JACKSONVILLE, FL — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Jacksonville District, in its partnership with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), awarded three contracts to increase the momentum toward restoring, preserving, and protecting America’s Everglades.
The goal of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is to improve the health of 2.4 million acres of the south Florida ecosystem. These essential CERP projects are a huge investment and will add resilience and storage to the Central Everglades and the Indian River Lagoon.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) has invested a critical $1.1 billion in the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration (SFER) program. Through portions of this funding and additional annual appropriations secured by the Biden-Harris Administration, the USACE Jacksonville District has awarded the following contracts.
The Broward County Water Preserve Areas project is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. When completed, the project will reduce water loss from the central Everglades. The project consists of three components that were recommended as part of CERP: C-11 Impoundment, C-9 Impoundment, and Water Conservation Area (WCA) 3A/3B Seepage Management. The project is designed to perform two primary functions: reduce seepage loss from WCA 3A/3B to the C-11 and C-9 Basins; and capture, store, and distribute surface water runoff from the western C-11 Basin that has been discharged into WCA 3A/3B.
The C-11 Impoundment Land Clearing contract was awarded to Omega Foundation Services, Inc. for over $10.15 million using BIL funds. This project consists of using heavy equipment for clearing and grubbing areas within the C-11 Impoundment project limits.
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The two aboveground impoundments and the wetland buffer strip will serve various functions, including reducing seepage from WCA 3A/3B, reducing phosphorous loading to WCA-3A, capturing water lost to tide, and providing conveyance features for urban and natural systems. These functions will be achieved by separating stormwater from seepage collected from WCA 3A/3B and diverting stormwater from the Western C-11 Basin and the C-9 Basin to the impoundments.
Approximately 563,000 acres in WCA 3A/3B and 200,000 acres in the greater Everglades will benefit from the project’s implementation. The project will also benefit federally listed threatened and endangered species and many wading birds.
The Indian River Lagoon, home to more than 3,000 species of plants and animals, is considered the most biologically diverse estuarine system in the continental United States.
The C-23/C-24 Reservoirs and Stormwater Treatment Area are the second set of components of the multi-billion-dollar Indian River Lagoon-South (IRL-S) project, part of CERP. Funded by BIL and annual appropriations, the first contract to implement the IRL-S C-23/C-24 North Reservoir has been awarded to Kiewit Infrastructure Company for over $192.84 million.
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This first contract is one of five to implement the full buildout of the C-23/C-24 North Reservoir, which will provide 30,000 acre-feet of storage to the C-23 and C-24 basin. This first contract includes construction of a 650 cubic feet per second pump station to supply water to the future reservoir, construction of the PC-37 drainage canal, and construction of the permanent access road to the facility.
The contract award for the Central Everglades Planning Project Everglades Agricultural Area A-2 Reservoir Embankment and Structures contract in Palm Beach County, Florida was awarded to Thalle Construction Co., Inc. The contract amount is over $2.87 billion with an obligated amount for fiscal year 2024 of $324.5 million from South Florida Ecosystem Restoration annual appropriations. This is the largest contract in Jacksonville District’s history and is the largest USACE Civil Works stand-alone contract this year.
The scope of work includes clearing, excavation, and processing of materials to construct a 17.75-mile embankment dam up to 38 feet high, as well as four gated outlet structures, one un-gated overflow spillway, one multi-bay gated inline spillway, rock foundation preparation, and installation of a seepage cutoff wall.
Everglades restoration provides critical benefits to improve the health of the ecosystem including endangered species habitat, improves water storage, and improves resilience to climate change. In partnership with the SFWMD, Jacksonville District is currently planning, designing, and constructing multiple components of the SFER program, which includes the CERP — the largest aquatic ecosystem restoration program in the world.
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These efforts will ultimately improve 2.4 million acres of south Florida’s aquatic ecosystem, including Everglades National Park, and improve water deliveries to the Florida and Biscayne Bays.
