Massive project works to restore Florida's Everglades
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- čas přidán 22. 03. 2024
- What's been called the largest restoration project in human history is underway in Florida's Everglades. Billions of dollars are being spent to restore millions of acres. Jeff Glor reports on the massive effort, which just years ago seemed like a pipe dream.
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As a resident of South Florida I am already seeing the results of this incredible undertaking; the water in our lagoons is becoming more clear, the wildlife populations including alligators and birds seem much healthier than they were even a year ago and the scenery is breathtaking. I recently spent 10 days backcountry camping in the Everglades and I can assure you it is a treasure worth saving! Thank you to all who contributed to this vision and have worked so hard to make this project a reality.
Wow that’s a long time, how do you spend your time out there? I usually use a tarp and hammock
Do some research..... 90% of mammals are gone because of anaconda snakes.
You might say they are better than a year ago, but 15-20 years ago? How long have you actually lived here because I’m calling BS. I am on the IRL 200+ days of the year and live on the river and I can tell you everything you just commented is so wrong.😂
Your lucky a python didn't get you
@@aimfendi Things could be better than they were a year ago and still be much worse than they were 15-20 years ago. I imagine that both of you are correct. Are you also saying that the Everglades isn't worth saving?
I live in Florida and the everglades is one of its kind. We have forest mountains all over the US but nothing like everglades. It needs to be protected by all means
The biggest threat to the Everglades is still the sugar industry and the eutrophication and water flow disruption it has caused and they will never abandon this damaging agriculture.
Blaming big sugar is the easy way out. Try reversing all the reckless development and housing that has constantly been built further into the Glade's on all sides. South Florida used to be primarily agriculture of all kinds and as housing began to take over, the Glades were drained to expand from the east and west. If all the subdivisions could be removed on all sides, then I'll start to discuss blaming big sugar.
Actually it's not. A threat would be all these new homes with postcard landscaping which requires as much fertilizer as cane or corn.
Off the sugar industry, they have already caused enough damage to us....
You're full of it!!! If US sugar and king ranch and everyone else were to dissappear tomorrow it wouldn't solve the problem. Lake Okeechobee is being polluted from the north not the south! The phosphorus and nitrogen causing toxic algae in pt st Lucy and the west coast and being " removed " In the stas comes from north of the lake. All of these retired people and transplants use fertilizer , crap in septic tanks that leach into waterways, create trash mountains in the south Orlando area and it flows south. SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT TERRITORY 'S NORTHERN BOUNDARY IS IN THE MIDDLE OF ORLANDO! ALL THAT NAST CRAP FLOWS SOUTH! New Yorkers!!
Not to mention dental cavities ...
I lived down there and those people wanted to develop the Everglades. They just couldn't leave it alone.
The Army corps drained it for this purpose then realized, "oh this is harder than we thought, lets stop"
Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, whom Broward County is named after, was a big proponent of “taming the Everglades” for agriculture and growth!
Same with humans everywhere.....
As of today, 34 straight days of The Army Corp Of Engineers dumping over 1 billion gallons of Lake Okeechobee water on to Stuart and an equal amount onto the West Coast. We still have a very long way to go to fix this. Coastal ecosystems on both coasts are devastated.
the army corps are the one who dug the canals to drain this water system. Dingo guards baby situation here for sure. Army corps needs to sit on their hands and stop poking our environment
Yup...we get it down the Caloosahatchee...you can see it flowing into the Gulf
Why are they doing tha5
@@n1ckf00c "relieve" the Lake O. So they send the water E & W instead of south as the good land intended.
@@n1ckf00c if they opened the flood gates to south florida it would flood down here
I’m very happy to see this.
Yeah this is great. The band aid that keeps us from making meaningful changes to our individual lives. Glad u don't have to sacrifice anything.
Nonsense
@@ericcomp7032
I am as well and this seriously needs to get done.
Unfortunately, much of Lake Okeechobee is itself full of nitrates and phosphates, from cattle ranches (waste), septic systems, lawn fertilizer runoff, and the like. The mud on the bottom is a mat full of these chemicals. And when the lake is drained/released, through St Lucie Canal and Caloosahatchee River, those bays get that “supercharged” runoff and toxic blooms occur. They’re working on fixing the muck problem too.
