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Reconnection/Water Farming August 2014 Page 6 In his report, the Chair of the Committee, further adds that apparently the aforementioned reasons that Martin County expressed in support for the establishment of a reservoir system were also used by those northern coastal communities bordering the lagoon and these communities were successful in having many of the diversion projects eliminated. In fact in a report of the Jacksonville District Engineer dated November 15, 1956, regarding changes to previous Congressional authorizations as contained in House Document 186 85`" Congress, the report notes that previously approved projects C-26; S -51;C-27; S-52 ; C-28; S-54 were to be eliminated from the project plan as these canals and structures were intended to divert water to the Indian River. The District Engineer's report states that as the method of flood control has changed from diversion to storage, these canals and structures are no longer needed and would be replaced by eight impounding levees and controls required for the recently projected reservoir system. The report of the Chair as printed in the 1959 news article goes into significant detail as to the benefits of the inter -connected systems and flood control by storage as opposed to flood control by diversion and the inability/reluctance of the Flood Control District to listen and respond accordingly to the concerns of the Martin County area. The concerns and solutions expressed in the 1959 report could easily be dated today, and be very contemporary to everyday dialogue relative to the health of the lagoon. What was highlighted as regional benefits through reservoir storage over 50 years ago, still hold true today and form the `► foundation for the regional reconnection/attenuation project. With the legislative development of Florida Chapter 373 -Water Resources, Chapter 373.069 established at 11:59 PM on December 31, 1976, the States' five Water Management Districts. As a result, the project area identified previously in the 1948 and 1954 Flood Control Acts, and as within the then jurisdiction of the Central and South Florida Flood Control District, was separated jurisdictionally and hydraulically into the newly created SJRWMD and the SFWMD. At the time of this legislative creation of the Water Management Districts, the line of demarcation for this SJRWMD and SFWMD jurisdiction / hydraulic separation was and remains today, the Indian River and St. Lucie County line. As efforts move forward on identifying and correcting detrimental situations relative to the health of the Indian River Lagoon system in conjunction with the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP), the growing acknowledgment was that excess stormwater being discharged into the lagoon system was detrimental to the overall health of the whole lagoon system. This increasing awareness and growing realization, in combination with the concerns of the rapid depletion of ground water and associated re -charge of this ground -water, the need for alternative surface water supplies and the ongoing need for more effective water management during the rainy season for use during the dry season, served to heightened the positive attributes associated with the earlier authorized project and the continuing benefits associated with the proposed re -connection and the accompanying reservoir systems as called for in the 1954 Flood Control Act. 11