SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis delivers comments at the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force's meeting on April 25.

The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation attended the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force’s meeting on April 25 to provide comments on various Everglades restoration projects that impact Southwest Florida.

Created in 1996, it brings together partners from state, federal, tribal and local governments to help with the task of restoring the Everglades. Meeting twice per year — in Washington, D.C., and in Florida — the task force and its subgroups provide a forum for agencies to share information about Everglades restoration projects, resolve conflicts and report on progress.

SCCF Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis delivered comments on the Western Everglades Restoration Project (WERP), Lake Okeechobee Component A Reservoir and evaluation of Everglades restoration RECOVER targets, which use biological metrics to evaluate the success of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).

“It’s really easy to narrowly look at decisions being made about one component of the Everglades, one particular structure, one particular flow way, but when you span out and look at what’s being done and what’s been done, the ramifications are massive. And we’re seeing the benefits of these projects coming online,” he said.

DePaolis also informed the task force of the importance to reflect the best available science as it relates to algae blooms within the RECOVER metrics to ensure that the northern estuaries are not suffering from avoidable impacts of restoration projects.

“Those RECOVER targets and metrics being used are so important for the protection of all of our ecosystems within the Everglades and the surround areas that are connected to our Everglades,” he said. “When we look at some of the science that is now considered the best available science, we’ve confirmed that we know that these huge releases from Lake Okeechobee have a direct exacerbating effect on red tide in our coastal environment. The single biggest thing we can do to prevent the massacre of wildlife in our coastal ecosystems is prevent some of these harmful algal blooms from moving forward.”