The National Research Council released “Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Second Biennial Review, 2008” on Monday, September 29.  The report is the NRC’s second biennial evaluation of progress being made in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). 

 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida Water Management District, and U.S. Department of the Interior sponsored the report which was authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000.

"The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers welcomes the National Research Council's second biennial review of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program,” said Col. Paul L. Grosskruger, Jacksonville District commander.  “We appreciate the NRC's very thorough and balanced findings, and the Corps and its partners in this critical mission will continue to benefit from their thoughtful insights as we move forward in CERP implementation.”

The National Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, These organizations, part of the National Academies, are private, nonprofit institutions that provide science and technology policy advice under congressional charter. 

The NRC’s biennial report provides an independent analysis to assist in monitoring program progress, identify programmatic and methodological deficiencies, and suggest improvements to strategies and processes to further the goals of Everglades restoration.

In the NRC’s press release announcing the report, William Graf, chair of the committee that wrote the report, and professor and chair of the department of geography at the University of South Carolina, Columbia, notes, "The attempt to restore an ecosystem as large and elaborate as the Everglades is an unprecedented challenge, but if this vision is to be realized, demonstrable progress needs to come soon.  Although the science and engineering that support the program have been high quality, the ecosystem will continue to lose some vital parts if CERP continues on its present course."

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District launched CERP, a multibillion-dollar effort to restore historical water flows to the Everglades and return the ecosystem closer to its natural state, in 2000.  CERP comprises approximately 50 major projects to be completed over the next several decades.

Everglades restoration efforts are characterized in the report as making scant progress.  NRC committee members recommend planners focus on moving forward with the most essential restoration projects to get the restoration headed in the right direction.

The NRC committee members found that federal and state Everglades restoration efforts are being hindered by budgeting, planning, and procedural matters.  They note in the press release that, “Good science has been developed to support restoration efforts, but future progress is likely to be limited by the availability of funding and current authorization mechanisms.  To begin reversing decades of decline, managers should address complex planning issues and move forward with projects that have the most potential to restore the natural ecosystem.”

Delays in implementing “Mod Waters”, authorized 20 years ago, were noted as being “particularly discouraging.”

The report also notes that as south Florida’s population and development continue to grow and construction costs rise, restoration becomes increasingly difficult.  The Everglades will likely face additional species and habitat deterioration if near-term progress is not achieved on major restoration initiatives that the committee says “could be difficult or impossible to reverse.”

Other key findings in the report suggest:

• The federal government should consider departing from its traditional project-by-project review, authorization, and yearly funding to provide assured funds over a multiple-year period. 
• CERP planners should prioritize and properly sequence projects so that public funds are allocated by the degree to which the projects are essential to restoration, rather than by local stakeholder support. 
• The CERP adaptive management scheme could be improved by maintaining ecological monitoring as a priority, and further developing and better integrating hydrologic, ecological, and water quality modeling tools to support CERP decision making and ecosystem management.
• The state of Florida should continue its active land acquisition efforts. 

The Corps and other responsible CERP agencies have previously recognized a number of issues raised by the NRC in this biennial report.  These issues are being addressed within existing authorities, and the agencies are working together to prioritize and accelerate a number of key projects to build restoration momentum. 

Additional funding or new legislation will be required to address some areas of concern in the report that are currently beyond the authorized scope of the involved agencies.

“The Corps looks forward to continuing to work with the NRC and the other responsible agencies as we move forward to successfully achieve the objectives of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program," said Grosskruger.

“Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Second Biennial Review 2008” is available on the Internet at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12469.