I will summarize my remarks and ask that my prepared statement be included in the hearing record.
I want to thank the committee for coming to South Florida and for its work in the past. After all, this committee and its predecessors authorized the Central and Southern Florida Project that freed this part of the state from its seasonal cycle of floods and drought and has allowed the region to flourish. I want to particularly single out Senators Graham and Mack, and others in our House delegation who have done the difficult balancing act between the various interests and done it successfully in a way that would challenge the Flying Wallendas on the high wire.
The Central and Southern Florida Project is one of the world's great engineering accomplishments and has been critical to the development of a large and vibrant agricultural economy which benefits every consumer in America. In addition, it has allowed millions of people to live along the Coasts of Florida with the security of a reliable water supply and extensive flood protection.
The unanticipated adverse project impacts on the ecosystem as well as continuing population and economic growth in South Florida require that new investments be made. We have participated extensively in the Federal/State Restudy process that has produced the comprehensive plan we are discussing today, and we expect to continue to participate as the process moves forward. We are prepared to support major improvements to the water management system. However, we insist that project modifications be based on sound science, be the product of analysis, and be implemented in an orderly way that ensures that the needs of existing landowners and businesses are met. Role of Agriculture in the South Florida Economy
All but 3 of the top 13 Florida agricultural production counties, as measured by total cash receipts in 1991, are within the area studied by the Corps of Engineers to develop its comprehensive plan. All but 2 of the study area's 16 counties are in the top half of Florida's counties when ranked by 1991 agricultural production cash receipts.
The economy of the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), the area between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, is based on agriculture. The primary centers for the economies of the area are the towns of Clewiston, South Bay, Belle Glade, and Pahokee. Besides being the hometowns of most of the permanent labor force, they support much of the agriculturally related supply and processing activities and are the headquarters of many of the agricultural enterprises. They also support the businesses oriented to serving recreational use in the southern part of Lake Okeechobee. Agriculture in the EAA encompasses over 500,000 acres of rich muck soils irrigated, drained and under cultivation. The dominant crops are sugarcane, vegetables, sod and rice. Farm employment in the EAA is seasonal because of the seasonal nature of crop production and harvest activity, although somewhat less so now that sugar cane is mechanically harvested. Jobs attributable to agriculture in the EAA have been estimated up to 40,000 jobs.
While the vegetables are packed and shipped fresh and are not subject to extensive processing, sugar cane is locally processed which adds considerably to its value and the local output of the industry. Six sugar mills in the EAA process all the cane produced in South Florida, both inside and outside the EAA. All sugar cane is grown under contract for processing at these mills. A significant portion of the raw sugar produced by the mills is processed outside of Florida. Implementation of the Jacksonville District's recommended comprehensive plan will have a direct economic impact on agriculture in South Florida with hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural land taken out of production by the conversion to storage and other Restudy uses. The EAA is one of several areas that will lose tens of thousands of acres of prime agricultural land.
Agricultural production in the study area beyond the EAA consists almost entirely of winter vegetables, tropical fruits, vegetables, citrus and nursery crops. Florida is the national leader in citrus fruit production and the manufacture of processed citrus products and accounts for over 80% of the nation's citrus production. Florida is the world leader in the production of grapefruit, accounting for nearly a third of the world's annual supply, and ranks second in the world production of oranges, accounting for almost one fifth of the world's supply. Florida produces 100% of the nation's tangelos and over 95% of its limes. Florida also is the second ranking state in the production of fresh vegetables. South Florida shares significantly in this agricultural productivity. Agriculture as an Environmental Steward
Agriculture in South Florida is highly dependent on the quality of the land and water resources, which provide the inputs necessary for profitable production. The sugar cane, citrus, tropical fruits and the wide variety of vegetables that supply the nation's tables, as well as the extensive ornamental plant nurseries, all benefit from the rich soils and high quality water supplies that are essential elements of successful farming practices. South Florida Agriculture has long recognized the value of environmental stewardship to the larger community as well.
