The Central Everglades Planning Project, which will move water south from Lake Okeechobee, may miss the window for Congressional approval and possibly delay it for years.Maj. Gen. John Peabody of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers testified before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Tuesday.
He said the plan is expected to be formally approved by the Corps in about three months.
“We are very close... in about three months we can expect a Chief’s report,” he said.
From the Corps, the report goes to the Army for approval and then Congress.
Congress approves Corps projects through the Water Resources Development Act.
But, Congress is moving quickly to pass the act. A spokesperson for Sen. Bill Nelson said the act should be out of conference by mid-May. The senator plans to push to get to the bill to the floor shortly after.
This means the Central Everglades Planning Project may not be approved in time to be included in the act.
Eric Eikenberg is the CEO of the Everglades Foundation. He said if Congress does not approve the Central Everglades Planning Project, it could be years before it’s authorized. He said the authorization of the act comes every seven years.
“We are now threatened to wait another seven years to have a project that would take Lake Okeechobee water and move that water south,” he said.
Once the Corps review board votes on the project, a 30-day state and agency review begins.
