Everglades Restoration Means JOBS NOW… by Eric Eikenberg

Governor Ron DeSantis, his wife Casey and members of the South Florida Water Management District join supporters of Everglades restoration to celebrate a new phase of construction of the C-43 reservoir along the Caloosahatchee River.

With untold numbers of men and women here in Southwest Florida desperate for decent paying jobs with benefits, our commitment to Everglades restoration is more important right now than perhaps ever before.

The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, the decades long joint initiative by the federal and state governments, is a
suite of over 60 infrastructure projects that, together, represent the greatest environmental restoration program in the history of the world.

The projects now underway or about to be launched together comprise the biggest public works job engine in Southwest Florida
today, representing our best hope to jump start local economies and help our communities rebound. Perhaps the most familiar of these projects involves elevating 6.5 miles of roadway along U.S. Route 41, the so-called “Tamiami Trail” that connects Tampa and Miami.

The roadway is being elevated between two new bridges that have already been built to increase the flow of life-giving fresh
water into the Everglades. Until the bridges were built, Route 41 served as a man-made barrier that suffocated Everglades National Park during dry seasons. The two bridges have already helped restore the flow of water southward into the park and, ultimately, into Florida Bay.

The road elevation phase, a $100 million project, will see installation of six “conspans” — massive concrete culverts that will  enable the flow of far greater amounts of water to alleviate droughts that kill wildlife by destroying habitat. Further south,
the additional fresh water will help restore the delicate saltwater balance in Florida Bay, helping nurture the sea grasses and restore the fisheries that attract sport anglers from across the globe. Economists estimate the creation of 1,850 direct and indirect jobs as a result of the elevation of U.S. 41.

Even greater numbers of people will find employment as three separate water retention projects continue to unfold. The largest of these is the so-called “Everglades Reservoir” south of Lake Okeechobee, a $1.3 billion, 16,000-acre water storage facility and adjacent man-made wetland.

Construction proceeds along U.S. Route 41, the Tamiami Trail.

As with two smaller reservoirs, one along the Caloosahatchee River (the so-called “C-43” reservoir) and its companion alongside the St. Lucie Canal (the “C-44”), the new Everglades Reservoir will create upwards of 33,284 direct and indirect jobs over the construction period. This includes jobs for construction workers, iron and sheet metal workers, truck drivers, backhoe and bulldozer operators and allied trades, plus a small army of civil engineers and architects. In addition, job creation will also include so-called “indirect jobs” that will be created as these payrolls work their way through our local economy.

Ultimately, these and other Everglades restoration projects will prove a wise investment in delivering environmental benefits that will pay for themselves many times over in terms of real estate values, water supply and retention and water-based recreation and tourism.

But in the short term, thousands of hard-pressed families across South Florida can immediately expect an immediate return on our investment in these projects: a decent paycheck, with benefits.

Eric Eikenberg is CEO of The Everglades Foundation.