Florida’s rare and beautiful natural resources, the public’s health, and the state’s economy are suffering from a water quality crisis. Fortunately, there is not one elected official in Florida who does not support actions to improve our current conditions.
At the September business meeting NABOR® hosted Congressmen Francis Rooney and Mario Diaz-Balart, who discussed Florida’s water management and restoration plans.
Short and Long-term Remedies
Both Congressmen support the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) which was approved by Congress in 2000. It included 68 projects at a cost of $7.8 billion (now estimated to cost over $16 billion). The two have kept the plan a priority plus they backed additional federal water bills and an ambitious land acquisition project for more stormwater treatment facilities, reservoirs and protected marsh land.
The Congressmen co-sponsored two bills that passed earlier in the year to allow the Army Corps of Engineers the ability to conduct additional projects to improve water infrastructure and repairs. The duo were also instrumental this year in getting Congress to redirect funds to complete the Herbert Hoover dike repairs within five years.
Future projects they support include the restoration of over 55,000 acres of over-drained wetlands in Southwest Florida, bridge construction on Tamiami Trail to allow more natural flows to the Everglades, restoration efforts on Kissimmee River to help control Lake Okeechobee water levels, and solutions to protect Florida’s aquifers from salt water intrusion.
For more news about SWFL Water issues read the NABOR Water Quality Newsletter October 2018 PDF