Biden signs Water Resources Development Act, its effect on SWFL

President Biden recently signed into law the Water Resources Development Act with an aim to improve rivers and harbors across the country and provide for the conservation of water. Southwest Florida was included in that act.

Putting the 240-page plan together took a lot of work, not just from state and federal lawmakers, but also from stakeholders and non-governmental organizations like the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF).

“The passage of this act is a good bellwether for how much enthusiasm the federal government has for continuing these projects,” said Matt DePaolis, environmental policy director at SCCF. “I think when you’re seeing what we did with the passage of this act, it took a lot of effort and advocacy… to really work with our partners to come up with creative solutions to push a lot of these projects forward.”

The Water Resources Development Act is nothing new. Known as WRDA, it has been passed by the U.S. Congress every two years since 2014.

“It’s a big, exciting event every time it passes even though it does happen pretty regularly,” said DePaolis. “And that’s just because of the contents of this act. It’s different every time.”

This time around, advocates pushed for a key long-time southwest Florida issue: Everglades restoration.

 “Since human intervention, we took a lot of water out of that area,” explained DePaolis. “We put a lot of that land into farming and agriculture and other production, and that has really reduced the amount of water, not only that’s hydrating the Everglades, but then ultimately that reaches Florida Bay as well.”

According to SCCF, the 2024 WRDA is expected to expedite the Western Everglades Restoration Project, which is essential for rehydrating and reconnecting the greater Everglades ecosystem so that more clean water can be sent south.

“This bill guarantees a lot of funding for Everglades projects such as the Western Everglades restoration project and others that are going to help the overall central Everglades restoration plan move forward,” said DePaolis.

So why should this matter to you if you don’t live in the Everglades? Well, our waterways are much more connected than you think.

 “There’s sometimes a disconnect here in South Florida to the importance of Everglades restoration, especially when we’re talking about the Caloosahatchee,” said DePaolis. “While it (the WRDA) might not say that it’s protecting the Caloosahatchee estuary, anything we do to convey more water into the system where it’s needed is another drop of water that’s not at risk of being pushed down the Caloosahatchee at a later date.”

We’re all familiar with the releases from Lake Okeechobee. Oftentimes, they lead to harmful algal blooms in the Caloosahatchee and neighboring canals.

Right now, the Everglades is in dire need of water, which it gets from Lake Okeechobee.

“But that water is too polluted when it’s in Lake Okeechobee to directly convey to the Everglades,” explained DePaolis. “So there’s all these projects in place that are aiming to clean that water, remove enough phosphorus from that water to meet the legal standard so that we can push that water down into the Everglades.”

DePaolis said the WRDA will help manage that water, which should ultimately mean less harmful algal blooms to deal with in your backyard.

“The closer we get to Everglades restoration, the closer we are to a future where we’re not getting damaging releases from Lake Okeechobee,” said DePaolis.

According to SCCF, the WRDA is expected to speed up the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Restoration project, which will increase capacity in our watershed.

It’s also anticipated to improve the quantity and timing of Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee.

“I’m hoping we can carry that energy, not just through the federal change in administration, but also as we look down the road, two years, four years, six years, I’m hoping that this just signifies that leadership, whatever party, whatever level, is supportive of Everglades restoration,” said DePaolis.

If you’d like to read through the WRDA, click here.