Guest commentary: Restoration is cure for drowning Everglades
South Florida’s dry season began on Nov. 1, but as of a week later, Lake Okeechobee’s water level sat at 16 feet, threatening coastal communities with potentially devastating discharges. Wet season runoff from sugarcane operations within the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) is still having a disproportionate impact on the current flooding in the central Everglades, posing a threat to wildlife.
While short-term measures may alleviate the problem, the ultimate solution is completion of road raising, additional culverts and bridges along the Tamiami Trail to allow more water to flow through the Everglades area. These roadway modifications were assumed in the 2014 Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) and recognized as being a critical means of flowing water into Everglades National Park in the 2000 Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).
Recent investments by both the federal and state governments have already greatly improved the situation and given water managers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers greater tools to manage the vast volumes of water sustainably and responsibly. Looking out onto the flooded tree islands today, one can only imagine what would have happened had we not already bridged parts of the Tamiami Trail to allow large volumes of water to flow south.
Nevertheless, more needs to happen — and soon.
The current flooding of the tree islands within the central Everglades should serve as a catalyst for both Washington and Tallahassee to redouble investments in restoring the natural sheet flow of water south from Lake Okeechobee. Toward that end, the U.S. House of Representatives has approved a robust $425 million for Everglades restoration for fiscal year 2024.
Water storage reservoirs to the north, east, west and south of Lake Okeechobee are envisioned by CERP. Only one of these, along the St. Lucie River to the east of the lake, has been completed so far, although the Corps is still working with contractors through operational testing to correct seepage problems.
Ground has been broken and construction contracts awarded for the most significant of these projects, the “EAA Reservoir” that will be built south of Lake Okeechobee. The 10,500-acre reservoir and its adjacent 6,500-acre engineered wetland will have a combined footprint larger than the island of Manhattan and will store 240,000 acre-feet of water (an “acre foot” is the amount of water needed to fill a single acre to a depth of one foot).
By any measure, when it comes to reducing flooding and decompartmentalizing the central Everglades, the EAA Reservoir is a game-changer. In conjunction with the other projects already authorized, the new storage and treatment facility will allow for an average of 370,000 acre-feet of clean freshwater to flow south into Everglades National Park each year.
That’s why it is so important that Big Sugar, operating in the EAA, withdraw the three separate lawsuits they have filed to stop construction of the Reservoir project. Considering that their own fields are already being drained causing the drowning of the Everglades tree islands, their litigation is particularly tone-deaf to the current conditions while creating a tremendous expense to taxpayers.
In the meantime, the Miccosukee Tribe of Florida, South Florida Water Management District and other groups concerned about the health of the Everglades have urged the Corps to open some nearby flood gates to allow water to flow into the Big Cypress Natural Reserve, to relieve flooding of the tree islands.
The Corps, well aware of the high water conditions, is working with the SFWMD to alleviate the problem.
Ultimately, however, the solution to the current flooding is for us to keep our eyes on the ball and proceed with our investments in Everglades restoration.
Capt. Daniel Andrews is co-founder and executive director of Captains for Clean Water. For more information, visit captainsforcleanwater.org.
Eric Eikenberg is chief executive officer of The Everglades Foundation. For more information, visit www.evergladesfoundation.org.
James Evans is chief executive officer of the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. For more information, visit www.sccf.org.
Mark Perry is executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society. For more information, visit www.floridaocean.org.
To reach CAPT. DANIEL ANDREWS, ERIC EIKENBERG, JAMES EVANS and MARK PERRY, please email