	Introduction

The Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (Title VI, P.L. 106-541 ) authorized involvement of federal agencies in projects to restore the Everglades; these projects are coordinated under a planning framework—the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP or the plan). During the dry season, the current water regime in South Florida is unable to sufficiently supply freshwater to meet both natural system needs and urban and agricultural demand. The altered water regime combined with urban and agricultural development have reduced the Everglades to half its original size. Achieving these goals for South Florida is estimated at nearly $20 billion, of which $10.9 billion would be spent under CERP. It also authorized $700 million in federal funds for an initial set of CERP projects. WRDA 2007 ( P.L. 110-114 ) authorized a second set of activities, including the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) and Picayune Strand restoration projects; CERP activities in the legislation represented roughly $2.0 billion in authorizations (not counting $240 million in related deauthorizations also included in the legislation). Title VI of WRDA 2000 established that construction as well as operation and maintenance (O&M) costs of CERP projects would be equally shared by Floridian stakeholders and the federal government. CERP authorization was achieved after years of delicate negotiations among federal, state, local, and tribal stakeholders. Other issues include effectiveness of restoration efforts and uncertainties in technologies.
The Everglades, a unique network of subtropical wetlands in Florida, is half its original size. Many factors contributed to its decline, including flood control projects and agricultural and urban development. Federal, state, tribal, and local agencies collaborated to develop a Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP, or the plan). CERP aims to increase storage of wet season waters to augment the supplies during the dry season for both the natural system and urban and agricultural users. The plan consists of more than 60 projects estimated to take more than 30 years and $10.9 billion to complete. The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000 (P.L. 106-541) approved the CERP framework and authorized a first set of projects at $1.4 billion. WRDA 2000 established how CERP costs would be split; the federal government would pay half of construction and operation, and an array of state, tribal, and local agencies the other half. WRDA 2007 (P.L. 110-114) authorized a second set of CERP activities ($2.0 billion). CERP implementation issues include project priorities and funding; timeliness and effectiveness of restoration efforts (e.g., the impacts of delays in the Modified Water Deliveries project); mitigation of excess phosphorous; and technological uncertainties. This report summarizes CERP and its implementation.