Then someone is mistreating their septic system. Which I already knew . Even some of the "septic treatments " are actually harmful!
Routing the water is one thing. But the invasive species and the insance amounts of development are huge concerns as well
I know someone who moved down there and was shocked at the location and runoff of housing development fertilizers poisoning the water.
Who gave them the green light to pollute the Everglades which is a protected national park? And how are they going to fix this with the continual runoff?
Their "legislature". Rick Scott wouldn't even acknowledge Miami parking lots were flooding because Miami is IN the OCEAN. Environmental and climate reparations are "WOKE ", don't ya know? 🙄😒
I love that they tried to contact the sugar companies
they tried to contact your mom?
I love the Everglades it’s really special, glad to see the work put in
Developers should also be forced by law to pay to help fix the Everglades. I remember in the 1970s when the news was reporting on developer damage and shrinking of the area for home and business building on the fragile area.
Thank you for restoring such a beautiful and important part of our country.
There has been too much reckless development that stretches out into the Everglades from all directions. It all starts way up, as far north as the Disney properties and water is routed south through the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee and then canals on the east into the St. Lucie River and west into the Caloosahatchee River. All the counties surrounding the Everglades have allowed housing and other construction to spread out into the Glades. So big sugar and the highway aren't the only problem. The estuaries of Florida Bay can't get the purified/cleansed water that the Glades provide, so fish populations in the Key's are not reproducing. So big sugar isn't the biggest problem and raising the highway will only help a little. There needs to be an effort to remove the population that has set up households in what used to be a remote pristine location. But blaming big sugar is easier than moving people.
Facts! Managed retreat is the only and best option. Frankly, if the government doesn't buy out these properties, who will? The land will be soon be worthless for any purpose except environmental remediation. Let the land do its very specialized job in this part of the world.
So true. I live in Minnesota but have crisscrossed the Glades on Alligator Alley or Tamiami Trail or for over 40 years. (and just did again last week.) I've kayaked out of Everglades City and on the Turner River, stayed at Clyde Butcher's former house in Big Cypress, and am infatuated with the entire system. But the changes have been mind-boggling. Obviously in water quality, but also in encroaching development on both east and west sides.
When our kids were small they'd mark the east side of the Glades by a pyramid shaped building on I-75. We assumed the land to the west was protected. Now the housing developments stretch on and on for miles. How did the state of FL or the Feds allow that to happen? Well, I think I know. I read The Swamp, by Michael Grunwald.
Big Sugar (and the Fanjuls) is indeed one of many villains in this sad story, and our elected 'leaders' in both parties have scooped up their dollars to accommodate them.
I sure hope this new effort will literally change the course, but I would love to see some 'population removed' as well. Somehow I don't see anyone having the political will to do that.
@@susanlenfestey6117 The market itself will make it impossible to stay. Insurance companies are already pulling out. The land is already worthless; federal offers to buy it and restore the floodplain and marshlands will be the only and best option for most. It's called "managed retreat."
Non-profit means someone is getting a lot of profit 😂
Thank you for covering this!
Raising Tamiami trail would be a big improvement and also imagine driving over the Everglades looking down
Hard to believe they carved this state up like they did. Then mismanaged it to near death. We paid for that. Now we have to pay again for them to restore what they did. All the while trusting them to do a good job and do right by this wild and beautiful place. Fingers crossed. And wallets opened.
Very good news!
I will spread the word!
And keep doing reports like this because the younger generation are seen a lot of despair and they're giving up on life.
Hope it works.
But I think a most lot of the money will end up in politicians campaign or bribe them to never let this end.
On Amazon Prime there is a documentary “The Swamp” goes way back to the origins of the problem back then they thought it was a bright idea and thought they could drain the Everglades!!!!
