A satellite image of the lower Florida peninsula showing darkened portions south of Lake Okeechobee as the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp. The reddish area bordering the large inland lake is the Everglades Agricultural Area.
We are glad to see this large sum of money headed to Florida, but we question that its intended use will be the best bang for the environmental buck. The new allocation will be largely wasted on soon-to-be flooded Everglades.
We need to take this money and begin the transition to farming without excessive irrigation and fertilizer. This change is just as inevitable as the rising seas because what we are doing now is not anywhere near sustainable. If we continue our current agricultural practices we will eventually have no water to irrigate nor flowing rivers. There are not nearly enough little tweaks and tricks that the water management districts can do to find enough water for all the permits they keep issuing. We must keep the farmer on his land but begin a radical change.
It is frustrating that when people think of Florida’s water woes, all they think of is the Everglades or the green algae in South Florida. North and Central Florida’s springs and rivers have been in constant decline for decades and our agencies have not reversed this trend. We need a change of mindset. We need to inform the people that our DEP and WMDs are allowing the demise of our springs and rivers by over-pumping and excess fertilizer.
See the original article here in Florida Politics.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Joe Biden infrastructure bill sends $1.1 billion for Everglades restoration
Jan.19, 2022
Congressional Democrats hailed Wednesday’s announcement that the Everglades restoration is getting its largest infusion of federal money ever from President Joe Biden’s administration.
The infrastructure bill passed in November will steer $1.1 billion to Florida’s famed “River of Grass.” That’s enough to fund what Democrat Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Weston calls the largest environmental restoration project in American history.
The area — which can look like an unremarkable field from the road — is crucial for the state’s drinking water, climate resiliency and economy.
“The Everglades is the lifeblood of South Florida, and this historic funding commitment by the Biden administration will ensure we can much more aggressively move to restore and protect the natural sheet flow of water,” said Wasserman Schultz, the co-chair of the Everglades Caucus with Republican Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart, who represents parts of Miami-Dade and Collier counties.
Not only will the money combat climate change and protect the areas’ biodiversity, but the project also will mean job creation, Wasserman Schultz said.
“There’s no more infrastructure more critical to Florida than the Everglades,” she said.
Several other congressional Democrats from Florida joined Wasserman Schultz on a Wednesday afternoon call praising the funding, including Reps. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Val Demings, Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, Stephanie Murphy, Darren Soto and Frederica Wilson.
Wilson was among the five co-sponsors of Biden’s $1 trillion package that builds bridges, public transportation and roads.
“To see Florida finally receiving this long overdue assistance is incredibly rewarding,” Wilson said, calling the Everglades a “treasure,” and slamming the Republicans who all voted against the Biden plan. “I have fought tooth and nail for nearly a decade for this funding.”
Republican Rep. Brian Mast’s office released a statement from the Congressman that slammed the specifics of the plan, however, calling it a “Biden, Army Corps fail” because it didn’t specifically allocate “even one dollar” for an Everglades Agricultural Area reservoir. Mast’s district stretches from St. Lucie County to Palm Beach County.
“It’s clear that Joe Biden has no regard for the wellbeing of South Florida’s environment, economy or public health,” Mast said, according to the release from his office.
But Eric Eikenberg, CEO of The Everglades Foundation, said he hopes the money will be going to the most critical priorities, such as the item that Mast referenced.
“The Central Everglades plan has the EAA reservoir as a component of it,” he said….
“The Everglades is a unique and critically important ecosystem and economic force … responsible for the drinking water of eight million Floridians and visitors — that’s over one-third of our population,” Frankel said. “It’s home to endangered plants and animals and plays a huge role in our tourism industry as well as our food. The water keeps people alive and our economy running.”
The $1.1 billion in funding is a little less than the $1.5 billion originally requested by nearly all of Florida’s Senate and House delegation.
Anne Geggis
Anne Geggis is a South Florida journalist who began her career in Vermont and has worked at the Sun-Sentinel, the Daytona Beach News-Journal and the Gainesville Sun covering government issues, health and education. She was a member of the Sun-Sentinel team that won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for coverage of the Parkland high school shooting. You can reach her on Twitter @AnneBoca or by emailing anne@floridapolitics.com.
