Everglades restoration

Even as the $21 billion effort unfolds, officials realize that its water infrastructure cannot contend with rising seas, violent storms and Florida’s non-stop influx of residents.

The new study suggests restoration efforts may need to better accommodate the endangered Cape Sable seaside sparrow as sea rise could wipe out their Everglades habitat in just 50 years.

The House and Senate began putting together budget proposals to address such issues as Everglades restoration and land acquisition.

“Are we there yet? No. We are not fully restored. But, we are trending in the right direction,” says Melodie Naja, National Park Service scientist.

There are growing signs that the massive multibillion-dollar effort is beginning to “get the water right.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed a budget that, among other things, calls for a variety of tax cuts and an increase in teacher pay.

The legislature would need to approve DeSantis' $3.5 billion proposal, which would be spread over four years.

The money was included in a 2023 budget unveiled Monday.

House and Senate negotiators finished reaching agreement Thursday, though a missed deadline will force the legislative session to extend until Monday for the votes.

The money will be used for restoration projects that have dragged on for years, including building a reservoir and undoing damage from old bridges built in the Everglades.

It's the latest attempt by lawmakers sympathetic — or beholden — to the sugar industry to give it and the agricultural industry the key to the Everglades’ huge spigot by guaranteeing “existing legal users” continue to receive a huge amount of the water.

Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples says the measure boils down to "manipulation of the new Lake Okeechobee plan."