I thought the Everglades was protected? 🤔 How is "big sugar" allowed to be there? Why are they not paying to assist. Please be gentle when responding. I appreciate the massive effort, but can you undo the damage? 🙏
The problem is so much bigger than "big sugar". Reckless development across Central and South Florida has caused so much rainwater runoff to be removed by canals. All the way up in the Disney area, housing development has caused polluted runoff to be channeled through the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee. Then housing development around the Glade's caused more water to be diverted through the St. Lucie River and Caloosahatchee River. All this water has constant algae blooms because of pollution runoff from housing areas, not big sugar. The outflow from Okeechobee into the Glade's isn't enough to supply the estuaries of Florida Bay. So as a result, the fish population for the Key's is dying off. Again, it's not just big sugar, but the media likes to blame someone with deep pockets and ignore the larger picture. BTW, I'm a 5th generation Florida Native and I've watched the entire state become so overcrowded because of reckless development. Florida doesn't need tourism to survive because it has always produced all the food, water and timber needed to survive. If Disney and all the parks left tomorrow there would be some adjustments, but overall the state would be better off.
Agriculture was there long before it was protected. The Feds caused the problem using the army Corps of engineers to drain the swamp. One billionaire tried to do it before them and he went broke and committed suicide.
Says the 5th generation sugar farmer
THEY OWN THE LAND THEY FARM
Farmers been there long since before any of it was protected.
Just don’t spill a bunch of diesel or some BS in the water by ‘accident’
Only way that is gonna happen is to eliminate big agriculture and home development.
Once again, we the people clean up after business leaves a mess.
Regulations are Protections
The sugar industry is like a tick growing on our government.
I think they should gradually clamp down on the sugar industry and require any water leaving their fields be as pure as the water entering from upstream and rain.
Keep the great work up
I used to love right next to the Everglades about one street over and I’ll be there glad this is getting down I’m in middle Florida going down to see my family in a Florida now hopefully the keys gets better to
I hope they can see the value of keeping their state beautiful
Being a South Floridian i have seen the destruction of our beloved Everglades, they try to fix what nature created so many times nature has given up. We humans are the problem, over population, wanting to live were we cant therefore eliminating habitats and ecosystems , their is no restoring nature, their is only destruction of nature, glad to have experienced the greatness that was once the Fl Everglades.
Exactly. Human over population is the cause of most of our problems.
@@Hayyyward Hmmm. Think about that statement, let me know what dangerous place it leads to.
Humans are not the problem. stop watching too much BS news.
That’s cool
What will those hundreds of thousands of pythons do if the Glades aren’t protected
The presence of pythons doesn’t negate the need to restore and protect the remaining ecosystem for the native birds, reptiles, etc. Invasive species are a whole different problem.
@@KailuaChick well aware of that.
its a swamp. land that nobody can use. if it isn't run by the pythons it will be run by the gators. and send all the restoration money to Ukraine, because they are fighting and dying for independence from Russia. Thats something we can spend money on, not spotted python restoration.
@@davidanalyst671 Did you miss the part about drinking water? People use swamps all the time. Ukraine and Russia have nothing to do with this. These restoration projects began long before that war began. A lot of the planning dates back to the 90s and even before then
Lifting Tamiami Trail will definitely be a BIG improvement towards restoring a more natural wet/dry season flow to the Everglades. Of course there’s more that’ll need to be done but it’s definitely going to help a lot
The problem is Big Sugar is only in it for the money.
So what are you in for?
It'll all look great under the sea in a hundred years.
So will California and NYC
Good news!
Why are corporations responsible for the damage they do?
It was the Federal government that caused the problem. Arrmy Corps of Engineers
Are they not continuing to drill, as reported? Pretty sure that isn't the Federal government. It goes on all over the country, not just in the Everglades. Companies create superfund sites and walk away, leaving the toxins behind for someone else to clean up.
Why ARE corporations?
Big sugar uses Lake O to flood their sugar fields when they need water and when they have too much, they pump water with fertilizers back into the lake. Then when the lake gets high, they dump the lake out the east and west rivers resulting in lots of fresh water with fertilizers and algae being dumped into south Florida’s estuaries. This lowers the salinity and raises the threat of dangerous red tide.
