Page 70 - LIN November 2022 Issue

THE EVERGLADES NEXT DOOR

by Dave Trecker

The “River of Grass,” the remarkable one-of-a-kind swampy wilderness next door to Naples, James Booth, a plan hailed by many environ-
is getting some tender loving care. It’s very welcome and it’s coming none too soon. mentalists.
To control and clean up the water going
Certainly if anything in South Florida is worth south, the USACE and SFWMD are construct-
preserving, it’s the Everglades. The stark land- ing the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA)
scape is unique—beautiful, mysterious, wild. reservoir and filter marsh, a massive project
Both tropical and temperate plants flourish in due for completion in 2028. And to allow the
the largest subtropical area in the United States enhanced flow to reach the national park, nine
and one of the largest wetlands in the world. miles of the Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) are being
The wildlife is like no other. There are bears raised and bridges installed.
and panthers and manatees. Wading birds are Recognizing the ecological danger, Congress The effects are already being felt. “We’re
everywhere—herons, egrets, storks, stilts, authorized the Comprehensive Everglades seeing record hydration in the Everglades,
limpkins, cranes, ibis, spoonbills. There are Restoration Plan (CERP) in 2000, a 35-year, proving the restoration infrastructure works,”
hawks and ducks and kingfishers. At its south- $10.5 billion program — the largest hydrologic said Charlette Roman of the SFWMD govern-
ern extremity in Flamingo, you can see alli- restoration project ever undertaken in the ing board. “We’re getting more water into the
gators in freshwater sloughs and crocodiles United States. A state/federal partnership was Everglades and nourishing the ecosystem.”
in saltwater estuaries, remarkable side-by-side established to implement CERP, a joint effort She credits Governor Ron DeSantis for
sightings unique to the Everglades. by the South Florida Water Management making this happen. State funding for water
Everglades National Park, established in District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. quality in fiscal 2022-23 exceeded $1.7 billion,
1934, protects the southern 23% of the ecosys- The estimated cost has now ballooned to over with $540 million directed to the Everglades.
tem. With Shark Valley, Ten Thousand Islands $23 billion, only $3.2 billion of which has been Ms. Roman said, “Since Governor DeSan-
and the main body of the park extending down allocated. tis took office, more than $3 billion in water
into Florida Bay, there is visitor access by high- But there has been progress. The C-44 resource funding has been provided.” The Feds
way, boat and miles of trails. reservoir and its attendant water-treatment are also kicking in. The bipartisan infrastruc-
I’ve been there many times and I’m always system completed last year will keep discharges ture bill contains $1.1 billion for Everglades
impressed. It’s a photographer’s paradise, a from Lake Okeechobee from polluting flows restoration.
special place. And it’s endangered. to the St. Lucie River and Florida’s east coast. The money will be put to very good use.
Growth in the 20th century interrupted the The C-43 reservoir, a similar system designed “Between now and 2026,” Ms. Roman said,
water flow from the north. Flood-control proj- to cut polluted discharges to the Caloosa- “we will cut the ribbon on over 20 additional
ects were put in place to protect growing cities. hatchee River and the west coast, is scheduled projects — game-changers that will bring clean
Water was diverted to irrigate sugar cane and for completion in 2023. water and new life to the Everglades.”
support growth of high-value fruit and vegeta- And there’s even more good news. Recent Things are definitely looking up for the “River
bles that thrive in the subtropical climate. Run- policy changes governing Lake Okeechobee of Grass.”
off from the fields and groves became polluted discharges will ensure increased flows south to
with herbicides and nutrients from fertilizer. the parched Everglades, an average of 200,000 Dr. Trecker is a chemist and retired Pfizer executive
Clean water flows to the Everglades dwindled. acre-feet per year according to USACE chief living in Naples.

70 Life in Naples November 2022