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Florida is a land shaped by and totally dependent on water. Water brings life to south Florida, and almost every facet of Florida life is closely associated with water. Water touches each of us all daily - sustaining us and all living things.

Heavy rains in Florida, from 50-54 inches yearly, account for nearly double the annual rainfall averages of the world. Water also begins in Florida as moisture held in the soil, sea and plants, being released into the air by the perpetual hydrologic cycle. Heat from the sun fuels the giant rain machine. Evaporation, transpiration, condensation and precipitation complete the cycle.

Historically, a drop of water could fall on a leaf in the upper chain of lakes, travel down the meandering Kissimmee River, float over the natural southern shore of Lake Okeechobee, ride the sheet of water slowly gliding over the southern peninsula and finally drift into Florida Bay.

Over the past half-century, as the economy and population of south Florida has grown, the health and size of the Everglades have steadily declined. Approximately half the Everglades have been lost to agriculture and development. Remnants suffer from a severe shortage of clean, reliable water. In efforts to guard communities against flooding and to ensure adequate water supplies exist for drinking and irrigation, natural water flows - the essence of the Everglades - have been altered.

As water flows have been altered, water no longer follows the timing and duration of the natural Everglades nor can it move freely throughout the entire ecosystem. The entire south Florida ecosystem has suffered as a result. The health of Lake Okeechobee, which is home to people, plants and animals, is seriously threatened. Certain species of plants and animals that live in south Florida and the Everglades are in danger of becoming extinct because their habitat has either been damaged, reduced or eliminated. Clean water is not available to the estuaries and bays that are critical nurseries and homes to many fish and wildlife. There is not enough water for the growing population of people either. Water shortages and restrictions are now a way of life in south Florida.

Because of the unique challenges that face the south Florida ecosystem and the unprecedented solutions that are being tested, it is of interest to people everywhere torestore the greater Everglades ecosystem. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is intended to do just that. As Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt stated in his writing "The Thin Green Line," in 1996, "Restoration of a natural system of this scale and sensitivity has never before been attempted and it is the most ambitious environmental restoration project in the history of civilization."

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