Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades The Eighth Biennial Review - 2020 (2021) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
2 The Restoration Plan in Context
2 The Restoration Plan in Context
Pages 23-38
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 23... ...
These early projects included dredging canals in the Kissimmee River Basin and constructing a channel connecting Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee River and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. By the late 1800s, more than 50,000 acres north and west of the lake had been drained and cleared for agriculture (Grunwald, 2006)
|
From page 24... ...
Congress authorized the Central and Southern Florida Project. This project provided flood management and urban and agricultural water supply by straightening 103 miles of the meandering Kissimmee River, expanding the Herbert Hoover Dike, constructing a levee along the eastern boundary of the Everglades to prevent flows into the southeastern urban areas, establishing the 700,000-acre Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA)
|
From page 25... ...
, the South Florida ecosystem had already been altered extensively. Beginning in the 1970s, prompted by concerns about deteriorating conditions in Everglades National Park and other parts of the South Florida ecosystem, the public, as well as the federal and state governments, directed increased attention to the adverse ecological effects of the flood management and irrigation projects (Kiker et al., 2001; Perry, 2004)
|
From page 26... ...
that guide implementation of the CERP further clarify this goal by defining restora tion as "the recovery and protection of the South Florida ecosystem so that it once again achieves and sustains those essential hydrological and biological characteristics that defined the undisturbed South Florida ecosystem." These defining characteristics include a large areal extent of interconnected wetlands, extremely low concentrations of nutrients in freshwater wetlands, sheet flow, healthy and productive estuaries, resilient plant communities, and an abun dance of native wetland animals (DOI and USACE, 2005)
|
From page 27... ...
However, flood management remains a critical aspect of the CERP design because improving hydrology and sheet flow in extensive wetland areas has the potential, through seepage, to flood adjacent urban and agricultural areas. Artificial storage will be required to replace the lost natural storage in the system (NRC, 2005)
|
From page 28... ...
: 1. Enough water storage capacity combined with operations that allow for appropriate volumes of water to support healthy estuaries and the return of sheet flow through the Everglades ecosystem while meeting other demands for water; 2.
|
From page 29... ...
Because of the historical changes that have occurred through engineered structures, urban development, introduced species, and other factors, the paths taken by the ecosystem and its components in response to restoration efforts will not retrace the paths taken to reach current conditions. End results will also often differ from the historical system as climate change and sea-level rise, permanently established invasive species, and other factors have moved the ecosystem away from its historical state (Hiers et al., 2012)
|
From page 30... ...
Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan The Water Resources Development Act of 2000 authorized the CERP as the framework for modifying the Central and South Florida Project. Considered a blueprint for the restoration of the South Florida ecosystem, the CERP is led by two organizations with considerable expertise managing the water resources of South Florida -- the USACE, which built most of the canals and levees through out the region, and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD)
|
From page 31... ...
The Restoration Plan in Context 31 FIGURE 2-2 Major project components of the CERP as outlined in 1999. SOURCE: Courtesy of Laura Mahoney, USACE.
|
From page 32... ...
improvement feature, the State must be in compliance with WQ standards for the current use of the water to be affected and the work proposed must be deemed essential to the Everglades restoration effort." The memo goes on to state, "the Yellow Book specifically envisioned that the State would be responsible for meeting water quality standards." However, the Secretary of the Army can recommend to Congress that project features deemed "essential to Everglades restoration" be cost shared. In such cases, the state is responsible for 100 percent of the costs to treat water to state standards for its current use, and federal cost sharing is determined based on the additional treatment needed to meet the requirements of Everglades restoration (K.
|
From page 33... ...
In fact, the CERP's effectiveness was predicated upon the completion of many of these projects, which include Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park, C-111 South Dade, and state water quality treatment projects developed under the Everglades Construction Project (see Figure 2-3)
|
From page 34... ...
2. Assessment -- to develop and implement an appropriate ecological monitoring program in order to establish prerestoration environmental conditions and track and define ecological response as restoration progresses, and to provide the systemwide science perspective necessary to prudently ensure projects meet intended objectives and to guide planning and operations in order to maximize benefits to the natural sys tem.
|
From page 35... ...
. In 2006, the SFWMD passed the Lower East Coast Regional Water Availability Rule, which caps groundwater withdrawals at 2006 levels, requiring urban areas to meet increased demand through a combination of conservation and alternative water supplies.
|
From page 36... ...
to comply with the 10 parts per billion (ppb) total phosphorus water quality criterion for the Everglades Protection Area.3 Changing Understanding of Restoration Challenges Much new knowledge has been gained since the launch of the CERP that provides a new understanding of restoration challenges and opportunities and informs future restoration planning and management.
|
From page 37... ...
Some species, especially of introduced vascular plants and reptiles, have had dramatic effects on the structure and functioning of Everglades ecosystems, and necessitate aggressive management and early detection of new high-risk invaders to ensure that ongoing CERP efforts to get the water right allow native species to prosper instead of simply enhancing conditions for invasive species. SUMMARY The Everglades ecosystem is one of the world's ecological treasures, but for more than a century the installation of an extensive water management infrastructure has changed the geography of South Florida and has facilitated extensive agricultural and urban development.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.