Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades The Ninth Biennial Review - 2022 (2023) / Chapter Skim
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2 The Restoration Plan in Context
2 The Restoration Plan in Context
Pages 23-38
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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)
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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)
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From page 25... ...
and have contaminated its waters with chemicals such as phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfur, mercury, and pesticides. Associated drainage and flood management structures, including the Central and Southern Florida Project, have diverted large quantities of water directly east and west to the northern estuaries, thereby reducing the dominantly southward freshwater flows and natural water storage that defined the ecosystem (see Figure 2-1b)
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From page 26... ...
, is "restoration, preservation, and protection of the South Florida Ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs of the region, including water supply and flood protection." The Programmatic Regulations (33 CFR § 385.3) that guide implementation of the CERP further clarify this goal by defining restoration as "the recovery and protection of the South Florida eco system so that it once again achieves and sustains those essential hydrologic 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 abundance of native wetland animals (DOI and USACE, 2005)
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From page 27... ...
, canals, levees, and reservoirs, and to continue to manage nonnative species. Thus, for the foreseeable future, the CERP does not envision ecosystem restoration or rehabilitation that returns the ecosystem to a state where it can "manage itself." The broad CERP goals should be interpreted in the context of the complex Everglades ecosystem in order to guide restoration efforts.
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From page 28... ...
Continued investment in Everglades restoration proceeds based on improving the current undesirable state of the system rather than toward a specific set of quantitative characteristics desired for the future South Florida ecosystem. An additional factor challenging the ability of the restoration efforts to meet the "essential hydrologic and biological characteristics that defined the undisturbed South Florida ecosystem" is ongoing climate change, including changes in precipitation patterns, sea-level rise, and ocean warming.
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From page 29... ...
The first Committee on Independent Scientific Review of Everglades Restoration Progress (CISRERP) identified five critical components of Everglades restoration (NRC, 2007)
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From page 30... ...
The following section provides a brief overview of the CERP and some of the major non-CERP activities. Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan WRDA 2000 authorized the CERP as the framework for modifying the entral and Southern Florida Project.
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From page 31... ...
The Restoration Plan in Context 31 FIGURE 2-2 Major project components of the CERP as outlined in 1999. NOTES: ASR = aquifer storage and recovery, STAs = stormwater treatment areas.
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From page 32... ...
• Rainfall-driven water management. The Yellow Book includes operational changes in the water delivery schedules to the WCAs and Everglades 2 Although some STAs are included among CERP projects, the USACE has clarified its policy on federal cost sharing for water quality features.
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From page 33... ...
To address shortfalls in water supply, the Yellow Book proposes two advanced wastewater treatment plants so that the reclaimed water could be discharged to wetlands along Biscayne Bay or used to recharge the Biscayne aquifer. The largest portion of the budget is devoted to storage projects and to acquiring the lands needed for them.
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From page 34... ...
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)
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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.
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From page 36... ...
As of 2018, South Florida utilities achieved 9.8 MGD in potable water use offsets through additional water reuse under this mandate, although Miami-Dade County, the largest discharger, stated that "it cannot technically, environmentally, and economically meet the statutorily required reuse" (FDEP, 2020) .3 It remains unclear whether or how these initiatives and mandates will affect the expectations for agricultural and urban water supply from the CERP, particularly because the capture of excess surface water is a key element of the CERP.
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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 therefore 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.
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