,500
geared towards comments being due back to each Water Management District by

3288
04:06:24,500 --> 04:06:28,080
March the 1st, you know, at the very beginning of the legislative session.

3289
04:06:29,300 --> 04:06:34,420
In fact, we did not receive any comments from the legislature or legislative staff.

3290
04:06:34,920 --> 04:06:39,840
And so the outcome of that process really stood as it was submitted, and we've continued

3291
04:06:39,840 --> 04:06:43,180
to work on that since March.

3292
04:06:45,140 --> 04:06:49,800
So the preliminary budget, as we submitted it, was about $589 million.

3293
04:06:49,800 --> 04:06:58,160
dollars, it contemplated about $271.1 million in ad valorem taxes, and the key assumption

3294
04:06:58,160 --> 04:07:05,920
behind that was levying of the rollback millage rate that would generate the same baseline

3295
04:07:05,920 --> 04:07:13,740
revenue as we have this fiscal year, about $268.1 million, plus the rollback millage

3296
04:07:13,740 --> 04:07:20,040
rate, not a tax increase, but it allows you to take advantage of new construction value

3297
04:07:20,040 --> 04:07:26,100
that's brought on to the tax roll. And we've made an estimate based on what the state economists

3298
04:07:26,100 --> 04:07:35,060
work has done earlier in this calendar year of just over 1% new construction value, which

3299
04:07:35,060 --> 04:07:39,980
brings in an additional $3 million. So those are the key assumptions behind that

3300
04:07:39,980 --> 04:07:44,720
$271.1 million of Advolorum tax revenue estimated.

3301
04:07:45,700 --> 04:07:50,200
That comprises about 46% of our anticipated sources.

3302
04:07:51,300 --> 04:07:57,960
The second largest source budgeted Advolorum fund balances of about $156.5 million or 26%

3303
04:07:58,700 --> 04:08:04,800
state revenue sources of about $65.5 million or about 11%.

3304
04:08:04,800 --> 04:08:14,260
Those are our three largest contemplated revenue sources comprised about 83% of estimated revenues.

3305
04:08:14,780 --> 04:08:21,440
Then when you combine non-Avalorum fund balances fees and others and our COP balances,

3306
04:08:22,000 --> 04:08:26,040
those five pieces collectively total about 97% of anticipated revenue.

3307
04:08:28,010 --> 04:08:34,150
On the expense side of the budget, as has been the case the last several years,

3308
04:08:34,150 --> 04:08:43,390
The two largest components of the budget restoration, 46%, operations and maintenance, about 32% at

3309
04:08:43,390 --> 04:08:49,390
$186.9 million, comprises almost 80% of estimated expenditures.

3310
04:08:52,470 --> 04:08:55,710
I'd like to give you a little update on those numbers now, now that we've worked them

3311
04:08:55,710 --> 04:08:56,630
for several more months.

3312
04:08:58,130 --> 04:09:04,730
The current tentative budget comes in at about $620.7 million.

3313
04:09:04,730 --> 04:09:10,510
It's a $31 million increase, largely driven by the results of the legislative session,

3314
04:09:10,830 --> 04:09:14,130
some of the additional state funding that's been made available, and I'll go over that

3315
04:09:14,130 --> 04:09:15,010
a little bit more in a minute.

3316
04:09:16,410 --> 04:09:23,370
Proportion-wise, the three largest sources I mentioned comprise the same percentage

3317
04:09:23,370 --> 04:09:24,050
of the budget.

3318
04:09:24,730 --> 04:09:27,830
At the bottom, you see percentage-wise is a little bit lower, but the number is

3319
04:09:27,830 --> 04:09:32,790
the same, again, contemplating the rollback millage rate plus new construction.

3320
04:09:35,870 --> 04:09:40,590
We've made some changes, and I'll discuss them again in a minute, on budgeted Avalorum

3321
04:09:40,590 --> 04:09:44,310
fund balances, 144.3 million or 23%.

3322
04:09:44,970 --> 04:09:51,590
State sources have increased significantly, as I mentioned, up to a total of over $100

3323
04:09:51,590 --> 04:09:54,370
million, with 16%.

3324
04:09:54,370 --> 04:09:59,210
Again, proportionally, those three sources comprise 83% of anticipated revenues.

3325
04:09:59,210 --> 04:10:08,010
and then with our non-advalorem, fund balances fees, other, and our certificates of participation prior to your balances.

3326
04:10:09,030 --> 04:10:13,090
Those sources in total comprise 98% of anticipated revenue.

3327
04:10:15,190 --> 04:10:17,350
We'll talk a little bit about some of the revenue adjustments.

3328
04:10:18,170 --> 04:10:23,650
You see the first two lines, we've anticipated no change from January to June.

3329
04:10:25,010 --> 04:10:29,590
The sources in the green are all the state revenue sources.

3330
04:10:29,590 --> 04:10:35,390
You see, we're planning to receive an additional $4 million from the Water Management Alliance

3331
04:10:35,390 --> 04:10:35,930
Trust Fund.

3332
04:10:36,110 --> 04:10:43,970
That corresponds to the legislative appropriation for the Corbett-Levy retrofit project, Sabre

3333
04:10:43,970 --> 04:10:44,950
River Glades Trust Fund.

3334
04:10:46,090 --> 04:10:53,050
In January, we incorporated the Governor's proposed budget of $47 million.

3335
04:10:53,970 --> 04:10:57,610
What came out of the legislative session was $70 million.

3336
04:10:57,610 --> 04:11:02,510
million. When you back off the 3 million that goes to the State Department of Agriculture

3337
04:11:02,510 --> 04:11:11,090
that leaves 67 million, that we plan to appropriate an increase of $20 million. We have some

3338
04:11:11,090 --> 04:11:19,230
save rubber blades prior year balances that we have re-budgeted, 5.9 million. 2.4 million

3339
04:11:19,230 --> 04:11:26,790
more appropriated by the Legislature and Alligator, I told money. Some local projects

3340
04:11:26,790 --> 04:11:31,630
that will, the money will flow through the district for the Loxahatchee River

3341
04:11:31,630 --> 04:11:36,590
Preservation Initiative and some additional available prior year fund

3342
04:11:36,590 --> 04:11:42,930
balances from state sources. All told, an estimated increase of over 35

3343
04:11:42,930 --> 04:11:49,370
million in additional state sources. Below that we've made some updates to

3344
04:11:49,370 --> 04:11:53,970
our estimates for Army Corps reimbursements primarily for some of the

3345
04:11:53,970 --> 04:11:58,170
South Dade operational pump stations that you heard about earlier today.

3346
04:12:00,290 --> 04:12:06,650
We've made some change in our investment income estimates because we're coming in a little

3347
04:12:06,650 --> 04:12:07,470
bit short this year.

3348
04:12:07,610 --> 04:12:09,830
We wanted to reduce those down.

3349
04:12:11,810 --> 04:12:17,570
The Advolorant Balances, due to re-sequencing a couple of projects that we had budgeted

3350
04:12:17,570 --> 04:12:23,150
in January and their totality and really going back to a cash flow on a couple

3351
04:12:23,150 --> 04:12:28,730
things results in shifting some Avalon fund balance out into the future year of our spend

3352
04:12:28,730 --> 04:12:29,190
down plan.

3353
04:12:29,710 --> 04:12:32,390
So that's what comprises that $12 million reduction.

3354
04:12:33,570 --> 04:12:36,930
An increase in non-Avalon balances, fees, and others.

3355
04:12:37,610 --> 04:12:41,470
We have some money, and I'll talk about it again in a minute when we get to future

3356
04:12:41,470 --> 04:12:48,610
issues that we have incorporated here as part of trying to address increased cost

3357
04:12:48,610 --> 04:12:50,170
of benefits and insurance claims.

3358
04:12:51,230 --> 04:12:57,230
We have an anticipated grant from DEP for a Dispersed Water Management Project.

3359
04:12:57,710 --> 04:13:00,250
That's really what comprises that increase.

3360
04:13:01,310 --> 04:13:06,350
And then a couple of other minor changes, all told resulting in an increase

3361
04:13:06,350 --> 04:13:09,930
in the anticipated revenue sources of $31.7 million.

3362
04:13:11,920 --> 04:13:16,480
Just wanted to show the trend in abnormal tax revenue.

3363
04:13:16,480 --> 04:13:25,960
You see the last three years we've been relatively flat going in FY 12 from 270.7 to a little

3364
04:13:25,960 --> 04:13:33,700
bit lower in 13 and then again anticipating $3 million of new construction in 14.

3365
04:13:35,050 --> 04:13:42,820
Moving to the expenditure budget, really again the same kind of proportions, $291 million

3366
04:13:42,820 --> 04:13:47,900
for restoration projects. That's restoration strategies, all the water

3367
04:13:47,900 --> 04:13:52,140
quality projects, some of the SIRP projects that we've gotten the state

3368
04:13:52,140 --> 04:13:59,540
funding for. All told, almost 50% of the anticipated expenditures, operations

3369
04:13:59,540 --> 04:14:05,960
and maintenance, another 31%. Those two components again comprise the biggest

3370
04:14:05,960 --> 04:14:11,460
portion of our expenditure budget at almost 80%, with the remaining 20 to

3371
04:14:11,460 --> 04:14:15,680
22% outlined in the other pie slices.

3372
04:14:16,560 --> 04:14:19,880
Just going to the same kind of view

3373
04:14:19,880 --> 04:14:22,620
as I went through on the revenues, on the expenditure side.

3374
04:14:23,360 --> 04:14:25,740
You see a jump up in restoration.

3375
04:14:26,120 --> 04:14:27,780
It's really driven by the state funding

3376
04:14:27,780 --> 04:14:30,820
that's become available for cert projects.

3377
04:14:31,520 --> 04:14:34,840
I mentioned the $4 million for the Corbett levy,

3378
04:14:35,080 --> 04:14:37,460
really driving the operations and maintenance number.

3379
04:14:38,000 --> 04:14:41,000
Some tweaking to cash flow on a couple

3380
04:14:41,000 --> 04:14:45,900
with different mitigation projects under our land management function,

3381
04:14:46,160 --> 04:14:48,540
resulting in a slight decrease for FY 14.

3382
04:14:49,740 --> 04:14:55,900
And as part of the reallocation of staff amongst our expense program categories,

3383
04:14:56,300 --> 04:14:59,980
we've had some change in regulatory, modeling, and scientific support.

3384
04:15:00,000 --> 04:15:07,220
Mission support. The change in water supply is really reflective of the latest allocations

3385
04:15:07,220 --> 04:15:13,720
from the Big Cypress Basin Board and some additional funding that they have wanted to put into alternative

3386
04:15:13,720 --> 04:15:17,220
water supply projects.

3387
04:15:19,730 --> 04:15:26,130
In terms of staffing, we have eliminated four positions as part

3388
04:15:26,130 --> 04:15:32,690
of balance in this budget, three in support functions, one within the Office of Council.

3389
04:15:33,270 --> 04:15:34,950
So that's where we stand today.

3390
04:15:39,410 --> 04:15:41,570
Just some of the other key expenditure items.

3391
04:15:42,110 --> 04:15:47,030
We spent a good bit of time putting together projections of new works.

3392
04:15:47,930 --> 04:15:53,830
And when you look at the FY14 piece, we're looking at an increase of about $2.2 million for new works.

3393
04:15:53,830 --> 04:16:00,790
primary among those being the start of the merit pump station and then during

3394
04:16:00,790 --> 04:16:05,410
the summer next summer the start of operations for the faculty union pump

3395
04:16:05,410 --> 04:16:10,070
station within Picky and Strand and then some cost changes in a couple of

3396
04:16:10,070 --> 04:16:16,170
other projects that we brought on over the last few years. The other big cost

3397
04:16:16,170 --> 04:16:22,490
change were the changes in FRS cost. We had included an estimated cost

3398
04:16:22,490 --> 04:16:29,830
increase of $1.7 million in our January submission based on what the legislature passed last

3399
04:16:29,830 --> 04:16:35,970
session. Now that has been updated with the results of this legislative session and it's

3400
04:16:36,400 --> 04:16:44,470
an incremental increase of about $300,000. And so we have covered all that.

3401
04:16:46,320 --> 04:16:57,020
Planned uses of the Sabre-Uberglades appropriations, 32 million for restoration strategies, the

3402
04:16:57,020 --> 04:16:59,420
additional 35 million going primarily.

3403
04:17:00,720 --> 04:17:01,140
Yes, sir.

3404
04:17:01,580 --> 04:17:01,920
Real quick.

3405
04:17:02,140 --> 04:17:07,400
The bottom of the slide says reduced unfunded actuarially liability, 19.3 billion.

3406
04:17:07,780 --> 04:17:14,980
The unfunded actuarial liability within FRS has been going up over time as the investments

3407
04:17:14,980 --> 04:17:18,200
that they've made have garnered less kind of return?

3408
04:17:18,520 --> 04:17:19,280
That's the total.

3409
04:17:19,500 --> 04:17:20,420
That's not our portion.

3410
04:17:20,620 --> 04:17:21,480
No, that's the total.

3411
04:17:21,600 --> 04:17:23,260
That's the total for the Florida retirement system.

3412
04:17:23,560 --> 04:17:25,280
And do you know our portion of that?

3413
04:17:25,560 --> 04:17:26,440
No, I do not, sir.

3414
04:17:26,780 --> 04:17:31,120
We're one of many participators in the FRS.

3415
04:17:31,500 --> 04:17:31,860
OK.

3416
04:17:39,180 --> 04:17:40,800
Really, the additional appropriations

3417
04:17:40,800 --> 04:17:42,440
outside of restoration strategies,

3418
04:17:43,280 --> 04:17:44,940
and Tom really mentioned this.

3419
04:17:45,160 --> 04:17:46,600
Ponteets really mentioned this yesterday,

3420
04:17:46,600 --> 04:17:51,680
trying to maximize cost-crediting for projects that have been authorized,

3421
04:17:52,020 --> 04:17:53,860
have been funded and are going forward.

3422
04:17:54,360 --> 04:18:00,100
So we've tied that to C-44 reservoir, stormwater treatment area, as well as picking strand.

3423
04:18:00,860 --> 04:18:05,460
And then the right-hand column, as I mentioned, we had some re-budgeted balances,

3424
04:18:07,240 --> 04:18:12,660
keeping funds within the restoration strategies, cash flow for LH.

3425
04:18:12,660 --> 04:18:19,860
And then you see Calusa Hatchee, there's an old appropriation that's really a water quality

3426
04:18:20,360 --> 04:18:25,980
Saver Everglades appropriation that's a kind of a state district, local government program.

3427
04:18:26,720 --> 04:18:30,120
And then the C-43 water quality BOMA project,

3428
04:18:32,600 --> 04:18:36,660
all told, planned appropriations from Saver

3429
04:18:36,660 --> 04:18:38,800
Everglades at almost $75 million.

3430
04:18:38,800 --> 04:18:39,680
Just

3431
04:18:41,720 --> 04:18:47,940
a couple of quick highlights, and I know Tommy hit some of these when he was talking

3432
04:18:47,940 --> 04:18:53,680
about some of the O&M capital program projects within Miami-Dade County.

3433
04:18:54,680 --> 04:19:00,020
Continuing the C4 canal improvement projects, just over $2 million.

3434
04:19:00,840 --> 04:19:07,260
Doing some additional canal bank refurbishment on C100A in South Dade County, $1.6 million.

3435
04:19:07,980 --> 04:19:13,960
of continuing to work on the design and starting some of the components of construction for

3436
04:19:13,960 --> 04:19:21,160
S5A, you know, our single biggest pump station. That'll be a multi-year, multi-million dollar

3437
04:19:21,800 --> 04:19:26,340
project. And then I just highlighted a couple of the other ones that are significant in

3438
04:19:26,340 --> 04:19:31,340
terms of cost. A contract that came to you a few months ago for the trash rakes

3439
04:19:31,340 --> 04:19:38,840
on the north shore of Lake Okeechobee, continuing to fund that construction contract, and then

3440
04:19:38,840 --> 04:19:44,940
starting the Hillsborough Canal Bank Stabilization Project, and some of the construction that's

3441
04:19:44,940 --> 04:19:49,940
gone that will go on there to repair the banks on the Hillsborough, you know, that

3442
04:19:49,940 --> 04:19:55,480
there has been significant local outreach already done in that regard.

3443
04:19:58,820 --> 04:20:03,820
For restoration specifically, we've got about $100 million budgeted for restoration strategies

3444
04:20:04,500 --> 04:20:10,400
projects. C-44, as I mentioned, benefiting from some additional Saviour Overglides Trust

3445
04:20:10,400 --> 04:20:21,220
Fund money, a $28 million. Piki-Yoon, at about $15 million. Kalusa Hachi, $8.6 million. Dispersed

3446
04:20:21,220 --> 04:20:26,000
Water Management, and I know you'll be getting an update on that in the following item.

3447
04:20:26,940 --> 04:20:31,980
12.3 million, C111 South Dade, the Corbett levy as I mentioned.

3448
04:20:33,740 --> 04:20:38,260
And then in terms of our spend down plan, this is something we've done for the last couple of years,

3449
04:20:38,680 --> 04:20:44,420
taking a look at the cash balances that we have available and trying to allocate those out over time

3450
04:20:44,420 --> 04:20:47,840
as part of a plan to spend down those fund balances.

3451
04:20:48,820 --> 04:20:55,160
The updated spend down plan for FY14 through 17, that comprises a four-year period,

3452
04:20:55,780 --> 04:21:02,260
$413 million as a tracking mechanism, we've added the saber everglades appropriations

3453
04:21:02,260 --> 04:21:02,800
to that.

3454
04:21:03,340 --> 04:21:08,200
And so you see for FY14 our spend down plan items about $254 million.

3455
04:21:09,060 --> 04:21:16,880
We've maintained our level of emergency reserves and O&M capital emergency reserves, restoration

3456
04:21:16,880 --> 04:21:21,300
projects, and I mentioned all those already, but $161 million of our spend down plan

3457
04:21:21,300 --> 04:21:23,120
dollars going towards those projects.

3458
04:21:23,120 --> 04:21:28,580
Dispersed water management, as I mentioned, and then, you know, as a result of the joint

3459
04:21:28,580 --> 04:21:33,980
meeting with the District Board and the Big Cypress Basin Board allocating $2 million towards

3460
04:21:33,980 --> 04:21:39,400
construction of the BCB fuel station for $14 million and $2 million additional, or up

3461
04:21:39,400 --> 04:21:41,260
to $2 million additional in FY 15.

3462
04:21:41,980 --> 04:21:42,600
Thank you.

3463
04:21:43,600 --> 04:21:44,440
Thank you, sir.

3464
04:21:46,300 --> 04:21:49,200
Outstanding issues, as I mentioned, there are a couple of them.

3465
04:21:51,800 --> 04:22:08,160
The upcoming, and we won't know this till July, any impacts or potential impacts from the reduction in prior year tax roll values, as I said right at the beginning, you know, our whole planning is based around levy and a rollback

3466
04:22:08,160 --> 04:22:13,760
millish rate to generate the same amount of revenue as this year, and then new construction

3467
04:22:13,760 --> 04:22:23,020
on top of it. As you recall, we had some significant change in prior year values that are part

3468
04:22:23,020 --> 04:22:29,520
of the formula that we used to develop the rollback revenue estimates, and that cost

3469
04:22:29,520 --> 04:22:35,460
us some money. So we don't know what that's going to be until July 1st when the actual

3470
04:22:35,460 --> 04:22:38,620
estimates come out from all the county property appraisals.

3471
04:22:39,060 --> 04:22:40,500
So it's been an open issue for us.

3472
04:22:40,660 --> 04:22:45,760
I pointed out because it's probably the number one important open issue that we have at this particular point.

3473
04:22:47,320 --> 04:22:48,780
I mentioned insurance and benefit.

3474
04:22:49,780 --> 04:22:53,680
Yes, but you the number you plugged in is a conservative number.

3475
04:22:53,840 --> 04:23:00,840
Do you feel OK with the number that you have in there and wait to see as far as we did not include any estimated

3476
04:23:00,840 --> 04:23:07,460
reduction in ad valorem revenue from this prior year value adjustment board

3477
04:23:08,280 --> 04:23:15,640
process. So we're still waiting and seeing I'm holding my breath. Right, but

3478
04:23:15,640 --> 04:23:20,920
that will obviously... So whatever the hit is, is a hit that we've not been

3479
04:23:20,920 --> 04:23:24,020
expecting, you know, we don't have plugged in. It's a hit that we have not

3480
04:23:24,020 --> 04:23:28,270
I like what you think.

3481
04:23:29,750 --> 04:23:30,690
So do I.

3482
04:23:33,320 --> 04:23:35,500
I mentioned insurance and benefits costs.

3483
04:23:36,360 --> 04:23:39,320
We've worked on trying to tweak our plans.

3484
04:23:41,380 --> 04:23:44,720
But with that, and we've made budget reductions as a result of

3485
04:23:44,720 --> 04:23:45,740
tweaking some of those plans.

3486
04:23:46,080 --> 04:23:47,100
Claims have not gone down.

3487
04:23:48,860 --> 04:23:54,080
We have had an actuarial engaged in reviewing our claims.

3488
04:23:54,760 --> 04:23:57,140
We had a report that we met on Earth.

3489
04:23:57,140 --> 04:24:00,780
earlier this week and so we're looking at some options there and as well as our

3490
04:24:00,780 --> 04:24:05,580
benefit staff is met with our insurance provider yesterday and I have yet to get

3491
04:24:05,580 --> 04:24:09,560
a download on what that is but that's an issue we'll bring back now we have

3492
04:24:09,560 --> 04:24:13,920
loaded up some one-time money to to address claims in the short term but

3493
04:24:13,920 --> 04:24:17,040
this is a this is an issue that we're going to have to lay out a multi-year

3494
04:24:17,040 --> 04:24:23,260
plan for for how to get right-side up and then last but certainly not

3495
04:24:23,260 --> 04:24:30,280
least implementation of employee pay adjustments. As you know we included in

3496
04:24:30,280 --> 04:24:35,180
our January submission a two and a half percent base pay adjustment for our

3497
04:24:35,180 --> 04:24:39,980
craft field employees that total about four hundred and forty to four hundred

3498
04:24:39,980 --> 04:24:46,420
fifty thousand dollars. What the legislature in session passed something

3499
04:24:46,420 --> 04:24:53,000
much broader for state employees. If and it goes like this if you make forty

3500
04:24:53,000 --> 04:24:55,960
$40,000 or more, you get a $1,000 base-paid adjustment.

3501
04:24:56,560 --> 04:25:01,040
If it's less than $40,000, you get a $1,400 adjustment.

3502
04:25:01,800 --> 04:25:06,060
If we were to implement that, our cost estimate for that's about $1.8 million.

3503
04:25:06,560 --> 04:25:12,420
So we have a $1.4 million variance there that we have to figure out what to do with, and

3504
04:25:12,420 --> 04:25:15,380
so that is not part of this budget up to this point.

3505
04:25:15,740 --> 04:25:17,060
We have drafted some options.

3506
04:25:18,080 --> 04:25:22,500
We're going to be reviewing those options with the executive team, and we'll come

3507
04:25:22,500 --> 04:25:24,780
back with a recommendation for that in July as well.

3508
04:25:27,750 --> 04:25:32,870
Just the next steps, you heard me mention July 1st is a key date, that's when our tax

3509
04:25:32,870 --> 04:25:35,830
roll certifications are due from each of the county property appraisers.

3510
04:25:36,390 --> 04:25:44,370
We will take all that, grind through all the numbers and come back up with the rollback

3511
04:25:44,370 --> 04:25:47,470
millage rates and update revenue estimates based on that.

3512
04:25:48,670 --> 04:25:56,410
The Big Cypress Basin Board is planning to meet Monday, July the 8th, and adopt their tentative

3513
04:25:56,410 --> 04:25:57,030
militaries.

3514
04:25:58,410 --> 04:26:05,590
And then we'll propose to do the same with the district board on July the 11th.

3515
04:26:05,590 --> 04:26:10,890
Then we will complete certifications for the county property praisers and certify

3516
04:26:10,890 --> 04:26:19,270
as well as numbers back to them as well as update our preliminary budget report and resubmit

3517
04:26:19,270 --> 04:26:27,280
it on August 1st, all of which leads to two public hearings in September to adopt the

3518
04:26:27,280 --> 04:26:31,620
tentative millage rates and tentative budget, which will coincide with the September governing

3519
04:26:31,620 --> 04:26:35,780
board meeting, and then a special meeting at the end of the month to adopt the final

3520
04:26:35,780 --> 04:26:41,280
millage rates and final budget for fiscal 14. Then we could start on 15.

3521
04:26:45,580 --> 04:26:46,660
Just like that.

3522
04:26:46,920 --> 04:26:52,140
With that, I'll take any comments, guidance, thoughts, anything that you might have.

3523
04:26:52,580 --> 04:26:55,000
All right. Thank you, Doug. Four questions for Doug.

3524
04:26:55,580 --> 04:26:55,960
Mr. Cuondo.

3525
04:26:56,660 --> 04:26:56,820
No.

3526
04:26:59,600 --> 04:27:02,220
The FEMA take back.

3527
04:27:02,220 --> 04:27:07,980
was that all written off last year or is that in any way reflected in this or

3528
04:27:07,980 --> 04:27:13,080
impacting this but it is not it is it's not been written off and it's not

3529
04:27:13,080 --> 04:27:19,440
reflected in here so it's lurking out there it's it's still out there we have

3530
04:27:19,440 --> 04:27:23,020
worked to try to accommodate it as part of our spend-on plan should it be

3531
04:27:23,020 --> 04:27:23,400
necessary

3532
04:27:25,610 --> 04:27:33,630
by 18 million dollars little more

3533
04:27:33,630 --> 04:27:36,760
Can we just get a report where we are with that?

3534
04:27:36,860 --> 04:27:38,900
I know we're in the middle of the appeal process on that.

3535
04:27:42,760 --> 04:27:43,200
Certainly.

3536
04:27:43,580 --> 04:27:49,100
We have filed the second administrative appeal with FEMA pursuant to the federal process.

3537
04:27:49,800 --> 04:27:56,240
We also have simultaneously filed the federal court case in the district court,

3538
04:27:56,640 --> 04:28:01,720
and we filed the district court case about three weeks ago.

3539
04:28:02,160 --> 04:28:03,120
Which district court?

3540
04:28:03,580 --> 04:28:05,000
Being the southern district of Florida.

3541
04:28:05,240 --> 04:28:06,660
Which judge do we land on that one?

3542
04:28:06,660 --> 04:28:07,960
You don't know yet.

3543
04:28:09,890 --> 04:28:16,390
So we're in the process of working through the issues on the second appeal.

3544
04:28:16,550 --> 04:28:19,670
As you know, it goes through the State Division of Emergency Management.

3545
04:28:22,570 --> 04:28:25,410
Any other questions of counsel on the FEMA issue?

3546
04:28:25,810 --> 04:28:26,070
Okay.

3547
04:28:27,250 --> 04:28:28,750
Questions for Mr. Berkstrom?

3548
04:28:32,760 --> 04:28:33,140
Mr. Murray.

3549
04:28:34,120 --> 04:28:34,960
Thank you, Doug.

3550
04:28:35,180 --> 04:28:35,600
Thank you, sir.

3551
04:28:36,500 --> 04:28:37,560
You've got a difficult job.

3552
04:28:39,000 --> 04:28:40,800
You're getting older and grayer every day, sir.

3553
04:28:41,920 --> 04:28:42,900
He's 27.

3554
04:28:45,980 --> 04:28:47,580
Wow, it's worse than I thought.

3555
04:28:50,280 --> 04:28:52,960
I'd like to get some clarification on the rollback rate.

3556
04:28:53,120 --> 04:29:01,480
You said that the rollback rate would bring us the same amount of revenue we garnered last year on Antelorm, plus the new construction.

3557
04:29:01,800 --> 04:29:11,420
Correct. The thing that the rollback rate does is, you know, that's the definition in state law as to what's a tax increase versus what's not a tax increase.

3558
04:29:11,420 --> 04:29:14,800
And so levy in the rollback rate is not a tax increase.

3559
04:29:15,160 --> 04:29:20,040
But what it does is typically as existing property values increase,

3560
04:29:21,080 --> 04:29:26,080
the millage rate that you would need to levy to generate the same amount of revenue,

3561
04:29:26,640 --> 04:29:29,720
this is the way, this is the concept, would go down.

3562
04:29:30,560 --> 04:29:35,600
And we've had times in the recent last few years where existing values dropped,

3563
04:29:35,760 --> 04:29:38,580
so the rollback millage rate was actually a higher rate.

3564
04:29:38,580 --> 04:29:42,440
And that's one possibility that we could be bringing you.

3565
04:29:42,980 --> 04:29:44,040
Still not a tax increase.

3566
04:29:45,060 --> 04:29:50,120
And how much more did you say that that increased construction would bring us?

3567
04:29:50,900 --> 04:29:59,980
$3 million is what we estimated based on the state economist's estimate of growth from new construction of about one percent.

