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[ Home > Page 9: Restoring the Fountain of Youth, Part 4 ]
Page 9: Restoring the Fountain of Youth, Part 4![Page 9: Restoring the Fountain of Youth, Part 4]()
Second, the 8 ½ square mile area continues to frustrate plans to restore natural water flows to Shark River Slough and the East Everglades. This area, perched in a natural flow-way on the 'wrong' side of the protective levee, should never have been developed. That is not the fault of the residents, but of the government. But that is no reason for us to compound the mistake by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on flood protection measures that will not solve the problem. We must instead take action so that the water can flow as naturally and cleanly as possible into Northeast Shark Slough and the habitat can be restored. We fully support the Water Management District's willing seller acquisition program, and anxiously await the pending NEPA review of additional options available to us. These options include: offering voluntary buyouts of both undeveloped and developed property, or providing life estates (or the equivalent) to residents who want to stay on and who are prepared to cope with living on the wet side of the existing levee. Our major task for the coming year will of course be obtaining approval of the Restudy and long term financing for its implementation. The major policy question will be "assurances," or, simply put, defining how additional water that is developed and conserved will be allocated between restoring the natural hydrology of the Everglades, and augmenting water supplies for the communities of South Florida. Interior Subcommittee chair Ralph Regula and Senator Bob Graham have both put us on notice that this issue must be addressed in the coming year, and history bears witness to the importance of their concerns. Throughout the history of Florida (and indeed of our entire country), water development projects, whether for navigation, flood control, power, agriculture or irrigation, have too often starved the natural systems which produce pure water and carry out priceless environmental services, not to mention the beauty of our natural world. That means that Federal legislation authorizing and financing the Comprehensive Restoration Plan must explicitly ensure that the natural system benefits are achieved in a timely manner and maintained forever. These assurances must address the proper quantity, quality, timing and distribution of water for the natural system, even in times of stress on the water system. Once restored, these assurances must guarantee that never again will we sacrifice the state's rich, wild, natural character.
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