Florida Everglades Restoration: Background on Implementation and Early Lessons

Publication Date: October 2002

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Environment

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Abstract:

Several complex water resource systems are receiving increasing intergovernmental and private sector efforts to balance human and broader ecosystem values. Examples include the Florida Everglades, San Francisco Bay Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta, and the Chesapeake Bay, among others. The Florida Everglades is especially prominent because of its inclusion of Everglades National Park and because human impacts in and around the Park have caused a substantial erosion of the balance and diversity of the original ecosystem. Government and private sector efforts to mitigate the effects of large-scale human change in the broader Everglades ecosystem are complex and sometimes contradictory undertakings. Complexities and conflicts arise because of definitions and goals; because of uncertainty about achieving desirable goals; because of costs; and because of likely tradeoffs with established economic and business activities. The restoration initiative in the South Florida ecosystem (which includes the Everglades) is a recent intergovernmental effort that attempts to address the ecological and socio-economic factors involved with ecosystem restoration. An examination of what has been effective and what has been less effective in ecosystem restoration efforts in the Florida Everglades may give insights on how to proceed in the implementation of other restoration projects.

After being reduced to half its original size by flood control projects, agriculture, and urban development, the Florida Everglades is now targeted for a large restoration effort by an unusual partnership among federal, state, tribal and local stakeholders. A major step in this restoration effort was the authorization of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-541). The objective of CERP is to restore the quantity, quality, distribution and timing of water supplies to natural areas without disrupting existing sources of water for agricultural and human needs.

There are several policy components within CERP that may be applicable to other ecosystem restoration efforts. They include multi-agency committees for coordination, programmatic regulations for project implementation, adaptive assessment and monitoring, assurances for water allocation, and funding. This report provides a description of each policy component as well as an analysis of its potential benefits and disadvantages in the restoration process. A proposed version of programmatic regulations is cited throughout this report. Programmatic regulations are expected to provide guidelines for project implementation, monitoring, adaptive management, and water allocation for restoration activities provided by CERP. A proposed version of the programmatic regulations was published in the Federal Register in August 2002; the final version is expected in December 2002. This report will be updated as warranted.