Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades The Second Biennial Review - 2008 (2008) / Chapter Skim
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2 The Restoration in Context
2 The Restoration in Context
Pages 23-70
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From page 23... ...
. These early projects included straightening the channel of the Kissimmee River and connecting Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee River and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico.
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From page 24... ...
, and created a series of water conservation areas (WCAs) in the remain ing space between the lake and Everglades National Park (Light and Dineen, 1994)
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From page 25... ...
. When the EAA was complete in the early 1970s, it subsumed 27 percent of the pre drainage Everglades; for comparison, the WCAs occupy 37 percent, and Everglades National Park covers about 20 percent (Lodge, 2005; Secretary of Interior, 1994)
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From page 26... ...
1989 Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park Project was authorized. 1990 Florida Preservation 2000 Act establishes a coordinated land acquisition program at $300 million per year for 10 years to protect the integrity of ecological systems and to provide multiple benefits, including the preservation of fish and wildlife habitat, recreation space, and water recharge areas.
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From page 27... ...
Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. 2007 The Florida state legislature authorized the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program which expanded the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act to strengthen protection for the Northern Everglades by restoring and preserving the Lake Okeechobee, Caloosahatchee, and St.
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From page 28... ...
, the South Florida ecosystem had already been altered extensively. Prompted by concerns about deteriorating conditions in Everglades National Park and other parts of the South Florida ecosystem, the public, as well as the federal and state governments, directed increasing attention to the adverse ecological effects of the flood-control and irrigation projects beginning in the 1970s (Kiker et al., 2001; Perry, 2004)
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From page 29... ...
, is "restoration, preservation, and protection of the South Florida Ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs of the region, including water supply and flood protection." The Programmatic Regulations (33 CFR 385.3; see Box 2-2) that guide implementation of the CERP further clarify this goal by defining restoration as "the recovery and protection of the South Florida ecosystem so that it once again achieves and sustains the essential hydrological and biological characteristics that defined the undisturbed South Florida ecosystem." These defining characteristics include a large-areal extent of interconnected wetlands, extremely low concentrations of nutrients in freshwater wetlands, sheet flow, healthy and productive estuaries, resilient plant communities, and an abundance of native wetland animals (DOI and USACE, 2005)
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From page 30... ...
This is particularly a focus in Chapter 5, "Lake Okeechobee and Its Place in the Restoration of the South Florida Ecosystem." Implicit in the understanding of ecosystem restoration is the recognition that natural systems are self-designing and dynamic and, therefore, it is not possible to know in advance exactly what can or will be achieved. Thus, ecosystem restoration is an enterprise with some scientific uncertainty in methods or outcomes that requires continual testing of assumptions and monitoring of progress.
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From page 31... ...
Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan WRDA 2000 authorized the CERP as the framework for modifying the C&SF Project. Considered a blueprint for the restoration of the South Florida ecosystem, the CERP is led by two organizations with considerable expertise managing the water resources of South Florida -- the USACE, which built most of the canals and levees throughout the region, and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD)
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From page 32... ...
improvement feature, the State must be in compliance with WQ standards for the current use of the water to be affected and the work proposed must be deemed essential to the Everglades restoration effort…This determination must be based on some finding other than the project is a part of CERP and generally will aid the restoration effort." The memo goes on to state, "the Yellow Book specifically envisioned that the State would be responsible for meeting water quality standards." Therefore, it appears that until the water flowing into the project features meets existing water quality requirements or unless a special exemption is granted for projects deemed "essential to Everglades restoration," the state is responsible for 100 percent of the costs of CERP water quality project features.
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From page 33... ...
The Restoration in Context 33 FIGURE 2-2 Major project components of the CERP. Figure 2-2.eps bitmap SOURCE: Courtesy of Laura Mahoney, USACE.
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From page 34... ...
The Everglades Programmatic Regulations specifically require coordination with other agencies at all levels of government, although final responsibility ultimately rests with the USACE and SFWMD. WRDA 2000 endorses the use of an adaptive manage ment framework for the restoration process, and the Programmatic Regulations formally establish an adaptive management program that will "assess responses of the South Florida ecosystem to implementation of the Plan; .
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From page 35... ...
These projects include Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park (Mod Waters) , C-111 (South Dade)
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From page 36... ...
