Today Audubon Florida’s Eric Draper will join U.S. Army Corps of Engineers District Commander Alan M. Dodd and South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Blake Guillory to celebrate the completion of the Merritt Canal Pump Station segment of the Picayune Strand Restoration Project.
Today’s ceremony marks the completion of the first federal construction project under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The Merritt Pump Station segment includes the plugging of 13.5 miles of canals, construction of an 810-cubic feet per second pump station, and removing 95 miles of roads. This new infrastructure will take former canal water and spread it out as natural sheetflow, to restore thousands of acres of drained wetlands and help recover Everglades wildlife and habitat.
“This is an early success story of Everglades restoration. So many areas were ditched and drained for development,” said Audubon Florida’s Executive Director Eric Draper. “Reconnecting the wetlands is the key to recovering populations of wildlife like Florida panthers and Wood Storks. Audubon salutes those who have worked so hard and overcome so many obstacles to get to this point.”
The 55,000 acres that will be restored through the Picayune Strand Restoration Project was originally slated to become South Golden Gate Estates, the largest subdivision in the world and a quintessential Florida “swampland scam.” After developers abandoned the project in the 1970s, the State of Florida acquired more than 19,000 properties necessary to allow restoration. In all, the Picayune Strand Restoration Project includes removing 260 miles of roads and plugging 48 miles of canals.
"Many people said this project would never be restored,” said Brad Cornell, Southwest Florida Policy Associate for Audubon Florida and Audubon of the Western Everglades. “While there is more work to be done, today’s celebration is a reminder that progress in the Everglades is possible when the goals of science and policy align.”
For more information, please download Audubon Florida’s latest Fact Sheet: http://bit.ly/1tOShqn