Gina Ralph, Science Integration Branch, Jacksonville, FL District, USACE
The Everglades ecosystem has been altered from over 140 years of highly effective efforts to drain water from the land. As a result, the remaining Everglades ecosystem no longer exhibits the structure, function, or diversity that historically defined the pre-drainage system. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), authorized by Congress in 2000, restores, preserves, and protects the south Florida ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs including water supply and flood protection. CERP focuses on quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of water flow, given modern constraints, to recover critical ecological functions that characterized the historical Everglades and other portions of the south Florida landscape. This presentation will highlight examples of how south Florida ecosystem restoration projects like CERP, and the Kissimmee River Restoration Project, embody the principles of engineering with nature restoring hydrology through removal of more than 240 miles of internal levees and canals, improving the health of over 2.4 million acres by allowing water to flow nearly unobstructed throughout the south Florida ecosystem.
The N-EWN Knowledge Series offers 1 Continuing Education Credit (CEC) per seminar. This Series is presented by N-EWN, Limnotech, the University of Georgia, and USACE ERDC.