@@FishBoneGang also though the canals are all designed to drain water out... curiously of the Army corps of engineers, the same organization trying to fix it. up here in WA state the Army Corps dumped a bunch of PCB insulation into the Colombia river that poisoned the whole river system to the point you cant eat local fish out of the 2nd largest river system in the US. these guys in the 70s just played round with bulldozers with no research
Pythons said; 'Hold my beer'
So exciting!
this is all just a bunch of propaganda to make you believe the government. Didn't you see at the beginning of the video when they literally say "the government tried to help the swamp, now they need more money to help the swamp again.
Jane Foos, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Your passion, intelligence, and perseverance is paying off more than 20 years later. You've been long passed and you deserve this accolade.
Wait, the state and feds are spending millions to clean up pollution from one industry and the solution is spend billions more?
No.
Big sugar still doing what they do while still getting government subsidies and no responsibility for cleanup.
NO, you missed the first part of the video. The money was spent to restore the swamp, now we have to spend more to restore the swamp from the first "restore job" .
@davidanalyst671 They didn't mention the first part which was the Army Corp of engineers paid to drain the swamp in the first place. Yes, big government caused this.
Great story
The Army Corps of Engineers is putting in 6 deep wells at the Kissimmee River to pump the lake water into the ground. The water will be treated to drinking qualities and then pumped 2000 feet underground. My parents had a house on the lake for 45 years, recently sold because of condition of the lake.
Florida is re- wetting the aquifer state wide. They’ve been planning a reverse osmosis water treatment program for its waste waters for reintroduction into groundwater systems. Rehydrating the limestone aquifer will help the sinkhole problem as well.
Just add water. ❤
Good! They could have Canals to be dugged to the South for excess release of Water than let it go towards the east or west.
Wonderful💕🌹
I didn't even know the Everglades had a problem outside of giant Burmese python taking over.
If this is fixed what will become of the farmland that the Everglades were destroyed for in the first place?
Most of it was never farmed.
To think there isn't enough water, being surrounded by water
The everglades are FRESHWATER, the ocean is SALTWATER
@@r44bb98actually the everglades is both salt water and fresh water.
@@Overlandjononly the parts closest to the coast and the problem is the less freshwater there is the saltier it becomes
A significant amount of water that used to drain to the Everglades has being diverted, that's the whole point of the video and they are trying to bring back some of that historic flow because the Everglades is degraded.
Water water everywhere and none of it to drink
Native Americans are shaking their heads. I’m glad you included them in the report.
I'm amazed that they are legally allowed to modify it like this rather than restoring it. State law prohibits interfering with the natural water flow drainage. Actually it might even be Federal Law as this is the domain of the Army Corp of Engineers.
Everglades are a National Treasure. That’s why it’s so important for Federal funding.
Ok, you have my attention.
I have no doubt that those who created the initial problem were convinced that they were making a better world for future generations. Just because we may believe that we are extremely smart, and have taken much into consideration future historians may end up having a very different different assessment of how smart we really were.
Also this is like the best carbon sink in the world, better than the Amazon
Raise Tamami all you want but there are multiple massive levies that are also blocking the flow including Alligator Alley
Hell ya
Big sugar needs to go!
Agreed. We just have to stop eating sugar. We'll be healthier for it...
The sugar has been there 100+ years. Yankees need to go.
@@francismarion6400
Now there is something we can all get behind!
@@francismarion6400 doesn’t make it right! they are the biggest prob and then everyone moving down here
@scottmacaluso8881 Sugar was not a problem 50 years ago. You know that they discharge into holding ponds right?
Interesting
To actually restore the everglades, you would need to flood most of Florida south of Orlando. It all belongs underwater. 2' of it
They'll spend billions to get it done just in time for sea level rise to sink it under the ocean. Why isn't there any push back to this crazy expensive idea?
Sitting here in the keys....waiting on that sea level to rise. Still not seeing it. Still waiting.
Interesting.
Staying in Pahokee and South Bay, I always see people fishing for food. I cant imagine eating those fish can be a good idea. Ive been warned by locals not to eat fish from the lake.
