Eric Eikenberg, the CEO of the Everglades Foundation, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on with the Everglades.
The new Lake Okeechobee system operating manual was just approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Eikenberg said, “This was an important step forward in the management of Lake Okeechobee. This new operating manual took effect in August, and it, quite frankly, gives the Army Corps of Engineers a tremendous amount of flexibility in how they will manage Lake Okeechobee. With that flexibility, the beneficiary of that will be Florida Bay and the Florida Keys. During the dry season, November through May, the ability for the colonel of the Army Corps to release water to the south, to lower the lake so we can send water through the Everglades all the infrastructure is working so that water is flowing south and then ultimately that fresh water from Lake Okeechobee under this important new manual, this new operating manual, will make its way down to Florida Bay. Long time coming. Took about four years to get it fully implemented, and we’re just delighted that it is now part of the new lake management. It’s a key tool in the Everglades toolbox. There’s a number of facets that are going to work to complement this new way of managing Okeechobee. The whole purpose of this journey that we’re on, this this fight to save what’s left of the Everglades, is to stop the wasting, the dumping, the sending of fresh water to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico to the north, and instead redirect the flow of water and get that critical fresh water, not only that provides the drinking water for the Florida Keys through the aqueduct, but also the drinking water for Dade County, Broward County, southern Palm Beach County. It’s almost 7 million people that rely upon the sending of water south to recharge that drinking water supply, and then certainly the Fishing Capital of the World, Florida Bay, again, is the is the tremendous beneficiary of it all.”
How has the Everglades Foundation been involved in that process?
Eikenberg said, “When this process began, it was under the previous Colonel. The Army Corps circulates colonels ahead of the Jacksonville district every three years or so. So this started during COVID, the process of getting stakeholders together. They had a variety of public hearings. I believe there were some 200 meetings over a course of time just to get all input. The Everglades Foundation, our science team, our hydrologists, our biologists, our geochemists, all the experts in the in the science field, if you will, were around a table for many, many months, offering different scenarios, different ideas. I must give the Army Corps credit, working with the South Florida Water Management District, Governor DeSantis was very vocal in wanting to make sure that the most flexibility was in the final plan. Once it was announced, maybe a year and a half ago, it provided that benefit to the environment, to the Everglades, because prior to that, candidly, the beneficiary of keeping the lake higher was the sugar industry. The sugar industry wants that lake to remain high enough so they can tap into that water for their irrigation purposes, and that was to the detriment of the Everglades. You had portions of western Broward County that were on fire. You had, we all remember the 2015, massive sea grass die off in Florida Bay. That was because the salinity levels were so high, the fresh water wasn’t flowing properly through the system. So again, much credit to the Corps. The foundation and our partners were very involved in it. That new plan is a significant improvement to the overall flow of water to the south.”
The Seepage Barrier wall is also continuing.
Eikenberg said, “There’s a community up in in western Dade County. It had plagued Everglades restoration for many, many decades, going back to even the Jeb Bush administration in Tallahassee, unable to send water through the eastern part of the Everglades National Park due to the fact that some of these homes were being flooded. There was a decision many, many decades ago to allow people to build homes on the wrong side of the levee. But there was a solution to that. It was putting a 60 foot wall, a concrete wall down 60 feet that allows fresh water now to stay in the eastern part of Everglades National Park, heading towards Shark River Slough down to Florida Bay. It’s avoiding the loss of water in the eastern part of the park, because, again, we’re trying to get water flowing under all these beautiful bridges along Tamiami Trail. By doing so, you want to keep water in the park and not have it seep out to Dade County and certainly to the Atlantic Ocean. So that was a big hurdle to overcome. It has finally happened. It took good political will to get that over the finish line and that seepage barrier, that curtain wall, it’s, again, it’s a concrete wall underground. It is a providing a tremendous environmental benefit. It’s all about flowing water south, and that water, ultimately, every drop of water that flows south makes its way down to the Florida Keys.”
The Tamiami Trail project is another one that’s nearing completion.
Eikenberg said, “That road in the late 1920s connecting Tampa to Miami. The great news there is the bridges have been in place now for a number of years. We’re seeing water flowing. Gravity is pulling fresh water through under the bridges into the park, but the Department of Transportation is removing the remaining road, and the road is going to be elevated and culverts, massive culverts, maybe mini bridges, if you will, will be installed. That’s probably another year away, and that will just increase the amount of flow coming in from the central Everglades. That is the linchpin. It’s been the issue of pulling the plug in the in the tub, if you will, and by raising the road, that strip of asphalt, putting it up on bridges, and now these culverts, we’re seeing fresh water flows, tremendous benefit we haven’t seen in about 100 years. So it’s helping balance out the salinity levels of Florida Bay. It helps the fishery. It’s wonderful to see that progress continuing to take place. I want to thank all the residents in Monroe County for their support of these efforts. We’re now heading towards the season, if you will. A lot of tourists will be coming down. This is a tourism based economy that we’re working to protect. It’s driven by clean water. It’s driven by a substantial amount of water. Our generation will be the ones that will cross that finish line so that we can demonstrate the reconnection of water from Lake Okeechobee down to Florida Bay, where we are optimistic and we look forward to working with all stakeholders, elected officials, to make this happen.”
For more information, click here: https://www.evergladesfoundation.org/