3568
04:30:02,940 --> 04:30:15,550
What about the option of not using rollback military? I mean, is that an option and how

3569
04:30:15,550 --> 04:30:20,710
much more money would that bring us? Well, it depends on what the values come in

3570
04:30:20,710 --> 04:30:27,830
at, you know, how much growth in existing values there are. And, you know, all as we

3571
04:30:27,830 --> 04:30:34,290
We know at this point is that each June 1st each county gives us a preliminary estimate

3572
04:30:35,060 --> 04:30:41,670
and those values look like they would be about 3% or 3.25% higher.

3573
04:30:42,210 --> 04:30:46,990
We don't know the breakdown of that between how much of that is changed in existing values

3574
04:30:46,990 --> 04:30:52,670
versus how much is new construction, which is what we're waiting to find out.

3575
04:30:52,670 --> 04:30:58,450
Okay, so by July 1st we should know that you know that difference there about yeah

3576
04:30:58,450 --> 04:31:02,970
They're about we have to get all the data from all 16 counties and they don't all come in

3577
04:31:03,530 --> 04:31:04,030
timely

3578
04:31:05,510 --> 04:31:09,670
But whatever the end result is you know that that's a policy call this

3579
04:31:10,570 --> 04:31:13,150
We have the option to roll back or not

3580
04:31:15,580 --> 04:31:17,940
according to law you do yes, sir

3581
04:31:25,100 --> 04:31:28,860
Anything other than a rollback rate, it would have to be noted as a tax increase.

3582
04:31:29,200 --> 04:31:29,420
Absolutely.

3583
04:31:34,560 --> 04:31:36,360
Well, what exactly are the consequences?

3584
04:31:36,600 --> 04:31:37,080
No, no, no.

3585
04:31:37,160 --> 04:31:42,020
You would have to know this in the figure of proper consequences.

3586
04:31:43,920 --> 04:31:47,360
We would, your consequence would be to your reputation, my friend.

3587
04:31:51,100 --> 04:31:53,280
And across the board pay cut up here.

3588
04:32:04,270 --> 04:32:07,390
Questions for Doug. Mr. Dutchcraft.

3589
04:32:08,230 --> 04:32:16,050
Doug, I was trying to compare the free adjustment with the post adjustment and see where that money proportionally went.

3590
04:32:16,530 --> 04:32:16,850
Yes, sir.

3591
04:32:16,850 --> 04:32:22,810
And it looks like restoration got the biggest percentage increase.

3592
04:32:24,350 --> 04:32:28,930
And according to your percentages, O&M actually went down a little bit.

3593
04:32:29,030 --> 04:32:33,990
It was 32 percent in the origin of the preliminary expenditures, and now it's 31 percent.

3594
04:32:34,690 --> 04:32:41,670
And so I don't know if that's just a rounding error or the change, but that's an area of sensitivity for me.

3595
04:32:41,870 --> 04:32:44,590
It could be. I mean, both of them went up.

3596
04:32:44,590 --> 04:32:50,690
one proportionally went up higher than the other, which is probably what drives that percentage change a little bit.

3597
04:32:50,990 --> 04:32:57,570
And then the one area that went down was land stewardship, you know, just an overall reduction.

3598
04:32:57,810 --> 04:33:00,990
And so is that in relation to the work that Ray is doing?

3599
04:33:01,190 --> 04:33:04,390
The assumption that there will be lands that we will not be maintaining?

3600
04:33:04,690 --> 04:33:05,990
What drives that reduction?

3601
04:33:06,290 --> 04:33:12,110
We had a couple different mitigation projects, and we, instead of budgeting the full amount,

3602
04:33:12,110 --> 04:33:16,490
We sequenced it out over and on more of a cash flow basis.

3603
04:33:16,910 --> 04:33:25,490
There was a lump built in and so we made some reductions there and made it cash flow over time versus having it all budgeted in one year.

3604
04:33:26,090 --> 04:33:37,430
And then just so that you've got my thoughts on input, there are two areas that I want to make sure that we're fully thinking through and one of those is operation and maintenance.

3605
04:33:37,430 --> 04:33:43,450
And so to the extent that we can continue to put funds in there because I think we've been

3606
04:33:43,450 --> 04:33:48,510
doing as good a job as we can, but I think we have deferred some of that work.

3607
04:33:48,730 --> 04:33:55,550
And so when we do have monies that aren't restricted funds, I'd like for that to be one of the areas

3608
04:33:55,550 --> 04:33:59,150
where we consider putting money so we can be on solid ground.

3609
04:33:59,610 --> 04:34:01,490
The other one is dispersion storage.

3610
04:34:01,490 --> 04:34:08,750
I think that there's been some demonstration that those projects provide an alternative

3611
04:34:08,750 --> 04:34:14,390
water quality, water storage opportunity that maybe helps us in the interim period.

3612
04:34:14,610 --> 04:34:21,010
And so I think there's some financial and some qualitative benefits associated with the

3613
04:34:21,010 --> 04:34:26,290
dispersed storage and to the extent that we can look to put additional funds there.

3614
04:34:26,470 --> 04:34:27,390
I think we ought to.

3615
04:34:27,490 --> 04:34:27,910
Yes, sir.

3616
04:34:27,910 --> 04:34:32,890
I think one of the keys to that is what what are the tax roll values that come in in July?

3617
04:34:33,450 --> 04:34:35,950
And then what are the options for the further use?

3618
04:34:36,790 --> 04:34:40,990
It's all mystery now until we know that's how we'll try to go about laying that out for you.

3619
04:34:43,750 --> 04:34:49,190
Any other questions? Could you, let me think of where we're at.

3620
04:34:49,570 --> 04:34:54,270
Yeah, I'm sure I'm sure you will. And now you've got us all curious when that number comes out.

3621
04:34:54,270 --> 04:35:01,290
I just give us some, you know, by way of memo, when that comes out, I would appreciate receiving

3622
04:35:01,290 --> 04:35:07,570
some correspondence on this to have a feel as, you know, we adjust our thinking moving

3623
04:35:07,570 --> 04:35:08,490
forward beyond that.

3624
04:35:08,710 --> 04:35:10,810
We all expect a text July 1.

3625
04:35:13,410 --> 04:35:15,390
I'm trying to temper expectations a little bit.

3626
04:35:15,590 --> 04:35:21,230
We may not get all the counties on July 1, but as quickly as we can, we will certainly

3627
04:35:21,230 --> 04:35:24,510
certainly grind through all those numbers and we will certainly give you a

3628
04:35:25,590 --> 04:35:28,550
read as to what they're looking like. That would be helpful.

3629
04:35:29,790 --> 04:35:32,050
Any other board comments for Mr. Bergstrom?

3630
04:35:33,330 --> 04:35:36,530
Okay, do we have public comment? Yes, Mr. Chair, we have four public comment.

3631
04:35:37,070 --> 04:35:38,670
Jane Graham, followed by Drew Martin.

3632
04:35:46,820 --> 04:35:48,480
Hi, good afternoon. Jane Graham

3633
04:35:48,480 --> 04:35:52,540
for Audubon, Florida. And first of all, thanks for being in Miami and

3634
04:35:52,540 --> 04:35:56,720
welcome. It's nice to have a shorter drive, not all the way

3635
04:35:57,520 --> 04:36:08,680
First of all, I want to recognize the district staff and the governing board for trying to make the best out of an extremely hard situation over the last couple years with the budget cuts.

3636
04:36:08,780 --> 04:36:14,920
You've shown that you can really maximize the effectiveness and do a lot with cuts.

3637
04:36:14,920 --> 04:36:21,840
But that said, if you get into the nitty gritty, gaps are beginning to show and programs have

3638
04:36:21,840 --> 04:36:29,280
been reduced and cut and things that were moving at a faster pace may not be moving at the pace that we like.

3639
04:36:30,020 --> 04:36:35,380
Some examples, vegetation management, science and monitoring programs, water conservation,

3640
04:36:35,860 --> 04:36:41,420
if you really look into some of these things you'll see that there have been some cuts

3641
04:36:41,420 --> 04:36:43,680
and they're not such big ticket items,

3642
04:36:43,800 --> 04:36:46,000
but sometimes they get swallowed up in the discussion.

3643
04:36:47,020 --> 04:36:49,880
And additional funds are needed to advance restoration

3644
04:36:50,580 --> 04:36:52,480
for the Everglades, for Lake Okeechobee,

3645
04:36:52,500 --> 04:36:54,260
I think as Mr. Hutchcraft was talking about

3646
04:36:54,260 --> 04:36:56,500
this first water management, that's an area

3647
04:36:56,500 --> 04:36:59,200
where an extra push could go a long way.

3648
04:36:59,500 --> 04:37:01,660
It's really could make a great headway end.

3649
04:37:02,140 --> 04:37:04,460
And yesterday you were on Biscayne Bay

3650
04:37:04,460 --> 04:37:07,300
and you're right by the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands.

3651
04:37:07,760 --> 04:37:09,900
One of those projects, the Cutler Flowway,

3652
04:37:09,900 --> 04:37:13,300
It's it was part of the Accelerate it had some extra

3653
04:37:14,140 --> 04:37:18,180
It's it's ready to go but it all it needs is just some funding in the next few years

3654
04:37:18,180 --> 04:37:23,760
So I mean what what can we do about this? You know these are some hard discussions and in July are gonna have to

3655
04:37:23,760 --> 04:37:30,600
Make some decisions well the first thing is I mean Audubon is up in Tallahassee. I'm happy Eric Draper came and you know

3656
04:37:30,600 --> 04:37:36,760
And Ernie Barnett. He's he's always up there beating the drum for more everglades funding and for other funding

3657
04:37:36,760 --> 04:37:41,460
And, you know, this year we got 70 million, hopefully we'll get more next year.

3658
04:37:42,420 --> 04:37:45,720
Something else to look at, though, is the ad valorem rates.

3659
04:37:45,960 --> 04:37:51,180
And this is where the hard discussions come in, because the value adjustment board proceeding

3660
04:37:51,180 --> 04:37:55,340
in Miami-Dade County, we know that there's a 4.7 million draw last year.

3661
04:37:56,000 --> 04:37:58,960
We don't know what's going to happen, but it's something to look at.

3662
04:37:59,080 --> 04:38:05,960
And we would really urge that in July you take a close look at whether instead of

3663
04:38:05,960 --> 04:38:09,160
rolling back the millage rates, you keep them as they are,

3664
04:38:09,200 --> 04:38:10,480
is the right thing to do.

3665
04:38:10,820 --> 04:38:12,240
There's so many important projects

3666
04:38:12,240 --> 04:38:13,140
that the district does.

3667
04:38:13,280 --> 04:38:16,060
I mean, it's so hard to decide sometimes

3668
04:38:16,720 --> 04:38:17,980
even what to put things into

3669
04:38:17,980 --> 04:38:19,440
because there's so many good projects.

3670
04:38:19,740 --> 04:38:22,600
So I just, I think you should be really having

3671
04:38:22,600 --> 04:38:24,300
some close looks at this,

3672
04:38:24,400 --> 04:38:28,060
taking a hard look at and keeping the millage rate

3673
04:38:28,060 --> 04:38:29,240
as it is, thank you.

3674
04:38:30,520 --> 04:38:31,020
Thank you, Jane.

3675
04:38:31,580 --> 04:38:34,280
Drew Martin, followed by Martha Musgrove and Lauren.

3676
04:38:37,900 --> 04:38:42,920
Martin, on behalf of the Sierra Club, I'm also serve on the Solemn Water Conservation

3677
04:38:42,920 --> 04:38:48,720
District and one thing that we don't see in this budget is much for water conservation

3678
04:38:48,720 --> 04:38:53,000
and really, you know, there's sometimes government spends money but it's really an investment

3679
04:38:53,000 --> 04:38:59,260
in protecting the future and one of the things that cost ratepayers a lot of money is

3680
04:38:59,260 --> 04:39:04,380
if they don't conserve water what happens is then their utilities have to go out

3681
04:39:04,380 --> 04:39:07,160
So water projects and those projects are very expensive.

3682
04:39:07,280 --> 04:39:10,820
They get bonded and then the taxpayer pays for that or the rate payer.

3683
04:39:10,820 --> 04:39:16,380
So in other words, conservation in many ways pays for itself because if you can motivate

3684
04:39:16,380 --> 04:39:23,460
consumers to water, to conserve through water conservation projects, you actually are saving

3685
04:39:23,460 --> 04:39:27,760
the money and you're also saving the state money because oftentimes the state picks

3686
04:39:27,760 --> 04:39:30,440
up a portion of those expenses for those projects.

3687
04:39:30,440 --> 04:39:36,200
So one of the unfortunate things is this budget just doesn't seem to have much in it for water conservation.

3688
04:39:36,500 --> 04:39:38,760
I think something like around $200,000.

3689
04:39:39,520 --> 04:39:40,500
And that's unfortunate.

3690
04:39:42,280 --> 04:39:48,040
You used to fund something for the Soil and Water Conservation District in Palm Beach County that was called a mobile irrigation lab.

3691
04:39:48,200 --> 04:39:54,720
And what a mobile irrigation lab basically does is it's a service where they can go out and help people modify their sprinkler systems

3692
04:39:54,720 --> 04:39:57,600
if they're not meeting the rules.

3693
04:39:57,600 --> 04:40:04,520
And that saves everybody money. It saves you money because when people overwater their lawns,

3694
04:40:04,520 --> 04:40:11,360
a lot of fertilizers and stuff run out, and then you have a lot of water pollution problems,

3695
04:40:11,620 --> 04:40:16,120
you have to preserve more wetlands to clean that up, you have to build expensive STAs.

3696
04:40:17,080 --> 04:40:20,760
And we're seeing this particularly in places like Wellington where you're seeing much more permitting

3697
04:40:20,760 --> 04:40:25,680
and more development. So it seems to me that water conservation is a good investment,

3698
04:40:25,680 --> 04:40:29,680
And so I'm sorry to see that just seems that there's nothing being spent on that.

3699
04:40:29,880 --> 04:40:34,120
I also served on a committee a couple of years ago that gave out water conservation grants

3700
04:40:34,120 --> 04:40:39,140
for people building, you know, so you could build a more efficient sprinkler system.

3701
04:40:39,400 --> 04:40:43,240
Somebody did something so instead of flushing all the water out when they cleaned their

3702
04:40:43,240 --> 04:40:47,700
fire hydrants, that it was done in a more efficient manner that didn't waste the water.

3703
04:40:48,240 --> 04:40:57,720
Somebody did low flow on kitchen, dishwashing systems, improved the water use in hotels.

3704
04:40:58,520 --> 04:41:01,740
So all that benefited the state and benefited you in the long run.

3705
04:41:02,180 --> 04:41:08,160
It also, I think when we talk about the fact of consumption that you're going to be in a difficult situation

3706
04:41:08,160 --> 04:41:11,220
of having to make decisions on consumptive use permits or your staff,

3707
04:41:11,480 --> 04:41:13,940
because people don't conserve water.

3708
04:41:14,180 --> 04:41:16,580
What happens, there's going to be conflicts during drought.

3709
04:41:16,580 --> 04:41:22,720
So I just would like to see water conservation become something that you we go back and relook at and

3710
04:41:22,720 --> 04:41:29,620
And try to add something to the budget if not this year next year to improve how much you devote to water conservation

3711
04:41:29,620 --> 04:41:31,180
Thank you. Thank you, Drew

3712
04:41:33,860 --> 04:41:41,340
For the record my name is Martha Musgrove and I come here on behalf of the Florida Wildlife Federation. I

3713
04:41:41,340 --> 04:41:42,040
Want to join?

3714
04:41:44,000 --> 04:41:45,720
My colleague over there Jane

3715
04:41:46,800 --> 04:41:56,560
in suggesting that you keep on your table until you do make a final decision, the option of raising your tax rate.

3716
04:41:57,400 --> 04:42:06,400
And I do this not because I just love to pay taxes, or because yours is so small relative to everything else that we pay for,

3717
04:42:08,080 --> 04:42:13,220
and that it applies to a very vital resources but there was a lot of

3718
04:42:13,220 --> 04:42:19,800
game-playing over the years as among politicians as the base went up with

3719
04:42:19,800 --> 04:42:26,960
growth and the rate didn't come down but stayed up. We are paying for that now

3720
04:42:26,960 --> 04:42:31,560
and you're going and the district is going to pay for this as we bring

3721
04:42:31,560 --> 04:42:37,700
restoration projects online and any other project that requires pumps and gates and maintenance.

3722
04:42:38,500 --> 04:42:44,040
And this expense is going to exceed your rollback rate growth.

3723
04:42:45,480 --> 04:42:49,320
And if it doesn't do it this year, it may do it next year.

3724
04:42:50,040 --> 04:42:55,640
And maybe next year is the 15 budget would be easier to raise your mileage than it would

3725
04:42:55,640 --> 04:42:59,760
be this year because if you do it for the 14 year, you're into an election cycle.

3726
04:42:59,760 --> 04:43:04,820
So then we can play the game that an odd year is when you're not going to the polls,

3727
04:43:05,160 --> 04:43:09,980
you raise your rate, and then even yours, you lower it rate, and then people are really, really happy,

3728
04:43:10,440 --> 04:43:15,360
even though they're really, really happy if they've got flood protection

3729
04:43:16,620 --> 04:43:20,180
and they turn their spigot on and clean water comes out.

3730
04:43:21,120 --> 04:43:23,360
Some of the rest of us are a little pickier about it.

3731
04:43:24,160 --> 04:43:27,640
I like to say that I looked at the budget and I do think you've got,

3732
04:43:27,640 --> 04:43:33,260
But you need to do a little bit more in the coming year on land management budget with

3733
04:43:33,260 --> 04:43:38,220
a control of exotics, a torpedo grass that's coming back in Lake Okeechobee as an excellent

3734
04:43:38,220 --> 04:43:42,040
example of that, but you also are behind in your fire regimes.

3735
04:43:42,880 --> 04:43:48,640
And when you get behind in land management, you get into serious and more and more expensive

3736
04:43:48,640 --> 04:43:49,480
problems.

3737
04:43:49,960 --> 04:43:55,680
Ask the folks out in Colorado right now as their million-dollar houses burn down.

3738
04:43:56,760 --> 04:44:04,120
We haven't had that happen in Florida and I don't mean to imply what we do, but we do get land problems.

3739
04:44:04,900 --> 04:44:08,540
And a land problem on your neighbor's land is your problem as well.

3740
04:44:09,200 --> 04:44:16,800
Your investment in recovery, the science program that backs up your Everglades Restoration program

3741
04:44:16,800 --> 04:44:20,440
by demonstrating for you what actually works.

3742
04:44:20,440 --> 04:44:25,360
and you need to rescue that crocodile study.

3743
04:44:26,120 --> 04:44:28,380
We have been studying alligators and crocodiles

3744
04:44:28,380 --> 04:44:31,900
here for 30 years, and I've been out into the refuge

3745
04:44:32,440 --> 04:44:35,480
and along the S5A recently,

3746
04:44:36,000 --> 04:44:38,040
and the state of the crocodile,

3747
04:44:38,380 --> 04:44:40,240
pretty pitiful, they're all heads of nobody.

3748
04:44:41,300 --> 04:44:44,000
And that shows there's something really, really wrong,

3749
04:44:44,560 --> 04:44:46,060
but we don't know what it is,

3750
04:44:46,680 --> 04:44:49,160
and we're not gonna find out unless we study them.

3751
04:44:49,160 --> 04:44:56,420
That study was exed out, completely zeroed out in the 2012 budget.

3752
04:44:56,980 --> 04:44:59,960
We found a little bit of money and it lived on fuel.

3753
04:45:03,860 --> 04:45:09,360
I think that study needs to be rescued. And finally, there are the flood control structures

3754
04:45:09,360 --> 04:45:15,900
along the urban coast here, where with the rise in sea level, we need some pumps put in,

3755
04:45:16,220 --> 04:45:19,480
and they need to be retrofitted, and we need to get that program going.

3756
04:45:19,860 --> 04:45:20,900
Thank you so much.

3757
04:45:26,250 --> 04:45:31,350
Hi, thank you. I still have my voice, so I'm going to keep talking. Keep talking for

3758
04:45:31,350 --> 04:45:35,630
the rest of the day. And I realized I didn't say my name for the record before Laura Reynolds

3759
04:45:35,630 --> 04:45:41,550
with the Tropical Audubon Society. And I'm going to focus my budget comments specifically

3760
04:45:41,550 --> 04:45:46,790
on Biscayne because we are out on Key Biscayne. And I'll get in the weeds just a little bit

3761
04:45:46,790 --> 04:45:52,450
and if you would just humor me on that. You know, first of all, the Biscayne Bay

3762
04:45:52,450 --> 04:45:59,670
Coastal Wetlands Project is the most visible of any project in the entire system. People

3763
04:45:59,670 --> 04:46:05,050
are headed to during a state, they've passed by the project on Old Cutler Road, and that's

3764
04:46:05,050 --> 04:46:11,070
huge because it explains to them that we live above our water supply, that open land recharges

3765
04:46:11,610 --> 04:46:17,090
the aquifer, and that's part of what we do at Tropical is try to teach people that thread.

3766
04:46:17,830 --> 04:46:21,270
So it's really important that we get phase one going.

3767
04:46:21,450 --> 04:46:28,010
So I want to reiterate the comments that Jane had about, I'm ready to take out my

3768
04:46:28,010 --> 04:46:32,170
checkbook because I understand the value of water, and that's part of what we're teaching.

3769
04:46:32,790 --> 04:46:37,070
So I think you should consider raising your rates. I know that's not politically popular,

3770
04:46:37,070 --> 04:46:44,110
but I think people are starting to understand the value of water as you see reverse osmosis

3771
04:46:44,110 --> 04:46:49,970
and other expensive procedures out there as an alternative. We're using those talking

3772
04:46:49,970 --> 04:46:51,050
points every day.

3773
04:46:51,890 --> 04:46:56,410
The three things I'd like you to consider in your budget, you're going to hear some

3774
04:46:56,410 --> 04:47:01,890
presentation today about additional Biscay and Bay Coast wetland projects that add up

3775
04:47:01,890 --> 04:47:07,290
to 2 million. I would like to support that and I'll speak more about that later. In addition,

3776
04:47:07,490 --> 04:47:14,470
you have one outstanding parcel of land for the Cutler Flowway at 330 acres. That land

3777
04:47:14,470 --> 04:47:19,290
owner is being really patient. I don't think that will continue much longer. I think

3778
04:47:19,290 --> 04:47:24,570
that he's not interested in a trade. I think that 1.3 million, which is the county

3779
04:47:24,570 --> 04:47:30,750
assessment is reasonable, and I don't think we've ever been able to get 330 acres on the

3780
04:47:30,750 --> 04:47:32,970
coast for less than that value.

3781
04:47:33,170 --> 04:47:34,650
So I would scoop that up.

3782
04:47:35,070 --> 04:47:38,210
So 1.3 million for those 330 acres.

3783
04:47:38,530 --> 04:47:43,130
And then yesterday when we were out on the bay, we saw a salinity program that's showing

3784
04:47:43,130 --> 04:47:48,750
us the benefit to Biscayne that's in danger of being lost, and all they need to keep

3785
04:47:48,750 --> 04:47:53,410
that program going is $80,000, $80,000 for 2014.

3786
04:47:54,530 --> 04:47:59,950
So that's the specific asks on Biscayne, and I want to thank you again for being out here. Thanks.

3787
04:48:00,310 --> 04:48:00,890
Thank you, Laura.

3788
04:48:03,240 --> 04:48:04,660
Any additional public comment?

3789
04:48:05,040 --> 04:48:05,620
Yeah, Mr. Chairman.

3790
04:48:05,820 --> 04:48:12,360
Okay. Any other board comment from Mr. Bergstrom? Thank you, Mr. Bergstrom. Doug, you need anything else from us? You done?

3791
04:48:12,820 --> 04:48:23,380
No, sir, I'm good. I just want to thank the governing board and this executive team for continuing to engage and help us grind through this. We'll be back next month.

3792
04:48:23,380 --> 04:48:24,380
Thank you very much.

3793
04:48:24,480 --> 04:48:24,740
Thank you.

3794
04:48:24,940 --> 04:48:25,340
Thanks, though.

3795
04:48:26,500 --> 04:48:27,160
All right.

3796
04:48:27,320 --> 04:48:31,220
Next item, I'd like to call up Temperance Maureen.

3797
04:48:31,360 --> 04:48:32,340
Hey, there's Temperance.

3798
04:48:34,100 --> 04:48:38,440
Director of Office of Everglades and Water Policy.

3799
04:48:38,480 --> 04:48:39,240
She's the director.

3800
04:48:39,720 --> 04:48:42,400
She's going to walk us through Dispersed Water Management Program update.

3801
04:48:43,520 --> 04:48:43,780
Yes.

3802
04:48:43,880 --> 04:48:44,340
Good afternoon.

3803
04:48:44,640 --> 04:48:48,180
I'd like to start by thanking Mr. Hutchcraft for his earlier Dispersed Water Management

3804
04:48:48,180 --> 04:48:51,680
comments that offered a nice segue between Doug's presentation and mine.

3805
04:48:51,680 --> 04:48:56,500
The purpose of this presentation is to provide you with an overview and a status update on

3806
04:48:56,500 --> 04:48:58,060
the Dispersed Water Management Program.

3807
04:48:58,760 --> 04:49:03,360
We won't be seeking a specific decision from the governing board today, but we will be

3808
04:49:03,360 --> 04:49:06,840
coming back to you next month, so we're really trying to set the stage for next month.

3809
04:49:07,240 --> 04:49:11,880
And we'll be coming back with the results from two recent requests for proposal solicitations

3810
04:49:12,440 --> 04:49:14,980
related to the Dispersed Water Management Program that we've put out.

3811
04:49:15,360 --> 04:49:20,000
So today I'll focus on an overview of the program and a budget update, and that

3812
04:49:20,000 --> 04:49:21,640
should set the stage to come back next month.

3813
04:49:22,320 --> 04:49:24,520
Another thing I think you'll find as I present today

3814
04:49:24,520 --> 04:49:27,880
and as I present next month is there's a tremendous amount

3815
04:49:27,880 --> 04:49:29,180
of interest in this program,

3816
04:49:29,640 --> 04:49:31,520
both from the agricultural landowners

3817
04:49:31,520 --> 04:49:33,160
who'd like to participate in the program

3818
04:49:33,540 --> 04:49:35,100
as well as environmental stakeholders

3819
04:49:35,100 --> 04:49:36,580
and other stakeholders in the system.

3820
04:49:38,160 --> 04:49:40,160
So with that, the goals and objectives

3821
04:49:40,160 --> 04:49:41,920
of the Dispersed Water Management Program

3822
04:49:41,920 --> 04:49:43,840
are to provide shallow water storage,

3823
04:49:44,460 --> 04:49:48,380
retention and detention with a particular emphasis

3824
04:49:48,380 --> 04:49:50,020
and the Northern Everglades system.

3825
04:49:50,760 --> 04:49:53,720
The goals of that are to enhance Lake of Chobe and Estuary

3826
04:49:53,720 --> 04:49:57,000
health, reduce nutrient loading to downstream estuaries,

3827
04:49:57,300 --> 04:49:59,400
and provide groundwater recharge opportunities.

3828
04:50:00,760 --> 04:50:03,480
There's four basic types of dispersed water management

3829
04:50:03,480 --> 04:50:06,100
projects that we're currently implementing or hope

3830
04:50:06,100 --> 04:50:07,740
to implement in the future.

3831
04:50:08,400 --> 04:50:10,160
I noticed some activity in our area.

3832
04:50:11,700 --> 04:50:13,500
Should I just keep going?

3833
04:50:14,500 --> 04:50:17,200
We're going to get you a screen.

3834
04:50:17,560 --> 04:50:19,080
I have a nice ring for you.

3835
04:50:27,890 --> 04:50:28,710
Want me to keep going?

3836
04:50:29,730 --> 04:50:30,670
They've got the presentation.

3837
04:50:30,790 --> 04:50:31,370
Yeah, we have a copy.

3838
04:50:31,430 --> 04:50:31,970
Go ahead.

3839
04:50:32,510 --> 04:50:34,070
For the sake of time, I will keep going.

3840
04:50:34,230 --> 04:50:34,790
Yeah, thank you.

3841
04:50:36,370 --> 04:50:38,190
All right, there are four basic types of projects,

3842
04:50:38,410 --> 04:50:40,490
and in the coming slides I'll explain those four types.

3843
04:50:40,650 --> 04:50:41,670
We have local, regional,

3844
04:50:42,190 --> 04:50:43,470
payment for environmental services,

3845
04:50:43,550 --> 04:50:44,370
and water farming.

3846
04:50:44,950 --> 04:50:46,870
The map on the left side of your hard copies

3847
04:50:46,870 --> 04:50:48,030
for those of you who have them,

3848
04:50:48,270 --> 04:50:50,070
just depicts the number of projects

3849
04:50:50,070 --> 04:50:52,490
for the various types that we currently have in place

3850
04:50:52,490 --> 04:50:57,330
in the system. So with that, moving on to the first category of projects which are the

3851
04:50:57,330 --> 04:51:01,610
local projects. These are projects where we implement cooperative agreements with private

3852
04:51:01,610 --> 04:51:06,310
landowners. And just to provide some examples of these types of projects, we have the Nicodemus

3853
04:51:06,310 --> 04:51:11,450
Celia project which is a unique project in part because of its size and part because

3854
04:51:11,450 --> 04:51:17,010
of its location. This project is a 34,000 acre foot storage feature that's located

3855
04:51:17,010 --> 04:51:20,890
at the nexus of the Colusa Hatchee and Lake Okeechobee watersheds.

