Florida Governor Rick Scott announced today that he has earmarked $ 3.5 million for the “final phase” of elevation of parts of the Tamiami Trail Highway that impedes the natural flow of fresh water from the Everglades wetland to the south .
This project will allow the elimination of the elements in the aforementioned 443-kilometer highway to facilitate a greater inflow of water to the south of the Everglades.
The natural flow of fresh water into the Everglades, from north to south, is affected by the 443-kilometer Tamiami Trail, which connects Tampa (west coast) with Miami (southeast of the state).
In addition to these funds, which will be channeled through the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Scott has requested an additional $ 40 million to “complete this important project” to restore the Everglades.
Once this work is completed, the project will allow water to be sent south “nearly six miles (9.6 kilometers) below the Tamiami Trail,” he said.
“I am proud to allocate even more funds today to help complete the Tamiami Trail project that raises this important highway up to almost six miles,” Scott said in a statement.
Likewise, Scott, a Republican candidate for the seat of Democratic Senator Bill Nelson, who defends him in the legislative elections of November 6, criticized Congress for the delay in the delivery of federal funds for Everglades restoration projects, close to the one billion dollars.
The Everglades, the huge wetland located in South Florida, is threatened both by the alarming salinization of its aquifers, as a result of sea level rise, and by water discharges from Lake Okeechobee, which has led to the proliferation of toxic algae in several estuaries.
In addition, environmentalists claimed for years the recovery of the original flow of fresh water to the south, interrupted by the Tamiami Trail Highway, built in the late 1920s.
