Thank you for allowing me to appear before you to discuss the effort to restore America's Everglades. I am pleased to be here today to present the State of Florida's comments on the draft General Accounting Office (GAO) report concerning water quality issues in the south Florida ecosystem. I have not been allowed to see the report being released today. I am providing comments on the draft report entitled "Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan Implementation Uncertainties May Lead to Additional Water Quality Projects and Costs".
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (Comprehensive Plan) is about water. It is about delivering water in the right place at the right time in the right quantity and quality.
It has already been determined that in an overwhelming majority of the time, the right place will be the natural system of the Everglades. There is wide-ranging agreement on this from environmentalists, utilities, agricultural interests, federal agencies and Governor Jeb Bush and the State of Florida.
We are not too concerned about water quantity. By recapturing nearly 1.7 billion gallons of water per day, plus the water that remains in the currently deteriorating Everglades, sufficient water will be available to implement the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
The question before us today concerns the water quality portion of the plan's overall mission. Restoration of the Everglades is not possible without adequate water quality. Water quality is an authorized purpose of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, and explicitly cost shared on a 50/50 basis after federal, state, Tribal and local water quality preventive and non- point regulatory requirements have been enforced. We are confident that the water quality features already contemplated in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan along with existing State and local programs will achieve the water quality restoration targets for south Florida without adding additional costs.
We recognize that degradation of water quality throughout the study area is extensive, particularly in agricultural and urban coastal areas. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection listed over 150 use-impaired segments of water bodies in south Florida. It is also recognized that achieving water quality goals for ecosystem restoration in all use-impaired water bodies within the study area will depend on actions outside the scope of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. A number of agencies including the South Florida Water Management District, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as well as local have developed or are developing water quality improvement programs for several of the impaired water bodies within the study area. The most notable example is the Everglades Forever Act, which focuses on achieving adequate water quality in the Everglades. Other examples include the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act of 2000 and Surface Water Improvement and Management Act planning efforts for the Indian River Lagoon, and Biscayne Bay, and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Water Quality Protection Program. We are confident that the State of Florida and local governments will be able to implement water quality improvement actions needed to achieve the water quality goals of south Florida without any appreciable increased costs associated with the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
Even where existing water quality may be adequate to meet water quality standards in present receiving waters, the Comprehensive Plan contains modifications to the present water management system that will result in delivering water to different areas having different water quality needs. Therefore, the Comprehensive Plan was formulated to treat these waters before sending it on to other areas for ecosystem restoration purposes. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan includes approximately 35,600 acres of manmade wetlands, known as stormwater treatment areas, to treat urban and agricultural runoff water before it is discharged to the natural areas throughout the system. Stormwater treatment areas are included in the recommended Comprehensive Plan for basins draining to Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee River Basin, the St. Lucie Estuary Basin, the Everglades, and the Lower East Coast. These are in addition to the over 44,000 acres of stormwater treatment areas already being constructed as part of the Everglades Construction Project to treat runoff discharged from the Everglades Agricultural Area. We do not anticipate major additional costs associated with water quality to be added to the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
Closing
Today, we stand at the threshold of authorizing the most significant restoration effort ever undertaken in this country. It is remarkable that so many diverse interests have come to get behind one cause. The cause is "undoing" the well intentioned efforts of federal entities half a century ago.
While it is more than a re-plumbing project, successful Everglades restoration does demand high quality water where and when it is needed.
The blueprint --- The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan --- contains an authorized purpose to meet that demand. The blueprint calls for a 50-50 cost share after federal, state, Tribal and local water quality preventive and non-point regulatory requirements have been enforced.
We stipulate to the fact that there are numerous water bodies in south Florida that have water quality problems. Both state and federal agencies are collaborating on water quality improvement programs for several of the impaired water bodies within the study area. Such cooperation, we believe, will result in water quality improvements without any appreciable increase in costs.
Governor Jeb Bush and the State of Florida is confident that through our responsibilities under the Clean Water Act, state water law, and the restoration plan we will be able to meet the water quality needs of the region. We stand ready, more than willing, and fully able to be your partner in this critical component of Everglades restoration.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.