Tales of the Tamiami Trail: Implementing Adaptive Management in Everglades Restoration

41 Pages Posted: 17 Aug 2009 Last revised: 23 Jun 2014

Date Written: March 25, 2006

Abstract

In Everglades Restoration, adaptive management (AM) is a science and performance-based approach to ecosystem management in situations where predicted outcomes have a high level of uncertainty. Under such conditions, 'management' anticipates actions to be taken as testable explanations, or propositions so the best course of action can be discerned through rigorous monitoring, integrative assessment, and synthesis. AM advances desired goals by reducing uncertainty, incorporating robustness into project design, and incorporating new information about ecosystem interactions and processes as our understanding of these relationships is augmented and refined. Overall system performance is enhanced as AM reconciles project-level actions within the context of ecosystem-level responses. Conflict resolution and collaboration can be critical components. This paper describes how AM is being applied in critical restoration projects along the Tamiami Trail, which bisects the Everglades along the border of Everglades National Park and the Big Cypress Preserve. Projects discussed include Modified Water Deliveries to Everglades National Park ("Mod Waters"), the Decompartmentalization Project (“Decomp”), the C-111 Spreader Canal, culvert construction and maintenance under Tamiami Trail, and the Picayune Strand wetlands restoration. Particular attention is devoted to the mechanism of intergovernmental collaboration and public participation, e.g. the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force and Working Group, its Advisory Committee on the Combined Structural and Operation Plan (“CSOP”), and the South Florida Water Management District’s Water Resources Advisory Commission (“WRAC”).

Keywords: environment, Everglades, adaptive management, intergovernmental relations

Suggested Citation

Light, Alfred (Fred) R., Tales of the Tamiami Trail: Implementing Adaptive Management in Everglades Restoration (March 25, 2006). Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law, Vol. 22, No. 1, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1455984

Alfred (Fred) R. Light (Contact Author)

St. Thomas University School of Law, ( email )

16401 N.W. 37th Ave.
Miami, FL 33054
United States
305-623-2315 (Phone)
305-623-2390 (Fax)

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