Audubon Everglades Advocate Julie Hill-Gabriel joined Governor Charlie Crist and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole on a tour of the St. Lucie River and estuary last week.

The tour focused in part on the importance of the River of Grass acquisition for the uniquely productive St. Lucie estuary and the Indian River Lagoon. The St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries will benefit significantly from the River of Grass acquisition.

In recent years, releases of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee through the St. Lucie River have damaged the estuary and the Indian River Lagoon. The South Florida Water Management District's purchase of US Sugar lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), in conjunction with the Indian River Lagoon South restoration project, would enable water released from Lake Okeechobee to be stored, and thereby, reduce the need for harmful releases.

Audubon is advocating for significant federal construction funding for the restoration project, which is scheduled to be the third Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP) to break ground in 2010.