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Save America's Everglades

#NOWMORETHANEVERGLADES

SAVE AMERICA'S EVERGLADES

INVEST NOW, SAVE BILLIONS

INVESTING IN EVERGLADES RESTORATION NOW, CAN SAVE BILLIONS AND BRING 

MUCH NEEDED WATER SECURITY FOR MILLIONS OF PEOPLE 

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Over the past 20 years, the State of Florida has outspent the federal government on restoration projects by nearly 3 to 1.  In order to complete authorized projects that are currently outlined in the Army Corps of Engineers Integrated Delivery Schedule (IDS), the federal government must more than double its commitment to Everglades restoration over the next 5 years.  By doing so, the federal government will save billions of dollars in overall program costs. See figure here.

DELAY HAS MORE COSTS

IT’S A GOOD DECISION

INVESTING NOW IN EVERGLADES RESTORATION WILL:

  • Create upwards of 47,000 new jobs – jobs that will be critical as Florida rebounds from COVID-19

  • Protect the pillars of South Florida’s Clean Water Economy: tourism, real estate, and recreation

  • Rescue a globally significant ecosystem and World Heritage Site

  • Help recover threatened and endangered species like the Everglade snail kite

  • Aid water management and habitat resiliency in the face of sea level rise

  • Accomplish long-overdue modernization of South Florida’s water infrastructure.

 

 

Florida’s water management infrastructure – the “Central and Southern Florida Project” – was designed in 1948.  It was a different time and a different Florida: an agriculture-based economy with a population of only 2.5 million people.

Today, the population of South Florida is 9 million, more than four times the design capacity of the "Central and Southern Florida Project." Our region has evolved from a farm-based economy to one based on tourism, real estate and water-based recreation like beaches, boating and fishing – all highly reliant on clean water.

The bipartisan Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) that was signed into law in 2000 will bring Florida’s water infrastructure into the 21st Century, protecting our jobs, our property and our modern economy. Delayed investment increases risk of toxic algae, wildfires, loss of biodiversity, and impact to water supply.

IT’S A GOOD DECISION.

A ROBUST INVESTMENT

MADE EARLY, WILL ACCELERATE KEY PROJECTS.

 

Projects like the Central Everglades Plan (including the Everglades Reservoir) and key storage projects to the east (C-44 St. Lucie Reservoir) and west (C-43 Caloosahatchee Reservoir) of Lake Okeechobee can be completed sooner and at a lower overall cost.

These projects will protect South Florida’s world-class coastal fisheries, reduce wildfire in the Everglades, protect the drinking water supply for all of us in South Florida and provide greater flexibility to manage floods, droughts, hurricanes, and the impacts of sea level rise.

The graph below reflects the annual and cumulative CERP program expenditures by the State of Florida and the federal government between 2002 and 2021. Extending state funding forward for the next four years. This projection depends on the State of Florida continuing it level of funding at the $322 million annual level. If the federal government commits the $2.9 billion required by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the next four years, we can complete key Everglades Restoration projects and greatly reduce the overall cost of restoration. 

THE COST

OF INACTION ON

THE EVERGLADES

 

FLORIDA TAX WATCH REPORT

The cost of inaction on the Everglades is more devastating to the state of Florida and its taxpayers than we realize.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

OF EVERGLADES RESTORATION 

 

MEASURING THE IMPACT

An Economic Evaluation of Ecosystem Services Affiliated with the World’s Largest Ecosystem Restoration Project

DISCOVER THE

EVERGLADES

ECONOMY 

 

INDUSTRIES THAT DEPEND ON A HEALTHY EVERGLADES

Understand the important role of the of the Everglades for a healthy and thriving Florida economy. 

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