FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  June 29, 2004
CONTACT: Linda Long, (850) 245-2112

Martin County Rallies for Indian River Lagoon Restoration

-- DEP Secretary joins local leaders to increase support for Everglades' project--

STUART – Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Colleen M. Castille today joined Martin County leaders and South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Henry Dean at a gathering to increase support for restoration of the Indian River Lagoon. The joint state-federal project will restore more than 53,000 acres of wetlands, reduce pollution and provide water storage to return a natural flow of fresh water to the St. Lucie and Indian River estuaries.

“This next step in the restoration of America’s Everglades is moving forward because of a dedicated state-federal partnership and valuable contributions by the local community,” said Secretary Castille. “Delivering water at the right time to the right places will restore habitat, improve water quality in the St. Lucie River and provide flood protection to residents across three counties.”

The $1 billion restoration project will return historic flows of cleaner water across 90,000 acres of natural land spanning Martin, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties. The plan includes construction and operation of 12,000 acres of inland reservoirs and 9,000 acres of pollution-filtering treatment marsh, and the removal of more than five million cubic yards of muck from the waterways.

Together with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida water managers plan to build miles of pumps, levees and canals to capture and redirect water. The reservoirs and treatment marshes, which will provide 170,000 acre-feet of water storage, offer an alternative to discharging excess water into the St. Lucie River that can harm habitat and degrade water quality.

The State of Florida signed off on the restoration plan in April. Part of the $8 billion, 30-year plan to save America’s Everglades, the project now requires Congressional authorization through approval of the Water Resources Development Act.

Florida’s share of Everglades restoration is ahead of schedule and under budget. This year’s state budget included $100 million in cash to continue progress. Since 2000, Governor Bush has committed more than $2.5 billion through the end of the decade to clean up and restore the famed River of Grass.

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