everglades restoration history

Problem Statement. The history of the Everglades includes Spanish explorer Ponce de León’s quest for gold and slaves (and the fountain of youth) in 1513, the Seminole Wars in the mid-1800s, and President Harry S. Truman’s dedication of Everglades National Park in 1947. Home to the alligator and the otter, the sea turtle and dolphin, the panther and manatee, while also serving as the drinking water supply for nearly 9 million south Floridians, the Everglades are a treasure that belongs to all Americans and to the world. Fla. Dec. 11, 2006), Miccosukee Tribe v. United States of America, et al. “We are pushing projects out the door trying to get it all done – to clean water for the Everglades and reduce discharges. For the next century, a series of engineering projects reworked the Everglades’ natural flow. The Everglades is recognized both nationally and internationally as one of the world's most unique natural and cultural resources. This plan aspires to increase freshwater storage, improve water quality, and re-establish the natural water flow through the greater Everglades ecosystem. The officials promise the district’s not ignoring the tribe. 17), Florida Voters Pass the “Polluter Pays” Amendment (Florida Constitution, Art. 1531, et. For years, a major vision of Everglades restoration was the reconnection of the natural hydrological flow between Lake Okeechobee and Florida Bay. So far, she’s not impressed. Native Floridians had already been living there for centuries, but those early canal-diggers, known as the Belle Glade culture, and the more coastal Calusa had been largely devastated by imported disease and supplanted by the Seminole and Miccosukee people, who live there still. 02-80309 (S.D. al., Case No. We imagine the public still believes that is what Everglades Restoration is supposed to be about.”. ), Congress Enacts the Endangered Species Act (16 U.S.C. 2011), 1000 Friends of Florida, Inc. et. Betty Osceola’s mounting discontent is healthy, say Valenstein and Chauncey Goss, who chairs the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District, Florida’s lead CERP agency. Consider two recent developments. Aiming to salvage 1.5 million acres of a World Heritage Site that also provides drinking water to 8 million people, it was signed into law by outgoing President Bill Clinton after Congressional authorization in 2000. Jan. 18, 2017). “It really makes us proud that we’ll be able to see the benefits in our lifetime,” said District Executive Director Drew Bartlett. But as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine observed in 2018 in its latest congressionally mandated review of the progress, Florida’s climate is … Schwartz also strenuously objects to the reservoir’s 37-foot-tall walls, tall as a three-story building, which he points out will be directly in the floodplain of the original flow path of the Everglades. “A decade or two ago, that was the punchline: ‘Not in my lifetime.’ But now in a few years, we’ll have this (storm water treatment area), we’ll have the C-43, we’ll have the C-44, we’ll have the Kissimmee River, we’ll have the Tamiami Trail. “Environmental challenges remain," Valenstein acknowledges, "but for the first time, enough progress is being made – projects being started and concluded – that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”. You’re talking about billion-dollar projects and now you’re saying, ‘Well, you need to be looking and planning and assessing anticipated outcomes in a different context – what will become a new landscape because of climate change and sea level rise, and some of the cascading impacts along the periphery of the Everglades.”, As William Boggess, committee chair writes, “The past is not prologue for the future environment of South Florida. ... History. The CERP was authorized by Congress in 2000 as a plan to "restore, preserve, and protect the south Florida ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs of the region, including water supply and flood protection." DeSantis calls Everglades reservoir one of the ‘most important restoration projects in history’ sun-sentinel.com - Jim Turner. 2009), Miccosukee v. United States, 566 F.3d 1 257 (11th Cir. al. The projects also include including re-wilding of the once-straightened Kissimmee River, digging underground storage wells and turning miles of roads in a failed community on sensitive lands back to wetlands in the Picayune Strand in eastern Collier County. Everybody agrees the Everglades must be restored. Fire Tornado Filmed in Hawaii. In the second half of the 20th century, people began realizing that if the Everglades were to survive, they’d need yet more human intervention. Everglades continue to provide shelter, not only for diverse wildlife but also for the sensitive yet integral wetlands ecosystem in which they live. There will be much more money spent. It is clear that the Greater Everglades of 2050 and beyond will be much different from what was envisioned at the time of the CERP conceptual plan.”, Cassani says he and some of his colleagues who’ve been tracking the project from that time “feel like, yes, there’s been some progress, but the increased growth of the state has perhaps neutralized some of that progress (and) system-wide, it’s becoming much more uncertain that we’re actually doing effective restoration.”. The birds weren’t the only astonishing part of the journey. 2009), 2010 Lake Belt Record of Decision and Clean Water Act Permits, The State of Florida and U.S. Sugar Once Again Modify Contract for Land Purchase, Judge Gold Issues Order and EPA Makes Amended Determination, IOP Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Incidental Take Trigger Again Rejected, Court Approves Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow Habitat Critical Habitat Designation, EAA Reservoirs Case (Middlebrooks case) Dismissed, Judge Moreno Reverses His Order Compelling Construction of the EAA A-1 Reservoir, Mildenberger v. United States, 643 F.3d 938 (Fed. Florida Bay's prized spiny lobsters and game fish began disappearing as its "gin-clear water turned a slimy pea green," Grunwald reports. Flowing here? ” She shakes her head years later, it ’ s going to be about... V. Browner ( N.D. Fla. 1999 ), Florida Watershed Protection Act ( 16 U.S.C estate. Has watched cerp struggle to unfold nearly half her life finally, there a! 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