Letter to the Editor, PB Post: Everglades Back on Track ? Really?

The July 16 letter to the editor of questionable title puts political science over restoration science by demeaning a total system approach initiated by a previous administration.

The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan issued in 1999 (CERP 1999) was fatally flawed by failure to provide natural flow from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades and restore its historic River of Grass. Restoring natural flow was a major premise on page 1 of CERP 1999, and throughout the 4033 page tome.

Long story short: This was also due to political science, defying scientists’ calls to restore sheet flow dating back to the 1970’s, also called the Marshall Plan, through the latest CERP 1999 peer review by the National Research Council (2010 Biennial Report).

In January 2008, CERP scientists revealed a second deficiency: That they had found through modeling and analysis, that the Everglades was a much wetter ecosystem than previously modeled in CERP 1999, requiring a return to the drawing board to get the water right and restore natural flow postulated on page 1 of CERP 1999 and elsewhere in the 4033 page tome. Per CERP protocol, this requires an execution of “adaptive management” when new data dictates a need for a modification of CERP 1999.

In terms of CERP science, per the verb “to restore” and adaptive management, emerged the initiative to restore “the missing link to revitalize the River of Grass”. This provides the means to flow water south to meet the true water needs of the historic Everglades, as well as all the other users, and avoids trashing the estuaries by moving water south more than east and west.

Call the total ecosystem revitalization CERP(+). Consider CERP(+) progress in three regions:

1. There is progress north of Lake O per the Northern Everglades Ecosystem legislation/plan and the proposed Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge.

3. There is progress in the southern Everglades with the bridging of Tamiami Trail and related projects.

2. Until the River of Grass initiative, there was inadequate action for connecting the northern part of the ecosystem with the southern part of the ecosystem, due to CERP 1999 deficiencies. Absent this link, the Everglades would have to remain on expensive engineered life-support, and not much life with that.

In May 2010 the River of grass workshops were postponed until further notice, owing to the need to address land purchase needed. Admittedly the economy makes this paltry land purchase look like a bad deal. However better economic analysis indicates CERP(+) return on investment is at least $10:$1, with Florida Crystals analysis producing an even higher ROI: 26:1, based on restoring flow aforementioned.

Additional calculations indicate it will be less costly in the long run to restore the River of Grass, than inaction and water management that results in the adverse economic impacts of droughts that are more frequent, longer in duration, and of extreme/exceptional category.

The “streamlined approach” referenced in the July 16 letter lacks a CERP(+) vision and reduces State resources for adaptive action to get the water right and lessen the economic impacts of drought/water shortage. This leaves the Everglades and CERP 1999 on a track undermining the Florida economy.

Why a former governing board member does not see this is left to the judgment of the reader.

John Arthur Marshall, Chairman of the Board

Arthur R. Marshall Foundation & Florida Environmental Institute, Inc.

1028 North Federal Highway, Lake Worth, FL 33460; 233-9004