Endangered Everglades is awash in cash, thanks to new Infrastructure Law
A $1.1 billion investment for restoration projects could help stop the degradation of precious wildlife and water sources
MIAMI — An unprecedented sum of $1.1 billion has been invested in the Everglades restoration efforts as of this February.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had proposed that that money be set aside from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the restoration process. President Joe Biden sealed the deal, making this allocation the most funding the Everglades has ever received.
Advocates for the Everglades have been fighting an uphill battle against pollution, invasive plants and animals, sea level rise — as well as the ongoing struggle to keep humanity from stripping away the pureness of the 1.5-million-acre wetlands preserve. And the harm that the Everglades has endured is only predicted to increase in the coming years.
The Everglades ecosystem stretches over 18,000 square miles from the Kissimmee River to the Florida Bay. Today, the Everglades is half its original size. The bird population has significantly declined and there are 68 plant and animal species that are endangered. The $1.1 billion is going towards specific projects that will help restore the Everglades’ natural flow.
The projects being focused on include the Indian River Lagoon Reservoir, the Biscayne Bay and South Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Project, and the Western Everglades Restoration Project. Upon completion, this will provide more safe drinking water for South Florida, and strengthen the distribution and movement of water on and below the region’s surface.
Critics main concern is that none of this money is going towards the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir. The EAA reservoir consists of 700,000 acres south of Lake Okeechobee and “is mostly farmlands, with sugar companies controlling roughly 500,000 acres of it,” according to a study in 2021 by Flood Control.
“The EAA Reservoir will take many years to build, and we need the Federal Government to get started on the reservoir ASAP,” said Jason Schultz, Public Information Coordinator at the South Florida Water Management District. “The Integrated Delivery Schedule lays out the agreed-upon sequence of projects, and we look forward to the Federal Government doing their part to expedite construction of the critical EAA Reservoir.”
The importance of keeping the Everglades maintained and protected is monumental not just for the South Florida area, but to the world. “These ecologically significant decreases in water depths and inundation duration periods would greatly alter current ecosystems through severe droughts, peat loss and carbon emissions, wildfires, loss of the unique ridge and slough patterns, large shifts in plant and animal communities, and increased exotic species invasion,” said Environmental Scientist Martha Nungesser.
“The Everglades is sequestering carbon, so it is mitigating climate change. It’s slowing down sea level rise, and then it also helps against storm surge. So, when we think about hurricanes coming through, it can hold a lot of water. I think the main thing is that it’s our drinking water. It’s really imperative that we invest these dollars into it, to restore and protect it,” said Keely Weyker, FAU graduate alumni and Engagement and Outreach Manager for The Everglades Foundation.
The Everglades supplies the drinking water for 8 million Floridians. On top of its contribution to the Florida population, it is crucial for the world that the Everglades is taken care of. Since the Everglades is flat and surrounded on three sides by rising water from the seas, the national park is already seeing the effects of a warming climate.
According to the Everglades Foundation, the Everglades is considered the state’s greatest tool in mitigating climate change harm.
Restoring the water of the Everglades means better water quality for fishermen and better flow of water for the whole South Florida area. The flooding in South Florida has been a big problem. The seepage wall that is being built from the funding is an underground concrete wall that will help mitigate flooding and support the flow of water south towards the Everglades. This should provide relief not only to the residents of Miami-Dade county, but the environment as well.
The water that makes up the Everglades purely comes from either precipitation or inflow from Lake Okeechobee. The Everglades gets approximately 56 inches of rain per year and some kind of precipitation 123 days a year, according to the U.S. Department of Interior. The reason that the Everglades does not always receive the fresh water that it needs is because the constant changes in water flow. The plants, wildlife, and people in Florida rely on that water and need the flow of water to be fixed.
“Our organization was founded by two fishing guys who were no longer able to fish because of bad water quality off the coast of Florida,” said Jessica Pinsky, Director of Policy for Captains for Clean Water. “Something that we’ve learned at Captains…is that bad water quality was a direct result of those discharges from Lake Okeechobee.”
In order to supply the heightening demand for water, the Everglades needs to retain more water, whether it be from underground waterways or from preparing an easier water flow from the Lake Okeechobee into the Everglades. This funding will act as a huge stepping stone in producing the necessary water for the state of Florida and help restore the world’s environment.
