Compromise Raises Hopes for Everglades Restoration

A compromise was reached Wednesday that increases the likelihood of congressional approval this year of a $1.4-billion first installment for restoration of the imperiled Florida Everglades.

But lawmakers and environmentalists said concern remains about whether the legislation, likely to be considered by the full Senate in the coming weeks, can make it through Congress during the hectic rush toward adjournment.

The legislation, still to be considered by the House, authorizes a sweeping, long-term rescue effort for the Everglades that is expected to cost nearly $8 billion and take as long as four decades.

The first installment, which calls for spending $1.4 billion, was approved by the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee in late June, but sugar interests and some of South Florida’s water utilities objected to certain provisions.

After lengthy discussions, those concerns--dealing mainly with water allocation, maintenance of water rights and the role of the Interior Department--were resolved to the satisfaction of both environmentalists and agriculture and utility interests.

Florida Sens. Connie Mack, a Republican, and Bob Graham, a Democrat, issued a statement saying the agreement “dramatically increases the chance of enacting the legislation into law this year.”

Mack called it “an historic partnership between many diverse groups” that have been on opposite sides on Everglades restoration.

“This broad support shows the importance of returning America’s Everglades to the countless endangered species that call this national treasure home,” added Graham.

With the changes that were made, Florida’s sugar industry and water utility agencies have joined in support of the legislation, the senators’ aides said. The bill also has the support of the White House, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and major environmental groups, they added.

“We have set aside decades of acrimony and are in the same boat and rowing in the same direction,” said Stuart Strahl, a vice president of the National Audubon Society, who heads the group’s Everglades restoration office in Miami.

But Strahl warned that a celebration may be premature.

“Passing this legislation now becomes a race against the clock,” said Strahl.

Sen. Bob Smith, R-N.H., chairman of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee, called passing the legislation his top environmental priority. His office is now circulating the revised bill among senators to gauge the support.

The Florida senators hope the bill can come up for a full Senate vote within two weeks. The House has not yet acted on the measure, and any significant opposition could stall the bill as lawmakers focus on critical spending bills and then push for adjournment in the first week of October.

The plan aims to revamp the water flows within the 100-mile Everglades system, capture more fresh water and distribute it in ways to revitalize ecosystem. The project includes eliminating 240 miles of levees and canals, building above-ground reservoirs and underground aquifers and developing new wetlands.

In addition to the federal funding of $7.8 billion, the state of Florida has committed $2 billion over the next 10 years to the program.