In this paper, key policy components of the ecosystem restoration effort in the South Florida ecosystem, which includes the Everglades, are examined to provide potential lessons for other ecosystem restoration efforts. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), authorized in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (WRDA 2000); ( P.L. 106-541 ), was a major step toward coordinated, multi-agency ecosystem restoration. Restoration efforts in South Florida have several attributes similar to restoration elsewhere: multiple stakeholders are involved, including the federal, state, and local governments; water supply and distribution is a central issue; the effort is considered a solution to standing controversies or legal obligations; and environmental restoration is promoted as the main goal. Indeed, an examination of what has been effective and what has been less effective in restoration efforts in South Florida may give insights on how to proceed in the successful development of other ecosystem restoration projects. (See Table 1 for a description of agency tasks and funding history.) Florida is expected to provide half of the funding for restoration efforts under CERP as well as guarantee the allocation of water supplies (for each project and the entire restoration effort) and water quality standards under state laws. Lastly, CERP is an example of a restoration effort that attempts to be adaptive. A draft of the programmatic regulations was released in December 2001 for public comment, and a proposed version (revised from the draft) was published in the Federal Register, August 2, 2002. The final version is expected in December 2002. The draft version of the programmatic regulations generated considerable controversy. Monitoring and Adaptive Management

Ecological systems are complex and understanding how they may respond to management efforts will always carry an expected level of uncertainty. DOI, along with the Governor of the State of Florida, has a concurring role in determining six guidance memoranda that establish guidelines for determining (1) the content and format of project implementation reports; (2) processes for developing cost effectiveness and impacts of alternatives to project implementation reports; (3) the process for evaluating project implementation reports; (4) the content of operating manuals; (5) guidelines for conducting assessment activities expected to be done by RECOVER; and (6) the process in project implementation reports for identifying the timing, quantity, and distribution of water. The programmatic regulations are expected to provide guidelines and mechanisms for incorporating adaptive management. To accomplish this, CERP must control the quantity, quality, distribution and timing of water deliveries to stakeholders. It is unclear how future agricultural and urban water demands will be met by CERP. Lack of quantitative assurances for water allocation in the programmatic regulations may create uncertainty in how much water is going to be allocated for urban, agricultural and environmental needs. The Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act of 1989 ( P.L.
Several complex water resource systems are receiving increasing intergovernmental and private sector efforts to balance human and broader ecosystem values. Examples include the Florida Everglades, San Francisco Bay-Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta, and the Chesapeake Bay, among others. The Florida Everglades is especially prominent because of its inclusion of Everglades National Park and because human impacts in and around the Park have caused a substantial erosion of the balance and diversity of the original ecosystem. Government and private sector efforts to mitigate the effects of large-scale human change in the broader Everglades ecosystem are complex and sometimes contradictory undertakings. Complexities and conflicts arise because of definitions and goals; because of uncertainty about achieving desirable goals; because of costs; and because of likely tradeoffs with established economic and business activities. The restoration initiative in the South Florida ecosystem (which includes the Everglades) is a recent intergovernmental effort that attempts to address the ecological and socio-economic factors involved with ecosystem restoration. An examination of what has been effective and what has been less effective in ecosystem restoration efforts in the Florida Everglades may give insights on how to proceed in the implementation of other restoration projects.
After being reduced to half its original size by flood control projects, agriculture, and urban development, the Florida Everglades is now targeted for a large restoration effort by an unusual partnership among federal, state, tribal and local stakeholders. A major step in this restoration effort was the authorization of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000 (P.L. 106-541). The objective of CERP is to restore the quantity, quality, distribution and timing of water supplies to natural areas without disrupting existing sources of water for agricultural and human needs.
There are several policy components within CERP that may be applicable to other ecosystem restoration efforts. They include multi-agency committees for coordination, programmatic regulations for project implementation, adaptive assessment and monitoring, assurances for water allocation, and funding. This report provides a description of each policy component as well as an analysis of its potential benefits and disadvantages in the restoration process. A proposed version of programmatic regulations is cited throughout this report. Programmatic regulations are expected to provide guidelines for project implementation, monitoring, adaptive management, and water allocation for restoration activities provided by CERP. A proposed version of the programmatic regulations was published in the Federal Register in August 2002; the final version is expected in December 2002. This report will be updated as warranted.