go to 2004 Everglades Consolidated Report
      http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/ema/everglades/consolidated_04/final/index.html

SFWMD Press Release 

Posted Tuesday, February 10, 2004  

Randy Smith    
Office: (561) 682-6197
Cell: (561) 389-3386

Florida Continues March to Restore America’s Everglades
2004 Everglades Consolidated Report now available

The South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) announce availability of the 2004 Everglades Consolidated Report. Sixth in an annual series, the extensive, 400-page report highlights Florida’s science-based plan to improve water quality and restore America’s Everglades.

“ We made enormous strides in 2003, not only in improving water quality flowing into the Everglades today but in finalizing important programs that will protect the ecosystem for decades to come,” said District Executive Director Henry Dean.

Highlights of the 2004 report:

• In 2003, Florida adopted a stringent, science-based water quality criterion of 10 parts per billion for phosphorus in the Everglades.
   
• To achieve the stringent criterion, the District and DEP developed a Long-term Plan which includes expanded source controls, enhancements to the Stormwater Treatment Areas, integration with CERP projects and continued scientific investigations. These measures will reduce the levels of phosphorus entering the Everglades by December 2006. The Legislature approved the $444 million plan as the best available phosphorus reduction technology to achieve the phosphorus criterion.
   
• The most recent three-year trend indicates that modified farming practices in the Everglades Agricultural Area have reduced phosphorus loads to the Everglades by 57 percent, more than twice the 25 percent reduction required by the Everglades Forever Act. These practices, together with the Stormwater Treatment Areas, the largest system of constructed wetlands in the world, have removed 1,400 metric tons of phosphorus that otherwise would have entered the River of Grass.
   
• Mercury concentrations found in fish and wading birds in the Everglades have dropped by as much as 60 percent from a decade ago.
   
• Remote sensing techniques revealed a slowdown in the spread of cattail in Water Conservation Area 2A, when compared to the 1991-1995 period.
   
• Biological control is showing promise, reducing the spread of the exotic tree, melaleuca. The melaleuca snout beetle reduced flowering in this invasive plant by up to 80 percent, while a second insect, a sap-sucking psyllid, is eliminating melaleuca seedlings.
   
• Construction of an ecosystem research site for studying the landscape effects of water flow is nearing completion. The Loxahatchee Impoundment Landscape Assessment facility will aid in interpreting complex monitoring data and evaluating the effectiveness of restoration projects before large-scale implementation

“Thanks to committed funding, outstanding performance of pollution control programs and science-based plans for further improvements, Florida is saving America’s Everglades,” said DEP Secretary David B. Struhs. “The secret to our success is staying focused on first-rate science, engineering and management. It is a proven formula that has helped us achieve tremendous progress.”

The 2004 Everglades Consolidated Report is written cooperatively by the District and DEP, in compliance with reporting requirements of the Everglades Forever Act. The complete report, which includes an executive summary, 400-page scientific report and appendices, is available at http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/ema/everglades. Printed copies of the executive summary, which includes a CD of the scientific report and appendices plus full reports from four previous years, are available by calling the District’s Technical Publications office at (561) 682-6745.

Related Links:

Reports from previous years (ONLINE)

http://www.sfwmd.gov/org/ema/everglades/previous.html

South Florida Water Management District

Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Everglades Construction Project