Irma stirs fear of setback to $16 billion Everglades restoration

Bloomberg

For two decades Steve Davis has made it his life’s work to save the Florida Everglades. Davis, a wetland ecologist with the Everglades Foundation, has been part of a push to restore millions of acres of marsh grasses and mangroves to their natural state. The effort, comprised nearly six-dozen projects carrying an estimated price tag of $16 billion, is one of the largest environmental restorations ever undertaken.
The plan was approved by Congress in 2000. But work has moved in fits and starts—more than $2 billion has been spent so far—and Davis was anxious last week to see if Hurricane Irma’s lashing winds and surging seas had setback what progress there has been. So he talked a pilot into taking him up to survey the damage.
“The smell of decay was noticeable from our altitude,” Davis said in an interview. Extensive batches of sea grass, crucial for sustaining water quality and habitat for fish, could be seen dead and floating on the water. Mangrove trees were defoliated, the wind having stripped their leaves off.
Still, not all the news is bad. The massive amount of rain water from the storm now flowing through the area could be helping flush saltwater from the area’s sensitive estuaries. Previous storms, such as Hurricane Wilma in 2005, deposited nutrient-rich soil. “I think there is potentially good from this,” Davis said.
Home to the elusive Florida panther, crocodiles, manatees and the state’s iconic pink flamingos, the Everglades make up much of Florida’s southern tip and is a World Heritage Site. Decades of development and farming have put the so-called River of Grass at risk. Climate change has raised the ocean’s waters, threatening it with the seeping influx of salt water and leading to higher storm surges.
Since Irma swung up through the Florida Keys and the state’s western coast, federal officials have struggled to access the 1.5 million acre Everglades National Park and assess the damage. Power and internet outages and trees blocking the main access road kept the park closed and largely cut off. Employees inside couldn’t even be contacted for days.
“The storm has passed and we are currently assessing damage to the park,” an alert on the National Park Service’s website said. “It is not safe for re-entry at this time.” The park service said storm surges of nearly nine feet hit the park. At Key Largo, there is extensive debris scattered throughout Florida Bay. “Numerous vessels are grounded or have been pushed into mangroves, causing severe damage,” the park service said.
Park workers had succeeded in opening one lane of the main road to the headquarters, allowing heavy equipment access to start their work inside.
“My sense is there is definitely damage,” said Diana Umpierre, a representative for the Sierra Club’s Everglades Restoration Campaign. A friend told her that nests and eggs of several species of endangered turtles were washed away.
Storm surges could have pushed in too much saltwater and eroded soil— a valuable commodity when fighting sea level rise, said Evelyn Gaiser, an ecologist at Florida International University.
Davis says he is cautiously optimistic that Irma’s damage has been manageable. But he plans to keep his eye on things.