South Florida Ecosystem Restoration

The Florida Everglades, which includes Everglades National Park, is recognized nationally and internationally as one of the world's most unique natural and cultural resources. Once spreading over more than 8 million acres, and now encompassing nearly 4 million acres, the Greater Everglades Ecosystem spans from the Kissimmee River basin north of Lake Okeechobee all the way south to Florida Bay and the reefs of the Florida Keys. The Greater Everglades Ecosystem is the focus of the world's largest intergovernmental watershed restoration effort, and involves numerous projects to restore the quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of freshwater across South Florida. These efforts are intended to reverse decades of environmental decline and ensure drinking water and other water-related needs for over nine million people, numerous industries, and diverse natural habitats in the region. Restoring America's Everglades will improve freshwater flows to coastal estuaries and support improved water quality, habitats, and marine life in Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Scientists and resource managers from NOAA and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary participate in the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, the interagency body formed to oversee and coordinate the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). Once fully implemented, restoration of the Everglades ecosystem is expected to restore freshwater flows to wetlands in Everglades National Park and improve water quality in Florida Bay, Florida's southern coastal system, and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries.

In 2022, a Florida Coral Reef Coordination Team was established as an advisory body under the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force to enable additional coordination between Everglades restoration efforts and issues impacting Florida's Coral Reef and associated resources.