January 16, 1999, PARK ATTACKS PLAN TO RESTORE GLADES

January 16, 1999

PARK ATTACKS PLAN TO RESTORE GLADES

By CYRIL T. ZANESKI
Herald Staff Writer

Officials at Everglades National Park have ripped the Army Corps of
Engineers' draft $7.8 billion plan for restoring the Glades and assuring an
ample supply of water for South Florida.

The corps' plan falls way short of its promised restoration of the
Everglades and Florida Bay, and might worsen problems for a neighboring
national park in Biscayne Bay, the park's scientists and engineers say in a
blistering 44-page critique.

The park's review sent chills up the corps' chain of command and through the
ranks of conservation groups that have been battling for years to restore
the River of Grass. It spurred meetings between top officials from the park
and the corps in Washington, D.C., this week in hopes of addressing the
park's complaints.

``We had a real good discussion that focused on outstanding shortfalls in
the plan, Everglades Superintendent Dick Ring said Friday. ``But these are
hard issues. .... We've got several steps to go yet.

Winning the park's support is critical since its negative view of the
restoration would make the plan an especially hard sell to Congress, which
would split the project's eye-popping cost with the state of Florida. The
corps is expected to have a final plan ready by April for delivery to
Congress in July.

Some conservationists who got word of the park's critique last week were
questioning the plan. Why, they asked, should federal taxpayers contribute
almost $4 billion for a plan that park ecologists and many conservationists
say does more to supply additional water for South Florida's booming cities
than to preserve the state's greatest natural treasures?

``How can the national environmental community even think about supporting a
plan that would deprive the national parks of the water they need in order
to subsidize doubling or tripling the water supply capacity for urban
development? Joe Browder, a Washington-based environmental consultant, wrote
this week in an electronic message to Everglades activists.

``If this kind of `restoration' were being proposed for Yosemite or the
Grand Canyon . . . the national environmental groups (most of them, anyway)
would be marching instead of whispering.

The reaction to their comments, which were delivered to the corps Dec. 31,
shocked park officials who profess that their overall support for the corps'
effort, which is nicknamed ``the Restudy, has not dimmed.

``Some people sort of assumed that we were breaking ranks and wanted to kill
the Restudy, Everglades park spokesman Rick Cook said. ``But nothing could
be further from the truth. We don't want to kill the Restudy. We just want
to get it right.

Blunt language

But in a bureaucratic system in which the meaning of written reports must
usually be deciphered, the park's clearly written report left no doubt about
its low opinion of the corps' restoration effort. ``It was devastating to
people in the corps, one federal official involved in the restoration said.
``They used regrettably strident language.

Here's the park's bottom line: ``There is insufficient evidence to
substantiate claims that [the proposed plan] will result in the recovery of
a healthy, sustainable ecosystem, the critique concludes. ``Rather, we find
substantial, credible and compelling evidence to the contrary.

The corps plan would only provide a 10 percent increase in the quantity of
freshwater flowing into Florida Bay and wetlands along the fringe of the
park over the amount of water that would be delivered without the mammoth
plan, the park says.

Parched estuaries

The estuaries, which have suffered because of a lack of freshwater, will
remain parched because the corps' plan fails to meet goals for Shark River
Slough, the primary source of freshwater for Everglades National Park.

Moreover, the plan would lead to a deterioration of water quality in the
central and northern Everglades, the park asserts. It would also threaten
Biscayne National Park because the plan relies on Miami-Dade County to
provide highly treated wastewater to meet the bay's need for water.

The key to a successful restoration is getting enough freshwater for the
environment and providing it at the right time for plants and animals in the
Everglades. The challenge for the corps is to figure how to collect, store
and cleanse billions of gallons of water that are now dumped into the sea
through a network of canals. Cities would get water

The park maintains that the corps has focused mostly on planning reservoirs
for cities at the expense of the environment. Park researchers note the plan
``does result in significant improvements in water supply for South Florida
cities.

The report got fast action. By Friday afternoon, Stuart Appelbaum, the chief
restoration planner for the corps, said planners had worked through the
night to devise a plan that would put ``a significant amount of additional
water into Everglades National Park and Biscayne Bay.

His team would continue on revisions next week that would provide further
help for the environment.

PLAN FOR THE EVERGLADES

Researchers at Everglades National Park have panned a $7.8 billion plan that
they say falls far short of restoring the Glades. The federal government's
plan aims to satisfy the long-term needs of South Florida's natural
resources, cities and farms for fresh water. It envisions the creation of a
life support system for the region that combines the filling of some canals
with the installation of massive pumps, reservoirs and deep wells to provide
more water.

RESTORING WATER TO THE LOWER GLADES

Here are some highlights of the plan in the southern Everglades:

   1-Fill the Miami River Canal.
   2-Remove levees and about 25 miles of the L-67 Extension
   3-Fill the L-67 Extension
   4-Elevate 20 miles of Tamiami Trail and fill the L-29 Canal.
   5-Remove the L-28 levee and fill the canal.
   6-Acquire land along the edge of the Everglades for use as reservoirs.
   7-Turn limestone quarries into two 5,500-acre reservoirs.
   8-Create flow way from limestone quarry reservoir to marshes in
     northeast corner of national park.

SOURCES: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
South Florida Water Management District