Wenger 72944 Especificações descarregar pdf (Página 129)

Section 3 Future Without Project Conditions

EAA Storage Reservoirs Revised Draft PIR and EIS February 2006

3-5

crops, so the ability to predict the land use and cover in the EAA over the next

50 to 60 years is imprecise.

Geographic differences exist in the depth of soils within the EAA. Thicker soils

are more prevalent in the north near Lake Okeechobee and thinner soils more

common to the south. This suggests that changes within the EAA over the next

60 years would occur in the southern portions of the EAA and move northward.

Changes to the remnant “natural” communities on lands within the EAA are

dependent upon the overall agricultural use of the region and resultant water

management. Water management of the STAs and WMAs would continue with

little changes in vegetation cover anticipated in these areas. With continued use

of the EAA region for agriculture through the year 2050, no significant net

increase or decrease in aquatic areas within the EAA should occur without the

Project. For remnant wetlands, continued subsidence of lands surrounding

existing, small, isolated wetlands could slightly increase the extent of wetlands

into formerly cultivated lands. Larger scale changes in wetland cover could

occur in some areas if agriculture is abandoned in some portions of the EAA.

Cessation of active drainage of the agricultural fields by pumping, would likely

cause the fallow lands to revert to wetlands. Similarly, upland community

margins could change to transitional wetlands, if the surrounding landscape

becomes wetter, slightly, but not significantly reducing upland communities.

Predictions for disturbed land covers (which include all agricultural lands)

through the year 2050 are that no net increase or decrease in disturbed area

would occur, but shifts between specific agricultural cover types could occur.

About half the EAA could remain suitable for present day crops and the

remainder could shift to more water tolerant crops (Snyder, 2004).

For urban and extractive cover types, there should be an increase in the urban

area around the existing population centers of Pahokee, Belle Glade, and South

Bay. By 2050, there should not be an additional increase or decrease in

extractive land cover in the EAA.

Without development of a water storage reservoir, Compartment A would

remain as disturbed land (agricultural), although some crop changes could result

over time as soil thickness decreases. These changes would likely result in a

conversion of vegetable crops to sugarcane, and some conversion of wetter

sugarcane land to other wet tolerant crops such as rice or wetter pasture

grasses. Therefore, existing vegetation communities generally represent future

conditions within Compartment A with some shift to crops tolerant of wetter

conditions and minor shifts in remnant natural communities to those tolerant of

increased water inundation. All or part of Compartments B and C will be

converted to STAs, which would result in submergent and emergent vegetation.

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Wenger 72944 Especificações Página 129