3856
04:51:21,410 --> 04:51:25,350
Another example of a local cooperative agreement project is the Harbor Ridge project.

3857
04:51:25,850 --> 04:51:29,770
In this case, we're working with the homeowners association of the Harbor Ridge community.

3858
04:51:30,350 --> 04:51:35,810
They have some detention systems that will allow us to pool water in off the C-23 canal system,

3859
04:51:36,210 --> 04:51:39,770
hold it in their detention systems, and therefore reduce discharges to tide.

3860
04:51:40,330 --> 04:51:43,790
So those are just a few examples of the types of local projects we can implement.

3861
04:51:44,550 --> 04:51:50,150
Moving on to regional projects, similar but in this case we're doing the storage on publicly owned lands.

3862
04:51:50,630 --> 04:51:57,350
For example, the lands the Water Management District has acquired for future SIRT projects such as the Indian River Lagoon lands

3863
04:51:57,350 --> 04:52:02,210
and the C43 or Barrie Grove site that we've purchased and there's a number of other sites.

3864
04:52:02,670 --> 04:52:05,990
There are also lands owned by the State of Florida and other public entities.

3865
04:52:05,990 --> 04:52:14,450
As you can see, we have a large number of projects that fit into this category that are in various stages of planning, design, construction, and operation.

3866
04:52:16,470 --> 04:52:22,390
The next category of projects is the Northern Everglades Payment for Environmental Services project.

3867
04:52:23,050 --> 04:52:34,550
This is a public-private partnership program that focuses on working with those private entities to pay them for providing environmental services such as water retention and nutrient removal.

3868
04:52:35,210 --> 04:52:40,510
The original emphasis of the Northern Everglades Payment for Environmental Services program was on ranch lands.

3869
04:52:41,110 --> 04:52:46,890
We piloted this effort, this concept initially through the Florida Ranch Lands and Environmental Services program.

3870
04:52:47,690 --> 04:52:49,570
It was, the pilot program was very successful.

3871
04:52:50,190 --> 04:52:53,410
We actually have two of the pilot projects that are currently being implemented now.

3872
04:52:53,970 --> 04:53:03,610
And because of the results and the success of that pilot program, we went ahead, the district went ahead with a solicitation for additional project concepts.

3873
04:53:03,610 --> 04:53:08,990
That was a couple of years ago, and as a result of that particular solicitation, the Governing

3874
04:53:08,990 --> 04:53:14,690
Board gave direction, and we negotiated contracts that ultimately resulted in eight approved

3875
04:53:14,690 --> 04:53:18,170
projects and eight contracts being let for these projects.

3876
04:53:18,350 --> 04:53:22,250
Six of those are currently operational, two are getting very close, they had a few issues

3877
04:53:22,250 --> 04:53:22,850
to work through.

3878
04:53:23,810 --> 04:53:29,130
Again as a result of the continuing success of this program several months ago, we put

3879
04:53:29,130 --> 04:53:31,650
out another request for proposal solicitation.

3880
04:53:31,650 --> 04:53:37,210
Again, for ranch lands, and as I mentioned earlier, there's a tremendous amount of interest

3881
04:53:37,210 --> 04:53:42,290
in this program, so we received 19 proposals as a result of that RFP.

3882
04:53:42,850 --> 04:53:47,470
And we'll be coming back next month and summarizing the results of those proposals, how they

3883
04:53:47,470 --> 04:53:52,070
compare to what we had in the first round of RFPs, and any other additional information

3884
04:53:52,070 --> 04:53:52,790
you'd like to see.

3885
04:53:54,130 --> 04:53:57,670
Similarly, we have the concept of payment for environmental services.

3886
04:53:57,850 --> 04:54:00,550
In this case, the term water farming has been coined.

3887
04:54:00,550 --> 04:54:05,670
The emphasis here is on doing payment for environmental services on fallow citrus lands.

3888
04:54:05,990 --> 04:54:09,990
We have a fair number of fallow citrus lands throughout the system, particularly in the

3889
04:54:09,990 --> 04:54:12,110
St. Lucie and Indian River Lagoon watersheds.

3890
04:54:12,790 --> 04:54:16,530
We had not done any of these types of projects on citrus in the past.

3891
04:54:16,850 --> 04:54:20,810
So the concept here is to pilot the program on citrus lands.

3892
04:54:21,430 --> 04:54:24,250
So as a result, we've entered into two cooperative agreements.

3893
04:54:24,730 --> 04:54:28,470
One with the Gulf Citrus Growers Association over in the Kalusa Hatchee watershed.

3894
04:54:28,470 --> 04:54:32,350
Shed, another with the Indian River Citrus League and the St. Lucie Watershed.

3895
04:54:32,870 --> 04:54:38,010
We've got feasibility reports that have come in or will be coming in soon out of those cooperative agreements.

3896
04:54:38,630 --> 04:54:44,430
We've done a request for proposal solicitation specifically for water farming in the St. Lucie Watershed.

3897
04:54:44,990 --> 04:54:50,730
The results of that solicitation were due in last week, so we're in the process of reviewing them.

3898
04:54:51,030 --> 04:54:54,330
We ultimately had five proposals from that solicitation.

3899
04:54:54,330 --> 04:54:58,110
And, again, we'll be back next month to summarize the details of those proposals.

3900
04:54:59,170 --> 04:55:03,530
Also in the St. Lucie Watershed, we've partnered up with the University of Florida and Indian

3901
04:55:03,530 --> 04:55:08,290
River Citrus League to submit an application to the Department of Environmental Protection

3902
04:55:08,290 --> 04:55:09,670
for a 319 grant.

3903
04:55:10,330 --> 04:55:15,770
This is a program that DEP implements in coordination with the EPA, targeting water quality improvement

3904
04:55:15,770 --> 04:55:19,690
projects, and what we're really hoping to do here is stretch our funds, take

3905
04:55:19,690 --> 04:55:25,010
our $1.6 million, see if we can get some match funds out of this program and get more projects

3906
04:55:25,010 --> 04:55:30,090
in the ground with our limited funds. We will get the results of our application. DEP will

3907
04:55:30,090 --> 04:55:33,530
be making their selections from that program in the September timeframe.

3908
04:55:34,990 --> 04:55:39,370
So there's a brief summary of the four types of projects, and that helps set the stage

3909
04:55:39,370 --> 04:55:43,250
for the slides I'm about to present, which give you a budget summary of where we currently

3910
04:55:43,250 --> 04:55:49,530
stand and identify some potential scenarios as to how we might incorporate some additional

3911
04:55:49,530 --> 04:55:53,210
projects into this program with our current budget as we move forward.

3912
04:55:55,250 --> 04:55:59,690
So as Doug mentioned earlier, and as I'm sure you are all aware, we do have a spin-down

3913
04:55:59,690 --> 04:56:00,030
program.

3914
04:56:00,030 --> 04:56:01,630
We have a reserve spin-down program.

3915
04:56:02,370 --> 04:56:06,730
And several years ago, as a part of that program, the Governing Board made the decision to

3916
04:56:06,730 --> 04:56:12,150
set aside $34.3 million out of our reserve spin-down funds specifically for dispersed

3917
04:56:12,150 --> 04:56:12,990
water management.

3918
04:56:13,570 --> 04:56:17,110
We have been using those funds to implement the projects I've previously mentioned.

3919
04:56:17,110 --> 04:56:22,450
We have 22 million of that original funding that's currently still available for this program.

3920
04:56:23,190 --> 04:56:28,430
So what we've done here is just laid out where if you were to continue your current obligation,

3921
04:56:28,950 --> 04:56:39,350
including the ongoing local projects, the ongoing local projects, the regional projects,

3922
04:56:39,710 --> 04:56:45,670
the original round of PES contracts that I earlier mentioned, and one of the ongoing press projects.

3923
04:56:45,670 --> 04:56:47,250
You're doing great, Temperance.

3924
04:56:47,330 --> 04:56:47,430
Thank you.

3925
04:56:48,110 --> 04:56:49,890
It's like a Saturday night life.

3926
04:56:50,730 --> 04:56:52,530
Just don't want to carry you away.

3927
04:56:56,250 --> 04:57:02,470
If you continue those ongoing commitments with the current pot of funds without incorporating

3928
04:57:02,470 --> 04:57:06,590
any new projects into the program, we have enough funds to fund through fiscal year 20.

3929
04:57:07,270 --> 04:57:10,910
But obviously that means we took our five-year reserve spend-down funds and we stretched

3930
04:57:10,910 --> 04:57:14,530
them over a much longer period of time instead of getting them spent out.

3931
04:57:14,530 --> 04:57:31,410
So if you really focused on just the next five years of funding and you committed to continuing those current obligations for five years, you'd have $7.7 million still remaining of our original pot to put some towards some of these other new projects that are under consideration.

3932
04:57:32,950 --> 04:57:41,410
So we've laid out a few scenarios. There's a number of scenarios that can be considered by the governing board. We just laid out a few scenarios to show you how this might work.

3933
04:57:41,410 --> 04:57:47,510
So in scenario two, what we have is continuing the current commitments, which I earlier mentioned,

3934
04:57:48,030 --> 04:57:54,570
but also including funding each year for the next five years for interim lands and cooperative agreements.

3935
04:57:55,090 --> 04:57:59,970
So again, this would give us funding for projects on IRL lands, C43 lands,

3936
04:58:00,210 --> 04:58:03,310
and some of those cooperative agreement projects with private landowners.

3937
04:58:03,930 --> 04:58:06,590
And with that, if you committed to that for the next five years,

3938
04:58:06,590 --> 04:58:11,090
you would have $3.4 million of our original spend-down funds still remaining.

3939
04:58:12,310 --> 04:58:16,850
So moving on to another scenario, in this scenario we have the continuing current obligations

3940
04:58:16,850 --> 04:58:22,310
for five years, continuing interim lands and cooperative agreement funding on an annual

3941
04:58:22,310 --> 04:58:28,390
basis at $160,000 a year for the interim lands and $240,000 a year for the cooperative

3942
04:58:28,390 --> 04:58:34,430
agreements including $3 million for the water farming pilot projects and we have

3943
04:58:34,430 --> 04:58:38,030
dependent on RFP results here because at the time we were preparing these slides, we did

3944
04:58:38,030 --> 04:58:42,610
not have the results from the RFP. As I mentioned, we'll bring those back next month so we can

3945
04:58:42,610 --> 04:58:47,530
see how that looks. But if you were to set aside $3 million for the three-year water

3946
04:58:47,530 --> 04:58:54,010
farming pilot, we would have $9,000 left of the spend-down funds at the end of the

3947
04:58:54,010 --> 04:59:00,750
next five years. A similar scenario, but focusing on the PES program. Here we're

3948
04:59:00,750 --> 04:59:02,230
continuing current obligations,

3949
04:59:02,610 --> 04:59:04,330
continuing funding for interim lands

3950
04:59:04,330 --> 04:59:05,390
and cooperative agreements,

3951
04:59:05,910 --> 04:59:08,790
and setting aside three million for the PES solicitation.

3952
04:59:09,430 --> 04:59:11,090
However, you would not have remaining funds

3953
04:59:11,090 --> 04:59:12,390
for the water farming pilot.

3954
04:59:13,250 --> 04:59:15,330
So what we've done in the scenario four here

3955
04:59:15,330 --> 04:59:16,470
is somewhat of a hybrid

3956
04:59:16,470 --> 04:59:19,310
where you have continued funding for the current program,

3957
04:59:19,910 --> 04:59:22,030
continued funding but at a reduced rate

3958
04:59:22,030 --> 04:59:24,710
from scenario two for interim lands

3959
04:59:24,710 --> 04:59:25,890
and cooperative agreements,

3960
04:59:26,850 --> 04:59:29,550
and funding for both the water farming pilot

3961
04:59:29,550 --> 04:59:32,670
and the second PES solicitation that had a reduced rate

3962
04:59:32,670 --> 04:59:35,190
from what we laid out in scenarios 3A and 3B.

3963
04:59:35,730 --> 04:59:38,590
So in this case, you would have approximately $1.6 million

3964
04:59:38,590 --> 04:59:41,050
for the water farming pilot over the three years

3965
04:59:41,050 --> 04:59:45,230
and $2.4 million to enroll additional contracts

3966
04:59:45,230 --> 04:59:46,990
in the second PES solicitation.

3967
04:59:48,650 --> 04:59:52,110
This slide simply summarizes all of those scenarios

3968
04:59:52,110 --> 04:59:53,450
that we've laid out.

3969
04:59:53,590 --> 04:59:56,230
And as I mentioned, there are obviously many other ways

3970
04:59:56,230 --> 04:59:59,430
to split these funds up over the various types of projects.

3971
05:00:00,460 --> 05:00:07,460
So, just to summarize, we currently have $22 million of the original $33 remaining in

3972
05:00:07,460 --> 05:00:12,800
the spend down fund pot for dispersed water management, until additional funding is identified

3973
05:00:12,800 --> 05:00:18,260
and that is one of our goals is to identify other funding sources for this very promising

3974
05:00:18,260 --> 05:00:24,160
and successful program. You would be able to continue to fund your current obligations

3975
05:00:24,160 --> 05:00:29,100
through fiscal year 20 if you don't enroll any additional projects in the program or

3976
05:00:29,100 --> 05:00:32,040
Alternatively, if you focus on the next five years,

3977
05:00:32,440 --> 05:00:33,860
continue your current commitments,

3978
05:00:34,160 --> 05:00:37,040
there would be 7.7 million of the remaining funds

3979
05:00:37,040 --> 05:00:40,280
available to split over the four categories of projects

3980
05:00:40,280 --> 05:00:41,560
that I previously mentioned.

3981
05:00:43,200 --> 05:00:46,540
And with that, the path forward, at least at this time,

3982
05:00:46,620 --> 05:00:48,080
is to come back to you next month,

3983
05:00:48,480 --> 05:00:50,940
summarize the results of both solicitations,

3984
05:00:51,340 --> 05:00:54,040
receive your direction on how you would like for us

3985
05:00:54,040 --> 05:00:56,700
to proceed with our negotiations on both RFPs.

3986
05:00:56,700 --> 05:01:04,360
Obviously in the meantime, we'll continue our ongoing efforts for the local regional projects and with the existing PES projects.

3987
05:01:05,000 --> 05:01:13,760
We're hopeful our fingers will be crossed that we're successful in the 319 grant application and we get those additional funds to stretch for the St. Lucie watershed.

3988
05:01:14,460 --> 05:01:24,520
And we will continue our efforts to identify alternative and additional funding sources for this program both through state and regional, excuse me, state and federal efforts.

3989
05:01:25,300 --> 05:01:29,320
And with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions or open up for discussion from the

3990
05:01:29,320 --> 05:01:29,460
board.

3991
05:01:29,700 --> 05:01:30,080
Excellent.

3992
05:01:30,380 --> 05:01:30,680
Thank you.

3993
05:01:31,160 --> 05:01:31,600
Mr. Sardin.

3994
05:01:32,000 --> 05:01:33,980
Good job, Temperance, especially with all the activity.

3995
05:01:36,520 --> 05:01:41,680
When you come back, will we be able to see comparatively the current projects we have

3996
05:01:41,680 --> 05:01:47,080
in place and what that cost is per acre foot versus the new projects coming online?

3997
05:01:47,680 --> 05:01:48,100
Yes, sir.

3998
05:01:48,300 --> 05:01:50,180
So we can see what range that we're talking about.

3999
05:01:50,220 --> 05:01:50,600
Absolutely.

4000
05:01:50,920 --> 05:01:51,500
That is our intent.

4001
05:01:51,500 --> 05:01:54,560
We will bring you back those numbers for each of the categories.

4002
05:01:55,220 --> 05:02:00,360
One other thing we can do is show you for the first solicitation what the original proposal

4003
05:02:00,360 --> 05:02:05,660
costs were and where we ended up after negotiations to give you some perspective on starting place

4004
05:02:05,660 --> 05:02:09,020
versus potential landing place after negotiations.

4005
05:02:09,740 --> 05:02:10,060
Okay.

4006
05:02:10,520 --> 05:02:10,960
Thank you, sir.

4007
05:02:13,080 --> 05:02:16,040
I'm afraid to touch this microphone, but can you hear me?

4008
05:02:16,600 --> 05:02:16,960
Yes, sir.

4009
05:02:16,960 --> 05:02:21,760
One other thing, I'd like to know, you commented on that these programs are popular.

4010
05:02:22,000 --> 05:02:22,800
I can understand that.

4011
05:02:23,040 --> 05:02:25,460
You know, we're paying people to keep water on the land.

4012
05:02:26,540 --> 05:02:27,760
I can understand that.

4013
05:02:28,000 --> 05:02:30,060
But you also said that they're very successful.

4014
05:02:31,360 --> 05:02:40,900
Have we seen the benefit to the system in exchange for how much it's costing us?

4015
05:02:41,660 --> 05:02:48,020
We have about 77,000 acre feet of dispersed water management storage currently scattered throughout the system.

4016
05:02:48,420 --> 05:02:53,700
We do believe most of those projects on an individual basis have been very successful because they're scattered

4017
05:02:53,700 --> 05:02:56,420
and because we have such a need for storage in the system.

4018
05:02:56,920 --> 05:03:03,960
I can't say that you've seen a tremendous change and discharges to the estuary as a result of this program,

4019
05:03:04,000 --> 05:03:06,780
but we do have information that shows indeed we are getting storage

4020
05:03:06,780 --> 05:03:10,880
And indeed, we are getting nutrient retention on a number of these sites.

4021
05:03:11,000 --> 05:03:13,880
So in that case, I would say, yes, it has been successful.

4022
05:03:14,320 --> 05:03:18,420
And the more of these projects that we have in place, along with our regional projects,

4023
05:03:18,700 --> 05:03:23,360
the more we'll start to see a real significant difference in the system as a whole.

4024
05:03:23,860 --> 05:03:28,840
Well, do we monitor any of these projects, any of these individual projects that way

4025
05:03:28,840 --> 05:03:36,440
so that we can actually have some kind of report on how much of the nutrients

4026
05:03:36,440 --> 05:03:37,200
are being retained?

4027
05:03:37,820 --> 05:03:41,700
Some of the projects have actual monitoring, particularly in the pilot phase.

4028
05:03:41,920 --> 05:03:46,760
We did extensive monitoring to look at those issues, so I think we can, if you'd like to

4029
05:03:46,760 --> 05:03:50,540
see that, we can bring you back some of the results of the more detailed monitoring during

4030
05:03:50,540 --> 05:03:51,300
the pilot phase.

4031
05:03:51,660 --> 05:03:56,860
The projects that focus on nutrient retention, there is monitoring to ensure you can quantify

4032
05:03:56,860 --> 05:03:58,940
the amount of nutrient retention you're receiving.

4033
05:03:59,380 --> 05:04:02,740
So yes, we would be happy to bring you back those results where we have them.

4034
05:04:02,740 --> 05:04:06,040
What are the other benefits besides nutrient retention?

4035
05:04:06,780 --> 05:04:08,240
Water retention and detension.

4036
05:04:08,760 --> 05:04:14,320
Primarily holding water back in the watershed so that water doesn't make its way either to the lake or the estuaries.

4037
05:04:16,040 --> 05:04:21,500
And do you think there's on those parameters?

4038
05:04:22,500 --> 05:04:27,620
The way the program works is we estimate based on 10 years' worth of hydrology.

4039
05:04:27,720 --> 05:04:30,440
We look at the specifics of a particular site.

4040
05:04:31,240 --> 05:04:33,140
How much storage do we have on this site?

4041
05:04:33,460 --> 05:04:35,440
And then we take a 10-year period of hydrology

4042
05:04:36,360 --> 05:04:38,940
and we apply it to those specifics.

4043
05:04:39,360 --> 05:04:42,340
And that allows us to determine on an average annual basis.

4044
05:04:42,620 --> 05:04:44,900
And this kind of relates to a lot of the stuff that Tommy presents.

4045
05:04:45,080 --> 05:04:45,800
Every year is different.

4046
05:04:46,340 --> 05:04:47,760
We're going to have some years that are very dry

4047
05:04:47,760 --> 05:04:49,120
and we don't need to store much water.

4048
05:04:49,180 --> 05:04:51,400
There's no rain to store or hold back in the system.

4049
05:04:51,680 --> 05:04:53,020
There'll be other years like this year.

4050
05:04:53,120 --> 05:04:56,000
We have a phenomenal amount of rain that we need to hold back in the watershed.

4051
05:04:56,620 --> 05:04:59,980
So what we do is we have tools that allow us to evaluate the site

4052
05:04:59,980 --> 05:05:06,380
and apply 10 years' worth of hydrology to estimate over a 10-year period on an average annual basis

4053
05:05:06,380 --> 05:05:08,060
how much storage we think we will achieve.

4054
05:05:09,260 --> 05:05:14,580
But on years where we don't need that kind of additional storage, we still pay for it whether they do it wrong.

4055
05:05:14,580 --> 05:05:15,240
That is correct.

4056
05:05:15,460 --> 05:05:20,740
Another part of the basis of the program is to give us certainty in what to budget,

4057
05:05:20,900 --> 05:05:24,660
to give the landowner certainty in what to expect in terms of revenue.

4058
05:05:24,660 --> 05:05:35,600
That is why we piloted the project and we determined that this was the best approach to allow both us and the private entities to kind of plan and budget for this program.

4059
05:05:36,140 --> 05:05:44,820
Instead of it going up and down with every given year is to focus on a 10-year planning horizon, use the best hydrology and information we have,

4060
05:05:45,020 --> 05:05:52,780
and to estimate that, but then just to have a set rate, a fixed rate based on that information that is applied on an annual basis.

4061
05:05:53,880 --> 05:05:58,480
Okay, but it just, in my mind, as tight as money is, and I just went through the budget

4062
05:05:58,480 --> 05:06:02,900
numbers, you know, it would be nice to have a cost benefit that we could see how much

4063
05:06:02,900 --> 05:06:08,520
it's costing us, and what kind of benefit we're getting for those dollars.

4064
05:06:08,680 --> 05:06:11,040
But you're telling me that we can't exactly do that.

4065
05:06:11,580 --> 05:06:14,280
It's only estimated over a 10-year period?

4066
05:06:14,540 --> 05:06:18,780
We have some real data from certain projects, and we'd be happy to summarize that.

4067
05:06:18,780 --> 05:06:24,140
In other cases, it is estimated, keeping in mind these PES contracts were only enlisted

4068
05:06:24,140 --> 05:06:27,380
two years ago, took about a year plus to get them in place.

4069
05:06:28,160 --> 05:06:31,460
So if you were to ask me this question in a few more years, we'll have a lot more data,

4070
05:06:31,820 --> 05:06:35,580
but we'd be happy to summarize the data we currently have based on the pilots and

4071
05:06:35,580 --> 05:06:40,740
our efforts today, knowing that with every year we gain more data to help us continue

4072
05:06:40,740 --> 05:06:43,060
to evaluate the effectiveness of this program.

4073
05:06:45,090 --> 05:06:47,370
But we will bring what we do have back to you next month.

4074
05:06:48,030 --> 05:06:49,690
Okay, thank you.

4075
05:06:49,690 --> 05:06:50,470
Mr. Portuondo.

4076
05:06:50,830 --> 05:06:54,190
Mr. Temperance, I think I know the answer, but I just want to make sure.

4077
05:06:54,630 --> 05:06:58,710
We're storing the water, but is there a mechanism for retrieving that water?

4078
05:06:59,330 --> 05:07:01,210
It depends on the particular project.

4079
05:07:01,390 --> 05:07:06,730
In some instances, yes, particularly some of the larger, kind of more complex versions of these projects.

4080
05:07:07,250 --> 05:07:11,550
Nicodemus Lou is an example of a project where we can take off a regional system,

4081
05:07:11,750 --> 05:07:15,150
bring the water in, and discharge it based on a particular timing.

4082
05:07:15,150 --> 05:07:18,250
I mean, some of the other projects are simply holding water back.

4083
05:07:18,690 --> 05:07:22,210
So what they're doing is when we're getting excess rainfall in the system that we don't

4084
05:07:22,210 --> 05:07:22,230
need.

4085
05:07:22,250 --> 05:07:26,610
You avoid the excess discharges, but you don't have the capability of reusing that water.

4086
05:07:26,710 --> 05:07:27,290
That is correct.

4087
05:07:27,610 --> 05:07:31,930
And that is one of the differences between some of the dispersed water management projects

4088
05:07:32,430 --> 05:07:37,070
and the regional projects or some of the more complex dispersed projects that have

4089
05:07:37,070 --> 05:07:37,690
that capability.

4090
05:07:39,610 --> 05:07:47,350
And at what point do you need a decision from the board on the different budget scenarios

4091
05:07:47,350 --> 05:07:49,410
you, the four different ones?

4092
05:07:50,230 --> 05:07:54,590
Ideally, the board would give us some direction at the July meeting on how you would like

4093
05:07:54,590 --> 05:07:58,150
us to proceed with negotiations on the two solicitations.

4094
05:07:58,690 --> 05:08:02,850
And we'll bring you back all the information we have, anything you'd like to see to try

4095
05:08:02,850 --> 05:08:04,090
to help inform that decision.

4096
05:08:04,090 --> 05:08:08,550
But do you have four different budget scenarios?

4097
05:08:10,150 --> 05:08:12,030
And those are simply examples.

4098
05:08:13,310 --> 05:08:16,390
We seek the board's direction on how you would like.

4099
05:08:16,570 --> 05:08:20,930
You could give us some scenarios today that you'd like to see us run, and we'd be happy to do that.

4100
05:08:23,550 --> 05:08:29,270
But as you can see, we have $22 million remaining in the budget to either focus on the current projects

4101
05:08:29,270 --> 05:08:34,070
or to distribute across an array of new projects under those four categories.

4102
05:08:36,250 --> 05:08:38,570
I guess I

4103
05:08:41,450 --> 05:08:47,870
would like to see when you want a decision what your recommendations would be and the reason behind those.

4104
05:08:48,630 --> 05:08:48,990
Fair enough.

4105
05:08:50,850 --> 05:08:58,310
But just back to the point on water supply, there is some benefit because if it's sitting on the ground it would perk.

4106
05:08:58,470 --> 05:09:01,470
It's just not necessarily like a tank in and out.

4107
05:09:01,470 --> 05:09:05,950
That's correct and that's right on our goals slides you may recall aquifer

4108
05:09:05,950 --> 05:09:10,690
recharge is one of the key benefits of this program not one that we're doing a

4109
05:09:10,690 --> 05:09:13,930
lot of monitoring on to mr. Moran's question but one that we know is

4110
05:09:13,930 --> 05:09:17,910
inherently there when you hold the water back and it's not discharging it's

4111
05:09:17,910 --> 05:09:22,750
it's eating and it's it's contributing to aquifer recharge okay mr. Sargent

4112
05:09:23,630 --> 05:09:28,790
just real quick and you probably told me this but as far as looking at funding

4113
05:09:28,790 --> 05:09:34,250
getting going forward, are these eligible for any of the Everglades funds from the state

4114
05:09:34,250 --> 05:09:37,750
on a recurring basis, or this would all be?

4115
05:09:39,610 --> 05:09:44,090
Depends on the location, there's certainly, there's a sort of audience and concept that

4116
05:09:44,090 --> 05:09:48,870
is included in the Northern Everglades protection plans, the Watershed Protection Plans.

4117
05:09:49,390 --> 05:09:55,290
So yes, the problem with the state funding is with any sort of funding source, it's

4118
05:09:55,290 --> 05:09:57,410
not, it's not ended in a year.

4119
05:09:57,410 --> 05:10:03,270
So some of the large capital projects, like the water farming, you may make a much more

4120
05:10:03,270 --> 05:10:07,530
large investment for landowners in the year three when it's finally able to actually hold

4121
05:10:07,530 --> 05:10:07,990
the water.

4122
05:10:08,250 --> 05:10:11,670
We might not have the funding for that in the environmental services payment.

4123
05:10:12,330 --> 05:10:16,750
So one of the things that we would, I think the question that will be posed before you

4124
05:10:16,750 --> 05:10:21,770
all next week, I mean next month will be that just to continue what we're doing,

4125
05:10:21,770 --> 05:10:30,110
Or I think there's a lot of value to maybe casting a slightly larger value, testing out some of the other types of projects.

4126
05:10:30,770 --> 05:10:39,170
Bill, use this next five-year period to collect data to make the strong cost-benefit analysis to which types of projects work best.

4127
05:10:39,650 --> 05:10:44,590
And also build momentum for a recurring potential dedicated plug-in source.

4128
05:10:45,070 --> 05:10:49,850
There's a lot of interest in this program from Audubon and some of the other environmental stakeholders.

4129
05:10:50,310 --> 05:10:52,570
There's a lot of interest from the ranchers and the landowners.

4130
05:10:52,730 --> 05:10:54,710
There's a lot of interest from the political leadership

4131
05:10:55,310 --> 05:10:57,790
and the House in particular has approached us.

