August 21, 2007
Nelson: Getting bills passed a priority
by Joel Moroney
jmoroney@news-press.com
The federal government promised Monday to try to improve its plan to fix South Florida's environment — despite the fact that no major projects have been approved or funded in nearly a decade.
"Obviously, we are seven or eight years behind," said Stuart Appelbaum, deputy program manager for restoration with the Army Corps of Engineers. "We haven't had (funding) and we haven't had construction."
"Adaptive management" was the buzzphrase at a planning meeting in West Palm Beach on Monday, where the primary purpose of the Army Corps of Engineers was to assure the audience something is being done.
Congress has not approved significant projects or funding for the South Florida ecosystem restoration plan since shortly after adapting the 40-year, $15 billion fix in 2000. Meanwhile, cost estimates have climbed 29 percent, to at least $20 billion, according to a congressional report issued last spring.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said there might be enough votes to override a veto on the $20 billion federal water-project package, which includes $2 billion for South Florida, including the Picayune Strand project south of Interstate I-75 in Collier County.
"We have to pass one," Nelson said. "We're pretty sure we can get the votes this time."
Kurt Harclerode, operations manager for the Lee County Division of Natural Resources, said comprehensive planning for Southwest Florida remains among the items unfinished in the 20 years since modern planning began.
"We've had promises by various corps commanders to get that done," Harclerode said of the $12 million study still slated for completion in 2009. "It's years behind schedule."
Last spring's congressional report found 179 of 222 projects remain incomplete or not started — President Bush has threatened to veto funding this year, citing cost.
Decades of draining and developing the 18,000 square miles from Orlando to Key West have created havoc with the natural flow of water — requiring the massive project to restore order and create enough storage to keep from flooding the rivers and Everglades in times of high water.
The report found:
• 34 of 91 scheduled projects were completed by 2006.
• As recently as 2005, the corps and district used incomplete computer modeling to estimate cost.
• Project schedules are driven primarily by available funding and not by what is best for the environment.
• Costly projects are being delayed, only to become more expensive.
Among projects delayed or not funded are 60 critical ones known as the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
Virtually the only progress is Acceler8 Projects — an $1.5 billion funding package backed by former Gov. Jeb Bush to jumpstart a handful of the most critical restoration projects.
The state still hopes to pay the loans from future federal funding — accelerated projects include an enormous reservoir to store Caloosahatchee River water near the Lee and Hendry county line.
The current bill Bush has threatened to veto also contains funding to continue the $360 million Picayune Strand; the project is removing roads and canals from land that was to have become South Golden Gate Estates.
Meanwhile, the corps promised to keep busy planning.
"We're going to try to get everyone engaged and make the best decisions we can," Stuart said. "I think we are finally at a place where we have a methodology that works as well as provide a transparency to the process. However, it has not been easy."