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Section 7 Environmental Effects of the Selected Plan

EAA Storage Reservoirs Revised Draft PIR and EIS February 2006

7-20

until March 31, 2005. After March 2005, land could be leased for agricultural

purposes until needed by the USACE for restoration purposes.

The Preferred Alternative will not have a significant effect on future population

growth in other areas resulting from conversion of the site from agricultural use

to a reservoir. Palm Beach County’s “Agriculture Production” land use

designation restricts residential development to farm labor quarters and camps,

caretaker’s quarters (e.g., for pump houses), and dwelling quarters and farm

residences for bona fide farm operations. Consequently, future residential

development potential is limited by the land use designation, whether the

property remains in agricultural use or is converted to a storage reservoir.

Conversion from predominantly agricultural use to a storage reservoir will

indirectly affect population by changing the type and number of employees

working in the area. Agricultural employment under the preferred alternative

was estimated to be 74 persons based on an employee to acreage ratio of one

full-time farm worker per 289 acres of sugarcane (Roka & Cook, 1998).

The conversion to a reservoir will also eliminate the production value of

sugarcane and other crops. The Preferred Alternative covers approximately

23,791 acres in sugarcane, 620 acres in row crops, and 142 acres in other

agricultural lands (Water & Air Research, 2005). Sugarcane production on the

Preferred Alternative in 2002 was estimated to be 469,852 tons with a value of

$13.3 million or about 3.7% of total sugarcane production value in Palm Beach

County.

Construction, operation, and maintenance of a storage reservoir will generate

demand for workers. This will have a positive impact through direct

employment and spin-off service employment within the region. The need for

construction materials, such as concrete, will also be filled locally. Once

completed, operation and maintenance personnel will also be needed and filled

primarily from the local (i.e., West Palm, Beach-Boca Raton MSA, Miami-Ft.

Lauderdale CMSA, Ft. Pierce-Port St. Lucie MSA, and Glades and Hendry

Counties) area. The primary local benefits will be direct employment, direct

purchase of construction materials as well as secondary/induced jobs (economic

activity). Construction, operation, and maintenance employment has not been

determined. Approximate construction costs are $379 million; annual operations

and maintenance costs are estimated to be $28 million.

Water quality improvements in Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades, St. Lucie

Estuary, and other areas resulting from the storage reservoir and other CERP

projects should have a significant, positive indirect effect on economic activity in

the region through revenues from increased fisheries production and an increase

in tourism-related expenditures.

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