4132
05:10:58,110 --> 05:11:00,730
So I think that's sort of what we'll work on

4133
05:11:00,730 --> 05:11:02,950
to making sure we have some of the cost-benefit

4134
05:11:02,950 --> 05:11:05,370
whatever place we can have on the price range of food,

4135
05:11:06,250 --> 05:11:08,530
how some of the options might stand up,

4136
05:11:08,990 --> 05:11:10,150
and then sort of lay that out.

4137
05:11:10,270 --> 05:11:11,790
And the question before you would be,

4138
05:11:11,970 --> 05:11:14,230
do we want to involve some more opportunities

4139
05:11:14,810 --> 05:11:17,530
to capture some more projects and data

4140
05:11:17,530 --> 05:11:19,750
and then build a momentum going forward

4141
05:11:19,750 --> 05:11:23,170
to hopefully look for a identified permanent funding

4142
05:11:23,170 --> 05:11:23,430
source.

4143
05:11:23,550 --> 05:11:25,590
Because as you all discussed in the system

4144
05:11:25,590 --> 05:11:27,530
where I pointed out in the previous discussion,

4145
05:11:27,790 --> 05:11:31,130
our recurring funds are pretty much obligated.

4146
05:11:31,550 --> 05:11:33,770
And if this becomes a priority, we

4147
05:11:33,770 --> 05:11:35,630
would have to decrease funding somewhere else out

4148
05:11:35,630 --> 05:11:38,610
of our current level or increase our funding options.

4149
05:11:38,770 --> 05:11:41,010
And that's to look in the federal and state arena

4150
05:11:41,010 --> 05:11:44,890
for a more reliable recurring source for this type of activity.

4151
05:11:46,230 --> 05:11:46,930
Thank you.

4152
05:11:46,930 --> 05:11:47,710
Mr. Archibald.

4153
05:11:48,330 --> 05:11:49,890
Timference, thanks for the presentation.

4154
05:11:50,430 --> 05:11:52,450
I think it's clear that I'm the supporter

4155
05:11:52,450 --> 05:11:54,350
of the program, the concept.

4156
05:11:54,570 --> 05:11:56,970
I think that it's one of those unique areas

4157
05:11:56,970 --> 05:11:59,690
where there's an alignment from agricultural interest

4158
05:11:59,690 --> 05:12:01,070
and environmental interests.

4159
05:12:01,530 --> 05:12:04,050
I think it's beneficial to the resource.

4160
05:12:04,630 --> 05:12:07,070
I also think that there is a budget benefit.

4161
05:12:07,310 --> 05:12:08,610
And one of the things that we look at

4162
05:12:08,610 --> 05:12:10,370
is we've got all these large projects

4163
05:12:10,370 --> 05:12:11,590
and we're not gonna be able to build

4164
05:12:11,590 --> 05:12:13,170
all of those at one time.

4165
05:12:13,170 --> 05:12:18,930
And I think that this gives us in varying scales smaller projects

4166
05:12:18,930 --> 05:12:22,550
that we can use to augment those big structured engineer

4167
05:12:22,550 --> 05:12:25,170
to get benefit in the end-time period.

4168
05:12:25,350 --> 05:12:28,010
And so I think it's important for us to be innovative

4169
05:12:28,010 --> 05:12:30,150
and look at these potential solutions.

4170
05:12:30,910 --> 05:12:33,130
One of the other things that you said that I really like

4171
05:12:33,130 --> 05:12:36,550
is I think that these types of projects present opportunities

4172
05:12:36,550 --> 05:12:41,170
for alternative partnerships, the 319 funding and other options.

4173
05:12:41,170 --> 05:12:46,410
And so to the extent that we can begin to identify and work with those landowners and

4174
05:12:46,410 --> 05:12:51,070
those other organizations to line these projects up, to understand the parameters that puts

4175
05:12:51,070 --> 05:12:54,490
us in a position where we can generate those additional partnership funds.

4176
05:12:54,990 --> 05:12:57,010
So I think we need to continue moving forward.

4177
05:12:57,630 --> 05:13:01,370
I do agree with Mr. Moran, though, that it's important for us to understand the

4178
05:13:01,370 --> 05:13:01,750
metrics.

4179
05:13:02,010 --> 05:13:07,990
I mean, I've seen some numbers on projects in state, across the country, and what

4180
05:13:07,990 --> 05:13:14,490
What I have seen is that there is a significant cost benefit on a cost per acre stored as

4181
05:13:14,490 --> 05:13:17,490
you compare it to the big structured engineered projects.

4182
05:13:18,090 --> 05:13:22,170
That's one of those things that I think it's important for us to understand what is the

4183
05:13:22,170 --> 05:13:28,090
cost relative to our other options, because again, we need to do some interim projects

4184
05:13:29,110 --> 05:13:31,410
to make sure that we're achieving success.

4185
05:13:31,930 --> 05:13:34,470
We definitely want to see a cost benefit.

4186
05:13:34,470 --> 05:13:39,870
And I think that there are some projects that give us the biggest bang for the buck.

4187
05:13:40,050 --> 05:13:41,510
You mentioned the C43.

4188
05:13:42,030 --> 05:13:43,770
It's land that we already own.

4189
05:13:44,050 --> 05:13:47,310
Right now, we have tons of water going to tide.

4190
05:13:47,830 --> 05:13:49,150
Why aren't we doing something?

4191
05:13:49,670 --> 05:13:55,190
Why don't we continue doing more of something smart on that property to just store that water?

4192
05:13:55,710 --> 05:14:01,470
And so whether it's that or Lake Hikpachi or other, you know, large, natural-based projects

4193
05:14:01,470 --> 05:14:03,570
where we can divert water in the high flow,

4194
05:14:03,570 --> 05:14:06,130
So I think we need to continue looking at that.

4195
05:14:06,450 --> 05:14:11,850
So I look forward to your presentation and your suite of options as we go forward.

4196
05:14:12,390 --> 05:14:12,590
Thanks.

4197
05:14:13,490 --> 05:14:14,230
Thank you.

4198
05:14:15,990 --> 05:14:21,270
Mr. Interim Executive Director, am I correct when we talk about options?

4199
05:14:21,610 --> 05:14:25,510
We had a presentation earlier about, you know, our discussion about lands and should

4200
05:14:25,510 --> 05:14:28,530
we decide that we actually sell some of those?

4201
05:14:28,610 --> 05:14:32,090
Are those funds that we could take and apply to a program like this?

4202
05:14:39,480 --> 05:14:45,300
Mr. Chairman, yeah, the answer is quite possibly, and I hate to give such a wishy-washy answer,

4203
05:14:45,440 --> 05:14:47,120
but it looks like I've been doing that all day long.

4204
05:14:48,620 --> 05:14:50,160
It's a definite maybe.

4205
05:14:50,380 --> 05:14:51,020
Why stop now?

4206
05:14:51,020 --> 05:14:52,020
Don't change your way now.

4207
05:14:55,860 --> 05:14:56,620
It's the...

4208
05:14:56,620 --> 05:14:58,620
I'm cut out for the syndrome thing, I think.

4209
05:15:00,460 --> 05:15:01,000
So,

4210
05:15:03,980 --> 05:15:09,620
all kidding aside, what we're really going to have to look hard at is the source of funds

4211
05:15:09,620 --> 05:15:16,020
that were used to acquire the property. So if the monies come from Save Our Everglades

4212
05:15:16,020 --> 05:15:22,760
or Florida Forever, they're going to be governed by the surplusing mechanisms that govern

4213
05:15:22,760 --> 05:15:26,960
that appropriation, because we're playing with someone else's money. If it was used

4214
05:15:26,960 --> 05:15:28,680
with Advalorum, the answer is absolutely.

4215
05:15:29,320 --> 05:15:32,920
If it was used for, if it would save our Everglades,

4216
05:15:33,040 --> 05:15:35,580
for example, there's opportunities to be very creative

4217
05:15:35,580 --> 05:15:37,100
through the appropriations process,

4218
05:15:37,580 --> 05:15:39,420
where we, through the surplusing,

4219
05:15:39,460 --> 05:15:41,040
or disposable, whatever the right word,

4220
05:15:41,160 --> 05:15:44,320
or otherwise, look at options, options.

4221
05:15:44,560 --> 05:15:44,780
Options.

4222
05:15:45,100 --> 05:15:45,500
Reusing.

4223
05:15:45,840 --> 05:15:46,280
Reusing.

4224
05:15:46,760 --> 05:15:48,840
We would, we could put together a package

4225
05:15:48,840 --> 05:15:51,580
that generated X amount of money,

4226
05:15:52,320 --> 05:15:54,040
return that back to the legislature,

4227
05:15:54,240 --> 05:15:56,140
have it deposited back into the trust fund,

4228
05:15:56,140 --> 05:15:58,860
And in the same action, with political leadership,

4229
05:15:59,000 --> 05:16:01,900
get it reappropriated back to this type of project.

4230
05:16:02,220 --> 05:16:04,680
So those types of options will present themselves.

4231
05:16:05,820 --> 05:16:08,880
And we will be able to bring those forward.

4232
05:16:09,420 --> 05:16:10,880
So that's the end.

4233
05:16:10,940 --> 05:16:11,280
That's helpful.

4234
05:16:11,920 --> 05:16:12,460
Yep, thank you.

4235
05:16:13,400 --> 05:16:13,720
All right.

4236
05:16:14,720 --> 05:16:16,500
Any other questions for Timbers?

4237
05:16:16,580 --> 05:16:17,740
Do we have public comment on this?

4238
05:16:17,840 --> 05:16:19,680
We do have one public comment from Drew Martin.

4239
05:16:23,060 --> 05:16:23,760
Totally fast.

4240
05:16:25,200 --> 05:16:26,140
I know you're in a rush.

4241
05:16:26,540 --> 05:16:27,720
Everybody's in a rush to go home.

4242
05:16:27,720 --> 05:16:30,880
Just tell us again that you're part of some soil district.

4243
05:16:31,240 --> 05:16:31,440
Right.

4244
05:16:32,820 --> 05:16:34,960
Why do I care about this?

4245
05:16:35,080 --> 05:16:38,380
Because this benefits your growers and your agriculture.

4246
05:16:38,980 --> 05:16:42,800
And I think this is something that's very, very good thing.

4247
05:16:48,400 --> 05:16:50,520
That was Carolyn's fault.

4248
05:16:51,000 --> 05:16:52,600
Stay focused, Drew. Stay focused.

4249
05:16:54,110 --> 05:16:55,060
Your time's ticking.

4250
05:17:01,960 --> 05:17:06,760
I mean, we just heard, I wish Mark Perry was here because he was talking about how he wishes

4251
05:17:06,760 --> 05:17:11,960
he could see more water stored, and here's an opportunity, and I definitely agree with

4252
05:17:13,700 --> 05:17:15,120
Mr. Hodgekiss.

4253
05:17:15,680 --> 05:17:17,520
You can call me Hodgekiss, that's fine.

4254
05:17:17,860 --> 05:17:18,140
Hodgecraft.

4255
05:17:18,740 --> 05:17:19,180
Hodgecraft.

4256
05:17:19,660 --> 05:17:23,820
I agree with Mr. Hodgecraft, and I agree with Mr. Moran as well, that we need to

4257
05:17:23,820 --> 05:17:28,320
have some models that show the cost-benefit in the best areas to do this, but I thought

4258
05:17:28,320 --> 05:17:32,680
your comments were excellent, and I very much agree with what you said. Thank you.

4259
05:17:33,120 --> 05:17:35,360
Thank you, Drew. All right. Any other public comments?

4260
05:17:35,640 --> 05:17:38,020
No, Mr. Chair. All right. Any other board comment or discussion

4261
05:17:38,020 --> 05:17:44,140
on this one? Temperance, thank you very much. Good program. Look forward to follow-up

4262
05:17:44,140 --> 05:17:52,360
next month. All right. Next agenda item, number 36, Miss Cain Bay Dry Season Operations

4263
05:17:52,360 --> 05:17:58,320
Mr. Scott Burns, Chief Environmental Scientist for Water Resources Division.

4264
05:17:58,800 --> 05:17:59,040
Good

4265
05:18:09,250 --> 05:18:10,970
afternoon, Mr. Scott.

4266
05:18:13,440 --> 05:18:14,360
Alright, let's try that.

4267
05:18:14,940 --> 05:18:19,640
This is the first of three staff presentations pertaining to Biscayne Bay.

4268
05:18:20,460 --> 05:18:26,620
The first project that I'd like to talk about is some of the operations that we were able to conduct this dry season

4269
05:18:26,620 --> 05:18:29,680
to try to help moderate the salinities in the near shore area,

4270
05:18:29,760 --> 05:18:33,120
some of the areas that you all had a chance to visit yesterday in the boat trip.

4271
05:18:33,880 --> 05:18:38,100
This presentation will be followed by Tom Teetz, who will talk to you about a possible

4272
05:18:38,100 --> 05:18:43,120
opportunity the staff is looking into to try to move the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands

4273
05:18:43,120 --> 05:18:49,220
project components, a few of those components ahead a little farther to even further improve

4274
05:18:49,220 --> 05:18:53,780
the delivery of fresh water to the near shore bay area in a more effective manner.

4275
05:18:54,260 --> 05:19:00,820
And finally, Don Medellin will come and talk to you and seek your action on adopting

4276
05:19:01,720 --> 05:19:06,200
water reservations to protect not only the project water for the Biscayne Bay Coastal

4277
05:19:06,200 --> 05:19:11,980
wetlands, but also additional uncommitted existing surface water flows into the bay

4278
05:19:12,440 --> 05:19:14,060
to be utilized to moderate those.

4279
05:19:14,960 --> 05:19:20,280
In deference to temperance, I was thinking maybe I'd use her slides instead of mine

4280
05:19:20,280 --> 05:19:24,760
for the presentation, but we'll try to continue this along and hopefully this

4281
05:19:24,760 --> 05:19:26,020
will continue to be in place.

4282
05:19:26,020 --> 05:19:32,800
As they covered yesterday in the boat trip, the flows to Biscayne Bay have been altered

4283
05:19:32,800 --> 05:19:39,340
significantly to accommodate growth and development of the area, in so doing that in a successful

4284
05:19:39,340 --> 05:19:47,780
manner, they have created a situation where instead of broad distributed freshwater flows

4285
05:19:47,780 --> 05:19:53,340
across an area for most of the year, the seasonal flows are now focused out of specific

4286
05:19:53,340 --> 05:19:59,960
point discharge areas at high rates, and those flows are really focused mostly in the wet season.

4287
05:20:00,140 --> 05:20:05,700
There's very little water left in storage to be delivered to the bay during most of the dry season.

4288
05:20:06,080 --> 05:20:10,720
As a result, the near shore area, which is extremely important for productivity, habitat,

4289
05:20:11,080 --> 05:20:16,340
for the fisheries and the like, experiences sailing conditions that are not conducive

4290
05:20:16,340 --> 05:20:22,440
development of those resources and frequently those, as a result of that, that is impacted.

4291
05:20:25,460 --> 05:20:31,180
While the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetland program has been expedited and some of the project

4292
05:20:31,180 --> 05:20:35,080
components have been completed, there are still several components that are yet to

4293
05:20:35,080 --> 05:20:35,520
be done.

4294
05:20:36,080 --> 05:20:40,340
However, district staff were challenged to kind of look at existing operations and

4295
05:20:40,340 --> 05:20:43,620
see if there were things that could be done within the existing constraints in

4296
05:20:43,620 --> 05:20:48,340
doing with what we had during this dry season to try to moderate salinity

4297
05:20:48,340 --> 05:20:54,220
increases where possible in essence to try to see if we can buy time year by

4298
05:20:54,220 --> 05:20:57,740
year and eventually until the rest of the project components are completed.

4299
05:20:58,600 --> 05:21:01,820
Staff came up with and implemented three different options that I'd like to talk

4300
05:21:01,820 --> 05:21:08,400
to you about. First one, Deering Estates, which is the S-700 pump test.

4301
05:21:08,400 --> 05:21:12,940
Secondly is the S-21 regional freshwater delivery test.

4302
05:21:13,780 --> 05:21:18,380
And finally, we'll talk to you about the seasonal drawdown based salinity operations.

4303
05:21:19,680 --> 05:21:24,960
We'll start off with the middle one, the S-21 supplemental freshwater deliveries.

4304
05:21:25,720 --> 05:21:29,360
Working with the park service over several years,

4305
05:21:31,020 --> 05:21:35,280
doing some evaluations by their scientists and confirmed by our scientists,

4306
05:21:35,280 --> 05:21:40,600
It was identified that even a relatively small amounts of fresh water delivered to the bay

4307
05:21:41,140 --> 05:21:49,060
could be helpful in moderating or kind of halting the ascent of seasonal salinity increases along the bay.

4308
05:21:49,860 --> 05:21:55,640
Those volumes were not really tremendously large and so the concept was maybe we could look in the system

4309
05:21:55,640 --> 05:22:01,620
not only at the coastal areas but farther inland to see if there was water available in the water conservation areas

4310
05:22:01,620 --> 05:22:05,880
areas or the like, that we can bring into the area to try to moderate the salinities.

4311
05:22:06,520 --> 05:22:10,320
First couple years that we tried to look for that, we were looking at the end of the season

4312
05:22:10,320 --> 05:22:14,520
when the salinities were high, and by that time the water levels in the conservation

4313
05:22:14,520 --> 05:22:16,700
areas were far too low to be able to do that.

4314
05:22:17,080 --> 05:22:22,200
So the concept was maybe we can extend the lower salinity areas for a longer period

4315
05:22:22,200 --> 05:22:25,940
of time if we look for the water early on in the wet season instead of at the

4316
05:22:25,940 --> 05:22:27,160
end of the dry season.

4317
05:22:28,500 --> 05:22:32,440
November of 2012 gave us an opportunity to conduct such a test.

4318
05:22:32,700 --> 05:22:43,160
During that period of time, sustained onshore winds had caused the near shore salinity levels to really be much higher than they are at this time of year for that time in November.

4319
05:22:43,880 --> 05:22:52,060
And the concern was that as we got into the drier and longer, warmer months to get to come, that hyper salinity was really a risk and a concern.

4320
05:22:52,060 --> 05:22:57,980
At the same time, however, the conservation areas, specifically Conservation Area 3A,

4321
05:22:58,180 --> 05:23:03,720
was very wet and regulatory discharges were being conducted to bring the water levels down.

4322
05:23:04,920 --> 05:23:08,220
At the same time, conditions in Everglades National Park were wet.

4323
05:23:08,960 --> 05:23:13,320
To bring the water down in the conservation areas, the water was being moved to the northern area of the bay

4324
05:23:13,320 --> 05:23:15,820
where there isn't near shore wetland habitat.

4325
05:23:16,120 --> 05:23:17,620
There's a lot of sea walls and the like.

4326
05:23:17,620 --> 05:23:21,060
and the other area the waters being removed was down through the South Bay

4327
05:23:21,060 --> 05:23:25,960
conveyance and out through Everglades National Park. So in order to kind of work

4328
05:23:25,960 --> 05:23:29,860
on this changed operation we want to take a small portion of that and bring in

4329
05:23:29,860 --> 05:23:33,460
the middle part where it would be just right. So we speak to help that at that

4330
05:23:33,460 --> 05:23:38,060
area. So that required coordination and on November 8th with a lot of help

4331
05:23:38,060 --> 05:23:43,440
from the Department of Interior, Joan Lawrence, a meeting was convened with

4332
05:23:43,440 --> 05:23:47,940
member representatives from the district, from the Department of Interior,

4333
05:23:48,220 --> 05:23:54,840
Shannon Estinez, also the superintendent from Biscayne National Park as well as

4334
05:23:54,840 --> 05:23:59,940
from Everglades National Park to discuss the concepts, to talk about potential

4335
05:23:59,940 --> 05:24:04,700
operations. The meeting was very successful, it was held at FIU and at the end of the

4336
05:24:04,700 --> 05:24:08,060
meeting we had some conceptual plans and staff went off to see if we could

4337
05:24:08,060 --> 05:24:12,700
implement those plans. First thing we have to do is talk with the US Army

4338
05:24:12,700 --> 05:24:16,900
Corps of Engineers to see if they could get their approval for the modifications of the

4339
05:24:16,900 --> 05:24:17,400
operations.

4340
05:24:17,720 --> 05:24:22,840
We also worked with Miami-Dade County, and surprisingly, after mere 10 days, we were

4341
05:24:22,840 --> 05:24:24,700
able to initiate the test.

4342
05:24:25,540 --> 05:24:30,040
We were working very fast because the water levels were dropping as the regulatory discharges

4343
05:24:30,040 --> 05:24:30,620
were occurring.

4344
05:24:31,260 --> 05:24:33,940
The test was able to be conducted for a period of two weeks.

4345
05:24:34,460 --> 05:24:40,900
During that period of time, we were able to release about 220 CFS out of the S21

4346
05:24:40,900 --> 05:24:46,420
one structure, which is equivalent to about 145 million gallons a day of fresh water through

4347
05:24:46,420 --> 05:24:51,900
that structure. It was released primarily during the low tide period, a couple times

4348
05:24:51,900 --> 05:25:00,300
during the day. The test had some very interesting and impressive results. On the graphic that

4349
05:25:00,300 --> 05:25:05,240
I have shown here, starting from the panel to your left as you're looking at it, this

4350
05:25:05,240 --> 05:25:11,520
This was the average salinity conditions in the near shore bay area that were occurring

4351
05:25:11,520 --> 05:25:13,960
immediately beginning and proceeding the test.

4352
05:25:14,540 --> 05:25:16,920
You can see S-21 is the structure towards the north.

4353
05:25:17,380 --> 05:25:20,460
You'll also see S-21A and S-20F.

4354
05:25:20,640 --> 05:25:24,280
Those are two structures that were being operated and there was some discharge for the

4355
05:25:24,280 --> 05:25:25,160
seasonal drawdown.

4356
05:25:25,320 --> 05:25:27,660
I'll talk to you a little bit more about that in a few minutes.

4357
05:25:30,330 --> 05:25:32,110
Darker blue is not very good.

4358
05:25:32,750 --> 05:25:34,390
Lighter blue is okay.

4359
05:25:34,390 --> 05:25:38,170
Green has really targeted good conditions.

4360
05:25:38,710 --> 05:25:44,930
As you can see in the middle panel and towards the average salinities at the end of the two-week test,

4361
05:25:45,430 --> 05:25:50,410
you can see that the entire coastal region up through here across these structures,

4362
05:25:50,650 --> 05:25:55,290
we were achieving real, very optimal salinities for this time of year.

4363
05:25:55,750 --> 05:26:01,470
Now, it's not to say that the salinities that we released out of S21 in and of itself occur here.

4364
05:26:01,470 --> 05:26:05,490
There was a mingling of the discharges from this structure plus these two structures.

4365
05:26:05,910 --> 05:26:07,570
But we had a real good result here.

4366
05:26:08,070 --> 05:26:12,190
The other thing that was surprising on the results is those freshwater signatures lingered

4367
05:26:12,190 --> 05:26:13,890
well after the test was concluded.

4368
05:26:14,710 --> 05:26:19,010
In fact, on this slide to the right, you can see this is the salinity distributions

4369
05:26:19,010 --> 05:26:21,790
that occurred six weeks after the test was concluded.

4370
05:26:21,930 --> 05:26:25,790
And there's still some areas to the north where the near-shore freshwater salinities

4371
05:26:25,790 --> 05:26:26,690
were occurring.

4372
05:26:26,690 --> 05:26:27,830
The

4373
05:26:30,100 --> 05:26:35,140
conclusions of the test is that first off, the transfer of supplemental water from

4374
05:26:35,140 --> 05:26:40,360
the regional system from the conservation areas requires careful coordination and broad consensus

4375
05:26:40,360 --> 05:26:40,900
building.

4376
05:26:41,680 --> 05:26:47,500
It's a difficult thing, the waters are shared by parks, there's a lot of constraints and

4377
05:26:47,500 --> 05:26:48,700
things that have to be addressed.

4378
05:26:49,840 --> 05:26:54,660
It's also important to note that there's not a lot of times when there's ample

4379
05:26:54,660 --> 05:26:57,900
water available in the conservation areas even early on.

4380
05:26:57,900 --> 05:27:05,080
So, the likelihood that this type of operation could be routinely carried out in the dry season is not that likely,

4381
05:27:05,200 --> 05:27:06,980
but it's something that we can consider.

4382
05:27:08,300 --> 05:27:14,180
And finally, and most impressively, those supplemental deliveries coupled with the other operations that were going on

4383
05:27:14,180 --> 05:27:22,920
were very successful in proving the near shore-based salinities for a much longer period of time than just the test plan itself.

4384
05:27:23,960 --> 05:27:28,260
Next, after this test was completed we were able to shift our attention to

4385
05:27:28,260 --> 05:27:33,700
operations up to the northern end of the Biscayne Coastal Wetland project

4386
05:27:33,700 --> 05:27:38,100
components and you'll see up here that we're talking about the S-700 pump

4387
05:27:38,100 --> 05:27:43,740
station newly constructed pump station up by the Deering Estates and the

4388
05:27:43,740 --> 05:27:48,340
opportunity here was to operate that pump station taking water out of the

4389
05:27:48,340 --> 05:27:54,320
see 108 canal and bringing it through this portion of freshwater wetlands to rehydrate

4390
05:27:54,320 --> 05:28:00,800
this original freshwater wetland system, then have the water flow into the coastal marine

4391
05:28:00,800 --> 05:28:03,960
wetland systems and then through that area into the bay.

4392
05:28:07,220 --> 05:28:09,360
In this particular case, we had to change routing.

4393
05:28:09,580 --> 05:28:13,260
We weren't using water in this case from the regional system, but instead we were

4394
05:28:13,260 --> 05:28:18,120
able to move some higher water availability from urban canals farther north in Miami

4395
05:28:18,960 --> 05:28:24,080
through the existing canal network, through some manual operations of some control gates and the like,

4396
05:28:24,360 --> 05:28:28,720
and move it towards that pump station, creating enough water for those pumps to be operated.

4397
05:28:29,340 --> 05:28:31,460
Now, in this case, that's a much smaller amount of water.

4398
05:28:31,640 --> 05:28:35,160
It's about 25 CFS, which is about 15 million gallons a day.

4399
05:28:35,580 --> 05:28:38,320
The test was initiated December 18th.

4400
05:28:38,400 --> 05:28:40,820
We thought it would probably be able to go on for a couple weeks.

4401
05:28:41,040 --> 05:28:46,340
We were pleasantly surprised that it was able to continue to operate through March 12th.

4402
05:28:46,340 --> 05:28:48,860
Then conditions were dry enough in the upstream canals,

4403
05:28:48,940 --> 05:28:50,080
we had to terminate the test.

4404
05:28:50,480 --> 05:28:52,220
It was restarted again in April 4th

4405
05:28:52,220 --> 05:28:54,360
and continued on through the remainder of the dry season.

4406
05:28:54,960 --> 05:28:58,540
Overall, a total of over 8,000 acre feet of water

4407
05:28:58,540 --> 05:29:00,520
were provided into those wetland systems.

4408
05:29:02,120 --> 05:29:03,540
Results of that were impressive.

4409
05:29:04,140 --> 05:29:06,180
The wetland systems throughout that area

4410
05:29:06,180 --> 05:29:10,260
were well inundated and we were able to provide

4411
05:29:11,120 --> 05:29:13,300
a very good hydropuried pattern

4412
05:29:13,300 --> 05:29:16,040
for the wetland systems throughout that area.

4413
05:29:16,460 --> 05:29:19,580
But not only did we see the freshwater wetlands rehydrated,

4414
05:29:19,720 --> 05:29:23,280
we also saw and were monitoring groundwater responses in that area.

4415
05:29:23,380 --> 05:29:25,140
The groundwater elevations were coming up,

4416
05:29:25,360 --> 05:29:29,080
and over time the salinity within the groundwater in those areas were declining.

4417
05:29:29,800 --> 05:29:33,420
We were also able to measure salinities in the marine wetland systems

4418
05:29:33,420 --> 05:29:38,720
and in the outflow, and we were seeing freshwater freshening coming out in that area as well.

4419
05:29:38,720 --> 05:29:38,880
Now,

4420
05:29:41,210 --> 05:29:47,170
conclusions from this test that, one, we found a way of effectively being able to

4421
05:29:47,170 --> 05:29:52,830
move canal water through the S-700 pump station during the dry period, although it did require

4422
05:29:52,830 --> 05:29:55,270
some operations, manual operations.

4423
05:29:55,890 --> 05:29:59,730
The staff from the Homestead Field Station were extremely helpful.

4424
05:30:00,080 --> 05:30:02,560
And getting out there to help this project go through.

4425
05:30:03,200 --> 05:30:08,700
There may be some opportunities in the future to try to improve the efficiency of operating that on a more regular basis.

4426
05:30:09,340 --> 05:30:12,900
We also found that small volumes of supplemental water were very successful

4427
05:30:12,900 --> 05:30:19,500
in improving the hydrology of both the freshwater wetlands and the near shore salinities in the wetlands in that area.

4428
05:30:20,640 --> 05:30:27,540
There are some limits in dry season availability here, but since we're looking at groundwater storage within urban canal areas,

4429
05:30:27,540 --> 05:30:32,840
we feel that this operation is probably have a higher likelihood of being able to be repeated in future years.

4430
05:30:33,740 --> 05:30:35,700
Also, this test was unbudgeted.

