Two Key Projects Push Water South
By Marvin Williams
Florida Everglades experts are optimistic that two key projects to bring more water into the Everglades National Park will help restore the natural habitat of the park.
The two projects are a bridge on the Tamiami Trail and the C‑111 spreader canal.
Linda Friar, public information officer for the Everglades National Park, calls them key projects for the park.
The C‑111 canal is supposed to bring water to the park in areas where it might be too dry, while the Tamiami Bridge works to repair damages done on the Tamiami Trail.
Construction of the C‑111 spreader canal started 14 years ago, while the first mile of the Tamiami Bridge was recently completed with another 2.6 miles said to be built soon.
“C‑111 is actually one of our key successes,” Friar said.
More specifically, C‑111 refers to a project that made changes to a canal that runs on the east side of the national park. In the past it caused a lot of water that should have gone to the park to drain into the ocean.
“It’s a major piece of everything,” said Neil Santaniello, a journalism professor at Florida Atlantic University and longtime follower of developments in the Everglades.
“The changes that they are making [to the canal] will allow a lot more water to stay in the park,” Santaniello said. “It’s going to benefit wildlife.”
Friar says that C‑111 has been in the works since the early 1990’s, with a developing plan starting in 1996 and construction beginning in 2000.
The C‑111 project is actually a small-scale example of the changes underway in the Everglades ecosystem, according to Aida Arik, ecological engineer for the Everglades Foundation.
The spreader canal allows water to distribute more evenly into more areas both in the Everglades and Florida Bay, thus making the restoration efforts more efficient. Florida Bay has received so little fresh water in the past that it has developed salinity problems at times.
The C‑111 looks like it’s going to be a success according to experts but they say it is still early to say how much of a success.
“I think it’s very early to give a strong assessment of whether it’s working or not,” Arik said, who remains upbeat about its future.
“With ecosystems, you sort of have to give time to assess how these restoration projects are working,” Arik said.
Arik also says that wetlands tend to recover from destruction much easier than other ecosystems in the world.
“You have so many variables,” Arik said. “You have climate changes, the weather is always changing, and you have wet or dry years.”
The Tamiami Trail, which opened in 1928, is a highway that links Tampa Bay and Miami. The trail runs through the Florida Everglades and overtime has damaged fish and vegetation habitats by blocking water from flowing farther south.
Engineers and environmentalists have proposed converting an 11-mile stretch into a bridge. Construction for the first mile of the bridge began in 2009 and finished in early 2013, with the next few miles of the bridge still in the works.
“The next segment that we’re trying to get is 2.6 miles,” said Arik. “Once we get that 2.6 miles, we’ll get to the rest.”
Florida governor Rick Scott, who has played a significant rule in the building of both the C‑111 spreader canal and Tamiami Bridge, announced that the funds needed for the next 2.6 miles of the bridge have been approved.
The bridge is still fairly new; therefore it is hard to assess how well it is doing at this point.
“Some people think that they’re seeing some improvement from the bridge, but the water is not really moving in here yet,” said Shauna Cotrell, a ranger at Everglades National Park. “They’re just seeing the effects of a couple wet summers.”
Still, key restoration projects such as the C‑111 and Tamiami Bridge give hope to many that the Florida Everglades will one day be restored back to its natural habitat.