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State releases environmental report on southern Florida

In early March, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) released a comprehensive update of environmental projects in southern Florida. The 2006 South Florida Environmental Report provides a detailed summary of Everglades restoration efforts and updates on the progress of other environmental programs in the Kissimmee Basin, Lake Okeechobee, estuaries and other coastal areas.

"No other government has taken on a mission as large and as important as Everglades restoration," said DEP Secretary Colleen M. Castille. "The 2006 South Florida Environmental Report delivers a comprehensive snapshot of Florida's unprecedented success over the past year."

The annual report documents the accomplishments of state and federal scientists, engineers, planners and program managers who are restoring the Everglades by reducing pollution and better managing the flow of water, while meeting the state's flood-control and water-supply responsibilities.

Highlights of the 2006 South Florida Environmental Report include:

• Stormwater treatment areas (STAs) have treated almost 1.5 million acre-feet of water and prevented 189 metric tons of phosphorus from reaching the Everglades in water year 2005 alone.
  
  
• Best management practices (BMPs) recorded 10 consecutive years of outstanding results in reducing phosphorus inputs. The BMP program achieved a 59% phosphorus load reduction in the Everglades Agricultural Area this year, more than doubling the 25% required by law, DEP said.
  
  
• To date, STAs and BMPs combined have prevented more than 2,178 metric tons of phosphorus from entering the Everglades, DEP said.
  
  
• In October 2004, Governor Jeb Bush unveiled Acceler8 -- a plan to accelerate the restoration of 8 key environmental projects to be completed 10 years ahead of schedule.
  
  
• The millionth acre of melaleuca, an invasive exotic tree, was cleared from the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP) area in water year 2005.
  
  
• To date, more than 210,000 acres of land have been acquired for use in CERP.
  
  

Florida forged a 50/50 state/federal partnership to implement the $8.4 billion CERP, has invested $1.3 billion in restoration and has committed an additional $3 billion through the end of the decade to clean up and restore the famed River of Grass.