4431
05:30:35,900 --> 05:30:40,400
It was an idea of staff and came on, and there were some unbudgeted expenses incurred during the operations.

4432
05:30:41,060 --> 05:30:42,800
We now have a better handle for what those would be,

4433
05:30:42,860 --> 05:30:46,140
and we'll try to address those and be prepared for those and for future opportunities.

4434
05:30:47,760 --> 05:30:50,880
Finally, I wanted to talk to you about seasonal drawdown operations.

4435
05:30:50,880 --> 05:30:57,820
This deals with a routine and historic operations associated with the S-21 structure and the

4436
05:30:57,820 --> 05:30:59,700
S-20F structure down here.

4437
05:31:00,340 --> 05:31:06,880
And what this deals with is operations that the district conducts in accordance to the

4438
05:31:06,880 --> 05:31:12,840
Army Corps of Engineers Master Water Control Plan every year in which we lower the water-level

4439
05:31:12,840 --> 05:31:20,480
control elevations of those coastal structures beginning around October 15 to provide drainage

4440
05:31:20,480 --> 05:31:27,620
to the C-102-103 basins to provide for and support agricultural activities within those

4441
05:31:27,620 --> 05:31:29,900
areas of Florida cities and Homestead.

4442
05:31:32,210 --> 05:31:36,630
Depending on conditions around the end of December, early part of January, when the water

4443
05:31:36,630 --> 05:31:40,230
levels are dropped in that area, those structures are raised four or five inches.

4444
05:31:41,230 --> 05:31:44,970
That's effective enough to stop the flow of fresh water into the bay.

4445
05:31:45,670 --> 05:31:49,450
And as a result of that, those flows no longer occur during that, and historically

4446
05:31:49,450 --> 05:31:52,990
we see around that time, February, March, April,

4447
05:31:53,150 --> 05:31:55,050
that's when we start seeing the near shore salinity

4448
05:31:55,050 --> 05:31:58,350
shoot up very high in the near shore areas

4449
05:31:58,350 --> 05:32:02,710
as there's really not much ground water flow into that area

4450
05:32:02,710 --> 05:32:04,290
and there's no surface water coming in.

4451
05:32:06,070 --> 05:32:08,470
What we did this year, working with a series

4452
05:32:08,470 --> 05:32:11,510
of stakeholders including farmers, NGOs,

4453
05:32:12,470 --> 05:32:14,550
representatives from the Park Service,

4454
05:32:15,310 --> 05:32:18,310
representatives from state agricultural organizations,

4455
05:32:19,450 --> 05:32:21,810
We put together bi-weekly stakeholder meetings,

4456
05:32:22,350 --> 05:32:24,710
where we talked about the operations, the conditions,

4457
05:32:25,270 --> 05:32:26,370
what was going on in that,

4458
05:32:26,650 --> 05:32:30,490
and talked about operations and efficiencies.

4459
05:32:31,570 --> 05:32:34,670
Through this process, we extended the low operational

4460
05:32:34,670 --> 05:32:37,990
settings beyond the end of December through January

4461
05:32:38,480 --> 05:32:40,250
and through the first week of February.

4462
05:32:40,990 --> 05:32:42,310
During that period of time,

4463
05:32:42,710 --> 05:32:44,510
the average flow out of both of those structures

4464
05:32:44,510 --> 05:32:47,130
was about 260 CFS to the Bay.

4465
05:32:48,270 --> 05:32:54,810
After February 5th, we continued to leave the S-20F structure, the southernmost, in the low settings,

4466
05:32:55,430 --> 05:33:00,430
and that continued to provide fresh water to the Bay when the other structures' flows basically stopped.

4467
05:33:01,470 --> 05:33:10,830
The average flow in that area continued through the dry season at about 160 CFS, although the last 30 days that flow was under 100 CFS.

4468
05:33:12,010 --> 05:33:15,210
Results of that are kind of shown in this graphic right here.

4469
05:33:15,210 --> 05:33:20,030
What we did here is we took the average salinity from three

4470
05:33:20,030 --> 05:33:24,230
near shore salinity monitoring sites north of the S21 structure.

4471
05:33:24,850 --> 05:33:29,450
This is areas where there was no freshwater being discharged into the coastal wetland systems.

4472
05:33:30,310 --> 05:33:31,830
And that is the blue trace here.

4473
05:33:31,950 --> 05:33:36,110
You can see that kind of hovers around 30 PSU in near shore salinity.

4474
05:33:36,590 --> 05:33:40,050
We compared that with the average salinity from three near shore systems

4475
05:33:40,050 --> 05:33:45,330
located south of the S-21, where the operations and the discharges of surface

4476
05:33:45,330 --> 05:33:51,790
water continued at S-21A and S-20F, and that's shown in red. As you can see, this

4477
05:33:51,790 --> 05:33:56,010
graphic starts on January 1st, which is the period of time when we started the

4478
05:33:56,010 --> 05:34:01,590
extending this operation. As you can see, the difference between the salinity is,

4479
05:34:01,590 --> 05:34:06,310
you know, pretty significant, and remained that way up until this point,

4480
05:34:06,310 --> 05:34:12,950
February 5th when we stopped the discharge from 21A and the graphic, the salinity started

4481
05:34:12,950 --> 05:34:17,050
to increase, but was still pretty well below the area to the north.

4482
05:34:17,590 --> 05:34:21,450
There continued to be some, this is a little rainfall event here in the salinity and the

4483
05:34:21,450 --> 05:34:26,090
area dropped, but it wasn't until the very end when the salinity, when even 20F was

4484
05:34:26,090 --> 05:34:31,130
kind of petering out that they actually approached and reached this 30 PSU, which

4485
05:34:31,130 --> 05:34:34,670
is sort of the highest target, the area that they'd want to be at any time.

4486
05:34:34,670 --> 05:34:39,450
So we were able to buy basically three months of time by these operations.

4487
05:34:39,850 --> 05:34:44,430
And we thought that that was very interesting and very favorable.

4488
05:34:45,230 --> 05:34:50,750
Conclusions of these operations, leaving the S20F structure at the low setting alone

4489
05:34:50,750 --> 05:34:56,790
from February 5th through April 30th, provided 31,000 acre feet of freshwater to Biscayne Bay.

4490
05:34:57,990 --> 05:35:03,470
The average salinity south of S21 was consistently lower than the salinity's north of S21,

4491
05:35:03,470 --> 05:35:08,130
one on average as a result of these freshwater discharges.

4492
05:35:08,270 --> 05:35:11,810
However, we notice that there are a number of variations

4493
05:35:11,810 --> 05:35:14,830
in salinity on several of the nearshore monitoring stations.

4494
05:35:15,630 --> 05:35:17,550
Reason for that is when you're putting out

4495
05:35:17,550 --> 05:35:20,010
large volumes of water out of those single structures,

4496
05:35:20,130 --> 05:35:21,790
and you saw them when we were in the boat yesterday.

4497
05:35:21,970 --> 05:35:24,090
There's a long, narrow channel, and there's the structure.

4498
05:35:24,570 --> 05:35:26,910
That water has a tendency to go out and through inertia.

4499
05:35:27,090 --> 05:35:28,930
Goes much farther out into the bay,

4500
05:35:28,970 --> 05:35:30,570
where it's caught up in longshore currents.

4501
05:35:30,570 --> 05:35:33,750
and it doesn't really nestle in close to the near shore area.

4502
05:35:34,390 --> 05:35:37,050
A much more efficient way of delivering that water, of course,

4503
05:35:37,130 --> 05:35:40,270
would be through a diffused delivery system, which

4504
05:35:40,270 --> 05:35:46,810
is the L31E canal component of the Biscayne Bay Coastal

4505
05:35:46,810 --> 05:35:47,130
wetlands.

4506
05:35:47,910 --> 05:35:49,950
And from here, I'm going to turn this over

4507
05:35:49,950 --> 05:35:51,870
to Tom Teetz, who's going to talk to you

4508
05:35:51,870 --> 05:35:53,470
about some opportunities that we

4509
05:35:53,470 --> 05:35:56,470
may have to be able to further improve some

4510
05:35:56,470 --> 05:35:58,970
of the facilities on that breach of the canal

4511
05:35:58,970 --> 05:36:04,810
and therefore be able to better distribute this water into the near shore areas in the future.

4512
05:36:07,320 --> 05:36:10,840
One thing, there's a lot of folks that were involved in these operations.

4513
05:36:11,360 --> 05:36:17,180
A number of folks in operations at headquarters as well as in the field station,

4514
05:36:17,960 --> 05:36:26,200
several scientists, special recognition of Baram Shukarin who was the project manager of this,

4515
05:36:26,200 --> 05:36:32,080
a tremendous advocate for this thing, a real ambassador for the district, working with Miami-Dade

4516
05:36:32,080 --> 05:36:36,360
County, who was extremely helpful through these operations. And of course we couldn't have done

4517
05:36:36,360 --> 05:36:40,520
this without coordination with many of the other state and federal agencies listed as well.

4518
05:36:41,020 --> 05:36:46,100
Do you have any questions? I'll be happy to try to answer them. I'm sure we might. Any board

4519
05:36:46,100 --> 05:36:52,120
questions for Scott? Just a real quick comment. I just wanted to thank you and the team and

4520
05:36:52,120 --> 05:36:54,220
and the different agencies for working together.

4521
05:36:54,420 --> 05:36:57,340
This is an issue that's been around a long time

4522
05:36:57,340 --> 05:36:59,320
and we took a fresh look at it.

4523
05:36:59,340 --> 05:37:00,600
You guys took a fresh look at it

4524
05:37:00,600 --> 05:37:02,440
and I appreciate you spending the time

4525
05:37:02,900 --> 05:37:04,400
and coming up with a creative solution.

4526
05:37:04,600 --> 05:37:07,060
This was a lot of coordination, a lot of effort

4527
05:37:07,060 --> 05:37:09,820
and it provided a, with a little bit of extra water,

4528
05:37:10,000 --> 05:37:11,260
provided a good benefit.

4529
05:37:11,540 --> 05:37:12,120
So thank you.

4530
05:37:12,980 --> 05:37:13,560
Mr. Hutchcraft.

4531
05:37:13,880 --> 05:37:15,480
With a little amount of water

4532
05:37:15,480 --> 05:37:17,500
providing pretty positive results

4533
05:37:17,500 --> 05:37:19,420
and what I'll call the durability

4534
05:37:19,420 --> 05:37:26,520
that it lingers around, as the water is declining, would pulses help maintain that, or do you need the consistent flow?

4535
05:37:27,080 --> 05:37:34,000
I think that there's a benefit to be had in the consistent flow, and I think that in addition to that,

4536
05:37:34,760 --> 05:37:38,600
there's benefits, again, tremendous benefits on how that water is delivered.

4537
05:37:39,180 --> 05:37:44,380
A diffused area very similar to how the system originally occurred is going to have much greater benefits

4538
05:37:44,380 --> 05:37:47,140
and much higher efficiency, even smaller amounts of water

4539
05:37:47,140 --> 05:37:49,780
delivered through those coastal marine wetlands

4540
05:37:49,780 --> 05:37:51,360
right to that near shore area

4541
05:37:51,360 --> 05:37:55,080
is going to go farther than any large point source discharge.

4542
05:37:55,600 --> 05:37:59,840
So I think that to try to improve the efficiency of this operation,

4543
05:38:00,060 --> 05:38:01,660
the stuff that Tom's going to be talking about

4544
05:38:01,660 --> 05:38:03,600
and moving the rest of the project components forward

4545
05:38:03,600 --> 05:38:06,380
is really going to be a good investment of resources

4546
05:38:06,380 --> 05:38:08,000
to achieve those goals.

4547
05:38:08,340 --> 05:38:08,420
Thanks.

4548
05:38:09,660 --> 05:38:10,180
Absolutely.

4549
05:38:11,040 --> 05:38:12,220
Any other board comment?

4550
05:38:12,820 --> 05:38:17,260
Nice job. I'm just always impressed with what you're able to do.

4551
05:38:17,300 --> 05:38:22,120
You're so constrained down here with regard to how you go about what you're doing operationally,

4552
05:38:22,320 --> 05:38:24,500
resource-wise with land and everything else.

4553
05:38:24,780 --> 05:38:30,060
And you guys do a phenomenal job by really going in and digging into the current operations

4554
05:38:30,060 --> 05:38:32,580
and trying to make incremental improvements.

4555
05:38:33,020 --> 05:38:34,640
I've been very impressed with what you've done.

4556
05:38:35,880 --> 05:38:36,580
Thank you.

4557
05:38:37,880 --> 05:38:39,020
Okay, any other board comment?

4558
05:38:39,120 --> 05:38:39,920
Do we have public comment?

4559
05:38:40,560 --> 05:38:44,320
Mr. Chair, we have several. Is Bruce Matheson still here?

4560
05:38:48,070 --> 05:38:48,430
Is that Bruce?

4561
05:38:48,670 --> 05:38:49,710
He's not here. Okay.

4562
05:38:50,610 --> 05:38:52,690
I thought that was Bruce making a comment back there.

4563
05:38:55,410 --> 05:38:57,690
We have Martha Musgrove followed by Laura Reynolds.

4564
05:39:10,670 --> 05:39:14,390
I signed up to comment on this because of the water reservations issue.

4565
05:39:16,630 --> 05:39:27,390
And I want to call your attention to the fact that we have these common permit systems and

4566
05:39:27,390 --> 05:39:30,850
the ERP, common universal permits.

4567
05:39:31,690 --> 05:39:39,050
And every time you get into these things, you hit this big wall and there are two walls.

4568
05:39:39,270 --> 05:39:42,930
The first wall is water reservations for the natural systems.

4569
05:39:42,930 --> 05:39:48,470
And there absolutely has to be a water reservation for the Biscayne Bay wetlands.

4570
05:39:49,010 --> 05:39:57,870
And this is the second Miami meeting where the issue comes up tangentially.

4571
05:39:58,670 --> 05:40:06,170
But we had one over at the water utilities, some of you may recall, a year ago.

4572
05:40:06,170 --> 05:40:11,790
And we're not making much progress in getting these water reservations out.

4573
05:40:12,650 --> 05:40:15,950
We're not making progress on it for the Kalusa Hatchee.

4574
05:40:16,330 --> 05:40:17,950
We're not doing one after another.

4575
05:40:18,870 --> 05:40:22,190
And yet it's very hard to do a water supply plan

4576
05:40:22,190 --> 05:40:28,570
without knowing how much water you're going to allot to various natural systems.

4577
05:40:28,710 --> 05:40:30,030
In the case of the Biscayne Bay,

4578
05:40:30,030 --> 05:40:36,370
you saw a little water bled off during the dry season, made a big difference.

4579
05:40:37,730 --> 05:40:40,550
We get that all through the system.

4580
05:40:41,570 --> 05:40:49,030
This board has a policy issue, has got to tackle the water reservation and make it possible

4581
05:40:49,510 --> 05:40:51,450
to develop a reservation.

4582
05:40:52,410 --> 05:40:57,830
You can do it the easy way with the federal projects that have to have them like this

4583
05:40:57,830 --> 05:41:04,570
came back. But if you did it right, you would have water reservations for bodies of water

4584
05:41:04,570 --> 05:41:11,090
that were not connected to Everglades restoration. And if you do it right, then you have some

4585
05:41:11,090 --> 05:41:16,690
way of knowing when you want, how long your permits should be allowed, your consumptive

4586
05:41:16,690 --> 05:41:24,790
use permits should be allowed. Then you have some way of recalling permits and reevaluating

4587
05:41:24,790 --> 05:41:33,050
them at a given set of time, you provide a legitimacy to the whole system of water regulation.

4588
05:41:33,810 --> 05:41:40,590
Without it, you've got these giant holes, and I just thought I would use this opportunity

4589
05:41:40,590 --> 05:41:44,150
to bring that to a board with two new members.

4590
05:41:44,910 --> 05:41:46,130
This is an old problem.

4591
05:41:47,150 --> 05:41:52,810
The water reservations were initially established authority for them in 1972.

4592
05:41:52,810 --> 05:41:53,990
Thank you, Martha.

4593
05:41:55,830 --> 05:41:57,890
Laura Reynolds, followed by Jared Jacobs.

4594
05:41:59,810 --> 05:42:00,770
Hi, thanks.

4595
05:42:01,030 --> 05:42:04,250
Thanks again for taking up this issue.

4596
05:42:04,370 --> 05:42:06,250
I know there's four different Biscayne issues,

4597
05:42:06,390 --> 05:42:08,490
so I'm just going to take it piece by piece if that's okay.

4598
05:42:09,430 --> 05:42:13,270
I wanted to thank staff and, of course, all the agencies

4599
05:42:13,270 --> 05:42:16,430
for working together to capture this extra water

4600
05:42:16,430 --> 05:42:18,530
and put it where it's most needed.

4601
05:42:18,690 --> 05:42:20,150
I think that was amazing.

4602
05:42:21,190 --> 05:42:25,870
I do know that it was a wet year and there was a lot of extra water in the system.

4603
05:42:26,310 --> 05:42:33,210
And so I'd like to see trying to continue to do this while realizing the dry season is when you're most limited.

4604
05:42:33,490 --> 05:42:37,930
So we have to figure out ways to come up with an additional water source for bisqueen.

4605
05:42:38,330 --> 05:42:42,630
And the second thing I'll say, and I'll say the rest of my comments for the other items,

4606
05:42:43,070 --> 05:42:49,130
is that realize that groundwater, when groundwater comes up and bubbles up into the bay,

4607
05:42:49,130 --> 05:42:57,870
It's the most biologically available and that's the term that I actually learned from Sarah Belmond from the National Park Service.

4608
05:42:58,390 --> 05:43:07,210
It is. It's how it mixes better. And if you put a lot of surface water out in the bay, it doesn't necessarily stay in the near shore area.

4609
05:43:07,370 --> 05:43:13,950
It goes out over the top sometimes and doesn't stay and affect that near shore salinity.

4610
05:43:13,950 --> 05:43:21,870
So as often as we can we have to figure out ways to a protect the ground water because it's most available for fish and wildlife and

4611
05:43:22,990 --> 05:43:28,790
Secondly, you know figure out ways to keep as much water as possible in the coastal wetlands

4612
05:43:28,790 --> 05:43:35,170
So that it gets into the ground and so that the ag drawdown reference that that Scott Burns put in here

4613
05:43:35,170 --> 05:43:36,710
I think we should explore that further

4614
05:43:37,310 --> 05:43:37,810
Thanks

4615
05:43:39,210 --> 05:43:40,110
Mr. Jacobs

4616
05:43:49,340 --> 05:43:55,820
I'm originally from Ohio. I've only been here about a year and a half, and all my friends, they like to come visit me.

4617
05:43:56,060 --> 05:44:02,540
I don't know why, maybe it's because I live in Miami, and one of the places I love to take them is Biscayne Bay.

4618
05:44:03,380 --> 05:44:08,880
It's a beautiful place. I like to take them kayaking. I got a nice little tandem kayak. I fit on the top of my car.

4619
05:44:09,600 --> 05:44:12,100
The car is a bit scratched up now, and I

4620
05:44:13,140 --> 05:44:17,900
take them underneath the mangrove mazes, where at night you can see the bioluminescence,

4621
05:44:17,900 --> 05:44:22,180
you know, you hit it with your paddle. It's just like Fringale. You know, manatees pop up.

4622
05:44:22,480 --> 05:44:27,960
It's a beautiful place. They want to come back. And I feel like this is a resource that, you know,

4623
05:44:28,100 --> 05:44:34,780
people can easily get out to, easily reach and bring them back here. And unlike the rest of my

4624
05:44:34,780 --> 05:44:38,980
environmental friends who, you know, went out to the Northwest of Portland in San Francisco,

4625
05:44:39,860 --> 05:44:42,920
I decided to come down here because I feel like this is where we're needed.

4626
05:44:43,820 --> 05:44:48,820
Everglades Restoration and Biscayne Bay Restoration, I feel like it's the first domino.

4627
05:44:49,320 --> 05:44:52,600
If we can succeed here, just imagine where it can go.

4628
05:44:52,820 --> 05:44:57,460
People over in Egypt with a mild restoration, they're looking to us for support.

4629
05:44:57,600 --> 05:44:59,980
They're looking to us for what to do next.

4630
05:45:00,000 --> 05:45:05,820
And, you know, if we can accomplish this, it's going to go into history books. This is where it begins.

4631
05:45:07,440 --> 05:45:08,040
Thank you.

4632
05:45:12,250 --> 05:45:18,190
All right, no more public comment. Any other board comment? All right, Scott, thanks again.

4633
05:45:19,850 --> 05:45:24,870
Next, agenda item number 37, this is Cain Bay Coastal Wetlands Project,

4634
05:45:27,630 --> 05:45:30,910
the incremental component options. Tom Teetz.

4635
05:45:31,550 --> 05:45:32,950
Thanks, Tom. Good afternoon.

4636
05:45:34,510 --> 05:45:41,810
It's gotten noted we assemble a team internally to take a look at some potential incremental options to consider.

4637
05:45:42,050 --> 05:45:46,990
So I want to kind of walk through that and give you a little bit of background on the overall project.

4638
05:45:47,410 --> 05:45:54,650
As I noted yesterday, to you, this is, you know, the map of the overall Biscayne Bay Coast Wetlands Phase 1 project.

4639
05:45:54,650 --> 05:46:00,870
project. It really made up of three components during the state, which is a project that's

4640
05:46:00,870 --> 05:46:05,470
already been constructed. And as Scott noted, we are actually operating now. Then there's

4641
05:46:05,470 --> 05:46:10,590
the color flowway component, which is the middle one there, and then the L-31E's component

4642
05:46:10,590 --> 05:46:18,150
at the far end. This project has a record decision from Chief Engineers. It's good

4643
05:46:18,150 --> 05:46:22,670
to go for the next Water Resource Development Act, and it just waits for the next Water

4644
05:46:22,670 --> 05:46:25,070
Water Resource Development Act to be passed.

4645
05:46:27,360 --> 05:46:32,680
We identified some potential funding for some incremental components to the tune of about $2 million.

4646
05:46:33,260 --> 05:46:39,220
It's some interest income from some Pinsuko project funds that we previously had.

4647
05:46:39,860 --> 05:46:43,680
So this is kind of the budget framework that the team was working under.

4648
05:46:44,420 --> 05:46:50,820
I started to look at a number of different potential options for these incremental components over the whole area

4649
05:46:50,820 --> 05:46:54,640
and focusing in on what was just something that was achievable

4650
05:46:54,640 --> 05:46:59,220
and that we could develop some partnerships as we implemented those.

4651
05:47:01,940 --> 05:47:05,680
The teams settled in on L31 East fairly quickly

4652
05:47:05,680 --> 05:47:09,760
and actually some of the things Scott said are why they settled in on that.

4653
05:47:09,940 --> 05:47:12,820
We see a lot of potential here for this particular area

4654
05:47:12,820 --> 05:47:15,700
and it's a good area that we can do things incrementally,

4655
05:47:16,100 --> 05:47:17,040
get some benefits,

4656
05:47:17,040 --> 05:47:24,400
and be able to test out the hypothesis of getting the water spread across these wetlands.

4657
05:47:25,180 --> 05:47:31,220
The L3-1E component from the overall CERP plan is what I have on the screen right now.

4658
05:47:31,720 --> 05:47:36,260
You can see that there's a series of pump stations starting at the top and working their way down.

4659
05:47:36,880 --> 05:47:43,660
There's a pump station at the north end that comes off of the C102 and rehydrates the wetlands.

4660
05:47:43,660 --> 05:47:49,920
Then you have a pump station that's number two there that takes water off the C-102.

4661
05:47:50,300 --> 05:47:53,320
Again, we're trying to eliminate or reduce those point discharges.

4662
05:47:53,860 --> 05:47:58,840
Move it on south to stage up the L-31 East canal.

4663
05:47:59,740 --> 05:48:04,540
And then there's a, number three is actually an inverted siphon under the military canal,

4664
05:48:04,920 --> 05:48:06,640
which isolates the military canal.

4665
05:48:06,640 --> 05:48:13,600
Now, number four is all the culverts that we would be adding to the area to rehydrate

4666
05:48:13,600 --> 05:48:14,360
those wetlands.

4667
05:48:14,600 --> 05:48:18,320
There's a series of 10 of those that the project identified.

4668
05:48:19,240 --> 05:48:24,820
And then as you move south, you have a pump station that comes off of the C-103, just

4669
05:48:25,680 --> 05:48:27,440
north of the park.

4670
05:48:27,960 --> 05:48:30,640
And that would be, again, staging up the L-31 East.

4671
05:48:31,360 --> 05:48:35,920
And then moving on south, you have this area that's a little bit more of a triangle

4672
05:48:35,920 --> 05:48:40,720
at Heads West, that's actually a freshwater wetland, and there's two pump stations that

4673
05:48:40,720 --> 05:48:45,500
have been identified to pump water into that freshwater wetlands and then let that seep

4674
05:48:45,500 --> 05:48:51,720
on over to the east end on across those wetlands just north of the Biscayne National Park headquarters.

4675
05:48:54,550 --> 05:49:02,910
Early on, as a part of our expedited construction projects with Biscayne Bay, we installed initially

4676
05:49:02,910 --> 05:49:05,470
four culverts, and that's the ones that have the arrows here.

4677
05:49:07,640 --> 05:49:09,060
They were constructed to

4678
05:49:09,060 --> 05:49:16,720
the tune of about $185,000. There's four 36-inch culverts, and there's also two existing culverts

4679
05:49:16,720 --> 05:49:21,300
for the south that were research culverts for some initial work that was done. Again,

4680
05:49:21,760 --> 05:49:29,940
it's redirecting water away from the C-102 and 103 and on south into L-31. Now, this

4681
05:49:29,940 --> 05:49:34,620
This is all by gravity feed at this point, and there's no pumps, so we only have a limited

4682
05:49:34,620 --> 05:49:37,840
amount of water that we can really send south in this particular situation.

4683
05:49:42,100 --> 05:49:48,920
Working with Miami-Dade County, our staff has gone out and done some mapping and some vegetation

4684
05:49:48,920 --> 05:49:53,340
control in the area for exotics, and this just happened, as you can see, in April

4685
05:49:53,340 --> 05:50:00,440
May, and the mapping that occurred was just in this south two-thirds portion,

4686
05:50:00,440 --> 05:50:04,720
So the northern two-thirds portion, it's not that it wasn't at no benefits.

4687
05:50:05,020 --> 05:50:06,100
We just haven't mapped it yet.

4688
05:50:06,980 --> 05:50:12,100
But you can see there at the south end that the Yellowish area on the map, that's an area

4689
05:50:12,100 --> 05:50:16,360
where just with a limited amount of fresh water, gravity feeds through that area.

4690
05:50:16,800 --> 05:50:21,680
And it's to the tune of about 4,000 acre feet for the whole area over the last couple

4691
05:50:21,680 --> 05:50:21,980
of years.

4692
05:50:23,100 --> 05:50:26,780
But you already see, we're already starting to see sawgrass move into these areas that

4693
05:50:26,780 --> 05:50:29,780
had been previously monocultures of Brad Mangrove.

4694
05:50:31,480 --> 05:50:35,640
So with that in mind, the team started looking at, OK,

4695
05:50:35,740 --> 05:50:38,140
what are some pieces of this project

4696
05:50:38,140 --> 05:50:40,020
that we could implement incrementally

4697
05:50:40,740 --> 05:50:43,240
and get some more additional benefits going

4698
05:50:43,240 --> 05:50:44,160
across those wetlands?

4699
05:50:45,220 --> 05:50:48,000
The first project, and it would call Project Day,

4700
05:50:48,340 --> 05:50:54,920
basically is installing a 40 CFS pump off the C-103

4701
05:50:54,920 --> 05:51:02,680
canal, and there would be plugs in the L-31 East just to the south of C-103 and also just

4702
05:51:02,680 --> 05:51:07,560
to the north of the North Canal, and to isolate this area so we could stage that area up,

4703
05:51:07,820 --> 05:51:11,020
and then an additional two culverts would be installed.

4704
05:51:11,580 --> 05:51:15,180
Now, one thing I do want to point out is that this one is slightly inconsistent with

4705
05:51:15,180 --> 05:51:18,580
the project implementation report, because the pump station is a little bit further

4706
05:51:18,580 --> 05:51:19,520
to the east here.

4707
05:51:19,640 --> 05:51:22,920
So that's something we'd have to work through the core, make sure that we could

4708
05:51:22,920 --> 05:51:24,740
to get our credit into this particular pump station.

4709
05:51:25,020 --> 05:51:28,120
But here, this component A basically is rehydrating

4710
05:51:28,120 --> 05:51:31,020
in that area that's shown in that segment

4711
05:51:31,540 --> 05:51:34,840
just directly north of the Biscayne National Park headquarters.

4712
05:51:37,150 --> 05:51:39,710
Project B is moving on north,

4713
05:51:39,990 --> 05:51:41,750
and this one is consistent with what's

4714
05:51:41,750 --> 05:51:43,090
in the project implementation report.

4715
05:51:43,650 --> 05:51:46,650
Again, be taking water off of C-103 canal

4716
05:51:47,090 --> 05:51:49,610
and pumping it on north and the L-31 east.

4717
05:51:49,730 --> 05:51:51,530
We would have plugs that's north and south ends

4718
05:51:52,370 --> 05:51:53,530
where they're necessary.

