Everglades restoration project could also boost Broward drinking water supplies

A long-proposed Broward County water preserve could boost Broward drinking water supplies and create more of a buffer between the Everglades and Weston, Pembroke Pines and other western communities. (South Florida Sun Sentinel file photo)

By Andy Reid, Sun Sentinel

6:39 p.m. EST, February 19, 2012

A proposed Broward County water preserve that could boost local drinking water supplies and help the Everglades may get sunk again by congressional inaction.

Local backers had hoped to get Congress this year to sign off on the long-planned, nearly $900 million Broward County Water Preserve Area, bordering Weston, Pembroke Pines, Southwest Ranches and Miramar.

Supporters are still pushing for a vote, but with election-year fighting adding to partisan paralysis in Washington, plans for the water preserve threaten to remain stuck on the shelf.

"Clean water is a No. 1 concern of voters. … If we can just get (Congress) to see that," said Cara Capp, of the environmental group Clean Water Action.

 

Joe Cavaretta / Sun Sentinel

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By Andy Reid

Sun Sentinel

The clock is officially ticking on repairs needed to upgrade the levee that keeps the Everglades from flooding Broward and Palm Beach counties.

February triggered the start of the South Florida Water Management District’s two-year window to fix the Broward section of the East Coast Protective Levee, which falls short of federal safety standards.

The district, Broward County and eight western cities now have three months to finalize an agreement aimed at getting the levee up to the standards of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Inspectors have also identified deficiencies in the Palm Beach County portion of the levee, which will be subject to its own FEMA review – also expected to require upgrades.