Landowners north of Lake Okeechobee have been subjected to special regulations to protect water quality for the last decade. The dairy industry has been reduced by 25% and the remaining dairies have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars each to comply with water quality regulations enacted in 1989. The EAA implemented a Best Management Practices program in 1995 that has resulted in a 50% reduction in phosphorus in the stormwater runoff leaving the EAA.
Overview of the Jacksonville District's Recommended Comprehensive Plan
Section 528 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 directed the Secretary of the Army to develop "a proposed comprehensive plan for the purpose of restoring, preserving, and protecting the South Florida Ecosystem." Section 528 also directed that the comprehensive plan is to, "include such features as are necessary to provide for the water-related needs of the region, including flood control, the enhancement of water supplies, and other objectives served by the Central and Southern Florida Project."
The Jacksonville District's Recommended Comprehensive plan, completed in April of 1999, responds to the requirements of Section 528 by developing a conceptual plan and framework for future structural and operational modifications to the Central and Southern Florida Project that will provide for both ecological and economic demands for water for South Florida for the next 50 years. This conceptual plan was developed by an interagency, inter-disciplinary team of experts, and subjected to extensive public review and comment.
The agricultural groups I have talked to throughout South Florida are generally supportive of the Restudy and believe it is needed to assure a sustainable South Florida, both economically and ecologically. However, we in agriculture recognize the enormous task ahead of all of us and want to make sure the project is carried out correctly, efficiently and cost effectively to the greatest extent possible. Although agriculture is supportive of the Restudy, we have concerns which we will address in the following paragraphs.
I should note here that a number of groups ranging from the Sierra Club to Citizens for a Sound Economy share many of the concerns that I will lay out. Of course, we differ with each of these groups on some items, as well. For example, we are broadly supportive of the Restudy, while CSE, with which we agree on issues such as tort reform and taxes and have supported in the past, has become broadly opposed. But there is a consensus spanning the political spectrum that many of the concerns I will discuss need much more careful consideration than they have received to date.
We recognize that the District's study was abbreviated in both scope and depth to ensure that the July 1, 1999, deadline for transmission of the comprehensive plan to Congress could be met. While referred to as a feasibility report, the Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Review Study does not contain the engineering, real estate, economic and environmental analyses that normally support recommendations for authorization of Civil Works projects. Moreover, there simply was not sufficient time to integrate water quality and quantity considerations or to make the usual calculations of the economic benefits and costs associated with the conceptual plan.
In addition to abbreviated engineering and other data collection and analytical shortcuts, there is an extraordinarily high level of uncertainty with the plan because of its reliance on undemonstrated technologies and the evolving understanding of the science of ecosystem restoration. These uncertainties are frankly acknowledged in the report in the following ways: 1) the clear statement that the ecological changes that will occur in the Everglades as a result of the restudy cannot be forecast at this time, 2) the recommendation for construction of $100 million of pilot projects to demonstrate the technology, and: 3) the commitment to the principle of "adaptive management." Adaptive management essentially means: "build projects, operate them and evaluate their performance; if the results are not as intended, try something else."
The Administration has taken the important step of contracting with the National Research Council of National Academy of Sciences to form an advisory committee. The Committee on Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem will provide a scientific overview and technical assessment of the many complicated, inter-related activities and plans that are occurring at the Federal, state, and local governmental levels. In addition, the National Research Council will provide advice on technical topics of importance to the restoration efforts.
Congress needs to recognize the extraordinary scientific, analytical and technological uncertainties associated with the comprehensive plan. Extra prudence and discipline are essential in the authorization and implementation of this unparalleled series of massive investments in the future of South Florida. Otherwise, we will continue to experience the delays, continuing reconfigurations of project design and operations, and cost increases that presently plague the Everglades National Park Modified Water Deliveries Project. Agriculture's Benefits from Successful Implementation of the Jacksonville District's Comprehensive Plan
Florida Agriculture has a vital interest in the successful implementation of the Comprehensive plan. Without continuing investments in water storage, the Corps' Restudy predicts that water availability for agriculture will decline as environmental restoration and urban growth place greater demands on the existing system.
