Implementing Everglades Restoration Using Incremental Adaptive Restoration

A comprehensive plan to restore the greater Everglades ecosystem was approved by Congress in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000. The Water Resources Development Act of 2000 also requires that an independent scientific review panel be established to review the comprehensive plan's progress towards achieving the natural system goals of the plan and to produce a biennial report to Congress. The Corps of Engineers has contracted with the National Academy of Sciences to conduct this independent scientific review. The first report of this review panel was completed in September 2006. The panel found that much good science has been developed, but that restoration progress in key areas in the Everglades has lagged progress made in other areas of the south Florida ecosystem. They found that one of the reasons for the delays is a project planning process that can be stalled by unresolved scientific uncertainties. The Committee recommended consideration of a new approach, termed Incremental Adaptive Restoration, by the Corps of Engineers and its implementation partners. Incremental Adaptive Restoration involves making investments in restoration that are significant enough to secure environmental benefits while also resolving important scientific uncertainties about how the natural system will respond to management actions. Adopting the Incremental Adaptive Restoration approach involves a fundamental change in how the comprehensive plan is implemented. Consequently, the Corps of Engineers and its partners are now developing a new sequencing plan to incorporate the Incremental Adaptive Restoration concept. This new sequencing plan is intended to sequence and schedule projects to support Incremental Adaptive Restoration with a focus on goals, results expected, and specific learning objectives expected to resolve uncertainties. The existing project authorization and budgeting process for comprehensive plan projects may need to be revised to fully implement the Incremental Adaptive Restoration process.