In its natural state, the South Florida ecosystem was connected by the flow of water south from Lake Okeechobee through vast freshwater marshes - known as the Everglades - to Florida Bay and on to the coral reefs of the Florida Keys. The Everglades covered approximately 18,000 square miles and were the heart of a unique and biologically productive region, supporting vast colonies of wading birds, a mixture of temperate and tropical plant and animal species, and teeming coastal fisheries. These superlative natural resources were nationally recognized with the establishment of Everglades National Park in 1947. Designated internationally as both a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site, the park was expanded in 1989. At 1.5 million acres, the park preserves the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the United States. Its wonders are widely known, and include unique habitats of saw grass prairies, tree islands, estuarine environments and the vast waters of Florida Bay. The park is also known for its diverse bird and wildlife populations. Each year over one million visitors from around the world visit Everglades National Park. Other significant Federal conservation areas in the region include the Big Cypress National Preserve, Biscayne National Park, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and sixteen units of the National Wildlife Refuge System, including Loxahatchee, Florida Panther, and Florida Keys National Wildlife Refuges, to name a few. These federally protected areas conserve Everglades habitat, protect some the most outstanding coral reef and marine resources in the United States, provide important conservation areas for wildlife and migratory birds and provide unique recreational opportunities to numerous visitors.
Early in the last century, vast efforts were undertaken to drain the Everglades in order to develop the region. These efforts culminated in 1948 with congressional authorization and construction of the Central and Southern Florida Project, a flood control project jointly built and managed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District. Comprising over 1,800 miles of canals and levees and 200 water control structures, the Central and Southern Florida Project succeeded in draining half of the original Everglades and allowed the development of cities on the lower east coast of Florida and the expansion of the farming area south of Lake Okeechobee known as the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). Although historically and naturally most rainwater had soaked into the region's wetlands, the Central and Southern Florida Project canal system has for years drained water off the land such that an average of 1.7 billion gallons of water per day are discharged into the ocean.
As a result, not enough clean fresh water is available for the environment, resulting in long-term problems for the Everglades ecosystem including the federally designated areas above, and the communities in the region. Examples include: ninety percent reduction in wading bird populations; 68 species listed as endangered or threatened; reduced fisheries in Biscayne and Florida Bays; loss of over five feet of organic soil in the EAA; degraded water quality in inland and coastal areas; infestation and spread of invasive exotic plant species on over 1.5 million acres; damaging fresh water and pollutants into the St. Lucie, Caloosahatchee, and many other estuaries; loss of wetlands that provide important species habitat and ground water recharge; and loss of tree islands and damaging ecological effects in the state and tribally managed water conservation areas north of the park. Without significant overhaul to the existing Central and Southern Florida Project works and features, these problems already at crisis level, will only get worse, and water shortages are a certainty in future years as water demands continue to grow in South Florida.
Everglades restoration, and a fuller understanding of how it is defined and implemented, are the challenges of a new era in natural resource management and environmental policy. Eight years ago the Department embarked on an historic journey with the Army Corps to assess the profound environmental damage done to the Everglades ecosystem by the Central and Southern Florida Project, and, on an ecosystem-wide basis, design measures for the restoration and protection of what remains of the natural system. With the submission of the Comprehensive Plan to Congress last summer, that journey is now at an important juncture.
In my statement today, I will discuss the Administration's legislative proposal for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan which is part of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000.
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan
In July of last year, the Army Corps, with the South Florida Water Management District as the local sponsor, submitted to Congress its Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Everglades Restoration 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 30 years. The Department fully supports the Comprehensive Plan.
Overall, the Department believes the Comprehensive Plan provides a practical and effective approach to ensure the long-term restoration of the South Florida ecosystem while providing for future water supply and flood control needs. Further, the Department believes that the Comprehensive Plan must be implemented in its totality. While the authorizations to implement the Comprehensive Plan are planned to be phased, the Department believes that the Comprehensive Plan must be implemented fully to guarantee that the benefits promised to the natural system are ultimately received. The Department is eager to work with the Committee and other members of Congress to obtain the necessary authorizations and funding to allow the Army Corps to proceed with and complete implementation of the Comprehensive Plan.
When the Comprehensive Plan is fully implemented, what currently remains of the natural system in South Florida will gradually recover and function in a manner characteristic of the pre-drainage Everglades. It will become once again an interconnected healthy ecosystem, capable of supporting viable, abundant populations of native plants, fish, and wildlife. The Comprehensive Plan will better distribute the water flowing eastward and westward to the coastal areas and southward across Everglades National Park and into Florida Bay. This redistribution of water flows is expected to substantially reduce the huge ecologically damaging releases of fresh water to the coastal estuaries and instead direct water southward in a pattern that more closely replicates historic natural water flows. Associated features of the Comprehensive Plan will allow better control of the timing and quantity of these flows, and improve water quality. These actions will improve the salinity balance and reduce nutrient runoff in the coastal estuaries and in Florida Bay, resulting in substantial improvements to habitat and associated fish and wildlife productivity.
