Audubon Florida commends the South Florida Water Management District for approving the release of the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) for public review. For months, Audubon has been calling on water managers to complete this major milestone in Everglades restoration. By removing barriers to sheetflow, CEPP will allow water to more naturally flow south from Lake Okeechobee to the Southern Everglades. CEPP will increase flow to the south by 217,000 acre feet (70 billion gallons) of water, substantially reducing discharges of polluted water from the Lake to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries during future high water events.

“The devastating impacts in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries are being caused by too much water from Lake Okeechobee and local basins that can’t be moved south,” said Julie Hill-Gabriel, Audubon Florida’s Director of Everglades Policy. “The Central Everglades project will reconnect the heart of the Everglades, sending water from Lake Okeechobee south to Everglades National Park. Today’s vote was an important victory for the River of Grass and our fragile coastal estuaries.”