Today, the State of Florida and the federal government reached an agreement to complete the final stages of Kissimmee River Restoration and the C-111 South Dade projects. Audubon applauds the state and federal restoration partners for agreeing to complete these two important Everglades projects. Questions related to the cost-share relationship between the state and federal governments had stalled progress. 

“Kissimmee River restoration holds the greatest promise for reducing harmful releases from Lake Okeechobee to the coastal waters,” said Eric Draper, Audubon Florida Executive Director. “Audubon applauds the impressive bi-partisan effort from Sen. Bill Nelson, Rep. Patrick Murphy, and Rep. Tom Rooney, who were instrumental in making this important resolution happen. The sooner restoration managers complete these projects, the sooner we restore the natural flow of water through the Everglades. Florida’s birds and wildlife will benefit from today’s good news.”

Now 85% complete, the Kissimmee River project is already the model for ecosystem restoration projects around the nation. Observers have noted the great return of shorebirds, ducks, and wading birds to the area since restoration work began. Many parts of the Kissimmee floodplain that were once barren of life are now seeing great improvement.  Despite these gains, Florida's birds and wildlife will not see the full benefits of restoration until construction is complete.

When complete, the project will have restored 20,000 acres of wetlands and 44 miles of historic river channel. The restored river will also have an estimated 100,000 acre-feet of water storage capacity. This extra storage will benefit the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. During the wet season, these two estuaries are prone to damaging water releases from Lake Okeechobee.

The C-111 South Dade project is in a similar situation. A majority of the work on this project is also already complete. Without completion of the final stage of restoration, the C-111 South Dade project will not hydrate wetlands in the Southern Everglades as designed. Florida's birds and wildlife will not see the full benefits of great restoration projects like the Central Everglades Planning Project and Tamiami Trail Bridge until we add this missing piece to the restoration puzzle.

“The coastal marshes of Florida Bay and Taylor Slough need more freshwater,” said Julie Hill-Gabriel, Audubon Florida Director of Everglades Policy. “Without the final stage of the C-111 South Dade project, wetlands will continue to dry out, birds and wildlife will suffer, and projects like the Tamiami Trail Bridge will fail to reap their full benefits. Finalizing this project is truly urgent.”