Through the restoration of the natural water flows, the Comprehensive Plan is designed to restore substantially the biological patterns and abundance of wildlife which defined the original Everglades and which prompted the Congress to establish Everglades National Park in 1947. This would likely improve the status of several federally listed endangered species, including the wood stork, American crocodile, the Cape Sable seaside sparrow, and the Everglades snail kite. Full plan implementation is also expected to reverse the degradation of important biologic communities, including seagrasses, coral reefs, marl prairies, and tree islands. Animals will respond to the recovery of more natural water patterns by returning to their traditional distribution patterns, resulting in substantial increases in many species, including crayfish, minnows, sunfish, frogs, alligators, herons, ibis, and otters.
The costs of inaction are incalculable. Absent the full implementation of the Comprehensive Plan, the Everglades ecosystem as we know it today will continue to deteriorate and eventually disappear. Without the Comprehensive Plan, the natural system is likely to experience future water shortages, along with more frequent fire events. These water shortages will make it difficult to maintain aquatic habitat in Shark River Slough and Taylor Slough. Estuaries like Florida Bay will experience increased algae blooms, seagrass die-offs and hypersalinity, reducing sport fisheries and critical nursery functions for the shrimp and lobster fisheries. The ability to recover endangered species will be seriously impaired and as the natural environment suffers, so too will the human environment. The urban population of South Florida will experience water shortage problems and severe flood events as the water supply system, under pressure of continued population growth, becomes impossible to administer adequately.
The 68 project features that make up the Comprehensive Plan are interconnected and interdependent, designed to be built and function as a complete set. Even though individual features will yield substantial benefits, the benefits provided by the entire plan are greater than the sum of the individual parts. Therefore, it is important that the Comprehensive Plan is implemented in its entirety to achieve the quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of water flows required to restore, protect, and preserve the natural system, including its rich diversity of life, for future generations.
The promise of the Comprehensive Plan depends on effective legislative assurances that the project benefits for the natural system are achieved in a timely manner and maintained for the long-term life of the Central and Southern Florida Project. Once the Everglades is restored, these assurances must guarantee that the operation of the Central and Southern Florida Project will never again negatively affect the natural system areas of the South Florida ecosystem. Without assurances, the project will not have achieved its main objective. The Administration's Legislative Proposal
The Administration's legislative proposal is the product of extensive interagency discussion and consultation. It includes legislative assurances language that accomplishes two primary objectives. The first is a guarantee, as a matter of Federal law, that there will be sufficient quantities of clean fresh water for the environment at the right places and the right times. Second, the individual project works and features will be designed and managed to further the restoration, preservation and protection of the Everglades.
Enacting a Federal mandate to set aside a quantity of water for the natural system will complement laudable efforts by the State of Florida under state law to establish minimum flows and levels for the environment and to reserve additional quantities of water for the natural system.
Once an appropriate amount of water is dedicated to the natural system as a matter of Federal law, the next important step is to ensure that the Central and Southern Florida Project works and features are operated, or managed, appropriately to deliver the dedicated quantity of water. This can be accomplished by ensuring that the design construction, modification, and operation of Central and Southern Florida Project works and features envisioned under the Comprehensive Plan are carried out by the Corps of Engineers in consultation with the Department of the Interior, Environmental Protection Agency and other Federal and state agencies as appropriate and consistent with the set-aside regulations. This does not mean that the Department will be involved in daily water management decisions, but rather the Department will assist the Army Corps in determining the amount of water, with the proper distribution and flows, to be dedicated and managed for the natural system environment and requiring that all individual components of the Comprehensive Plan further this goal.
In addition, the Administration's legislative proposal provides for the sharing of adversity -- flood or drought -- appropriately between the natural system and the built environment; and the protection of existing permitted uses, two goals endorsed by the all of the stakeholders in the South Florida ecosystem. Conclusion
In the Everglades we have an historic opportunity to correct past mistakes and save a national treasure for future generations while at the same time ensuring South Florida's continued viability. The Federal and state governments are doing 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, of which we are very proud, among the State of Florida, the Federal government and concerned citizens.
We appreciate the leadership and commitment of Chairman Smith and the Committee and other members in the United States Senate in bringing us this far today. If we are to truly succeed, that commitment must continue for many years to come, and we look forward to working with the Subcommittee as the restoration proceeds.
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 may have.