Not surprised that the sugar company, likely US SUGAR, didn’t wanna talk to him. It’s very powerful and influential in politics.
BTW, 50% off the sugar consumed in the United United States come from here, Florida.
Don’t do sugar! Don’t over eat and drink alcohol.
Ok
And now we r going back to it.
I live in Okeechobee and I'll tell you Skunkape is real
First came, now housing and development, how does this happen
do the old folks in the villages and de santos know about this? lol they will go nuts lol
It's being paid for by the State even though the Federal government caused the problem
They are too busy depleting the Florida aquifer. They will have their own water problems.
@@matthewswingle391 The Florida aquifer? Which one?
AWESOME JOB DESANTIS!!
🙌👏
What about the snakes that are eating all of the wildlife?
It is a shame that neither the reporter, the scientist, nor the indigenous representative talked about the impact of sea level rise on the Everglades. The incursion of salt water in the Everglades will have enormous impact on the ecosystem.
About time folks, when will they get serious about lake Apopka the designated super fund site?
The Sugar industry is by far the biggest polluter!
The fact that its 25billion over decades doesn't say much . Some places in the world has gotten that out of U.S taxpayers just over the last 2years .
My friend, author Janisse Ray will be thrilled 😊
……..finally😢
I shudder to think of how many Burmese pythons will be scrambling to get out of the way of heavy equipment and winding up in neighborhoods on lawns, roofs, in garages, at the school bus stop?
So 25 billion dollars and it probably cost 500 million to actually do
Only because sink holes are destroying property is anything being done....but I will go with it if the everglades get restored.
To me the Everglades as a vast area that very few people use it's just a big waste of money to do anything there
It'll NEVER happen. There's at least ONE commissioner of the SFWMD who has made millions by developing Everglades areas that used to be under water.
I am happy to see my taxes go to something useful.
This will help Florida is so many ways wind, climate, ecological weakth
Florida owns the sugar land in this video. They lease it back to big sugar. At any time, they can use this land to drain south when needed. The sugar farmers know this and are not going to be blindsided. You have to imagine they have an exit plan.
And the state of Florida still gives $23/month EBT!
Should I live in the everglades DeSanityClaus?
There are jobs for all in Florida, for those want to work.
@tonyburzio4107 at 72 with diabetes tearing me up after a life that included 3 newspaper delivery jobs while in grammar school and then going to job training and working at a car dealership then becoming a body shop owner then college for computer electronics while working at a beauty salon supply company then joining the Navy and stayed with that 16 years and got out and worked with Sears in the field on numerous appliances then on to a communications company for 10 years then the crash and wall street got bailed out, but not regular workers, then worked for enterprise rac 10 years. Now at 72 I need a wheelchair ♿️!
What job do you think I should do?
@@rgruenhausit’s people like you who deserve a lot of help, not those who don’t speak English, have baby after baby by numerous men ,etc
why let it get to this point.....nothing will change
Finally, fishing here sucks now because of this. The water on the east coast looks like tea and all the seagrass is gone
The Native American said the water is too high? This video contradicts itself
Are you getting rid of houses in what was the Everglades? That’s what changed Florida
They about to find so many bones.
We had a natural sand filtration system and man destroyed it. Big sugar had a lot of what caused this.
Im on the west coast if Florida..they needvto stop all the housing developments to have any chance
I think the sugar industry needs to pay for some of this.
Emu?
Creating Skunk Ape, Boa and Gator Smart City.
Though sugar cane is visible and easily blamed th major source of the pollution is the 3 to 5 million cows dumping waste, tons and tons, in the unseen vast tropical grasslands north of Okeechobee. This is big business for Florida. How is the millions of pounds of nitrogen, N, potassium, K and phosphorous, P, as well as organic waste prevented from entering the water shed.? Because of this source of nutrients, sugar cane farms have actually been able to cut back on some fertilizers.
i gotta disagree as a south floridan someone from iowa should not care ablut the everglades because legislation did this to the everglades the people back then should planned better for the future of expansion
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