4719
05:51:53,530 --> 05:51:58,410
And then here we actually would be utilizing the existing culverts that we already have in place

4720
05:51:58,410 --> 05:52:00,190
when we stage up the L31 East.

4721
05:52:03,290 --> 05:52:10,450
And then at the far north end of the project, this would be a pump station coming off of the C102 canal to the south.

4722
05:52:11,130 --> 05:52:13,870
This one is also consistent with the project implementation report.

4723
05:52:14,470 --> 05:52:21,010
Again, it would be staging up the L31 East in this segment and utilizing the existing culverts that we have

4724
05:52:21,010 --> 05:52:22,130
and rehydrating that area.

4725
05:52:22,130 --> 05:52:26,270
And again, this is that area that you see the S23B.

4726
05:52:26,410 --> 05:52:27,890
That's that area right adjacent to where

4727
05:52:27,890 --> 05:52:30,230
those the saugrass is already moving,

4728
05:52:30,330 --> 05:52:32,950
starting to move in just from the gravity feed across there.

4729
05:52:33,910 --> 05:52:35,550
Feel like these are the types of projects

4730
05:52:35,550 --> 05:52:37,530
that have really got some opportunities

4731
05:52:37,530 --> 05:52:39,730
to have a lot of big bang for the buck

4732
05:52:39,730 --> 05:52:43,450
and get that water moving across those wetlands

4733
05:52:43,450 --> 05:52:47,210
and providing that recharges that wetlands

4734
05:52:47,210 --> 05:52:50,150
and then on into the bay in the near shore coastal areas.

4735
05:52:52,860 --> 05:52:57,380
These are just some rough order of magnitude costs that our team put together very quickly.

4736
05:52:58,080 --> 05:53:05,500
Looking at these, you can see the price range on these ranges from about $850,000 to $950,000.

4737
05:53:06,600 --> 05:53:10,600
We're going to go back and need to do a lot more detailed work on this

4738
05:53:10,600 --> 05:53:14,480
to determine if this is the right size pump station because this is kind of a ballpark.

4739
05:53:14,980 --> 05:53:19,500
Also, determine what is the operation of maintenance for this type of a project.

4740
05:53:19,500 --> 05:53:22,780
We've bought, you know, this is something we're really sensitive to just what is the

4741
05:53:22,780 --> 05:53:25,720
operation maintenance for this type of a facility to operate.

4742
05:53:27,780 --> 05:53:32,260
With regards to our remaining project lands, for these particular components that I've

4743
05:53:32,260 --> 05:53:37,360
identified here, we own all the lands, there's no additional land acquisition required.

4744
05:53:38,000 --> 05:53:46,320
There are some remaining parcels, out parcels that are between B and C that haven't been

4745
05:53:46,320 --> 05:53:51,380
and also the rock mining area just to the west there.

4746
05:53:51,980 --> 05:53:56,340
So we'll be looking at as a part of the land assessment process

4747
05:53:56,340 --> 05:54:00,200
and potential swap opportunities if there's any opportunities

4748
05:54:00,200 --> 05:54:04,520
to pursue these lands in the future for these particular areas.

4749
05:54:06,020 --> 05:54:09,920
So our next steps here, we'd like to proceed on

4750
05:54:09,920 --> 05:54:15,380
and look at, do some further investigation of these potential increment and project components.

4751
05:54:15,380 --> 05:54:20,320
If the board has any other ideas of other things we should look at, we'd be more happy to.

4752
05:54:20,800 --> 05:54:23,780
We're going to be looking for some partnerships, particularly with Miami-Dade County.

4753
05:54:24,020 --> 05:54:29,260
They've been really cooperative working with us out in this area and been really good partners here.

4754
05:54:29,960 --> 05:54:34,240
We want to look at obviously the more detailed engineering design cost and also the O&M.

4755
05:54:34,880 --> 05:54:39,380
And just keep in mind the land assessment and swap opportunities that we have.

4756
05:54:39,380 --> 05:54:45,540
Then we would be coming back to a future project in lands committee meeting with the results of our our efforts

4757
05:54:45,540 --> 05:54:48,920
And that's pretty much what we'll have to present to you today

4758
05:54:49,780 --> 05:54:51,680
Excellent Tom. Thank you very much

4759
05:54:52,340 --> 05:54:55,060
very presentation great projects

4760
05:54:56,220 --> 05:54:58,560
Questions for mr. Teetz comments

4761
05:54:59,240 --> 05:55:02,060
County departments are you interacting with?

4762
05:55:03,040 --> 05:55:04,140
the environmental

4763
05:55:06,780 --> 05:55:09,480
I'm not sure it's still called Durham, but yes, that group.

4764
05:55:13,710 --> 05:55:16,090
Any other questions for Mr. Teetz from the board?

4765
05:55:16,910 --> 05:55:18,150
Do you have any public comment, Reagan?

4766
05:55:18,630 --> 05:55:20,050
We do, Mr. Chair. We have several.

4767
05:55:20,450 --> 05:55:22,710
Dr. Joan Browder followed by Colin Creco.

4768
05:55:28,230 --> 05:55:28,410
Hello.

4769
05:55:30,490 --> 05:55:31,530
My name is Joan Browder.

4770
05:55:32,150 --> 05:55:34,070
I'm speaking today for myself.

4771
05:55:34,350 --> 05:55:38,250
I'm a systems ecologist working in Biscayne Bay.

4772
05:55:38,250 --> 05:55:47,690
but I'm representing myself rather than my employer or anybody, any other entity.

4773
05:55:48,330 --> 05:55:58,510
So I just want to say from this experience I've been working with the small fish and invertebrates

4774
05:55:58,510 --> 05:56:05,170
like shrimp and crabs in western South Biscayne Bay since 2002.

4775
05:56:05,170 --> 05:56:11,790
and I can say unequivocally that the species that are there,

4776
05:56:12,250 --> 05:56:17,370
the large part of the community is an estuarine community that lives in water

4777
05:56:17,370 --> 05:56:23,090
that is below the 35 parts per thousand of seawater.

4778
05:56:23,550 --> 05:56:28,010
So this community needs fresh water now and in the future

4779
05:56:28,010 --> 05:56:37,950
and it could potentially grow into even more estuarine components if we're able to bring

4780
05:56:37,950 --> 05:56:46,010
about some of the restoration plans, both of SERP and the Biscayne Bay water project,

4781
05:56:46,910 --> 05:56:48,030
coastal wetlands project.

4782
05:56:48,030 --> 05:57:02,190
So, I'd like to urge you to support item 36 on your agenda and also item 37 and also item 39.

4783
05:57:02,650 --> 05:57:07,210
I think all three of those will have great benefits to Biscayne Bay.

4784
05:57:07,510 --> 05:57:12,270
And I'd like to thank you for having your meeting today on the shores of Biscayne Bay.

4785
05:57:12,270 --> 05:57:20,910
and I think that hopefully demonstrates your commitment to helping us move forward with improvements

4786
05:57:20,910 --> 05:57:31,050
that will assure a good future for Biscayne Bay in the face of all the threats we have elsewhere.

4787
05:57:32,370 --> 05:57:34,370
Thank you, Ms. Browder. It was nice to be here.

4788
05:57:35,050 --> 05:57:38,150
Dr. Browder, did you still want to speak under Item 39?

4789
05:57:40,850 --> 05:57:48,810
I think I'm speaking for 36, 37, and 39, which I support very hardly, and I hope you will

4790
05:57:48,810 --> 05:57:50,190
support and move forward with.

4791
05:57:50,470 --> 05:57:52,330
We really appreciate your comments.

4792
05:57:52,830 --> 05:57:53,130
Thank you.

4793
05:57:53,370 --> 05:57:53,750
Thank you.

4794
05:57:54,970 --> 05:57:55,730
Collin Creco.

4795
05:57:56,190 --> 05:57:56,670
Is he gone?

4796
05:57:57,490 --> 05:57:58,030
Jane Graham.

4797
05:57:58,770 --> 05:58:00,350
Followed by Khalil Kettering.

4798
05:58:07,220 --> 05:58:07,700
Hi again.

4799
05:58:07,880 --> 05:58:08,300
Jane Graham.

4800
05:58:08,800 --> 05:58:09,100
Whoop.

4801
05:58:10,580 --> 05:58:11,800
Hands off the mic.

4802
05:58:14,140 --> 05:58:18,960
some kind of bomb or something. Okay, so yeah, Jane Graham out of Bonn,

4803
05:58:18,960 --> 05:58:23,720
Florida. I'm just speaking for all of the Biscayne Bay issues that we're looking at.

4804
05:58:24,100 --> 05:58:28,080
I want to really appreciate the fact that the district has made Biscayne Bay a

4805
05:58:28,080 --> 05:58:33,120
real priority in the last year and what you're seeing today is a suite of

4806
05:58:33,120 --> 05:58:39,420
solutions that first Tom, well Scott was talking about operational tweaks

4807
05:58:39,420 --> 05:58:42,800
for supplemental freshwater deliveries in the bay.

4808
05:58:44,000 --> 05:58:46,140
Something that wasn't really mentioned so much

4809
05:58:46,140 --> 05:58:48,260
is that there's also been some increased communication

4810
05:58:48,260 --> 05:58:51,140
between the environmental community and agriculture

4811
05:58:51,140 --> 05:58:54,600
during the agricultural drawdown this season

4812
05:58:54,600 --> 05:58:56,000
and that's been really helpful

4813
05:58:56,000 --> 05:58:57,780
to have an exchange of communication.

4814
05:58:58,680 --> 05:59:02,120
And then the last thing that Tom Pitz was talking about,

4815
05:59:02,740 --> 05:59:05,680
the incremental implementation of BBCW,

4816
05:59:05,800 --> 05:59:06,800
that's really important.

4817
05:59:09,340 --> 05:59:22,820
So what we can do is we think that you should definitely support this opportunity for the incremental implementation of BBCW to get the most out of what you have built so far, the L31E flowway.

4818
05:59:23,320 --> 05:59:32,320
I would definitely say that you want to see what's great about it is that you have pot of funds already for it.

4819
05:59:32,320 --> 05:59:37,400
And I think with land acquisition, you should see if you can make that happen as well.

4820
05:59:37,520 --> 05:59:43,700
There's a good deal on the table with Miami-Dade, so that would be really a feasible and good thing to do.

4821
05:59:45,820 --> 05:59:52,580
Talking about the land assessment process that's just kicking off in the Everglades region,

4822
05:59:52,660 --> 05:59:59,160
there are a couple pieces of land that are tied to the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands project.

4823
05:59:59,160 --> 05:59:59,900
some of it said

4824
06:00:00,000 --> 06:00:06,020
Cutler piece. And me and my colleagues are looking at this right now. We think that you

4825
06:00:06,020 --> 06:00:10,500
should really keep them. They have a lot of good benefits. I see them almost out of time,

4826
06:00:10,600 --> 06:00:15,300
but I was going to put this together with my water reservation comments. I just say that

4827
06:00:15,300 --> 06:00:22,140
we support what you're doing, and we understand the importance for this rule for cost share

4828
06:00:22,140 --> 06:00:27,980
right now. But we do have a couple continuing questions, and staff has taken a lot of

4829
06:00:27,980 --> 06:00:33,960
time to speak with us. And we think that these can be resolved in the next step for a larger

4830
06:00:33,960 --> 06:00:37,380
scope protection of a water reservation. So thanks so much.

4831
06:00:37,620 --> 06:00:37,920
Thank you, Jane.

4832
06:00:43,510 --> 06:00:44,090
Mr. Kettering.

4833
06:00:47,160 --> 06:00:52,300
Hello, Kettering National Parks Conservation Association. There are about four different

4834
06:00:52,300 --> 06:00:55,380
agenda items that I wanted to speak on earlier, and I thought it would be more effective

4835
06:00:55,380 --> 06:00:59,340
if I just spoke now. So if I can take all those minutes and put in the 12 minutes

4836
06:00:59,340 --> 06:01:08,600
right now. I'd appreciate it. No, I'm kidding. First of all, I want to just give a bit of

4837
06:01:08,600 --> 06:01:13,780
recognition that's not related to this at all, but I know earlier this morning it was a packed

4838
06:01:13,780 --> 06:01:20,460
house in here, and your employee here, Armando Villaboy, took the initiative to request some

4839
06:01:20,460 --> 06:01:24,080
of the younger people in the audience to stand up so we could give up our seats for

4840
06:01:24,080 --> 06:01:28,360
some of the more senior people, and I thought that was very classy. I know my mom was

4841
06:01:28,360 --> 06:01:32,100
out there, I don't want somebody to do that, so I salute him for that and I thought that

4842
06:01:32,100 --> 06:01:32,920
was a very classy move.

4843
06:01:35,400 --> 06:01:39,200
The previous agenda item, I thought it was very important to move forward with that.

4844
06:01:39,360 --> 06:01:45,240
Any way we can find challenges and turn them into opportunities and solutions and be ingenious

4845
06:01:45,240 --> 06:01:49,340
and find ways we can get more water to Biscay and Bay as Scott Burns was talking about,

4846
06:01:49,460 --> 06:01:51,840
I support that, I think it's important we move forward with that.

4847
06:01:52,340 --> 06:01:57,600
I agree with comments that Lore Reynolds said earlier about funding parts of Biscay

4848
06:01:57,600 --> 06:01:59,360
and make coastal wetlands all parts of phase one,

4849
06:01:59,540 --> 06:02:01,020
moving forward with the cutler flowway.

4850
06:02:01,480 --> 06:02:05,220
And if there's an opportunity to get land that's needed

4851
06:02:05,900 --> 06:02:08,040
to move forward with purchasing that land,

4852
06:02:08,140 --> 06:02:10,940
we saw yesterday on the boat trip how important it is

4853
06:02:10,940 --> 06:02:13,700
to get groundwater and to move forward with these projects

4854
06:02:14,440 --> 06:02:15,960
with the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetland Project.

4855
06:02:16,200 --> 06:02:17,480
I mean, it's a beautiful resource.

4856
06:02:17,640 --> 06:02:19,780
We saw turtles swimming by on the boat

4857
06:02:19,780 --> 06:02:21,400
and we saw fish swimming around.

4858
06:02:21,820 --> 06:02:24,740
And somebody earlier said the call has always been,

4859
06:02:24,740 --> 06:02:27,340
and let's restore the Everglades for future generations.

4860
06:02:27,640 --> 06:02:29,940
But I think more and more we're seeing it's,

4861
06:02:29,940 --> 06:02:32,720
let's restore the Everglades for our generation,

4862
06:02:32,860 --> 06:02:34,880
for right now, because we're seeing a change happen

4863
06:02:35,460 --> 06:02:36,200
faster and faster.

4864
06:02:37,020 --> 06:02:39,080
And then I guess I have one question,

4865
06:02:39,700 --> 06:02:40,840
which I didn't quite understand

4866
06:02:40,840 --> 06:02:42,880
and I guess I just posed a question,

4867
06:02:43,020 --> 06:02:45,600
but the part A, that was on this presentation,

4868
06:02:46,060 --> 06:02:48,580
I wasn't sure if that was part of this game

4869
06:02:48,580 --> 06:02:49,720
at Coastal Wetlands phase one

4870
06:02:49,720 --> 06:02:51,780
or something that was above and beyond or a change.

4871
06:02:52,420 --> 06:02:52,760
Thank you.

4872
06:02:52,760 --> 06:02:54,040
Thank you, Kalil.

4873
06:02:55,040 --> 06:02:56,940
Laura Reynolds, followed by Jerry Martin.

4874
06:03:01,900 --> 06:03:04,220
Laura Reynolds, again, with the Tropical Audubon Society.

4875
06:03:04,600 --> 06:03:06,500
And I only have a little bit of my voice left,

4876
06:03:06,580 --> 06:03:08,460
but I had the same question for Tom Teetz.

4877
06:03:08,720 --> 06:03:14,000
And I just said to him, well, maybe the thing to do is to kind of present this change

4878
06:03:14,000 --> 06:03:17,420
in what I would consider the PIR, the Part A,

4879
06:03:17,980 --> 06:03:19,980
moving that pump station further east,

4880
06:03:20,160 --> 06:03:26,640
just understanding the ramifications of that would be instrumental for our team to understand.

4881
06:03:26,640 --> 06:03:31,680
So we do have a meeting coming up on the 18th. It's out here on the key. I don't know if that's a possibility

4882
06:03:32,520 --> 06:03:38,280
I know we've requested a presentation already from Matt Morrison, but it could be just a quick

4883
06:03:39,000 --> 06:03:42,500
Add-on to that presentation. What is that part a change?

4884
06:03:42,680 --> 06:03:46,560
But certainly we support anything that is in the PIR

4885
06:03:48,100 --> 06:03:51,540
And I the two million dollars from the pin suco

4886
06:03:52,360 --> 06:03:57,040
funds, according to Terry Bates, who already had that budgeted for this, I would support

4887
06:03:57,040 --> 06:04:04,060
that effort to continue to take these incremental steps, you know, with Accelerate back when

4888
06:04:04,060 --> 06:04:11,080
Jeb Bush was around as an elected official, he saw the fact that we needed to do something

4889
06:04:11,080 --> 06:04:14,460
for 2.6 million people, and at that time it was probably around 2 million.

4890
06:04:15,240 --> 06:04:19,460
This is our economic driver, and so I would encourage you to continue to take steps

4891
06:04:19,460 --> 06:04:20,940
for Biscayne Bay. Thank you.

4892
06:04:21,560 --> 06:04:22,200
Thank you, Laura.

4893
06:04:26,480 --> 06:04:26,920
Mr. Martin.

4894
06:04:27,520 --> 06:04:32,140
Drew Martin, I'm just going to agree with everything that all the other speakers said.

4895
06:04:33,180 --> 06:04:34,720
I absolutely think it's essential.

4896
06:04:34,920 --> 06:04:37,400
And I mean, one of the important things is just to get the water right,

4897
06:04:37,660 --> 06:04:41,840
and we see that we're getting way too much fresh water in the northern estuaries,

4898
06:04:41,960 --> 06:04:44,740
but we see here in Biscayne Bay we're not getting enough fresh water.

4899
06:04:45,020 --> 06:04:46,800
So this is all a balancing act.

4900
06:04:47,200 --> 06:04:48,440
I know you're very aware of that,

4901
06:04:48,500 --> 06:04:50,720
but it's very essential that we get the water right

4902
06:04:50,720 --> 06:04:59,500
Because these estuaries are the economic driver of a lot of our commercial fishing and our recreational fishing, which are billion-dollar industries.

4903
06:04:59,820 --> 06:05:05,560
So I encourage you to fund this, both the land purchase and the actual programs themselves.

4904
06:05:05,780 --> 06:05:06,080
Thank you.

4905
06:05:06,460 --> 06:05:06,900
Thank you, Drew.

4906
06:05:07,680 --> 06:05:09,820
Martha Musgrove, fellow Vass Susan Shapiro.

4907
06:05:10,860 --> 06:05:12,500
Martha's waving us off, okay.

4908
06:05:14,000 --> 06:05:15,140
Thank you, Martha.

4909
06:05:19,660 --> 06:05:20,200
Ms. Shapiro.

4910
06:05:20,760 --> 06:05:21,080
Welcome.

4911
06:05:21,540 --> 06:05:26,920
Thank you. Good afternoon, and my name is Susan Shapiro, 10810, Southwest 69th

4912
06:05:26,920 --> 06:05:30,760
Court Miami, Florida. Thank you so much for having your meeting on the shores of

4913
06:05:30,760 --> 06:05:34,500
beautiful Biscayne Bay. I'm here to speak on behalf of the Biscayne Bay

4914
06:05:34,500 --> 06:05:38,680
Coalition. This is a new organization that's been around for a while, so we're

4915
06:05:38,680 --> 06:05:43,540
trying to revive it a bit and bring together both our traditional partners,

4916
06:05:43,820 --> 06:05:46,980
as well as what we consider non-traditional partners, and that's

4917
06:05:46,980 --> 06:05:49,840
the economic community here in South Florida.

4918
06:05:50,680 --> 06:05:53,740
So I would like to consider for the governing board

4919
06:05:53,740 --> 06:05:55,880
to consider as a whole in each of you individually

4920
06:05:55,880 --> 06:05:58,200
to consider joining the coalition.

4921
06:05:58,960 --> 06:06:01,420
And to do so with a resolution that I have here

4922
06:06:02,000 --> 06:06:04,060
and the resolution, like all resolutions,

4923
06:06:04,360 --> 06:06:07,780
start with all the whereases

4924
06:06:07,780 --> 06:06:09,580
and why Biscayne Bay is so important.

4925
06:06:09,680 --> 06:06:11,300
I think many of you heard that all yesterday

4926
06:06:11,300 --> 06:06:12,140
while you were there.

4927
06:06:12,700 --> 06:06:15,920
It has the environmental benefits

4928
06:06:15,920 --> 06:06:23,000
benefits, as well as the economic benefits. And it resolves three things. One is to include

4929
06:06:23,000 --> 06:06:29,500
Visgain Bay in the overall Greater Everglades Restoration Project. The second is to implement

4930
06:06:29,500 --> 06:06:34,900
a state rule to protect the current flow of surface and groundwater into Visgain Bay.

4931
06:06:35,360 --> 06:06:40,460
And the third is to support the efforts of the environmentally endangered lands program

4932
06:06:40,460 --> 06:06:44,600
– that's our eel program down here – as well as the Florida Forever program

4933
06:06:44,600 --> 06:06:49,940
to purchase the adjacent coastal wetlands that are needed for the Biscayne Bay Coastal

4934
06:06:49,940 --> 06:06:55,160
Wetlands project to proceed and to help recharge Miami-Dade's aquifer.

4935
06:06:56,000 --> 06:07:01,160
So if there's a way to incorporate this resolution into your minutes, I would appreciate that.

4936
06:07:01,300 --> 06:07:03,520
And anyone who wants a copy, I have many.

4937
06:07:04,020 --> 06:07:04,400
Thank you.

4938
06:07:04,680 --> 06:07:05,480
Thank you, Ms. Shapiro.

4939
06:07:06,080 --> 06:07:08,680
Last public comment is Diami Derazio.

4940
06:07:10,440 --> 06:07:12,980
I apologize, I know I probably mutilated that.

4941
06:07:14,700 --> 06:07:20,900
Hello, my name is Yami Dorazio. I'm a student at Overland College. I'm going to be a second

4942
06:07:20,900 --> 06:07:28,580
year in my major's environmental studies, hence why I am here. I am also a resident

4943
06:07:28,580 --> 06:07:35,240
of Miami-Dade County and have been for not that long, like two years I think. My little

4944
06:07:35,240 --> 06:07:40,760
My little sister did a summer camp in Biscayne Bay last summer, I believe, or the summer before last.

4945
06:07:41,240 --> 06:07:43,980
And she would always come home really excited about all the things she was learning,

4946
06:07:44,080 --> 06:07:47,260
about the wildlife and the ecosystems, biodiversity and all that.

4947
06:07:47,600 --> 06:07:52,600
So that was really great that my little sister was following in her older sisters with steps.

4948
06:07:54,540 --> 06:07:56,460
So I will save your time.

4949
06:07:57,060 --> 06:07:58,040
I'm just going to read here.

4950
06:07:58,180 --> 06:08:03,520
Normally I would engage you all, but we're running over.

4951
06:08:03,520 --> 06:08:10,800
So I just want to express my support for the delivery of fresh water to Biscayne Bay,

4952
06:08:10,920 --> 06:08:12,620
the quality and timing of the water flow.

4953
06:08:13,120 --> 06:08:16,700
What seems to be monitored and executed with consideration to the Bay's ecosystem

4954
06:08:16,700 --> 06:08:19,660
has a significant role in our economy and tourism.

4955
06:08:20,380 --> 06:08:23,120
Fisheries and marine life are often more connected than we realize.

4956
06:08:24,160 --> 06:08:28,260
And simple steps for environmental consideration can improve the situation greatly,

4957
06:08:28,260 --> 06:08:32,340
which you all have obviously presented on for the past few hours.

4958
06:08:32,340 --> 06:08:34,180
and I'm so impressed and so excited.

4959
06:08:34,380 --> 06:08:36,280
I just really want to reiterate my support

4960
06:08:36,280 --> 06:08:39,940
for items 36, 37, and 39.

4961
06:08:40,420 --> 06:08:41,380
So thank you all so much,

4962
06:08:41,440 --> 06:08:42,920
and I look forward to seeing you all in the future.

4963
06:08:43,700 --> 06:08:44,300
Thank you.

4964
06:08:45,960 --> 06:08:46,460
That's it.

4965
06:08:46,880 --> 06:08:47,180
All right.

4966
06:08:47,660 --> 06:08:49,440
Is there anyone else from the public that would like

4967
06:08:49,440 --> 06:08:50,660
to comment on this item?

4968
06:08:51,040 --> 06:08:51,760
Seeing none,

4969
06:08:52,320 --> 06:08:54,020
is there any additional board comment here?

4970
06:08:54,740 --> 06:08:55,380
All right.

4971
06:08:55,840 --> 06:08:56,400
Very good.

4972
06:08:57,180 --> 06:08:58,200
Tom, nice job.

4973
06:08:58,400 --> 06:08:58,700
Thank you.

4974
06:09:00,800 --> 06:09:04,700
Next is agenda item number 38, and that is general public comment.

4975
06:09:04,940 --> 06:09:06,760
Reagan, do we have any general public comment?

4976
06:09:06,900 --> 06:09:07,620
We do have one.

4977
06:09:07,840 --> 06:09:08,820
Captain Dan Kipnis.

4978
06:09:15,090 --> 06:09:15,690
Nice to be here.

4979
06:09:15,770 --> 06:09:16,610
Nice to see you all here.

4980
06:09:16,710 --> 06:09:18,050
My name is Captain Dan Kipnis.

4981
06:09:19,150 --> 06:09:20,810
I've been on Biscayne Bay my whole life.

4982
06:09:21,130 --> 06:09:22,390
I ran boats on Biscayne Bay.

4983
06:09:22,490 --> 06:09:23,030
I'm now retired.

4984
06:09:24,410 --> 06:09:27,910
I grew up on an island on Miami Beach, so I know this bay.

4985
06:09:28,110 --> 06:09:29,230
We need the fresh water.

4986
06:09:29,810 --> 06:09:32,950
When I was young here, the bay was clear brown,

4987
06:09:32,950 --> 06:09:38,190
brackish. Now it's clear green, you saw that yesterday. We have to have the water

4988
06:09:38,190 --> 06:09:44,370
for another reason. Sea levels rise. We need fresh water to push back on that sea

4989
06:09:44,370 --> 06:09:49,290
level. We're going to have salt water in here very quickly. We don't add a huge

4990
06:09:49,290 --> 06:09:53,970
amount of fresh water. There is a problem. The water is basically

4991
06:09:53,970 --> 06:09:58,150
designated for the Everglades. We're going to lose, as this project, the

4992
06:09:58,150 --> 06:10:01,130
Everglades project goes forward, we're going to lose a lot of sheet flow

4993
06:10:01,130 --> 06:10:04,550
through Miami-Dade County that ended up in Biscayne Bay.

4994
06:10:05,410 --> 06:10:11,550
So anything that you can do to help this situation out is critical, and time is not on our side.

4995
06:10:12,210 --> 06:10:15,610
Right now we flood in Miami Beach with salt water at high tide.

4996
06:10:16,630 --> 06:10:21,090
South Biscayne Bay is doing it right now. The salt water is coming in.

4997
06:10:21,350 --> 06:10:25,950
All of South Dade is going to be underwater in 20 years or 25 years.

4998
06:10:26,050 --> 06:10:27,270
It only takes a foot to do it.

4999
06:10:27,270 --> 06:10:32,150
The agricultural drawdown, we need to save that fresh water and use it where we need it.

5000
06:10:32,950 --> 06:10:36,270
If they can't grow in it, they can't grow in it, the farmers.

5001
06:10:36,890 --> 06:10:40,310
Sooner or later, it's going to be salt water, and they won't be able to grow there anyway.

5002
06:10:40,850 --> 06:10:44,950
We've got to buy this time. You must move water down. Thank you very much.

5003
06:10:45,330 --> 06:10:49,010
Thank you, Captain Dan. Any additional public comment?

5004
06:10:49,430 --> 06:10:50,050
Yeah, Mr. Chair.

5005
06:10:50,170 --> 06:10:55,010
All right. And that concludes agenda item number 38, agenda item number 39.

5006
06:10:55,010 --> 06:11:04,090
time. The next agenda item, number 39, it's a public hearing to amend rule number 40E-2.091,

5007
06:11:04,730 --> 06:11:11,850
Florida Administrative Code and Chapter 40E-10, FAC, to establish a water reservation for

5008
06:11:11,850 --> 06:11:18,030
the SERP, Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Project 1 Project, Phase 1 Project, as more specifically

5009
06:11:18,030 --> 06:11:23,290
described in the published agenda title. We will start with staff's presentation

5010
06:11:23,290 --> 06:11:26,790
and then hear public comments from those who have submitted speaker cards.

5011
06:11:27,310 --> 06:11:29,090
Each speaker will be limited to two minutes.

5012
06:11:29,770 --> 06:11:32,750
Questions from the board will be held until the end of the presentation.