Project This project is designed to improve hydrologic conditions in Taylor Slough and the Rocky Glades of the eastern panhandle of Everglades National Park and increase freshwater flows to northeast Florida Bay, while maintaining flood protection for urban and agricultural development in south Miami-Dade County. The project plan includes a tieback levee with pumps to capture groundwater seepage to the east, detention areas to increase groundwater levels and thereby enhance flow into Everglades National
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From page 37... ...
The Lake Okeechobee Watershed Construction Project Phase II Technical Plan, issued in February 2008 in accordance with LOPA, consolidated the numerous initiatives already underway through Florida's Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan and Lake Okeechobee and Estuary Recovery Plan. Critical Projects Congress gave programmatic authority for the Everglades and South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Critical Projects in WRDA 1996, with modification in WRDA 1999 and WRDA 2007.
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From page 38... ...
Human Population Growth, Land-use, and Water Demand A primary objective of the CERP is the restoration and maintenance of an Everglades ecosystem that functions substantially more like the pre-drainage system than the present disrupted system. This restoration effort takes place in a changing human context as Florida's population continues to grow.
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From page 39... ...
have projected that the state's population will be more than 29 million, and by 2060, nearly 36 million -- twice the present population. These projections are based on long-term population growth patterns, and they represent educated best guesses about what the future will be like.
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Water management in the EAA has a substantial effect on the overall water budget and water quality of South Florida (which includes stormwater runoff) , thus land use changes in the area will have far-reaching effects (Alvarez et al., 1994)
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From page 41... ...
The acquisition might protect large areas from urban and commercial development, and if certain exchanges were made, a development-free corridor might connect Lake Okeechobee with valuable undeveloped lands to the south.
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From page 42... ...
. The acquisition might also allow for enlarged STAs to reduce phosphorus loads into the Everglades ecosystem and to expand the overall treatment and/or water storage capacity.
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From page 43... ...
Many innovative approaches to managing sprawl and smart development strategies can work to protect the Everglades restoration efforts from negative outside influences (see Regional and CERP Planning in Response to Large Scale Influences, later in this chapter)
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From page 44... ...
The calculations comparing water demand with surface flows into Everglades National Park are based on the following data: 1,070 MGD = 1,070,000,000 = 3,284 ac ft/d, or 1,198,550 ac ft/yr. Surface water inflows to Everglades National Park, according to the 1995 Base Primary Water Budget Components, are 915,000 ac ft, including flood-control discharges and environmental water supply flows from the WCAs and environmental water supply flows from the lower east coast.
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From page 45... ...
Aggressive road and highway construction accompanies population growth and urban sprawl, and such construction is highly likely to affect Everglades restoration in an adverse way. The demand for building materials, particularly road aggregate and cement, is already acute, driving up construction costs for CERP projects.
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From page 46... ...
Climate Change Both the Everglades ecosystem restoration and the growing human popula tion of Florida, with its demands for increasing amounts of water, will take place in an uncertain hydro-climate. In the following section, the implications for the CERP of short-term variability and long-term climate change and sea-level rise are considered.
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From page 47... ...
Thus, the index compares any given year with its long-term context. The graph shows the variability of moisture available in the Florida ecosystem; droughts are common on a century-long time scale.
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. In short order, taking into account the effects of 21st-century climate change in environmental management and ecosystem restoration has gone from an exercise that was too uncertain or too politically sensitive to an expectation for credible planning.
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From page 49... ...
The entire watershed of the Everglades has a land surface of very low relief: the highest elevation in the basin is only 65 feet above mean sea level, and elevations in the area south of Lake Okeechobee are 12 feet or less. Gradients for water flows are as little as an inch per mile.
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From page 50... ...
projected a rise in global sea level of See http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/sltrends/sltrends.shtml.
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From page 51... ...
Extrapolation of the recently observed acceleration of loss of ice volume (Meier et al., 2007) , as well as statistical extrapolation based on the relationship of sea surface temperature and sea level (Rahmstorf, 2007)
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From page 52... ...
correctly pointed out the substantial impacts of even a 2- to 3-foot rise in sea level in low-lying and geologically porous Miami-Dade County, particularly when spring high tides and storm surges are added to the changes in mean sea level. Moreover, if relative sea level does rise by 3 feet during this century, it will very likely reflect accelerating and unstoppable melting of polar ice that portends even higher rates of sea-level rise during the next century.
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From page 53... ...