New storage facilities associated with Lake Okeechobee, such as those north of the lake and Lake Okeechobee aquifer storage and recovery, will enable the lake to remain an important source of water supply while keeping lake stages at more ecologically desirable levels and avoiding damaging flood releases to the coastal estuaries. Additional storage facilities built throughout the system will diversify sources of water for many users and enable continued economic growth and environmental restoration.
The Report of the Chief of Engineers
The June 22, 1999, Report of the Chief of Engineers on the Restudy and the July 1, 1999, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works' letter which transmitted this report to Congress, radically departed from the Jacksonville District's April 1999 Report and from the draft report of the Chief of Engineers which was sent to the Governor of Florida and the Federal agencies on April 19, 1999. Rather than affirming the draft Chief's Report which endorsed the recommendations of the Jacksonville District Engineer and the South Atlantic Division Engineer, the final Chief's Report made several major new commitments which dramatically changed the Restudy Plan's priorities and scale, its concept of operation and assurances to water users. Paragraph 31 of the Chief's Report makes 13 specific new commitments including:
-- "The Corps proposes to deliver additional water (approximately 245,000 acre-feet) to ENP and Biscayne Bay by either capturing additional runoff from urban areas or by some other means."
-- "The primary and overarching purpose of the Comprehensive plan is to restore the South Florida ecosystem. Accordingly, to ensure the successful implementation of the Comprehensive plan, the Corps will work with the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, and other Federal Agencies and the State of Florida to develop the necessary assurances which will address the proper quantity, quality, timing and distribution of water for the natural system. Such assurances will not, to the extent practicable, impact other existing legal water uses and flood protection."
These two are among the most egregious examples of new recommendations that were made without the benefit of any additional NEPA analysis or opportunity for public review and comment. The first is an increase in total water supplied by the project for all purposes by more than 20 percent. Remarkably, no increase in the cost of the Comprehensive plan is identified to collect, store, treat and deliver this additional water. Moreover, this idea of 245,000 additional acre-feet was rejected in the Jacksonville District's analysis because of its adverse impacts to vast stretches of state-owned Everglades.
The second commitment abandons the balanced multipurpose nature of the comprehensive plan called for by Section 528 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1996 that authorized the development of the plan. The new commitment unequivocally subordinates the claims of economic users in time of drought to those of restoration without any evaluation of the economic or the environmental impacts of such a decision. Extreme climatic conditions sometimes call for difficult operational decisions. These decisions are best made in light of the environmental and economic conditions prevailing at the time.
The addition of these commitments has led to litigation in Federal Court. The complaint is supported by a broad spectrum of Florida interests, including the Miccosukee Tribe and several agricultural producers. Its purpose is to seek injunctive relief to prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing them in subsequent planning and design activities in furtherance of the Comprehensive plan. The agricultural community strongly opposes the inclusion of any of the 13 additional commitments in the Chief's Report in any Congressional authorization of the comprehensive plan.
Florida Agriculture's Recommendations for WRDA 2000 Authorizations
-- Affirm the statement of the Comprehensive plan's multiple project purposes contained in the WRDA '96 authorization.
Florida agriculture supports the statement of Plan purposes contained in Section 528 of The Water Resources Development Act of 1996: "The comprehensive plan shall provide for the protection of water quality in and the reduction of the loss of freshwater from, the Everglades. The comprehensive plan shall include such features as are necessary to provide for the water-related needs of the region, including flood control, the enhancements of water supplies, and other objectives served the Central and Southern Florida Project." Congress should affirm this fundamental statement of purposes and priorities in authorizing the comprehensive plan.
-- Approve the Comprehensive Plan presented in Jacksonville District's Feasibility Study as a framework to guide future project planning and require periodic updating.
Florida agriculture believes that the Jacksonville District's recommended comprehensive plan is an appropriate guide and framework for the continued plan formulation and detailed technical analysis necessary to achieve the environmental and economic purposes served by the Central and Southern Florida Project for the next half-century. Congress should approve the plan as the framework for future planning and design of the new Central and Southern Florida Project elements and operational modifications.
