Everglades Restoration Memorial Gets Committee Hearing Wednesday

Rep. Gayle Harrells House Memorial 607 urging the United States Congress to enact, before adjournment, the Water Resources Development Act authorizing the next phase of Everglades restoration as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, will be heard at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the House Local and Federal Affairs Committee.

Key projects include the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands, the C-111 Spreader Canal, the Broward County Water Preserve Area, the Caloosahatchee River C-43 West Basin Storage Reservoir and the Central Everglades Planning Project. The Memorial calls for continued funding of projects already under construction as part of the Indian River Lagoon South project, including the C-44 canal. It specifically urges Congress to authorize and appropriate funds for all these projects.

This Memorial sends an important message to Congress and the president. It is the voice of the people of the state of Florida as expressed through their elected representatives in the Legislature, said Harrell, R-Stuart.

Since 2000, the state of Florida has spent over $2.4 billion on various projects and land purchases connected with CERP. Federal authorization and appropriation of funds for projects that are already underway under WRDA 2007 (the last WRDA bill passed by the federal government) as well as the inclusion of the Central Everglades Planning Project in the final version of the current WRDA bill are essential to reducing the ecological damage and negative economic impact of the large releases of water from Lake Okeechobee.

The state of Florida is living up to its promise under CERP, Harrell said. Now is the time for Congress to step up to the plate and do its fair share by passing WRDA and funding these important projects.