Warming Climate Forces Urgency on Everglades Restoration

Warming Climate Forces Urgency on Everglades Restoration

January 2008  - Global warming means 
restoration of the Everglades is more important than ever, a University of 
Miami expert in coastal marine environments told hundreds of 
conservationists, scientists and state and federal leaders at the 
Everglades Coalition's annual conference on the weekend. 
Dr. Harold Wanless said recreating enough of the natural flow of water to 
the 2.4 million-acre marsh to rebuild its eroded peatlands could hold back 
salt water intrusion from rising sea levels and protect South Florida's 
drinking water supply. 
Wanless said how much time the Everglades has left is unclear. He pointed 
to conservative estimates that predict a two foot increase in sea levels 
by 2100, but cited other studies that indicate the rise could amount to 20 
feet by 2200, which would submerge all of South Florida.

Florida's Congressional delegation won praise from Governor Charlie Crist 
for working to authorize new projects to restore the Everglades. But the 
governor reminded federal lawmakers that Congress has not yet appropriated 
the funds necessary to actually carry out the Everglades restoration 
projects. 
Opening the conference, Governor Crist, a Republican, said he is committed 
to working with Florida's Congressional delegation to seek full 
authorization and funding for the completion of the Modified Water 
Deliveries Project, which includes improvements to Tamiami Trail in 
Miami-Dade County in south Florida. 
The selected plan for Tamiami Trail is a two-mile bridge west and one-mile 
bridge east. The bridges will allow more natural water flows under the 
road and into Everglades National Park. 
Authorized in 1989, this federal restoration project was originally 
estimated to cost $83 million. But lack of funding, design changes and 
construction requirements have resulted in cost escalations to $398 
million. Now the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is projecting that the 
improvements could cost as much as $600 million due to rising real estate 
and construction prices. 
Florida Congressman Tim Mahoney, a Democrat, told the 300 conference 
attendees that he has made Everglades restoration a top priority since 
taking office last year and is proud to have been at the forefront of the 
effort to override a presidential veto and pass the Water Resources 
Development Act, WRDA, last November. 
Passed for the first time since 2000, the WRDA Bill authorized $1.82 
billion for Everglades restoration. Congressman Mahoney cited the success 
of the bill's passage, but agreed with the governor that the job is not 
finished until funding is approved. 
"As Congress moves into 2008, we must stay focused and finish the job," 
said Mahoney. "We need to protect rural Florida from development by 
investing in agriculture and we need to restore our rivers and estuaries 
by fully funding CERP," an acronym that stands for the Comprehensive 
Everglades Restoration Plan. 
Intended to reverse the declining health of the Everglades ecosystem, the 
30 year, $10.9 billion federal-state restoration plan was approved eight 
years ago.

Approximately 1.7 billion gallons of water drains from the Everglades to 
coastal waters every day. CERP would capture most of this water and store 
it in surface and underground storage areas until it is needed to supply 
the natural system and serve urban and agricultural needs. 
To improve the quality of water discharged into the natural system, 
wetlands-based stormwater treatment areas will be built. To improve the 
connectivity of natural areas, about 240 miles of internal levees and 
canals will be removed, which is expected to result in the recovery of a 
healthy, sustainable ecosystem in south Florida. 
Analyses show that some 80 percent of the new water obtained under CERP 
would be used to benefit the environment. The remaining 20 percent would 
benefit urban and agricultural users. 
U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, told delegates he wants the 
Everglades to receive up to $1.4 billion from a proposed federal program 
that could generate billions of dollars from companies that emit 
greenhouse gases responsible for global warming. 
Legislation now working its way through Congress would establish a market 
for permits to emit the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. 
The measure would permit some of the money to go to aquatic habitats 
threatened by climate change, including the Everglades. 
He said this year's presidential candidates should be encouraged to make 
this commitment. Nelson said it would be a start to fulfilling the federal 
government's promises to pay for half of the Comprehensive Everglades 
Restoration Plan. 

"Despite the fact that now most scientists agree that the River of Grass 
is one of the world's most endangered places, there are still leaders in 
Washington who would drop it to the bottom of the nation's agenda," Nelson 
told the delegates. 
The state of Florida is already allocating funds to cover its share of 
CERP. Florida's 2007-08 budget includes $200 million for the restoration 
and protection of the River of Grass, allocating $100 million for 
Everglades restoration, $54 million for the restoration of Lake 
Okeechobee, as well as $40 million to protect the health of the 
Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries. 
"Florida has taken creative and innovative approaches to expedite our 
restoration efforts," Florida Department of Environmental Protection 
Secretary Michael Sole told conference delegates. 
"Just this year, the state expanded its restoration efforts to the 
northern extent of the ecosystem and extended a dedicated trust fund 
through 2020 to set aside another $2.3 billion for restoration," he said. 
The Save Our Everglades Trust Fund was extended for 10 years through 2020. 

"Continuing forward on this massive restoration project will take 
cooperation, partnership and a united message from all of our partners," 
said Sole. 
"As we restore America's Everglades, we cannot lose track of how our 
everyday lives impact our natural environment," Governor Crist said. 
"Every step we take to conserve our water resources, to use energy more 
efficiently and to address climate change are steps that ensure Florida's 
beautiful and natural places are preserved for generations to come." 
The Everglades once covered 4,000 square miles and is now less than half 
that size. It encompasses sawgrass marshes, open-water sloughs, cypress 
swamps, hardwood hammocks, mangrove swamps and pinelands. 
The Florida Everglades is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a UNESCO Man and 
the Biosphere Reserve, a Wetland of International Significance under the 
Ramsar Treaty, a National Park, and an Outstanding Florida Water. The 
largest mangrove ecosystem in the Western Hemisphere, it is the only 
subtropical preserve on the North American continent. 

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