Everglades at risk from rains Top cop cleans house
Historic floods cover vital wildlife habitat
Heavy rains thismonthcausedwater to rise so high that the Everglades could be irreparably damaged, says a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission official.
“We have the highest water level ever since records were kept going into the rainy season,” said Ron Bergeron, of Weston, who is an FWC commissioner.
“This event, if it’s not addressed properly, will have the greatest impact to our wildlife, the environment, the habitat and the plant life that we’ve ever seen.”
Bergeron, who is the FWC’s point man onEverglades issues, said he has been on the phone repeatedly with Gov. Rick Scott over the past 10 days and the governor is “totally involved” in the matter.
In addition, he’s had emergency meetings with state and federal agencies, including the FWC, the U.S. Department of the Interior, theU.S. Fish andWildlife Service, the South Flor- ida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The latter two regulate the level and movement ofwater in the region and have “been on top of the situation,” according to Bergeron.
Bergeron said Scott issued an emergency order on Friday to move water out of the Everglades’ water conservation areas, which extend from southwestern Palm Beach County to Tamiami Trail and west to the Big CypressNational Preserve.
That water would flow into the L-29 Canal along Tamiami Trail, current and two former officers were indicted in a 2014 beating caught on video.
Changing the cultureof anagencyrequires a “long, slow march — not a sprint,” the chief said. And stepby step, the214-member police department has driven toward improvement.