Skip to main content

Currently Skimming:

2 The Restoration Plan in Context
Pages 21-42

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 21...
... These early projects included dredging canals in the Kissimmee River Basin and constructing a channel connecting Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee River and, ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. By the late 1800s, more than 50,000 acres north and west of the lake had been drained and cleared for agriculture (Grunwald, 2006)
From page 22...
... This project provided flood control and urban and agricultural water supply by straightening 103 miles of the meandering K ­ issimmee River, expanding the Herbert Hoover Dike, constructing a levee along the eastern boundary of the Everglades to prevent flows into the southeastern urban areas, establishing the 700,000-acre Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) south of Lake Okeechobee, and creating a series of Water Conservation Areas (WCAs)
From page 23...
... , the South Florida ecosystem had already been altered extensively. Beginning in the 1970s, 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 increased attention to the adverse ecological effects of the flood control and irrigation projects (Kiker et al., 2001; Perry, 2004)
From page 24...
... , 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) that guide implementation of the CERP further clarify this goal by defining restoration as "the recovery and protection of the South Florida eco system 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)
From page 25...
... . The term ecosystem rehabilitation may be more appropriate when the objective is to improve conditions in a part of the South Florida ecosystem to at least some minimally acceptable level that allows the restoration of the larger ecosystem to advance.
From page 26...
... Mechanisms for delivering and distributing the water to the natural sys tem in a way that resembles historical flow patterns, affecting volume, depth, v ­ elocity, direction, distribution, and timing of flows; 3. Barriers to eastward seepage of water so that higher water levels can be maintained in parts of the Everglades ecosystem without compromising the cur rent levels of flood protection of developed areas as required by the CERP; 4.
From page 27...
... . Major components of the restoration plan focus on restoring the quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of water for the South Florida ecosystem.
From page 28...
... 28 Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades FIGURE 2-2  Major project components of the CERP. SOURCE: Courtesy of Laura Mahoney, USACE.
From page 29...
... • Rainfall-driven water management. The Yellow Book includes operational changes in the water delivery schedules to the WCAs and Everglades National Park to mimic more natural patterns of water delivery and flow through the system. • Water reuse and conservation.  To address shortfalls in water supply, the Yellow Book proposes two advanced wastewater treatment plants so that the reclaimed water could be discharged to wetlands along Biscayne Bay or used to recharge the Biscayne aquifer.
From page 30...
... In fact, the CERP's effectiveness was predicated upon the completion of many of these projects, which include Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park (Mod Waters) , C-111 South Dade, and state water quality treatment projects (see Box 2-1)
From page 31...
... . Kissimmee River Restoration Project This project, authorized by Congress in 1992, aims to reestablish the historical riverfloodplain system at the headwaters of the Everglades watershed and thereby restore biological diversity and functionality.
From page 32...
... 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 to 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 Park, and backfilling or plugging several canals in the area.
From page 33...
... Critical Projects Congress gave programmatic authority for the Everglades and South Florida Eco system Restoration Critical Projects in Water Resources Development Act of 1996 (WRDA 1996) , with modification in WRDA 1999 and WRDA 2007.
From page 34...
... to comply with the 10-ppb total phosphorus water quality criterion for the Everglades Protection Area by 2025.2 Changing Understanding of Restoration Challenges Much new knowledge has been gained since the launch of the CERP that provides a new understanding of restoration challenges and opportunities and informs future restoration planning and management.
From page 35...
... See Chapter 4 for additional discussion of the implications of new knowledge of climate change to the CERP. Since the CERP was developed, the significance of invasive species management on the success of restoration also has been recognized by the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force and its member agencies.3 Non-native species constitute a substantial proportion of the current biota of the Everglades.
From page 36...
... . In the 1980s, the collapse of Florida Bay brought increased scientific, public, and political attention to the conditions of the Greater Everglades ecosystem and support for restoration actions to increase flows to and restore conditions in Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
From page 37...
... Rudnick, Everglades National Park, personal communication, 2016)
From page 38...
... . Several short-term emergency operation deviations were developed to move water out of the WCAs, including increasing water levels in the L-29 canal to increase the flow under the 1-mile bridge into Northeast Shark River Slough and moving water into Big Cypress National Preserve (SFWMD, 2016a)
From page 39...
... Lucie Estuary. For people with water­ront f homes on the estuary and for recreational uses of the estuary and lake, blooms create problems due to odor and aesthetics and potentially could have large economic impacts.
From page 40...
... The algal blooms in Lake Okeechobee and the St. Lucie Estuary illustrate why it is critical to reduce both nitrogen and phosphorus inputs to Lake Okeechobee to reduce the occurrence of toxic blooms and to establish sufficient regional water storage options so that regulatory releases from the lake do not impact the estuary.
From page 41...
... SUMMARY The Everglades ecosystem is one of the world's ecological treasures, but for more than a century the installation of an extensive water control infrastructure has changed the geography of South Florida and facilitated extensive agricultural and urban development. These changes have had profound ancillary effects on regional hydrology, vegetation, and wildlife populations.
From page 42...
... 42 Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades to adapt. The seagrass die-offs in Florida Bay in 2015 and the extreme high water events and associated algal blooms in 2016, however, provide continued reminders of why substantial restoration progress is needed.


This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More information on Chapter Skim is available.