Re-Engineering Water Storage in the Everglades : Risks and Opportunities

The Water Science and Technology Board and the Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology have released the seventh and final report of the Committee on Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, which provides consensus advice to the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force on various scientific and technical topics.

Human settlements and flood-control structures have significantly reduced the Everglades, which once encompassed over three million acres of slow-moving water enriched by a diverse biota.

To remedy the degradation of the Everglades, a comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan was formulated in 1999 with the goal of restoring the original hydrologic conditions of its remaining natural ecosystem.

A major feature of this plan is providing enough storage capacity to meet human needs while also providing the needs of the greater Everglades ecosystem.

This report reviews and evaluates not only storage options included in the Restoration Plan but also other options not considered in the Plan.

Along with providing hydrologic and ecological analyses of the size, location and functioning of water storage components, the report also discusses and makes recommendations on related critical factors, such as timing of land acquisition, intermediate states of restoration, and tradeoffs among competing goals and ecosystem objectives. Table of ContentsFront MatterExecutive Summary1 Introduction2 Major Storage Components3 Cross-Cutting Issues4 Reconsidering Available Storage Options5 Evaluating Ecological Tradeoffs6 Findings and RecommendationsReferences CitedAppendix A: Master Implementation Sequencing Plan Compared toInitial Restudy ScheduleAppendix B: Water Science and Technology Board and Board onEnvironmental Studies and Toxicology RostersAppendix C: Biographical Sketches of Members of the Committee onRestoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem