An undertaking of this outstanding size, scope and ambition, consisting as it does of numerous whirring parts or partnerships is not simple or easy. These complex inter-relationships are required because the effort here spans the entire ecosystem 18,000 square miles of land and water stretching from the Chain of Lakes south of Orlando to the coral reefs off the Florida Keys. The natural system within the region contains areas with special designations such as outstanding Florida waters, a national marine sanctuary, an international biosphere reserve and numerous state and federal parks, preserves and national wildlife refuges, all of which are interconnected. The built environment is equally complex, with more than 6.5 million residents, 37 million tourists every year and a $200 billion economy, as well as 16 counties and 150 municipalities. All of which depend upon clean and plentiful supplies of fresh water produced by the natural system.
The goals of the effort, as you know, are three: (1) get the water right: that is, to restore a more natural water flow to the region while providing adequate water supplies, water quality and flood control; (2) restore and enhance the natural system protecting natural habitats and reestablishing threatened and endangered species; and (3) transforming the built environment to develop lifestyles and economies that do not degrade the natural environment and improve the quality of life in urban areas. Our vision for the future is a landscape whose health, integrity, and beauty are restored and nurtured by its interrelationships with South Florida's human communities.
For many of the public agencies committed in this effort, both federal and state, the challenge of working on an ecosystem-wide basis, with a dynamic and unfolding understanding of the interconnectedness of the vast system, is new and unprecedented. Each of these agencies has come to this partnership with its own set of authorities, constituencies, traditions and funding sources. While inevitably we have seen conflicts among these diverse partners at times, overall and overtime the partnerships have brought a great deal of progress toward the goal. For example, with the $200 million provided to us by Congress in the 1996 Farm Bill, the Department of the Interior, together with the State, has recently completed the acquisition of approximately 92,000 acres of land within the ecosystem, including the Talisman acquisition, that is critical for increasing regional water storage capacity and improving water quality and habitat. In addition, the Fish and Wildlife Service, working with over 200 experts from Federal, State, and local agencies, conservation organizations, and private industry, developed a Multi-Species Recovery Plan for the imperilled plants and animals of South Florida, representing a comprehensive blueprint for restoring native plants and animals throughout the Florida Everglades. Unprecedented in scope or scale, covering over 26,000 square miles in Florida's 19 southernmost counties, this plan will guide the actions of all parties toward the recovery of the 68 federally-listed threatened or endangered species of plants and animals in South Florida.
I think all of us fortunate enough to be involved in this great effort of restoration know that the ecosystem-wide approach, the need to renew and resume ancient natural connections, is the call of the new century. Restoration--a fuller understanding of how it is defined and implemented--is the hallmark of a new era in natural resource management and environmental policy. The pioneering quality of this great effort in South Florida inspires each of us working within the complex public and private partnership with a powerful motivation to succeed. We must succeed, not only to secure the values sought in South Florida, but in order to show others the way.
In July of last year, the Army Corps of Engineers, with local sponsorship by the South Florida Water Management District, submitted to Congress its Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Review Study (now known as the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan or Comprehensive Plan) to restore America's Everglades. The Comprehensive Plan is a conceptual framework for structural and operational changes to the Central and South Florida Project that will result in restoration of the ecosystem over the next 20 years. The Corps deserves enduring credit for working constructively with all parties in developing the Comprehensive Plan. The Department of the Interior fully supports the Comprehensive Plan with the assurances provided in the Chief of Engineer's report accompanying its submission to Congress. We believe the Comprehensive Plan provides a practical and effective approach to ensure the long-term restoration of the South Florida ecosystem while meeting future water supply and flood control needs. We are eager to work with this committee and other members of Congress to obtain the necessary authorizations and funding to allow the Corps of Engineers to proceed with implementation of the Comprehensive Plan.
This Committee has asked the Department of the Interior to address three issues in this hearing: (1) The future role of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force in the overall effort; (2) The role of the science advisory panel recently created by the National Academy of Sciences at Secretary Babbitt's request to advise the Task Force; and (3) Issues raised in the Comprehensive Plan for which the National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service has responsibilities.
The Future Role of the Task Force
The Task Force first took life in 1993 through an inter-agency agreement among the seven federal agencies with key roles to play in the Everglades ecosystem. The idea was for these Federal Agencies to coordinate their plans and activities; the Department of the Interior was designated as chair. The experience of the next few years, however, during which the Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District were developing the Comprehensive Plan, showed the need for broader consultation and coordination among all the public entities engaged in restoration planning. So in the Water Resources Development Act of 1996, Congress established the Task Force in its present form to include seven federal agencies, the Seminole and Miccosukee Tribes, the State of Florida, the South Florida Water Management District, and two representatives of local government. It is directed to coordinate the development of consistent policies and plans for the ecosystem restoration, facilitate the resolution of interagency and intergovernmental conflicts along the way, and coordinate scientific research associated with the restoration of the South Florida ecosystem. In the 1996 legislation, Congress also directed the Task Force to establish a Florida-based Working Group including representatives of its member agencies and entities, as well as other governmental entities as appropriate. Today's Working Group has a membership of 29, including representatives of state and local government agencies with expertise to bring to the restoration effort. Over the past several years, the Task Force and its Working Group have worked closely with the Corps, providing advice on all aspects of the Comprehensive Plan, and facilitating the development of agreement among its members on significant issues addressed in the Comprehensive Plan.