In approving the comprehensive plan, Congress should require it to be revised periodically based on (1) new scientific knowledge, (2) the results of the pilot projects discussed below, (3) the results of the three feasibility studies recommended in the District's report, (4) the actual benefits and other impacts resulting from newly completed features and changed operational rules and (5) the projected benefits and other impacts of further proposed modifications and additions to the Central and Southern Florida Projects. Such revisions are essential to maintain the comprehensive plan as a current framework guiding future project investments and operational changes over the two-decade implementation period.
Without doubt, integration of the feasibility studies of Florida Bay and Florida Keys, of Southwest Florida, and of the Comprehensive Integrated Water Quality Plan, the actual results received from the completion of feasibility level studies of new construction elements as well as implementation and evaluation of the pilot projects will result in substantial modifications to the plan. Such changes must be anticipated and provided for in Congressional action on the comprehensive plan in 2000. A revised comprehensive plan should be submitted to Congress whenever future recommendations for further project authorizations are requested.
-- Authorize cost sharing for project operation and maintenance that reflects the unique combination of project purposes served by the Comprehensive Plan.
Congress must recognize that a substantial share of the costs of operating and maintaining the new structures needed to implement the comprehensive plan are associated with ecosystem restoration and with Everglades National Park, specifically. The benefits of restoration are enjoyed across the nation, and indeed internationally, in the case of migrating species and rare and endangered species unique to South Florida. These costs are properly borne by the Federal Government.
-- Authorize reallocation of present water users' supplies only when comparable replacement supplies are available to those users.
Florida agriculture supports the Jacksonville District's recommended comprehensive plan because it recognizes that ecological and economic health of South Florida is at risk, and implementation of the plan is essential to restoring and maintaining that health. As an industry which contributes very little to the increase in demand for water over the next 50 years, we are concerned that our existing supplies not be taken from us and given to other users before replacement supplies are in place. q Authorize the pilot projects not authorized in WRDA '99.
Florida agriculture supports the authorization of the five remaining pilot projects recommended in the comprehensive plan which were not authorized previously. Implementation of the $100 million in pilot projects is essential to demonstrate the technology underlying the comprehensive plan. Until we are confident this technology will perform as anticipated and at the projected cost, we can not be confident that the comprehensive plan can serve as the ultimate blueprint for meeting our future water demands.
-- Authorize construction projects only when supported by feasibility level studies that have been formally transmitted to Congress by the Administration.
The Restudy has succeeded in producing a conceptual plan that enjoys broad support; however, it is not at the level of detail necessary to define specific construction projects with any reasonable degree of certainty as to their costs, their benefits or even their physical impacts and performance; therefore, the Comprehensive Plan should not be authorized in its entirety. The large geographic area, project scope and complexity of issues have precluded the conduct of studies at the level of detail that normally supports Corps of Engineers construction authorizations. Congress should not authorize construction projects unless feasibility level studies have been completed and the report has been officially transmitted to Congress after full public and interagency review.
The need for strict adherence to this rule is particularly important in the case of these projects because of the uncertainties of restoration science and the complex interaction among individual projects. We are painfully aware that even when projects are authorized after a full feasibility investigation, -- in the case of South Florida, the Modified Water Deliveries Project for Everglades National Park -- these projects can become mired in design problems and scientific uncertainty and their implementation delayed for years. The comprehensive plan is too important to South Florida and the Nation, to prematurely authorize land acquisition and project construction. Florida agriculture urges Congress to authorize project construction only when a feasibility study has been completed and transmitted by the Executive Branch. It is also essential that this authorization function be retained by the Congress and not delegated to the Executive Branch.
-- Require incremental justification of projects authorized for construction.
