Let’s move forward with restoration plan for ‘River of Grass’
In 2000, both Congress and our state Legislature passed the landmark Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), which brought together Republicans, Democrats, environmentalists, scientists and agricultural advocates to develop one of the most extensive plans to save any watershed on the planet.
Now, the progress of that plan appears to be at risk and Florida simply cannot afford to get sidetracked from a plan that has yet to provide many benefits to Florida’s “River of Grass” as well as the Lake Okeechobee system. For these reasons, I recently joined nearly 60 water experts statewide in signing a letter urging our governor and top legislative leaders to stick with the plan and finish the work.
Florida can’t afford to get distracted by hastily conceived proposals that could do more harm than good. We need to complete projects that were approved more than 15 years ago based on three decades of well-documented science.
I, along with these water experts, fully support key projects designed to deliver maximum benefits as early as possible, including CERP, the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP), the Kissimmee River Restoration Project and repairs to the Herbert Hoover Dike. Deviating from the schedule would cause significant delays and hinder restoration goals.
Last summer’s algae blooms along the Treasure Coast prove we can’t take environmental issues lightly or gamble with ideas not vetted by experts closest to the subject. We need to listen to the professionals.
Buying land south of Lake O for water storage serves the needs of a few but isn’t the solution to discharges to the Caloosahatchee River and St. Lucie River estuaries to the east and west. Farmers already have given up 120,000 acres for Everglades restoration, much of it still undeveloped because of funding constraints. We don’t need more land. We need more progress.
A better course of action is the Lake Okeechobee Water (LOW) project, which is part of CERP. It calls for additional water storage north of the lake — where more than 95 percent of the water comes from — water-quality treatment facilities and underground water storage. If, in the future, additional storage is needed south of the lake, existing and planned reservoirs on public land could be deepened to 12 feet.