25 Years of the Everglades Restoration Plan: Why This Congressional Resolution Matters to Florida's Water Bill

This Congressional Resolution is all about marking a milestone: the 25th anniversary of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) on December 11, 2025. It’s not a bill that sets new rules or spends new money; it’s a formal shout-out to one of the biggest environmental infrastructure projects in U.S. history. At its core, the resolution recognizes CERP as the long-term, bipartisan state and federal partnership designed to restore the natural southward flow of water from Lake Okeechobee down to Florida Bay. This is the plan that’s supposed to fix decades of altering the water flow, which is why it’s so critical to millions of people who live and work in the region.

The Real-World Impact of a Commemoration

While this resolution is mostly commemorative, it serves a crucial purpose: keeping a massive, multi-decade project on the front burner. Think of it like a performance review for a huge construction job that’s only halfway done. The resolution notes that the Everglades provides an estimated $1 trillion in value to the state and nation. For the average person, this isn't just about pretty swamps; it’s about practical necessities. The restoration work—like bridging parts of the Tamiami Trail and improving the Herbert Hoover Dike—directly protects drinking water for millions of Floridians and supports the regional economy. When the plan strengthens Florida’s resilience to saltwater intrusion and flooding, that’s protecting your home value and ensuring your car doesn't float away during the next big storm.

The Bipartisan Buy-In

One of the most interesting parts of this resolution is how it highlights the consistent, bipartisan commitment to the Everglades. It explicitly names presidential administrations from Clinton through Biden and gubernatorial administrations from Jeb Bush through DeSantis. This isn't just political fluff; it emphasizes that the plan has survived political shifts, which is rare for such a colossal infrastructure effort. For busy people, this means the project is less likely to stall every time there's a change in leadership, offering a degree of predictability for businesses and communities relying on the restoration's success.

Why We Still Need Congress to Keep Showing Up

The resolution points out that CERP was authorized by the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000, and subsequent WRDA bills are essential for authorizing individual projects. This is the fine print that matters: Even though the big plan is in place, Congress has to keep passing these acts to authorize the next phases of construction, like the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir. The resolution concludes by reaffirming the need for “continued, timely federal and state investments.” In plain language, this is Congress reminding itself—and the states—that they can’t take their foot off the gas. If they stop funding or authorizing these projects, the progress made on water quality and flood protection slows down, potentially increasing costs and risks for everyone living downstream.