The Task Force will address several key issues in the future. First, the Task Force will continue its consultation role with the Corps to assist in timely implementation, as authorized by Congress, of the Comprehensive Plan. Second, the Task Force, along with its Working Group, will continue its traditional role of providing a forum for planning and coordination among its member agencies. An extremely important element of this continuing interagency planning will be its work with the recently established Science Advisory Panel to ensure that implementation of the Comprehensive Plan and the adaptive assessment process will benefit at every stage from sound science. Third, the Task Force is developing an Integrated Strategic Plan that will synthesize existing plans and activities throughout the region and serve as the framework for future adaptive management for the next 50 years. In this strategic planning process, the Task Force is engaging community leaders and decision-makers at all levels of government as well as the private sector in an effort to achieve a common vision and set of goals that will reflect the interrelationships of the natural environment, the economy and society, as well as stressing the dependence of each element upon the others. The Department expects to submit this Integrated Strategic Plan to the Congress by July 31, 2000. Finally, the Task Force will continue to report on a biennial basis to Congress on, among other things, progress made toward restoration.
The Science Advisory Panel
For many decades, science has been the motivating engine in alerting us to the environmental problems associated with the Central and Southern Florida Project and in describing the needs and values of Everglades restoration. Scientists have guided the establishment of restoration goals and have identified approaches to achieve them. In his 1993 speech to the Everglades Coalition, Secretary Babbitt declared his strong commitment to science as the foundation upon which the restoration effort would be built. Similarly, Congress directed the Task Force to "...coordinate scientific and other research associated with the restoration of the South Florida ecosystem." Accordingly, with the help from increased funding provided by Congress, agency scientists have identified key gaps in our understanding of how the ecosystem functioned and recommended a coordinated research program to address long-term restoration requirements. Overall, we believe that research and applied science will allow us to evaluate the effectiveness of management actions, enable future outcomes and promote common understandings of ecological success. And it is extremely important that we make use of the best available science and take full advantage of peer review processes.
To that end, with the completion of the Comprehensive Plan and at the request of the Task Force for peer reviewed science, Secretary Babbitt requested the National Academy of Sciences to provide additional scientific input on Plan implementation. The science advisory panel, which has now renamed itself the Committee on Restoration of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem, or "CROGEE", began its work last month. It is composed of 16 scientists representing a broad range of expertise including biology, ecology and hydrology. They also bring an objective scientific viewpoint, as none of them are presently involved in South Florida research and monitoring.
The purpose of CROGEE is to provide scientific advice to the agencies responsible for implementing the restoration and preservation plan for the South Florida ecosystem. The Comprehensive Plan is predicated upon the concept of "adaptive assessment," which calls for careful scientific monitoring over the entire 20-year period of implementation to assure that restoration goals are being met as planned projects come on line, and where the goals are not being achieved to devise science-based approaches in response to emerging needs. CROGEE is currently drafting its initial work plan, which will be submitted for discussion and approval to the Task Force at its meeting next month.
Fish, Wildlife and Parks Issues in the Comprehensive Plan
The development and drainage of South Florida over the last fifty years has pushed the natural system to the brink in many ways, threatening or endangering plants, animals, national wildlife refuges and national parks dependent on the natural quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of water, the driving force in South Florida's ecosystem. The Comprehensive Plan holds the promise of substantial restoration, with large benefits not only for the plants, animals, refuges, and parks, but also for the human beings of South Florida and the nation. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service have provided their expertise to the Corps in the development of the Comprehensive Plan, and will continue to consult and coordinate after authorization in the Comprehensive Plan's implementation.
This final plan incorporates significant changes from the 1998 draft plan, based on comments from the Department of the Interior and others, that improves the prospects for long-term ecosystem restoration. For example, the final plan includes a process for targeting water deliveries to Everglades and Biscayne National Parks that would approximate 90 percent of the pre-drainage volumes, compared to only 70 percent of such volumes in the draft plan. The Department believes that the additional 245,000 acre feet of water per year for these parks will be critical to restoring natural habitats and we look forward to working with the Corps and others in the planning effort to provide this additional water. As another example, the final plan accelerates implementation of Comprehensive Plan components, providing for completion of two-thirds of the projects by 2010, so that more environmental benefits can be realized earlier in the process than proposed in the draft plan. As a last example, the final plan improves upon the draft plan by making maximum use of available acreage in the Everglades Agricultural Area for water storage and providing for a comprehensive water quality plan.
The primary and overarching purpose of the Comprehensive Plan is to restore the South Florida ecosystem on which fish, wildlife, refuge, and park resources depend. The promise of the Comprehensive Plan depends on effective implementation to ensure that the natural system benefits are achieved in a timely manner and maintained for the long-term. These assurances must address the proper quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of water for the natural system, even in times of stress on the water system. We need assurances that benefits promised in the Comprehensive Plan are provided. The Department strongly encourages the initial authorization for the Comprehensive Plan includes assurances to guarantee sufficient quantities of clean fresh water at the right place and the right time for the environment.
We have an historic opportunity to address the negative environmental impacts of past activities and save a national treasure for our future generations while at the same time ensuring South Florida's future viability. We are trying to do things that have never before been attempted, certainly not at this scale. This effort has always enjoyed bipartisan support and reflects a level of partnership among the State of Florida, the Federal government and concerned citizens that we wish to emulate elsewhere.
We appreciate the leadership and commitment by Chairman Smith and Senator Graham have shown in helping us achieve the many accomplishments I have mentioned today. If we are to truly succeed, that commitment will need to continue for many years to come, and we look forward to working with you and Congress as we proceed.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my statement. Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee on this important effort and I will be pleased to answer any questions you or the other members of the committee may have.