5013
06:11:33,290 --> 06:11:35,190
At this time, I'm going to call Don Medellin.

5014
06:11:35,310 --> 06:11:35,830
He's already there.

5015
06:11:35,990 --> 06:11:36,670
I don't even have to call him.

5016
06:11:36,690 --> 06:11:36,970
Hey, Don.

5017
06:11:39,150 --> 06:11:39,650
Take it away.

5018
06:11:40,110 --> 06:11:40,410
All right.

5019
06:11:40,550 --> 06:11:41,050
Good afternoon.

5020
06:11:41,550 --> 06:11:46,330
Appreciate the opportunity to bring to you today the Biscayne Bay Water Reservation

5021
06:11:46,330 --> 06:11:50,630
Rule Adoption after many months of hard work.

5022
06:11:50,630 --> 06:11:53,570
We're anxious and happy to bring this before you today.

5023
06:11:54,910 --> 06:11:57,710
I'd like to just start off with a little bit of background

5024
06:11:57,710 --> 06:12:01,450
with the governing board direction that we received back in December 2011.

5025
06:12:02,310 --> 06:12:07,730
The governing board directed staff to pursue the scope of the reservation consistent

5026
06:12:07,730 --> 06:12:12,390
with the SERP Phase 1 project for Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands.

5027
06:12:13,050 --> 06:12:16,970
And the project implementation report primarily identified surface water flows

5028
06:12:16,970 --> 06:12:22,190
as the water identified needed for protection of fish and wildlife.

5029
06:12:22,650 --> 06:12:27,510
And the Board directed us to reserve water that was consistent with the PIR.

5030
06:12:28,050 --> 06:12:33,850
And the reservation is a critical path for receiving federal funding

5031
06:12:33,850 --> 06:12:36,570
and to be able to enter into a...

5032
06:12:36,570 --> 06:12:38,410
Hey, Don. Can I interrupt you for one second?

5033
06:12:39,330 --> 06:12:41,350
Just to be technically correct.

5034
06:12:42,070 --> 06:12:45,250
Our counselors over there say you absolutely have to be technically correct.

5035
06:12:45,250 --> 06:12:50,630
We need to say that the public hearing is now open, say those words, and I didn't do that.

5036
06:12:51,070 --> 06:12:51,770
Now I have.

5037
06:12:52,850 --> 06:12:55,570
And I've just got a wink from our council, and this is good.

5038
06:12:55,810 --> 06:12:57,010
This public hearing is open.

5039
06:12:57,410 --> 06:12:57,850
Thank you.

5040
06:12:59,550 --> 06:12:59,990
Exactly.

5041
06:13:01,530 --> 06:13:03,410
Pick up right there where I interrupted you.

5042
06:13:03,590 --> 06:13:04,050
Thank you.

5043
06:13:04,210 --> 06:13:11,070
That being said, the water reservation is a critical path for us receiving federal funding,

5044
06:13:11,070 --> 06:13:17,610
the Water Management District and to enter into that project partnership agreement.

5045
06:13:18,010 --> 06:13:22,710
And it's also looked upon favorably by Congress as we go for congressional authorization.

5046
06:13:23,230 --> 06:13:29,290
So I wanted to outline a couple of the rule development activities that we have done

5047
06:13:29,290 --> 06:13:31,670
through the process, the rule development process.

5048
06:13:31,830 --> 06:13:36,690
We've had three public workshops, four RAC meetings, three governing board meetings

5049
06:13:36,690 --> 06:13:37,610
today being the fourth.

5050
06:13:37,610 --> 06:13:46,150
We've had BBRRC team meetings, and then we've also held seven stakeholder meetings individually

5051
06:13:46,150 --> 06:13:47,110
with stakeholders.

5052
06:13:47,530 --> 06:13:54,070
And so, you know, we've had 21 external meetings with folks just to give the opportunity to

5053
06:13:54,070 --> 06:13:56,950
provide public input and comment through the process.

5054
06:13:59,170 --> 06:14:04,630
I wanted to back up just a bit and then briefly explain how the water was identified

5055
06:14:04,630 --> 06:14:17,990
for the restoration itself, and this graphic that you see has been updated to include an additional five years period of record from 1986 to 2011,

5056
06:14:18,030 --> 06:14:25,930
and we're really talking about annual flows here. The first line that I wanted to point out was the horizontal brown line that you see at the top.

5057
06:14:26,450 --> 06:14:33,010
That is the actual flow target that was identified to maximize the benefits for fish and wildlife.

5058
06:14:33,010 --> 06:14:41,070
life. The pink line that you see down below is the line that is actually water shows the

5059
06:14:41,070 --> 06:14:45,170
surface water that would actually be diverted by the project structures themselves, the project

5060
06:14:45,170 --> 06:14:51,230
facilities. That would be the pump stations, the conveyance canals, the swales, as well

5061
06:14:51,230 --> 06:14:57,610
as the project culverts. So that actually is what's required by the federal government

5062
06:14:57,610 --> 06:14:57,870
Thank you very much.

5063
06:15:01,400 --> 06:15:08,300
There we go. So the blue shaded area that you see below this pink line is all that is

5064
06:15:08,300 --> 06:15:13,020
required of the federal government to reserve in order to be eligible and to meet the word

5065
06:15:13,020 --> 06:15:16,980
of requirements, and it's the Water Resources Development Act requirements for the district

5066
06:15:16,980 --> 06:15:24,840
to receive its share of the federal funding, 50% share cost share. And however, in order

5067
06:15:24,840 --> 06:15:30,520
In order to go over and above that, the district wanted to try and meet this flow target.

5068
06:15:30,840 --> 06:15:36,020
So the district, in order to try and meet this flow target, is actually looking at

5069
06:15:36,020 --> 06:15:39,160
reserving water with this blue line that's above the pink line.

5070
06:15:39,620 --> 06:15:43,880
And that is the total annual surface water flows that would be discharged to the bay.

5071
06:15:44,460 --> 06:15:49,440
We recognize through our evaluation that all of the water that goes to discharge

5072
06:15:49,440 --> 06:15:52,360
to Biscayne Bay right now is important for fish and wildlife.

5073
06:15:52,360 --> 06:16:00,540
And so the district went above and beyond and we are reserving water up to the flow target.

5074
06:16:01,260 --> 06:16:05,180
And so any water that's above that flow target would be available for allocation.

5075
06:16:05,880 --> 06:16:13,340
However, the water below the flow target, that brown line, is reserved specifically for the protection of fish and wildlife.

5076
06:16:16,040 --> 06:16:22,300
And I just wanted to point out too that the difference that you've seen between this pink line and the blue line here

5077
06:16:22,300 --> 06:16:28,100
is water that was still discharged to the bay through many of the conveyance canals that are already existing,

5078
06:16:28,460 --> 06:16:30,280
but it still is important for fish and wildlife.

5079
06:16:30,420 --> 06:16:35,540
So that will continue to occur over and above what is actually delivered through the project facilities.

5080
06:16:38,640 --> 06:16:44,140
This is the map that we've identified as part of the rulemaking process that identifies

5081
06:16:44,140 --> 06:16:47,800
which water bodies would be protected as part of the restoration rule.

5082
06:16:48,320 --> 06:16:52,940
The red canal reaches are those canal reaches that would be specifically

5083
06:16:52,940 --> 06:16:57,900
were water withdrawals from the surface water withdrawals from the canals would

5084
06:16:57,900 --> 06:17:02,560
be specifically restricted and then also want to point out the area along the

5085
06:17:02,560 --> 06:17:07,800
western shoreline of Biscayne Bay called the near shore central Biscayne Bay

5086
06:17:07,800 --> 06:17:12,060
that near shore area is where the benefits to fish and wildlife were

5087
06:17:12,060 --> 06:17:15,860
actually occurring and so that's about 500 meters out from the shoreline

5088
06:17:15,860 --> 06:17:21,640
1640 feet. Those are the protected water bodies that would be you know

5089
06:17:21,640 --> 06:17:23,560
protected under this reservation rule.

5090
06:17:23,980 --> 06:17:27,060
In addition, there are some blue canal reaches

5091
06:17:27,060 --> 06:17:28,160
that you see on this map.

5092
06:17:29,180 --> 06:17:32,000
Those blue canal reaches would not be regulated

5093
06:17:32,000 --> 06:17:32,900
under this rule.

5094
06:17:33,460 --> 06:17:36,540
However, I wanted to point out that we already have

5095
06:17:36,540 --> 06:17:39,860
on our existing, under our existing permitting criteria,

5096
06:17:40,580 --> 06:17:43,720
rules that protect not only the canal reaches,

5097
06:17:43,940 --> 06:17:45,660
but areas between those canal reaches

5098
06:17:46,180 --> 06:17:48,240
to protect the resources in those areas.

5099
06:17:48,380 --> 06:17:50,520
And that would be the restricted allocation area rules

5100
06:17:50,520 --> 06:17:57,340
that we have for the Lower East Coast Everglades water bodies, as well as wetland protection

5101
06:17:57,340 --> 06:17:59,500
rules and saltwater intrusion rules.

5102
06:18:02,110 --> 06:18:04,490
I want to go over a little bit about the rule itself.

5103
06:18:05,630 --> 06:18:10,050
There is a prohibition on surface water withdrawals from the near shore central Biscayne Bay

5104
06:18:10,050 --> 06:18:13,890
area, and that's the yellow cross-tatch area along the shoreline, I just pointed

5105
06:18:13,890 --> 06:18:14,190
out.

5106
06:18:14,970 --> 06:18:20,670
Also, restrictions on surface water withdrawals from the canals contributing water needed

5107
06:18:20,670 --> 06:18:22,550
for the protection of fish and wildlife.

5108
06:18:22,930 --> 06:18:24,610
And those are the red canal reaches

5109
06:18:24,610 --> 06:18:27,690
that I just pointed out on the map previously.

5110
06:18:28,790 --> 06:18:31,250
The rule also identifies specific withdrawals

5111
06:18:31,250 --> 06:18:35,010
that do not use reserve water,

5112
06:18:35,350 --> 06:18:37,710
one of which is groundwater withdrawals,

5113
06:18:37,950 --> 06:18:40,050
another is dewatering,

5114
06:18:40,130 --> 06:18:43,870
which is usually a temporary short-term withdrawal

5115
06:18:43,870 --> 06:18:46,070
for roach instruction and things of the like.

5116
06:18:46,870 --> 06:18:48,850
And then finally, withdrawals of water

5117
06:18:48,850 --> 06:18:52,470
and excess of the target identified in the volume probability curves.

5118
06:18:53,430 --> 06:18:58,990
And so that's the portion of water that I told you is above that horizontal brown line

5119
06:18:58,990 --> 06:19:00,170
that can still be allocated.

5120
06:19:00,410 --> 06:19:02,510
So that water is not protected under the rule.

5121
06:19:05,310 --> 06:19:10,210
And I wanted to point out a little bit about the comments that we've received since our

5122
06:19:10,210 --> 06:19:17,310
March 14th governing board meeting where we presented on this game day rulemaking process.

5123
06:19:17,310 --> 06:19:21,490
And there were two issues that were identified by environmental stakeholders.

5124
06:19:21,750 --> 06:19:31,470
One was groundwater protection was needed to ensure that the existing canal flows to the bay are not adversely affected by future withdrawals.

5125
06:19:32,010 --> 06:19:42,790
And the second issue that was brought up, I'm concerned, was additional canal segments should be protected because they contribute significant surface water to the flow targets.

5126
06:19:44,790 --> 06:19:49,690
After hearing these comments, staff went and performed additional evaluations to address

5127
06:19:49,690 --> 06:19:56,110
stakeholder concerns. We met with the environmental stakeholders on April 23rd to discuss the analysis

5128
06:19:56,110 --> 06:20:02,590
and results. And one of the things that they also asked that we update the technical document

5129
06:20:02,590 --> 06:20:06,510
to incorporate our additional analysis, we have done that and that revised document

5130
06:20:06,510 --> 06:20:10,370
is posted on the web as we speak today.

5131
06:20:10,730 --> 06:20:12,270
So that has been updated.

5132
06:20:14,520 --> 06:20:17,840
And the conclusions that we came up with was

5133
06:20:17,840 --> 06:20:22,880
staff clarified the previous analysis confirming that canal reaches

5134
06:20:22,880 --> 06:20:25,720
contributed minimal surface water flows to the bay,

5135
06:20:26,600 --> 06:20:28,520
to the flow target for the bay.

5136
06:20:28,800 --> 06:20:32,300
In other words, those areas, those blue canal reaches upstream,

5137
06:20:32,680 --> 06:20:36,620
those upstream areas contribute very minimal water to the bay.

5138
06:20:36,620 --> 06:20:43,660
And then also groundwater modeling that we did suggest that increased demand will not

5139
06:20:43,660 --> 06:20:48,520
result in appreciable reductions to reserve flows discharging to the bay.

5140
06:20:49,320 --> 06:20:54,360
And then finally, minimal risk of impacts from groundwater, which all is affecting

5141
06:20:54,360 --> 06:20:55,820
the bay as expected in the future.

5142
06:20:56,040 --> 06:20:58,760
So there will be very little to minimal risk.

5143
06:20:59,320 --> 06:21:05,940
And I wanted to point out, as you heard from the previous presentations just a bit

5144
06:21:05,940 --> 06:21:11,760
ago that the district has committed a lot of time and resources to the Bay and trying

5145
06:21:11,760 --> 06:21:16,980
to make incremental improvements to the Bay. You heard Mr. Burns' presentation about

5146
06:21:16,980 --> 06:21:23,100
ongoing dry season operations to make sure that we're improving the near shore salinity.

5147
06:21:23,500 --> 06:21:28,320
And then Mr. Teetz also talked about trying to do the next increment of projects in the

5148
06:21:28,320 --> 06:21:33,880
future above and ahead of federal funding. And the district has already committed

5149
06:21:33,880 --> 06:21:41,620
and spent $4.5 million on the Deering of the State and the L31 for culverts that Mr. Teetz identified.

5150
06:21:42,260 --> 06:21:44,940
$4.5 million and we're looking at spending more in the future.

5151
06:21:45,240 --> 06:21:51,920
So the next important step is to move forward with the water reservation to have this water reservation rule

5152
06:21:51,920 --> 06:21:58,160
approved to protect not only the Bay but also the Phase I CERC project water.

5153
06:21:58,680 --> 06:22:05,880
And that being said, I would refer you to this recommendation for the Governing Board's action and consideration.

5154
06:22:07,120 --> 06:22:10,380
Thank you, Don. Very presentation. Great work.

5155
06:22:10,580 --> 06:22:15,820
You know, we talked about that at lunch yesterday, and you just reminded me how much outreach, how much goes into this.

5156
06:22:15,940 --> 06:22:21,160
And you really did a great job reaching out to stakeholders, but also through the very lengthy process.

5157
06:22:21,600 --> 06:22:22,480
So, nice work.

5158
06:22:22,480 --> 06:22:28,340
Thank you, and I will be quick to tell you that there is a very good technical team behind

5159
06:22:28,340 --> 06:22:30,200
me that's doing much of this work.

5160
06:22:30,920 --> 06:22:31,440
Excellent.

5161
06:22:31,920 --> 06:22:34,080
Good work to you and the team, thank you.

5162
06:22:35,940 --> 06:22:37,720
Board questions, board comments?

5163
06:22:38,180 --> 06:22:39,440
I'm going to take public comment first.

5164
06:22:40,220 --> 06:22:42,300
Keep me straight there, if you don't she will.

5165
06:22:44,260 --> 06:22:50,740
We have three public comments, Brian Carlstrom followed by Khalil Petering, then Laura

5166
06:22:50,740 --> 06:22:51,040
Reynolds.

5167
06:22:54,160 --> 06:22:57,100
Brian Carlstrom, Superintendent, Biscayne National Park.

5168
06:22:58,040 --> 06:23:01,400
Good to see all of you again, Board members, Vice Chairman Bowers.

5169
06:23:01,760 --> 06:23:05,620
Thank you for taking the time to come out yesterday to see the Bay firsthand.

5170
06:23:06,040 --> 06:23:10,260
I think that workshop you held out in the field created some memories of the Bay

5171
06:23:10,260 --> 06:23:13,840
and what the results of all the work that you're helping to contribute

5172
06:23:13,840 --> 06:23:17,400
towards me, towards the ecological integrity of the National Park.

5173
06:23:18,640 --> 06:23:21,720
I submitted a letter for support to Reagan yesterday afternoon.

5174
06:23:21,720 --> 06:23:23,420
and I want to make sure that ends up in the record.

5175
06:23:24,340 --> 06:23:27,720
This is a magnificent step forward in helping

5176
06:23:27,720 --> 06:23:30,160
to preserve the condition of the Skane National Park.

5177
06:23:32,160 --> 06:23:34,700
But I'd like to challenge you to say that it's just a start.

5178
06:23:37,040 --> 06:23:40,400
The Skane National Park is, at the end,

5179
06:23:41,320 --> 06:23:42,780
it's the beginning of the ocean.

5180
06:23:42,960 --> 06:23:43,380
It's the end.

5181
06:23:44,260 --> 06:23:45,280
It's the estuary system.

5182
06:23:47,380 --> 06:23:49,220
It's my responsibility to make sure that's

5183
06:23:49,220 --> 06:23:50,980
preserved in as good a condition possible

5184
06:23:50,980 --> 06:23:53,620
for the enjoyment of this in future generations.

5185
06:23:54,760 --> 06:23:58,560
What you're doing today with this proposed rulemaking will make that a whole lot easier,

5186
06:23:59,080 --> 06:24:00,900
but there's so much more that we need to do.

5187
06:24:02,200 --> 06:24:06,840
A lot of what we've been talking about today is what's the economic benefit to what you're

5188
06:24:06,840 --> 06:24:07,100
doing.

5189
06:24:08,040 --> 06:24:11,380
In the National Park, I threw out a figure during my opening remarks yesterday when we

5190
06:24:11,380 --> 06:24:12,100
were on our way out.

5191
06:24:13,380 --> 06:24:18,640
The economic benefit of Biscayne National Park, right in the backyard of Miami, with

5192
06:24:18,640 --> 06:24:23,400
approaching half a million visitors a year, is in excess of $34 million.

5193
06:24:25,380 --> 06:24:27,160
That's a significant chunk of change.

5194
06:24:29,000 --> 06:24:35,100
And that also is important to so many aspects of the economy.

5195
06:24:35,340 --> 06:24:39,200
Tourism is huge down here in South Florida throughout the entire state.

5196
06:24:40,560 --> 06:24:43,320
Making sure that the Bay is in as good a condition as possible

5197
06:24:43,320 --> 06:24:46,820
helped to maintain the viability of that economic resource.

5198
06:24:47,780 --> 06:24:53,200
Those visitors also include about 8000 school kids a year to get a chance to go out there and enjoy it.

5199
06:24:53,760 --> 06:24:57,960
We heard somebody mention that their little sister got a chance to do that not too long ago.

5200
06:24:58,860 --> 06:25:05,560
All this combined makes sure that the park will be preserved in perpetuity and water is what this game is all about.

5201
06:25:05,680 --> 06:25:07,540
It is the nation's largest marine park.

5202
06:25:08,480 --> 06:25:12,880
I want to continue working together with the South Florida Watershed Management District.

5203
06:25:13,360 --> 06:25:18,220
We've got a great history, all the environmental stakeholders, all the stakeholders that work

5204
06:25:18,220 --> 06:25:21,280
with us help to make the park what it is.

5205
06:25:22,000 --> 06:25:23,540
I'm going to wrap this up pretty quick.

5206
06:25:23,680 --> 06:25:28,140
I want to thank all those that have worked towards making this happen, and I also want

5207
06:25:28,140 --> 06:25:34,100
to support the projects that were presented earlier, if I can do that, for Scott and

5208
06:25:34,100 --> 06:25:38,780
Tom and Don for presenting those, and also for Sarah who's on my staff that works

5209
06:25:38,780 --> 06:25:40,220
on this stuff day in, day out.

5210
06:25:40,720 --> 06:25:41,280
Thanks so much.

5211
06:25:42,120 --> 06:25:45,480
Thank you and thanks again for your hospitality yesterday. It was first class.

5212
06:25:45,680 --> 06:25:48,420
You're quite welcome. And if you'd like to come down again, let me know.

5213
06:25:49,120 --> 06:25:50,160
We'll take you up on it.

5214
06:25:56,870 --> 06:25:57,270
Ditto.

5215
06:26:00,050 --> 06:26:00,670
Who's next?

5216
06:26:01,670 --> 06:26:10,830
Really. I mean, I think I agree. First of all, I've said it before and you said that the accessibility from your staff for this project was great.

5217
06:26:10,830 --> 06:26:14,230
They were very open to meeting with us several times, and we appreciate that.

5218
06:26:15,090 --> 06:26:20,330
And you saw a list of some of what our questions are about moving forward with this.

5219
06:26:20,790 --> 06:26:22,950
And I think it's important to get this done.

5220
06:26:23,190 --> 06:26:25,570
The National Parks Conservation Association supports this.

5221
06:26:26,210 --> 06:26:29,310
But as the Superintendents said, we think this is the first step.

5222
06:26:30,630 --> 06:26:35,450
It's important to think about some mechanism in the future where we can talk about

5223
06:26:36,010 --> 06:26:41,870
groundwater and protecting a larger body of the Bay in general, not just the restoration project.

5224
06:26:42,510 --> 06:26:47,690
I kind of liken it to it's like we're graduating from middle school now, but we still got to get our high school degree.

5225
06:26:48,030 --> 06:26:52,070
And that doesn't come tomorrow. It comes in time, but we still need to work forward towards that.

5226
06:26:52,290 --> 06:26:57,210
So we support moving forward with this and we look forward to working on something larger in the future. Thank you.

5227
06:26:57,530 --> 06:26:58,050
Thanks, Kalil.

5228
06:27:00,900 --> 06:27:01,700
Welcome back, Laura.

5229
06:27:01,700 --> 06:27:09,420
For the last time, I hope, I guess I get the last word here, but I do want to thank your

5230
06:27:09,420 --> 06:27:12,340
staff for reaching out as much as they did.

5231
06:27:12,820 --> 06:27:18,300
I don't think it was an issue necessarily with what everybody was trying to do, but

5232
06:27:18,300 --> 06:27:19,680
the constraints that you're under.

5233
06:27:20,300 --> 06:27:25,120
And so just so you know, I recognize that and I just wanted to say, you know, Beth,

5234
06:27:25,120 --> 06:27:32,160
Thank you for being patient and understanding that our community is worried that this affects

5235
06:27:32,160 --> 06:27:33,680
rulemaking across the board.

5236
06:27:34,140 --> 06:27:40,280
And it was a concern to me as an ecologist to understand how you could protect water

5237
06:27:40,280 --> 06:27:41,600
without protecting groundwater.

5238
06:27:42,280 --> 06:27:48,880
And so you received a letter from the Everglades Coalition on this issue saying, yes, this

5239
06:27:48,880 --> 06:27:53,600
is the first step, but recognize the fact that groundwater is important and they're

5240
06:27:53,600 --> 06:27:54,540
tied together.

5241
06:27:54,540 --> 06:27:56,300
And for this game, that's your goal.

5242
06:27:56,700 --> 06:27:58,380
Your goal is to create more groundwater.

5243
06:27:58,920 --> 06:28:00,840
So I'd like to give you all a copy of this

5244
06:28:00,840 --> 06:28:02,200
in case you missed my email.

5245
06:28:05,460 --> 06:28:08,260
And I just wanted to reiterate that this is a first step.

5246
06:28:08,720 --> 06:28:10,940
And again, I'm so tired.

5247
06:28:11,240 --> 06:28:12,360
I'm not gonna say anything else,

5248
06:28:12,440 --> 06:28:15,360
but thank you for my voice is done.

5249
06:28:15,560 --> 06:28:16,520
That's it, no more.

5250
06:28:17,160 --> 06:28:17,520
Thank you.

5251
06:28:17,980 --> 06:28:19,740
And the other thing I wanted to see

5252
06:28:19,740 --> 06:28:20,820
is there were a lot of people here.

5253
06:28:21,000 --> 06:28:23,320
There were a lot of people here that left, okay?

5254
06:28:24,080 --> 06:28:25,540
And they didn't get a chance to speak,

5255
06:28:25,540 --> 06:28:30,500
But, you know, I didn't have a time certain, so maybe in the future we can tell them when,

5256
06:28:31,240 --> 06:28:33,780
you know, at least say before lunch or after lunch.

5257
06:28:34,020 --> 06:28:34,860
So anyway, thank you.

5258
06:28:35,300 --> 06:28:35,700
Very good.

5259
06:28:36,200 --> 06:28:36,680
Thank you, Laura.

5260
06:28:37,460 --> 06:28:39,020
Is there any additional public comment?

5261
06:28:39,840 --> 06:28:41,200
No, there is none.

5262
06:28:41,400 --> 06:28:41,620
Okay.

5263
06:28:42,200 --> 06:28:46,740
Then the public hearing is now closed, and we will begin a board discussion.

5264
06:28:47,460 --> 06:28:49,360
Does the board have any comments or questions?

5265
06:28:50,580 --> 06:28:51,060
Any questions?

5266
06:28:51,920 --> 06:28:52,380
All right.

5267
06:28:52,920 --> 06:28:53,580
Seeing none.

5268
06:28:53,580 --> 06:28:55,900
And do we have a motion?

5269
06:28:56,300 --> 06:28:56,720
So moved.

5270
06:28:58,420 --> 06:28:58,900
Second?

5271
06:28:59,740 --> 06:29:00,180
Anyone?

5272
06:29:00,320 --> 06:29:00,740
I'll second.

5273
06:29:01,680 --> 06:29:03,180
We have a motion and a second.

5274
06:29:03,300 --> 06:29:04,340
Is there any further discussion?

5275
06:29:05,580 --> 06:29:06,420
OK, all in favor?

5276
06:29:06,860 --> 06:29:07,180
Aye.

5277
06:29:07,320 --> 06:29:07,440
Aye.

5278
06:29:08,340 --> 06:29:08,640
Opposed?

5279
06:29:08,880 --> 06:29:09,220
All right.

5280
06:29:09,320 --> 06:29:09,520
Very good.

5281
06:29:09,780 --> 06:29:10,260
Thanks, John.

5282
06:29:10,380 --> 06:29:11,040
Thank you very much, John.

5283
06:29:11,560 --> 06:29:14,860
Just wanted to say thank you to many of the staff here.

5284
06:29:15,420 --> 06:29:18,400
Briefly, Beth Lewis, Scott Burns, Rick Auliman,

5285
06:29:18,780 --> 06:29:20,720
Millie Hunt, Karen Smith, Stephen

5286
06:29:20,720 --> 06:29:26,580
members, Jose Otero, I'm Miller, and the Coastal Section Planning and CERC staff.

5287
06:29:27,100 --> 06:29:29,000
Thank you for all their hard work, dedication.

5288
06:29:29,300 --> 06:29:32,300
They sat through and provided a lot of technical expertise through the process.

5289
06:29:32,660 --> 06:29:37,020
So thank you to many of these staff, and Linda Lindstrom and Peter Durant.

5290
06:29:37,700 --> 06:29:38,180
Great.

5291
06:29:38,440 --> 06:29:39,220
And again, nice job.

5292
06:29:39,360 --> 06:29:39,960
Thank you very much.

5293
06:29:40,080 --> 06:29:41,120
And of course, Terry Bay.

5294
06:29:45,030 --> 06:29:45,990
All right.

5295
06:29:47,850 --> 06:29:50,230
Next item is agenda item number 40.

5296
06:29:50,230 --> 06:29:56,150
This is also a public hearing for the rule amendments to be consistent with statewide

5297
06:29:56,150 --> 06:29:59,970
environmental resource permitting rules, as more specifically described in-

5298
06:30:01,020 --> 06:30:05,420
We will start with staff's presentation and then hear public comments from those who

5299
06:30:05,420 --> 06:30:10,260
have submitted speaker cards. Each speaker will be limited to two minutes. Questions from

5300
06:30:10,260 --> 06:30:15,820
the board will be held until the end of the presentation. The public hearing was opened

5301
06:30:15,820 --> 06:30:21,760
and continued on May 9, 2013 to address comments received from the Joint Administrative Procedures

5302
06:30:21,760 --> 06:30:26,840
Committee and the Department of Environmental Protection. Staff will please begin their

5303
06:30:26,840 --> 06:30:27,500
presentation.

5304
06:30:30,560 --> 06:30:34,220
Okay. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Susan Martin from the

5305
06:30:34,220 --> 06:30:38,560
Office of Counsel. Also here today on this rule is Anita Bain, who is the Bureau

5306
06:30:38,560 --> 06:30:43,220
Chief over the Environmental Resource Permit Program. We're here today to

5307
06:30:43,220 --> 06:30:50,560
request that you adopt amendments or repeal provisions in chapters 40e0, 40e1,

5308
06:30:51,300 --> 06:30:56,240
40e4, and 40e41 of the Florida administrative code. Also that you

5309
06:30:56,240 --> 06:31:05,400
repeal chapters 40E40 and 40E400 and that you amend and rename the Basis of Review for

5310
06:31:05,400 --> 06:31:10,340
Environmental Resource Permits. We're also asking for authority to publish a notice of

5311
06:31:10,340 --> 06:31:19,340
change to address comments received. The background for this is that in 2012 the Florida Legislature

5312
06:31:19,340 --> 06:31:25,060
directed DEP in coordination with the Water Management Districts to initiate rural development

5313
06:31:25,060 --> 06:31:32,200
to adopt a statewide consistent environmental resource permit rule program.

