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Progress report on Everglades restoration again calls for factoring in climate change

Photo of Everglades
Mark Ian Cook
/
South Florida Water Management District
Much of Everglades restoration focuses on repairing the damage done by flood control.

The National Academies of Sciences is again calling for Everglades planners to do a better job of incorporating climate change into the massive $23 billion restoration plan.

"The committee is recommending that the effects of climate change take a more front and center role, including the effect of sea level rise," said Jim Saiers, a hydrology professor at Yale University.

He chairs the Academies’ Everglades review committee, which is required by Congress to provide progress reports every two years.

"We need to evaluate the vulnerability of infrastructure in light of the challenges associated with changes not only on sea level but also changes in rainfall and temperature."

Congress approved the restoration plan in 2000. And since 2016, the committee has repeatedly called for planners to do a midcourse correction because changes in rainfall, flooding and temperatures could dramatically influence how projects work. 

The committee also complained that it’s hard to find information about changes in the swamp to determine progress.

READ MORE: Is it hotter than we think in South Florida? New study points to data gap

This is a News In Brief report. Visit WLRN News for in-depth reporting from South Florida and Florida news.

Jenny Staletovich is WLRN's Environment Editor. She has been a journalist working in Florida for nearly 20 years. Contact Jenny at jstaletovich@wlrnnews.org
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