To ensure the future of the Everglades and still
allow for the population of south Florida to continue life, strategies and
priorities need to be addressed through government actions to develop a plan
for restoration. This plan needs to target the key environmental factors in the
Everglades, such as poor water quality and distribution. “Water and its
distribution were viewed as the central problem to be solved by the creation of
the multi billion-dollar effort to restore the Everglades called the
Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan” (Water Management). This water
restoration plan will benefit the natural environment of the Everglades by
restoring natural water elevations and thus the natural habitats for the many
species of the Everglades.
The Army Corp of
Engineers have now begun working on new, environmentally friendly ways “to
control the flow of water so that the dry season stays dry and the wet season
wet- an important cycle affecting birds’ nesting habits that was disrupted by
man-made levees” (Schmalz). Along with water
flow, the government needs to enforce farmers to “meet standards for phosphorus
reduction from sugar cane lands in the Everglades agricultural area” (History
Culture) as improved water quality will benefit all of the ecosystems in the
Everglades, and human population.
As the human
population and ecosystem of the Everglades are intricately intertwined,
“research, monitoring, land acquisition, construction of water delivery and
water quality improvement projects are followed through with adaptive
management strategies” (Kulshan 118) as there are so many diverse ecosystems in
the Everglades that it has to be carefully altered for each area. An example of
this is the research taken to develop the MWD Project to improve water
deliveries to National Parks in the Everglades. The researchers “must carefully
consider the full effects of their actions for endangered species, public
roadways, and private residents” (History Culture) as all are important factors
of life in present day south Florida. This team work of society, government,
and science research can create new life in the Everglades.
Spreading the
boundaries of the Everglades National Park and Big Cypress National Preserve
would allow for the necessary land to restore a more natural flow. Currently,
“congress is considering a bill that would bring 100,000 more acres under the
protection of the Everglades National Park, which encompasses about a fifth of
all the Everglades. State water managers have proposed seizing 40,000 acres of
private and state owned wetlands that would be used as natural purification
system to filter out nutrients before they reach sensitive areas” (Schmalz).
The key to life in the Everglades is it’s water flow as it connects all of the
ecosystems together, by helping the water flow we would be helping the future
of the Everglades.
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