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March 3, 2016
Everglades Restoration: Recent Developments and Legislation
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What Is the Everglades? The Everglades is a unique
network of subtropical wetlands in South Florida. Due in
part to federal water supply and flood control projects (as
well as agricultural and urban runoff), it has been degraded
and is approximately half its historical size. The ecosystem
is home to a number of unique species, including 67 species
on the Federal Endangered or Threatened Species lists.
What Is CERP? The Comprehensive Everglades
Restoration Plan (CERP) was approved by Congress in the
Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000;
P.L. 106-541). It is a framework under which the federal
government, with the State of Florida, is attempting to
restore the Everglades and expand water supplies by
improving the timing, distribution, and quality of the water
flowing south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades,
among other things. Under CERP, the federal government
(through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the
Department of the Interior [DOI]) is required to fund half of
the costs for restoration, with an array of state, tribal, and
local agencies paying the other half. Originally, CERP was
expected to include 60 projects that would be completed
over a 30-year horizon at a cost of $10 billion. More recent
estimates have projected that the project will take
approximately 50 years to implement, at a total cost of
$13.5 billion. To date, federal and state governments have
spent more than $1.2 billion on CERP.
Everglades restoration under CERP was approved in
2000 and is expected to take 50 years to complete.
Outside of CERP, complementary efforts to restore the
Everglades (most of which predate CERP) are also
ongoing. These efforts, collectively referred to as non-
CERP projects, have cost more than $3 billion.
Although WRDA 2000 approved the overall CERP plan
and process and authorized several pilot projects, most
CERP construction projects require additional study by the
Corps and congressional authorization of construction
before they can receive federal appropriations, including
credit or reimbursement for nonfederal work undertaken in
advance. The Water Resources Development Act of 2007
(WRDA 2007; P.L. 110-114) authorized three CERP
construction projects, all of which are currently under way.
Other CERP studies are complete and awaiting
congressional construction authorization.
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The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of
2014 (WRRDA 2014; P.L. 113-121), enacted in June 2014,
authorized four CERP projects with completed feasibility
studies, but the bill did not authorize one project (the
Central Everglades Planning Project, or CEPP) because the
project was still under study at the time (see Table 1). As of
2016, CEPP is the only Everglades restoration project with
a completed study that is awaiting authorization.
Table I. Status of Recently Studied CERP Projects
Project Name Authorization Status
Site I Impoundment WRDA 2007 Under Construction
Picayune Strand WRDA 2007 Under Construction
Indian River WRDA 2007 Under Construction
Lagoon-South
C-43 West Storage WRRDA 2014 Under Construction
Basin
C-I1 Spreader WRRDA 2014 Under Construction
Canal
Broward County WRRDA 2014 Under Construction
Water Preserve
Areas
Biscayne Bay WRRDA 2014 Under Construction
Coastal Wetlands
Central Everglades Awaiting Study Complete
Planning Project Authorization
Loxahatchee River Awaiting Study in Progress
Watershed Project Authorization
Big Cypress/L-28 Awaiting Study Initiated
Interceptor Authorization (FY2016)
Lake Okeechobee Awaiting Study in Progress
Watershed Project Authorization (FY2016)
Source: Congressional Research Service based on U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers data.
Note: WRRDA 2014 = Water Resources Reform and Development
Act of 2014 (P.L. 113-121).
CEPP (project area shown below in Figure 1) is an
Everglades restoration study under the CERP framework
that was initiated in 2011 by the Corps and DOI, with the
State of Florida. It was initiated due to a perceived need to
prioritize restoration projects in this portion of the
ecosystem to enhance the prospects for Everglades
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