Today Audubon Florida expressed support for legislation filed by Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) to approve four Everglades restoration projects and make them eligible for federal funding.
The four projects included in the bill store and treat water in Broward County before it flows to the southern Everglades, while also improving the health and vibrancy of Florida Bay, Biscayne Bay, and the Caloosahatchee Estuary. Additionally, projects that complete the restoration planning process in the next five years are authorized in this bill – a provision that ensures Everglades restoration momentum continues.
“Senator Nelson’s legislation moves Everglades restoration forward. The projects in his bill are all necessary steps toward getting more fresh water into the parched Everglades, ” said Eric Draper, Audubon Florida’s Executive Director.
The legislation takes a new approach to the authorization of restoration projects, a critical procedural hurdle. Rather than waiting for a national Water Resources Development Act to be passed, which has not happened since 2007, the bill focuses only on Everglades-specific projects, and will help some of Florida’s most iconic wildlife.
“Today Senator Nelson answered the call from Greater Everglades advocates who are tired of waiting for Congress to act,” said Julie Hill-Gabriel, Audubon Florida’s Director of Everglades Policy. “While citizens wait for politicians to take action, the Everglades is dying. That could turn around today with this new legislation.”
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