Chief Science Officer, Dr. Steve Davis of the Everglades Foundation, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about the Everglades.
How has this drought been affecting the water?
Dr. Davis said, “We have seen a delayed start to the wet season this year. Signs are pointing toward more rain in the near future, so that’s welcome, not only for the Everglades, but for Florida Bay and the estuaries around the southern tip of the peninsula. That extended drought, what it’s done is it’s effectively taken our fire season, which we generally see peaking in about April to May, and pushed it into the months of July and August, and the recent fire we see in Broward County, just north of Alligator Alley, spread to approximately 50,000 acres. I understand that fire is mostly contained, and hopefully we’ll see it dissipate over the next few days, but that’s the consequence of what we see. We know the Everglades needs to be hydrated with fresh water throughout the year, not flooded, but it shouldn’t be drying out, particularly this time of year. So when we talk about Everglades restoration, it’s about South Florida’s water. It’s about water for our estuaries and bays and also for this ecosystem that we depend upon.”
There were also some fires around Card Sound Road that closed access to the Keys not long ago. Were they caused by the same drought conditions?
Dr. Davis said, “That area is particularly vulnerable to fire because it was part of the greater Everglades ecosystem. The River of Grass was connected from Lake Okeechobee all the way down to our coast. And that was part of the system, those wetlands that extend from lower Biscayne Bay across that Card Sound Road and US 1 into the c111 basin, the southern glades that was all connected to the river of grass. We have cut off the flow of fresh water to that part of the system, those roadways, the development has restricted flow through the system. The good news is we’re planning a restoration project, part of the comprehensive Everglades restoration plan will seek to hydrate that area, reduce the risk of extreme fire and certainly benefit those coastal wetlands, those mangroves and sea grasses further offshore. We hope to see that project authorized within the next couple of years.”
Are the drought conditions affecting the Florida Bay overall?
Dr. Davis said, “Absolutely. But what we’ve seen over this last six to eight month period of time where we have been in La Nina and drier than average conditions to the point of drought, we’ve not seen the detrimental high salinity levels building up in Florida Bay. Many of us feel that the reason for that is that over the past two years, we’ve been able to flow substantially more water across Tamiami Trail, through the park and into Florida Bay. And Florida Bay has a long memory, and so if we can build up our capacity to flow fresh water into Florida Bay, it will help to build resilience against these types of drought events that we’ve been experiencing. But all that to say we’re still at a tenuous point in Florida Bay, because we are seeing elevated salinities. But again, we hope that with the onset of the wet season rains that we’ve had lately, that will help to protect the bay, at least throughout this year.”
How are some of these drought conditions impacting the water supply?
Dr. Davis said, “Because of the lack of water throughout the system, we’ve seen areas of the Everglades drying out. People should understand that whether you’re in the Keys or in Miami or Broward County, your water comes from the aquifer that the Everglades recharge. So when the Everglades are dry, we’ve run into issues of water shortage. Aquifer recharge is what we depend upon. So through Everglades restoration, the ability to clean and reconnect the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the south, that ensures our water supply, but we know that it also has co benefits for the ecosystem that drives our economy in South Florida. We conducted a study recently with Earth Economics showing that this is a trillion dollar asset that we have in our backyard here in South Florida, and that asset spends off roughly $35 billion a year to our GDP in areas of water supply, recreation, all the tourism sectors that we associate with South Florida, especially in the Florida Keys, that’s where that connection is most direct. So protecting and restoring this ecosystem is in our best interest.”
The salinity of the remaining water is also of concern because it affects sea grass and the marine life.
Dr. Davis said, “That combined with increasing temperatures in our near shore waters, that has a double whammy of effect. So if we can keep the salinities in check, that will again help to build resilience for the seagrass meadows, the oysters further around the coast, the mangrove wetlands, and protect those wetlands that need to be fresh behind those mangrove wetlands further upstream. So again, this is something that is important folks understand. Restoring fresh water flow benefits us all here in South Florida.”
What is being done to confront the drought effects?
Dr. Davis said, “We go through these periods of boom and bust with rainfall, and often times when it rains a lot, particularly further north in the state, the lake fills up. We have to dump that water east and west where we know it causes harm, but we have no place to put it. We have no means of cleaning it and sending it south. So what restoration does is it really builds resilience to drought from our water management systems perspective. So building large reservoirs, particularly the EA reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee, allows us, instead of dumping and wasting that fresh water, that valuable resource, we can store it and really benefit from it during these times of drought, we could be sending more water south if that reservoir was completed. Now it’s under construction, and we look forward to its accelerated timeline of completion in 2029 but having that reservoir is really drought insurance, not only for the Everglades, but also for Florida Bay.”
The Everglades has actually been cut in half over time.
Dr. Davis said, “That’s why these infrastructure park projects that are part of the restoration plan are so important to South Florida. It’s not just about flood control and water supply. It’s also about our environment.”
Remember we are still in hurricane season.
Dr. David said, “Just making sure that folks are aware there’s information out there, take precaution. Stay tuned to the weather and the warnings. Between mid to late August through the month of September into early October, this is generally when we see our greatest hurricane, tropical storm activity.”
For more information, click here: https://www.evergladesfoundation.org/