Rising sea level is likely to change the character of the lower Everglades. Plant communities will have different distributions from those at present, and water flows are likely to change, but dynamic aquatic and terrestrial habitats are likely to continue to be part of the remaining undeveloped South Florida ecosystem.
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From page 54... ...
Potential changes in water availability should be factored into targets for water levels and flows and ecosystem restoration, considerations of the greater frequency of fires, and plans for preservation of endangered species at particular risk, such as the snail kite. The effects of climate change on human demands for water should also be considered, as should setting time limits of 20–25 years on water allocation permits so that the next generation can reevalu ate apportionment of the potentially changing water supplies.
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From page 55... ...
Regional and CERP Planning in Response to Large-scale Influences CERP planners are cognizant of major large-scale influences on the restoration, including population growth, water demand, land use change, short- and long-term climate variability, and sea-level rise. Local, state, and federal officials at the planning stage are attempting to prepare for the consequences of these influences.
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From page 56... ...
RECENT CHANGES IN THE SOUTH FLORIDA ECOSYSTEM NRC (2007) described some recent trends in the ecology and hydrology of the South Florida ecosystem, demonstrating that the natural system will con
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From page 57... ...
In this section, the status and trends for tree islands, several bird species, Lake Okeechobee, and exotic and invasive species are reviewed as examples of recent changes to the eco system that compromise its resiliency. These examples are critical components of the South Florida ecosystem, and because each involves numerous aspects of water quantity, quality, flow, and biology, they serve as indicators of the status of functional components of the system.
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From page 58... ...
This analysis suggested a decrease in total tree island area of 67 percent and a decline of 54 percent in the number of islands in WCA-3. This loss is generally attributed to changes in both water levels and fire frequencies (Brandt et al., 2002)
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From page 59... ...
. When water is shifted rapidly to the south into Everglades National Park from April through June, it results in rapid recession rates that can leave kite nests vulnerable to terrestrial predators, further reducing the rate of survival of juveniles after they fledge (Martin et al., 2007b)
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From page 60... ...
. Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow The Cape Sable seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis; here after, simply CSSS)
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From page 61... ...
. sparrow that is restricted to the Everglades ecosystem (Kushlan et al., 1982; McDonald, 1988)
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From page 62... ...
. This decline occurred despite the attempts to reduce water flows across the S-12 structures from November 4,000 Subpopulation A Subpopulation B 3,500 Subpopulation C Subpopulation D Subpopulation E Subpopulation F 3,000 Estimated Number of Sparrows 2,500 2,000 1,500 1,000 500 0 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Year FIGURE 2-16 Estimated number of Cape Sable seaside sparrows by subpopulation.
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From page 63... ...
, they are considered important indicators of Everglades ecosystem functioning. The total number of wading birds using Everglades National Park and WCA-3A has increased over the past 5 years from about 330,000 to 500,000, although their distribution has changed.
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From page 64... ...
who reviewed the current situ ation of endangered birds in the Everglades recently concluded that the status quo of flow conditions and water schedules in the WCAs and Everglades National Park "is not an option if the goal is to restore the ecosystem and prevent the extinction of critically endangered species. Incomplete implementation of emergency measures and failure to complete more major plans in a timely way increases the risks to endangered species.
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From page 65... ...
None of the eight physiographic regions within the South Florida ecosystem is currently free of exotic species invasion, and three are predicted to decline in quality over the next 1–2 years due to the expansion of invasive nonindigenous plant species (Table 2-2; Ferriter et al., 2008)
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From page 66... ...
Current Trends and Regime Shifts The observed patterns of species and habitat decline and increasing threats from invasive nonindigenous species need to be understood within the context of regime shifts (also called alternate stable states)
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From page 67... ...
number of exotic plant species present; (2) number, abundance, and frequency of new exotic species; (3)
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From page 68... ...
Agriculture and other undeveloped lands face an uncertain future in South Florida. The EAA in particular intervenes directly in the flow of water between Lake Okeechobee and Everglades National Park and influences the movement of water, sediment, and nutrients for the rest of the system.
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From page 69... ...
Ongoing delay in South Florida ecosystem restoration has not only postponed improvements to the hydrologic condition but also has allowed ecological decline to continue. Recent water management strategies have not produced conditions that are conducive to restoring the Cape Sable seaside sparrow and appear to be negatively impacting the snail kite.
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