The Everglades ecosystem supports 1.3 million jobs and represents $109 billion to Florida’s economy,” writes Perkins. “But that ecosystem is collapsing and Florida must act now to save it. History will be made here, one way or the other.”
Orvis is working in close partnership with the Everglades Foundation to achieve a long-term solution to the diversion of freshwater overflows from Lake Okeechobee. These overflows have led to massive toxic algae blooms in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries, and devastating drought in the Everglades. Building a deep-water reservoir in the Everglades Agricultural Area would help redistribute Lake Okeechobee overflows south, stopping the algae blooms and restoring the natural flow of clean freshwater into the Everglades, thereby healing and preserving the ailing ecosystem.