5314
06:31:33,080 --> 06:31:38,160
So, DEP and the Five Water Management Districts work together for over a year,

5315
06:31:38,340 --> 06:31:42,340
along with the public, environmental group, business organizations,

5316
06:31:42,760 --> 06:31:46,260
to come up with language for consistent statewide rule,

5317
06:31:46,440 --> 06:31:51,260
which is found in Chapter 62-330 of the Florida Administrative Code.

5318
06:31:51,260 --> 06:31:58,580
DEP is also doing rule adoption today and they are adopting rule 62-30 today.

5319
06:31:59,320 --> 06:32:03,160
The effective date for DEP's rule will be August 1st.

5320
06:32:04,040 --> 06:32:12,220
The basis for this rule is to rely primarily on the existing rules of the water management districts and DEP.

5321
06:32:12,960 --> 06:32:19,260
There were some differences however that we had to reconcile because all the water management districts did have different rules,

5322
06:32:19,260 --> 06:32:24,720
rules so we had to work together to reconcile those differences. Also, we were directed

5323
06:32:24,720 --> 06:32:30,220
to incorporate measures that would streamline the rules and make them easier for the public

5324
06:32:30,220 --> 06:32:37,160
to utilize and reduce regulatory burdens. 62-330 of the Florida Administrative Code

5325
06:32:37,710 --> 06:32:45,280
is considered a rule of all the water management districts. So, I do not need to ask you

5326
06:32:45,280 --> 06:32:47,160
to adopt 62-330 today.

5327
06:32:47,740 --> 06:32:52,040
However, I do need to ask you to adopt amendments to our rules

5328
06:32:52,040 --> 06:32:54,740
because our rules contain many provisions

5329
06:32:54,740 --> 06:32:57,920
which will now be found in Chapter 62-330.

5330
06:32:58,400 --> 06:33:01,360
So our rules have to be amended or repealed

5331
06:33:01,360 --> 06:33:04,420
in order to prevent redundancy or inconsistency

5332
06:33:04,420 --> 06:33:06,700
with Chapter 62-330.

5333
06:33:10,040 --> 06:33:13,040
Our water quality and water quantity rules

5334
06:33:14,360 --> 06:33:17,640
will remain for each of the water management districts.

5335
06:33:18,060 --> 06:33:20,060
They are not part of this rulemaking.

5336
06:33:20,480 --> 06:33:24,060
They are considered beyond the scope of the directive of the legislature.

5337
06:33:25,500 --> 06:33:29,580
They're replaced into the new applicant's handbook, Volume 2,

5338
06:33:29,720 --> 06:33:33,720
which is before you for adoption today, but they're substantially the same.

5339
06:33:34,300 --> 06:33:38,580
However, water quality will be addressed soon in upcoming rulemaking.

5340
06:33:38,580 --> 06:33:52,540
With regard to timing, our rules are scheduled to become effective when the statewide ERP rule, Chapter 62-330, becomes effective, which is scheduled for August 1st.

5341
06:33:52,880 --> 06:34:02,120
However, if something happens to delay the effectiveness of Chapter 62-330, our rule will not become effective until that chapter becomes effective.

5342
06:34:03,520 --> 06:34:09,600
So therefore, for recommended action, I'd like to ask you to adopt or repeal the amendments

5343
06:34:10,340 --> 06:34:17,760
to the rules that you see on the screen and also to address the changes that were requested

5344
06:34:17,760 --> 06:34:22,960
by the Joint Administrative Procedure Committee and the Department of Environmental Protection.

5345
06:34:23,780 --> 06:34:29,140
But before you turn it over for questions, I'd like to acknowledge the staff who worked

5346
06:34:29,140 --> 06:34:29,540
on this.

5347
06:34:29,540 --> 06:34:37,480
We worked on this for over a year, and many of the people listed here spent all day, every

5348
06:34:37,480 --> 06:34:42,480
Thursday, in all-day meetings with DEP and the other water management districts, and

5349
06:34:42,480 --> 06:34:46,980
then separate meetings with environmental groups, business groups, in order to make this will

5350
06:34:46,980 --> 06:34:47,660
come together.

5351
06:34:48,160 --> 06:34:53,700
So I'd like to acknowledge Anita Bain, Hugo Carter, Jennifer Krumloff, Mindy Parrot,

5352
06:34:53,860 --> 06:34:57,280
Joyce Rader, Jan Sleuth, Tony Waterhouse, and Liz Woods.

5353
06:34:58,180 --> 06:34:58,660
Thank you.

5354
06:34:58,660 --> 06:35:05,380
Unless there's public comment, we will, thank you, I'll come back to you in a second, sir.

5355
06:35:06,100 --> 06:35:09,400
Susan, nice job. Now we will go to public comment.

5356
06:35:10,120 --> 06:35:12,120
We have one public comment, Jennifer Hecker.

5357
06:35:19,370 --> 06:35:22,990
Hi, good afternoon. Jennifer Hecker, on behalf of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida,

5358
06:35:23,070 --> 06:35:25,950
and our more than 5,000 members here to comment on the proposed changes

5359
06:35:25,950 --> 06:35:29,890
to the environmental resource permitting rules dealing with ERP stormwater standards.

5360
06:35:29,890 --> 06:35:36,550
standards. Nearly a decade ago, on November 13, 2003, our organization challenged the

5361
06:35:36,550 --> 06:35:40,330
district's ERP stormwater standards because they were clearly deficient, and as a result,

5362
06:35:40,710 --> 06:35:45,290
water quality was continuing to decline in our region. The district at that time acknowledged

5363
06:35:45,290 --> 06:35:49,050
that the standards were not sufficient for the removal of dissolved pollutants such

5364
06:35:49,050 --> 06:35:53,790
as nutrients and agreed to put heightened standards into effect for all projects discharging

5365
06:35:53,790 --> 06:35:57,650
to outstanding Florida waters and waters not meeting state water quality standards.

5366
06:35:57,650 --> 06:36:01,630
This was in the form of policy guidance until rule language could be developed,

5367
06:36:02,090 --> 06:36:05,930
which it was in the years that followed, and it was known as the Southwest Florida Basin Rule.

5368
06:36:06,710 --> 06:36:10,510
Before adoption of the district's basin rule, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection

5369
06:36:10,510 --> 06:36:14,610
began development of statewide stormwater rule, and the district asked the

5370
06:36:14,610 --> 06:36:19,070
Conservancy to put its challenge in advance based on the understanding that they would update the

5371
06:36:19,070 --> 06:36:23,950
guidance requirements and that the statewide rule would be developed and implemented in a timely manner.

5372
06:36:23,950 --> 06:36:29,270
The Conservancy agreed to do so in good faith for a period of 18 months until April 2010.

5373
06:36:30,270 --> 06:36:35,130
The statewide rule never did get adopted, and now we are facing new statewide and regional

5374
06:36:35,130 --> 06:36:40,270
ERP rules, including the ERP Volume 2 being put forth before you for approval today,

5375
06:36:40,790 --> 06:36:44,770
with the same old deficient stormwater standards that we challenged 10 years ago.

5376
06:36:45,830 --> 06:36:49,970
With more than a decade of scientific evidence confirming that such standards are resulting

5377
06:36:49,970 --> 06:36:54,150
an insufficient stormwater treatment, and with the district's own prior agreement with

5378
06:36:54,150 --> 06:36:59,230
our organization to update such standards and rule, we strongly objected to the ERP

5379
06:36:59,230 --> 06:37:03,990
Volume 2 rule, because it would only perpetuate these deficient standards in new rule language.

5380
06:37:04,670 --> 06:37:08,950
We met with your staff to discuss ways to remedy this, and the result is their agreement

5381
06:37:08,950 --> 06:37:13,730
to seek immediately commencing rule development to develop heightened ERP standards, such

5382
06:37:13,730 --> 06:37:18,370
as those in the previously agreed policy guidance memos currently being implemented

5383
06:37:18,370 --> 06:37:23,030
for all projects discharging to any downstream outstanding Florida water and to any water

5384
06:37:23,030 --> 06:37:27,190
bodies not meeting state water quality standards. While we believe those standards should have

5385
06:37:27,190 --> 06:37:32,370
been incorporated in ERP Volume 2 rule before you for approval, we appreciate the staff

5386
06:37:32,370 --> 06:37:36,730
support and our counting on your support that the district will honor its commitment

5387
06:37:36,730 --> 06:37:41,070
to putting these more stringent stormwater standards into rule in the upcoming rule

5388
06:37:41,070 --> 06:37:46,110
development being proposed in the regulatory plan approved by you this morning. Thank

5389
06:37:46,110 --> 06:37:46,290
Thank you.

5390
06:37:47,170 --> 06:37:47,910
Thank you.

5391
06:37:48,350 --> 06:37:49,830
Do we have any additional public comment?

5392
06:37:50,210 --> 06:37:50,850
No, Mr. Chair.

5393
06:37:51,130 --> 06:37:51,350
Okay.

5394
06:37:51,710 --> 06:37:54,670
The public hearing is now closed and we will begin board discussion.

5395
06:37:54,990 --> 06:37:55,650
Mr. Hutchcraft.

5396
06:37:55,930 --> 06:37:57,810
I move adoption of staff's recommendation.

5397
06:37:58,230 --> 06:37:58,470
Second.

5398
06:37:59,370 --> 06:38:00,590
Is there any further discussion?

5399
06:38:01,490 --> 06:38:02,950
Seeing none, all in favor?

5400
06:38:03,370 --> 06:38:03,670
Aye.

5401
06:38:03,950 --> 06:38:04,050
Aye.

5402
06:38:05,230 --> 06:38:05,990
Motion passes.

5403
06:38:06,310 --> 06:38:06,690
Thank you.

5404
06:38:06,690 --> 06:38:07,930
Congratulations and thank you again.

5405
06:38:08,170 --> 06:38:08,590
Thank you.

5406
06:38:11,790 --> 06:38:12,230
All right.

5407
06:38:14,340 --> 06:38:15,780
Next is agenda item 41.

5408
06:38:16,740 --> 06:38:25,660
This is a public hearing for the Rule Amendments to Write of Way Rules, chapters 40e-6 and 40e-62FAC,

5409
06:38:26,140 --> 06:38:29,060
as more specifically described in the published agenda title.

5410
06:38:29,520 --> 06:38:34,760
We will start with staff's presentation and then hear public comments from those who have submitted speaker cards.

5411
06:38:35,300 --> 06:38:37,180
Each speaker will be limited to two minutes.

5412
06:38:37,780 --> 06:38:40,760
Questions from the board will be held until the end of the presentation.

5413
06:38:41,340 --> 06:38:48,560
The public hearing was opened and continued on May 9th, 2013 to address comments received

5414
06:38:48,560 --> 06:38:50,880
from the Joint Administrative Procedures Committee.

5415
06:38:51,300 --> 06:38:54,320
Staff will please begin their presentation.

5416
06:38:54,840 --> 06:38:55,680
Jorge, good afternoon.

5417
06:38:56,080 --> 06:38:56,540
Good afternoon.

5418
06:38:56,700 --> 06:38:57,800
Thank you, Mr. Vice-Chairman.

5419
06:38:58,240 --> 06:38:59,280
My name is Jorge Petino.

5420
06:38:59,920 --> 06:39:02,480
I am the section administrator for the right-of-way section.

5421
06:39:04,100 --> 06:39:14,340
Our presentation summarizes the proposed changes to the right-of-way rules and recommends to the Board to adopt those changes.

5422
06:39:18,270 --> 06:39:24,830
This initiated rule development back in February 2012 upon approval by the governing Board.

5423
06:39:25,470 --> 06:39:34,610
We had a workshop on August 22, 2012, and all public comments that were received have been addressed to the satisfaction of the public.

5424
06:39:35,610 --> 06:39:43,750
We published a notice of rulemaking in the Florida Administrative Register on April 10, 2013.

5425
06:39:45,250 --> 06:39:48,490
The rule changes come summarized into three major categories.

5426
06:39:48,890 --> 06:39:52,290
We are basically taking 40E6, which is the main right-of-way rule,

5427
06:39:52,630 --> 06:39:56,070
and we're streamlining it, making clarifications to it.

5428
06:39:56,510 --> 06:40:00,670
We are also merging all relevant portions of Chapter 40E62,

5429
06:40:00,670 --> 06:40:07,070
also known as the C-18 rule, into Chapter 40 E6 to try to eliminate redundancies.

5430
06:40:07,650 --> 06:40:09,990
And we are repealing Chapter 40 E62.

5431
06:40:10,790 --> 06:40:15,370
We are also taking the criteria manual, which has all the technical criteria people have to follow

5432
06:40:15,370 --> 06:40:20,430
to construct something on the right-of-way and reformatting it to make it a little bit more user-friendly.

5433
06:40:23,430 --> 06:40:30,830
About two weeks ago, we received comments from Japsi from the Joint Administrative Procedure Committee

5434
06:40:31,630 --> 06:40:34,650
And we have since addressed those comments.

5435
06:40:35,330 --> 06:40:37,090
They fall into four major categories.

5436
06:40:37,530 --> 06:40:41,990
They want us to reconcile naming and referencing the criteria manual.

5437
06:40:42,890 --> 06:40:47,810
They want minor clarifications and corrections in the role itself.

5438
06:40:48,470 --> 06:40:54,250
They would like to have the word may replaced by the word shall through sections.

5439
06:40:54,930 --> 06:41:01,490
and they also would like the word May replaced with the words is authorized to in a couple of other sections.

5440
06:41:02,050 --> 06:41:05,530
All these changes are incorporated in the pack of documentation that you have.

5441
06:41:08,220 --> 06:41:17,880
So our staff's recommendation is for the board to adopt amendments to Rule 40e6 to reveal 40e62

5442
06:41:18,560 --> 06:41:27,980
and to adopt changes to the materials incorporated by reference in Rule 46.091 as described in this slide.

5443
06:41:28,420 --> 06:41:35,320
Okay, very good. Thank you, Jorge. Do we have public comment? We have no public comment. Okay.

5444
06:41:35,820 --> 06:41:43,240
The public hearing is now closed and we will begin more discussion. Mr. Moran.

5445
06:41:43,240 --> 06:41:51,540
I just had a question for you about replacing me with Shal on 40 e to 6.331 at all.

5446
06:41:51,880 --> 06:41:53,800
Can you comment briefly on what those rules cover?

5447
06:41:54,460 --> 06:41:57,140
I'll have to look it up real quick if you can give me a second.

5448
06:42:01,670 --> 06:42:06,130
And I have Andrew Ross here with me from Eagle so he can help me out if you can.

5449
06:42:06,970 --> 06:42:08,710
And Terry Bates is still here also.

5450
06:42:16,480 --> 06:42:18,720
Terry will now divine that slide.

5451
06:42:18,720 --> 06:42:19,720
Which section is that?

5452
06:42:39,600 --> 06:42:43,900
I mean, they were minor in essentially they do not seem to like the word may.

5453
06:42:44,140 --> 06:42:47,860
So we try to, you know, obviously this is a proprietary program.

5454
06:42:48,040 --> 06:42:51,700
So we try to in some instances we agreed with them in some instances we didn't.

5455
06:42:51,700 --> 06:42:54,120
And they accepted the instances that we didn't agree on.

5456
06:42:54,120 --> 06:43:00,320
And those that we didn't think that they were very – that we lived with, those are the

5457
06:43:00,320 --> 06:43:01,320
ones that we accepted.

5458
06:43:06,680 --> 06:43:10,880
This one deals with letter modifications shall be issued by the district.

5459
06:43:11,400 --> 06:43:15,140
Staff provided requested modification meets certain criteria.

5460
06:43:15,620 --> 06:43:18,960
And before we had May, so they – and we can live with that.

5461
06:43:19,020 --> 06:43:19,960
It's not that big of a deal.

5462
06:43:20,320 --> 06:43:20,740
All right.

5463
06:43:20,820 --> 06:43:21,180
Thank you.

5464
06:43:21,620 --> 06:43:22,100
My pleasure.

5465
06:43:22,600 --> 06:43:23,320
Sorry about that.

5466
06:43:23,500 --> 06:43:26,080
It's a lot of little changes here and there.

5467
06:43:26,080 --> 06:43:28,820
Tedious work, but good job there.

5468
06:43:29,640 --> 06:43:31,960
Okay, is there any additional board questions, discussions?

5469
06:43:33,180 --> 06:43:34,760
All right, we have a motion.

5470
06:43:36,020 --> 06:43:36,640
It's removed.

5471
06:43:37,980 --> 06:43:39,800
We have a motion and a second.

5472
06:43:41,400 --> 06:43:42,120
All in favor?

5473
06:43:43,460 --> 06:43:44,940
All right, motion passes.

5474
06:43:45,480 --> 06:43:48,580
If I may, Mr. Powers, I also would like to thank staff.

5475
06:43:48,960 --> 06:43:50,980
You say I may or I shall, would it?

5476
06:43:54,260 --> 06:43:56,580
Go ahead. Will you start messing with that thing over there?

5477
06:43:57,600 --> 06:43:58,940
I am authorized to thank it.

5478
06:43:59,600 --> 06:44:01,300
Now I would like to thank our staff in West Virginia.

5479
06:44:01,740 --> 06:44:05,300
They spent a lot of hours, especially Andrew Ross and Julie Russell from Lincoln.

5480
06:44:05,460 --> 06:44:06,280
They helped us quite a bit.

5481
06:44:06,940 --> 06:44:08,020
I couldn't have done it without them.

5482
06:44:08,860 --> 06:44:10,120
Jorge, thank you very much.

5483
06:44:10,220 --> 06:44:12,720
I appreciate that, and recognizing the staff as well.

5484
06:44:13,900 --> 06:44:17,340
I'm going to just spend some time with our audio visual folks down there.

5485
06:44:17,520 --> 06:44:19,980
Mr. Waldman just a crash course or something.

5486
06:44:20,480 --> 06:44:21,500
We're a fresher.

5487
06:44:23,360 --> 06:44:24,380
We can adjust the budget, too.

5488
06:44:24,500 --> 06:44:26,440
We can give out some money to some of these things here, too.

5489
06:44:28,680 --> 06:44:29,320
Next item.

5490
06:44:29,860 --> 06:44:32,720
And I know everybody's heading towards the wrap-up,

5491
06:44:32,800 --> 06:44:34,520
but I just want to remind you that we've got

5492
06:44:34,520 --> 06:44:37,380
a brief annual meeting after we go through

5493
06:44:37,380 --> 06:44:38,960
and get our monthly report.

5494
06:44:39,100 --> 06:44:41,640
So next is agenda item number 42,

5495
06:44:42,340 --> 06:44:44,380
Doug Berks from Monthly Financial Statement.

5496
06:44:44,840 --> 06:44:46,540
Just very quickly, Mr. Vice Chair.

5497
06:44:46,640 --> 06:44:50,080
We've included the Monthly FY13 financial report

5498
06:44:50,080 --> 06:44:55,340
through April and your report backup. Thank you sir. All right and agenda item

5499
06:44:55,340 --> 06:44:59,900
number 43 Miss Anse council report. Just real quickly I wanted

5500
06:45:00,000 --> 06:45:07,380
I want to advise the board that we are going to be losing Frank Bartalon next Friday. He will

5501
06:45:07,380 --> 06:45:12,920
be going off into retirement and I know he worked closely with all of you, 35 plus years,

5502
06:45:13,520 --> 06:45:17,220
a member of the Florida Bar, a lawyer who's dedicated the majority of his life to public

5503
06:45:17,220 --> 06:45:22,800
service. He's worked closely handling governing board services and other issues with the

5504
06:45:22,800 --> 06:45:25,940
board and I just thought you all would like to know that and you'll be able to put

5505
06:45:25,940 --> 06:45:29,320
him to work a little bit more in about two minutes as he does the leasing court

5506
06:45:29,320 --> 06:45:30,740
But I just thought I'd let you know.

5507
06:45:30,900 --> 06:45:31,320
Excellent.

5508
06:45:31,660 --> 06:45:32,640
Thank you very much.

5509
06:45:32,740 --> 06:45:36,560
Frank, thank you for your years of service and all the best.

5510
06:45:40,720 --> 06:45:41,140
OK.

5511
06:45:43,060 --> 06:45:50,760
Next, we're going to move to Mr. Interim, the executive

5512
06:45:50,760 --> 06:45:52,900
director for the executive director's reports.

5513
06:45:53,300 --> 06:45:54,180
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

5514
06:45:54,320 --> 06:45:55,500
Just want to bring your attention.

5515
06:45:56,080 --> 06:45:59,720
You're very familiar with the update on restoration strategies.

5516
06:45:59,720 --> 06:46:06,700
The one item I do want to highlight in the lower left-hand corner, we hit a great milestone

5517
06:46:06,700 --> 06:46:10,440
and completed the science plan that was published on June 10th.

5518
06:46:10,540 --> 06:46:12,500
There is a link to the actual document.

5519
06:46:12,800 --> 06:46:16,000
If any of the government board members would like to have a hard copy, we'll certainly

5520
06:46:16,460 --> 06:46:17,520
get that for you.

5521
06:46:17,820 --> 06:46:21,980
And the letter that's in front of you now is the submittal letter from Melissa Meeker

5522
06:46:21,980 --> 06:46:24,320
to Secretary Menier, hitting that key milestone.

5523
06:46:24,560 --> 06:46:28,420
This is a monumental step in the plan, a lot of hard work in developing sort

5524
06:46:28,420 --> 06:46:35,400
of the 10-year commitment of resources to actually further the knowledge and understanding

5525
06:46:35,400 --> 06:46:39,360
of what we need to do to achieve the QBEL in compliance with our consent orders.

5526
06:46:40,700 --> 06:46:41,760
Thank you, Mr. Barnett.

5527
06:46:42,500 --> 06:46:44,900
All right, is there any additional board comments?

5528
06:46:46,080 --> 06:46:46,760
All right.

5529
06:46:47,940 --> 06:46:50,600
Then can I get a motion to adjourn?

5530
06:46:50,760 --> 06:46:52,540
Who put this agenda together?

5531
06:47:07,340 --> 06:47:12,040
Great answer. All right, we're going to move now to the South Florida Water Management

5532
06:47:12,040 --> 06:47:17,280
District Leasing Corp. Annual meeting, and this meeting is now called the Order.

5533
06:47:20,980 --> 06:47:21,780
We would

5534
06:47:21,780 --> 06:47:25,160
like, can I get, do we all have a copy of the minutes?

5535
06:47:25,720 --> 06:47:26,400
Yes, sir.

5536
06:47:26,400 --> 06:47:28,180
and we've all reviewed them, they're in our package,

5537
06:47:28,620 --> 06:47:30,180
we've reviewed everybody, reviewed the minutes,

5538
06:47:30,560 --> 06:47:34,560
and I get a motion to approve the minutes.

5539
06:47:35,360 --> 06:47:36,080
So moved.

5540
06:47:39,700 --> 06:47:40,860
Act like we've done this before.

5541
06:47:41,640 --> 06:47:45,300
All right.

5542
06:47:46,300 --> 06:47:47,760
We have a motion and a second.

5543
06:47:49,360 --> 06:47:50,120
All in favor?

5544
06:47:50,640 --> 06:47:51,020
Aye.

5545
06:47:51,600 --> 06:47:52,820
OK, minutes are approved.

5546
06:47:54,060 --> 06:47:56,000
Reagan, do we have any additions, deletions,

5547
06:47:56,160 --> 06:47:58,540
or substitutions to the agenda of the annual meeting

5548
06:47:58,540 --> 06:47:59,540
of the Elysian Court.

5549
06:47:59,900 --> 06:48:00,540
No, Mr. Chair.

5550
06:48:00,740 --> 06:48:01,580
Okay, so none.

5551
06:48:02,740 --> 06:48:05,120
I would now for ratification of officers,

5552
06:48:05,480 --> 06:48:06,980
Article III, Section II of the bylaws,

5553
06:48:07,100 --> 06:48:09,840
I'd like to call Mr. Frank Bartelon

5554
06:48:09,840 --> 06:48:11,080
from the Office of Counselor.

5555
06:48:11,340 --> 06:48:12,400
Thank you, Mr. Powers.

5556
06:48:13,080 --> 06:48:16,920
The bylaws set forth that certain members

5557
06:48:16,920 --> 06:48:19,340
of the governing board become automatically members

5558
06:48:19,340 --> 06:48:22,540
of the president and vice president of the corporation,

5559
06:48:22,780 --> 06:48:23,860
and that would be Mr. O'Keeffe,

5560
06:48:24,100 --> 06:48:25,320
the president and you, sir,

5561
06:48:25,320 --> 06:48:31,640
fortunate enough to become the vice president, and the bylaws also provide

5562
06:48:31,640 --> 06:48:36,680
that an executive, assistant executive director is the treasurer, in this case

5563
06:48:36,680 --> 06:48:41,160
would be Mr. Lindahl, and I guess this is Ernie's first official recognition in

5564
06:48:41,960 --> 06:48:45,180
something that he's the executive director shall be the secretary of the

5565
06:48:45,180 --> 06:48:51,700
body, so he will be the secretary, so we just need a motion to ratify those

5566
06:48:51,700 --> 06:48:54,900
officers at this time. I move ratification of officers.

5567
06:48:58,260 --> 06:49:03,580
I'll second it. What is the delay, but I'll second it.

5568
06:49:04,240 --> 06:49:06,940
You should be quicker than that, Clay. I know, you all are.

5569
06:49:07,500 --> 06:49:10,700
We have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion?

5570
06:49:11,900 --> 06:49:13,740
Okay, all in favor? All right.

5571
06:49:14,260 --> 06:49:16,900
All right, motion passes. Thank you very much.

5572
06:49:16,900 --> 06:49:19,720
a great swan song there, Mr. Bartolone.

5573
06:49:21,760 --> 06:49:24,660
Next is gen item number five, annual budget report,

5574
06:49:24,900 --> 06:49:26,980
article four, section six of the bylaws.

5575
06:49:27,920 --> 06:49:29,640
Back to you, Mr. Frank Bartolone.

5576
06:49:29,840 --> 06:49:32,420
Yes, sir, the bylaws require that every year report

5577
06:49:32,420 --> 06:49:34,080
be made to the governing board as to how much

5578
06:49:34,500 --> 06:49:36,520
or what funds are in the district's governing board

5579
06:49:36,520 --> 06:49:37,920
budget for the corporation.

5580
06:49:38,140 --> 06:49:40,000
And every year, the only amount that's placed in

5581
06:49:40,000 --> 06:49:40,800
is the debt service.

5582
06:49:41,460 --> 06:49:46,780
And next year's budget has $35,185,891.

5583
06:49:46,780 --> 06:49:50,520
dollars for debt service on the bonds for the next fiscal year so that's the

5584
06:49:50,520 --> 06:49:57,140
only thing that I have have to report. Excellent so then do we have so then we

5585
06:49:57,140 --> 06:50:01,800
need to approve we need to accept that report okay can I get a motion? Motion to

5586
06:50:01,800 --> 06:50:07,620
accept. We have a motion a second any further discussion all in favor? All right

5587
06:50:07,620 --> 06:50:10,560
motion passes thank you very much Frank.

5588
06:50:12,960 --> 06:50:15,960
So then next is agenda item number

5589
06:50:17,500 --> 06:50:23,540
Resolution 2000-13 is resolution of the Board of Directors of Supply and Water Management

5590
06:50:23,540 --> 06:50:28,160
District Leasing Corps authorizing the addition of facilities pursuant to the master lease

5591
06:50:28,160 --> 06:50:33,880
purchase agreement dated November 1st, 2006, authorizing the execution and delivery of

5592
06:50:33,880 --> 06:50:41,620
a second supplement to series 2006 ground lease and a second amendment to schedule and

5593
06:50:41,620 --> 06:50:46,520
in 2006 in connection therewith and providing for an effective date.

5594
06:50:47,320 --> 06:50:47,560
Mr. Carter.

5595
06:50:47,580 --> 06:50:55,480
Yes, sir, you adopted the similar resolution as the district governing board as the leasing

5596
06:50:55,480 --> 06:51:00,260
court. You must also adopt this resolution, which basically I believe it's been briefed

5597
06:51:00,260 --> 06:51:04,700
to you as to what the purpose of the resolution is regarding placing some land back into

5598
06:51:04,700 --> 06:51:05,440
the master lease.

5599
06:51:05,700 --> 06:51:06,360
Move to accept.

5600
06:51:06,940 --> 06:51:07,120
Second.

5601
06:51:08,080 --> 06:51:10,900
Any further discussion? We have a motion and a second. Any further discussion?

5602
06:51:10,900 --> 06:51:12,780
All in favor say aye.

5603
06:51:13,480 --> 06:51:14,200
Motion passes.

5604
06:51:16,980 --> 06:51:20,000
Is there any other business to come before the board?

5605
06:51:21,320 --> 06:51:24,520
If not, then can I get a motion to adjourn?

5606
06:51:24,680 --> 06:51:25,080
Don't move.

5607
06:51:28,960 --> 06:51:32,320
All right, so we stand adjourned. Thank you very much.