Restoring Everglades: $20B for Ecological Redemption

EvergladesPhoto byShelly CollinsonUnsplash

This year Florida's fiscal budget will include $740 million for projects which are part of an ongoing environmental restoration of the Everglades. The aim is to undo the damage started by the Army Corps of Engineers' 1949 project to "Drain the Everglades."

Lake Okeechobee was disconnected as the supply of water for the glades, resulting in multiple ecological problems, including red tide wildfires, sea grass die-off, and blue-green algae blooms.

Sugar plantation runoff, which was polluting the waters, will be captured in a new 63,000 acre manmade wetland retention area, paid for by taxes on the largest plantations.

Eventually the Tamiami trail road will be raised to allow water flow to resume at the south end. Another 15 years will see the restoration benefits completed.