The National Academies
10/01/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/01/2024 09:20
Tenth Biennial Review Highlights Historic Level of Everglades Restoration Progress, Identifies Areas for Continued Improvement
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Tenth Biennial Review Highlights Historic Level of Everglades Restoration Progress, Identifies Areas for Continued Improvement
News Release| October 1, 2024
WASHINGTON - A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine highlights accelerated progress of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and provides recommendations to incorporate Indigenous knowledge into CERP activities, include climate change considerations in CERP planning and operations, and improve adaptive management procedures for more nimble decision-making in the future.
The Florida Everglades is a treasured ecosystem, but the water quality, quantity, flow, and distribution have been dramatically degraded by drainage and infrastructure development during the past century. A joint effort launched by the state and the federal government in 2000, CERP seeks to reverse the decline of the ecosystem. The National Academies have provided biennial reviews of CERP since 2004.
The past two years have seen major accomplishments in the implementation of Everglades restoration projects, thanks to record state and federal investments in 2022 and 2023, the new report says. Natural system restoration progress is evident in large areas of the Everglades ecosystem, including northeastern Everglades National Park.
"It is exciting to see so much progress across this important ecosystem," said James Saiers, the Clifton R. Musser Professor of Hydrology at the Yale School of the Environment and chair of the committee that wrote the report. "Like the biennial reviews that have come before it, our new report is an opportunity to take stock of changes that CERP could make to carry that progress forward into the next decade of Everglades restoration."
With many projects now operating or in construction, there is a need for timely use of information on restoration benefits and unanticipated outcomes to assess and improve CERP. Information on natural system restoration progress relative to expectations and project objectives, however, continues to be difficult to find and interpret.
The report focuses on opportunities to improve CERP to further boost restoration gains in the following three areas.
Integrate Indigenous Knowledge into Project Planning
The Miccosukee and Seminole Tribes have a wealth of knowledge about the South Florida ecosystem that has been developed through lived experience and passed down through generations. Consistent engagement between CERP agencies and tribal nations is necessary to create a partnership where Indigenous knowledge can be considered and applied in restoration decision-making. Notable progress has been made to improve how tribes can engage with CERP planning. An internal peer-review process developed recently by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians is an important step toward facilitating consideration of Indigenous knowledge in Everglades restoration processes and provides a potential model for other tribes throughout the United States. CERP staff should implement best practices in their efforts to engage tribes and apply Indigenous knowledge into Everglades restoration planning, operations, and adaptive management, with staff training on a recurring basis for all staff that interact with tribal members.
Implement Climate Change Information and Tools
The report recommends developing a strategy to understand the impacts of climate change, with a set of plausible future scenarios applied across all components of planning and restoration implementation. Ecological models should be used to a greater extent and further developed to anticipate the effects of climate change on wildlife indicators of restoration success. Dynamic sediment accretion models are needed to provide more accurate predictions of coastal restoration outcomes and guide investment decisions.
Use New Information in Decision-Making and Adaptive Management
Congress directed the use of "adaptive management" - a structured, iterative decision-making process - in CERP to ensure continued restoration progress amid uncertainties and to improve restoration outcomes through the incorporation of new information. The CERP program has developed thorough adaptive management guidance, but the process to incorporate new information is often time consuming and burdensome. Additional efforts and resources are needed to provide the necessary foundation for successful adaptive management at the full scale of CERP. A review of the requirements associated with incorporating new information into restoration design, construction, and management could benefit not only CERP but also U.S. Army Corps of Engineers restoration projects across the nation.
The study - undertaken by the Committee on Independent Scientific Review of Everglades Restoration Progress X - was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine are private, nonprofit institutions that provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions related to science, engineering, and medicine. They operate under an 1863 congressional charter to the National Academy of Sciences, signed by President Lincoln.
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Featured Publication
2024
Progress Toward Restoring the Everglades: The Tenth Biennial Review - 2024
The Florida Everglades is a treasured ecosystem, but the water quality, quantity, flow, and distribution have been dramatically degraded by drainage and infrastructure development during the past century. A joint effort launched by the State and federal government in 2000, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) seeks to reverse the decline of the ecosystem. The National Academies have provided a biennial review of CERP since 2004. This tenth biennial report in the series highlights significant recent restoration progress and offers guidance in three areas: applying Indigenous Knowledge in project planning, using modeling tools for understanding the effects of climate change on the CERP, and strengthening adaptive management for CERP decision making.
Thanks to record state and federal investments in recent years, the pace of restoration implementation has reached historic levels and sizeable restoration benefits have been achieved. However, information on natural system restoration progress relative to CERP expectations continues to be difficult to find and interpret. The report recommends modeling tools be applied to anticipate the effects of climate change, including temperature and precipitation, on CERP outcomes and to inform planning and management. Moving forward, consistent and meaningful engagement between CERP agencies and tribal nations is necessary to create a partnership where Indigenous Knowledge can be considered and applied in restoration decision-making. Building expertise and a culture of adaptive management can help ensure continued restoration progress amid uncertainties and improve restoration outcomes through the incorporation of new information.
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