Department of Defense March 9, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The purpose of the project is to reconstruct and rehabilitate Reach 1A of the Herbert Hoover Dike to prevent catastrophic failure of the system to retain the waters of Lake Okeechobee. On July 8 2005, the Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) issued a Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (FSEIS) for the Major Rehabilitation actions proposed for Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD), Reach One. Herbert Hoover Dike is the levee that completely surrounds Lake Okeechobee. On September 23, 2005, a Record of Decision was signed adopting the preferred alternative as the Selected Plan for Reach One. As plans and specifications were developed for Reach 1, it became apparent that the cut-off wall with seepage berm alternative would not work for all of Reach 1. The alternative for Reach 1A will be a combination of one or more of the following features dependent on the geology and adjacent land factors with the cut-off wall: Seepage Berm, Relief Trench, Soil Replacement Wedge, Relief Wells, Drainage Feature and Sand Columns. Reach 1A of the HHD extends for approximately 4.6 miles within Martin and Palm Beach Counties, from the St. Lucie Canal at Port Mayaca, south to the 10A culvert. The final full design of the cutoff wall and landside rehabilitation feature will include lands outside of the existing ROW. Therefore it is necessary to update the July 2005 SEIS for Reach 1A to include these new landside rehabilitation features and any impacts to lands outside of the existing ROW. Two separate draft and final SEIS's will be developed for the four Subreaches: An SEIS for Subreach 1A will be completed first and a second SEIS for Subreaches 1B, 1C, and 1D will be completed when designs (anticipated late 2009) are available. This study is a cooperative effort between the Corps and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).