WGCU, August 20, 2024
After 10 years, a lot of money, and an untold number of stops and starts, the Army Corps of Engineers has in effect a Grand New Plan to manage water releases from Lake Okeechobee.
It touts improvements in water quality, protection of ecosystems in the Everglades, and better management of water resources to prevent harmful algal blooms in the Caloosahatchee River and the St. Lucie Watershed on Florida’s East Coast
Nearly every environmental nonprofit in South Florida working to better the Everglades, and that is nearly all of them, is claiming credit for their work being the catalyst for the Army Corps’ Grand New Plan.
All of them deserve a good share of the credit; none of them did it alone.
The Everglades Foundation acknowledges the complexity of balancing water needs and environmental impacts, joining others who express concerns about the practical challenges of those conflicting imperatives.
Eric Eikenberg, leader of the foundation, said despite any contradictions and difficulties balancing the changes in the Grand New Plan, it's as good as it gets for now.
“While the long-term solution to South Florida’s complex water problems and the full elimination of discharges from the lake will only happen with new water infrastructure like the Everglades reservoir, this is a significant step toward a more balanced approach to managing the lake water that Floridians and our state rely on.”
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