We recommend that Congress require the Corps of Engineers to describe the benefits of each project in the feasibility report supporting project construction. Consistent with Section 528 of WRDA '96, we are not suggesting that an economic justification be required for projects which do not supply water for economic purposes. However, we believe it is essential that each project be formulated in accordance with the 1983 Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies of the U.S. Water Resources Council and that the contribution of each project to the objectives of the comprehensive plan be described. We believe it is important for Congress to understand the incremental contribution of each investment to the ecological and economic purposes served by the plan before authorizing its implementation. This is a standard requirement for other projects across the nation, and there should be no exception for modifications to the Central and Southern Florida Project.
-- Require development and periodic updating of a strategic plan identifying all measures (and their associated life-cycle costs) necessary to achieve restoration and other project purposes including water quality and exotic species management. We share the concerns articulated in the Conference Committee report accompanying the FY 2000 Interior Appropriations Act. The costs of restoration far exceed the $7.8 billion identified as the cost of the comprehensive plan. Moreover, there are several uncompleted projects, including Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park, which will have important impacts on the South Florida Ecosystem. Congress should require the maintenance of the Strategic plan which would integrate all activities, including management of exotic species relating to restoration and a full identification of all restoration related measures and their life-cycle costs.
-- Projects should use land acquired from willing sellers and land already in public ownership where practical; otherwise the State condemnation process should be followed.
The Comprehensive Plan calls for acquisition of approximately 248,000 acres of land needed for the various components of the Plan. Most of these acres will be targeted in the rural agricultural areas. To minimize the impact on one segment of the economy, the acquisitions should be focused to the greatest extent practical on willing sellers and government owned land. No one basin or sector of the economy in South Florida should bear a disproportionate burden if land is required to be taken though condemnation.
Agriculture also feels that if condemnation is required, then the State of Florida's condemnation law should be followed which allows the landowner whose land is being taken to be reimbursed for all reasonable costs expended. We believe it is unfair to take someone's land and not reimburse the landowners reasonable costs, such as legal costs and appraisal costs, as is done in the Federal condemnation process.
-- Water quality requirements should be agreed to by the Federal and State agencies before any project element is authorized.
Currently, there is no requirement that the Federal or State agencies must present to Congress and the Florida Legislature how water quality standards will be met upon completion of a project component. Water quality must be an integral component of the Restudy. If we don't assess how water quality requirements will be met, we run the risk that we will spend millions and billions of dollars only to discover that we built systems that are albatrosses and must be retrofitted with many more billions of dollars to meet water quality standards. If water quality is not totally integrated with the flood control and water supply aspects of the project we run the risk that the project will be a failure or that the project will ultimately be too costly to complete. By addressing water quality during the authorization process, we will help assure that we build the most efficient systems at the outset and thus the overall success of the project.
-- Funding issues must be resolved.
In the recent past, the Federal Government has had difficulty funding projects such as the Kissimmee River Restoration, the C-111 Project, Stormwater Treatment Area 1-East, etc. The State has not yet found a dedicated source of funds to fund the Restudy projects. Each Restudy project element should have reasonably assured funding from both the State and Federal Government before it is authorized. If authorization and funding commitments are not closely tied, we run the risk of condemning agricultural land and starting construction only to have projects unfinished for years.
Conclusions and Summary of Proposed Principles to Guide Further Authorizations of the Comprehensive Plan
I thank the Committee for this opportunity to present the views of Florida Agriculture on the results of the Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Review Study. Successful implementation of the comprehensive plan is essential to the ecological and economic health of all of South Florida during the next century. The agricultural community is a vital element of the economy of South Florida and will benefit greatly from ensuring that additional water is made available to restore South Florida ecosystems and to provide for a growing urban population.
Congress should affirm the multiple purpose nature of the comprehensive plan and direct its use as a framework and guide to future project planning and design, provided it is regularly updated. It should assure existing water users that their supplies would not be reallocated without replacement water being available on comparable terms. It should act quickly to reduce the uncertainties associated with the proposed comprehensive plan by authorizing and funding the pilot projects as soon as possible. It should not authorize any construction projects that are not based on the same level of engineering, economic and environmental analysis that is required of other projects nationwide.