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America's Everglades Will Only Be as Clean as the Water Flowing Into It  To restore our river of grass, we must guarantee that it receives water that is not laden with phosphorus and other impurities.  Back in 1991, a lawsuit was settled and codified into the State's Everglades Forever Act.  The law established that phosphorus levels in water should be lowered to 10 parts per billion.  A Federal Court maintains enforcement of that settlement through a Consent Decree.

Lowering phosphorus levels in water requires a host of solutions, including expanding Storm Water Treatment Areas, which are reconstructed wetlands that act as filters to remove pollutants from water before it flows into the natural environment.  Best Management Practices for the Everglades Agricultural Area are another tool for ensuring cleaner water.  Finally, the Consent Decree provides active oversight to make sure water quality goals are met. Recently, the State of Florida attempted to convince the federal government to agree to dissolve the Consent Decree to avoid enforcement action if the water quality standard is not met.  Such an effort is unwise and harmful to Everglades restoration. Audubon of Florida and environmental partners are urging the federal government not to participate in attempts to eliminate the Consent Decree.  The Court supervision of this vital element of the national restoration effort provides stability and consistency for elected leaders who are and will be charged with protecting America's Everglades.

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State Tells Miami-Dade: Live Within Your Water Means

Last month Governor Bush, the Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District (District) took a strong stand for the environment when they refused Miami-Dade County's request to increase their water allocation from the Biscayne aquifer. The aquifer is an underground water source shared by the Everglades and Biscayne and Florida bays.    Instead of identifying alternative water sources or implementing water conservation and re-use programs, Miami-Dade simply asked the District for more water. This additional water would go to major new development projects, taking water from the Everglades to make this growth possible. In the past, this may have been par for the course. Luckily, Senate Bill 444, passed in 2005 with help from Audubon of Florida, now empowers state permitting to link growth management with water supply. Many local governments have already submitted conservation and re-use plans and received matching state funds.

The State's position speaks to all of Florida: urban vitality depends upon a healthy natural environment and ample natural resources. Meanwhile, the District should complete the overdue process of reserving water for these natural systems before increases are given to local governments. Urban sprawl without programs to reserve water for the environment will harm our natural heritage and quality of life.

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Campaign to Protect Wood Stork Habitat Continues The campaign continues by Audubon of Florida, Collier County Audubon and its environmental partners to protect the endangered Wood Stork and thousands of acres of its wetland habitat from the pressures of the proposed Mirasol development project. This month, Mirasol appealed the Army Corps of Engineers' landmark decision to deny its federal dredge and fill permit. The applicant proposed a golf course residential project near Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, including a ditch that would provide dubious flood control downstream. This would radically impact thousands of acres of wetlands in Cocohatchee Slough. Anticipating their appeal will fail, Mirasol and other developers are also preparing to apply for modified versions of their state and federal permits, which would concede the ditch but still impact more than a thousand acres of

wetlands. Corps review of the appeal could take months, but the applicant has committed to building his golf course in the midst of the slough, one way or another. Meanwhile, the environmental coalition is working to convince the South Florida Water Management District (District) to revoke Mirasol's state permit and start a public process to identify ecologically compatible alternatives.  These include:     ·  buying and restoring remaining wetlands in this slough system;      ·  banking wetlands through private mitigation, and;      ·  completing other flood control actions recommended in 1999 that remain unfinished. While the District's Governing Board has so far refused to cooperate with these requests, Audubon and its partners will continue to pursue all avenues to achieve true restoration in this critical Western Everglades watershed.