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' � 91 1" w <br />City of Sunny Isles Beach <br />18070 Collins Avenue <br />Sunny Isles Beach, Florida 33160 <br />(305) 947 -0606 City Hall <br />(305) 949 -3113 Fox <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commission <br />FROM: Mayor Norman S. Edelcup <br />DATE: 6/21/2012 <br />RE: A Resolution Supporting the Central Everglades Planning Project <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Attached for your consideration is a Resolution supporting the Central Everglades <br />Planning Project for the restoration of the Central Everglades. <br />REASONS: <br />The Greater Everglades Ecosystem is a globally imperiled habitat and the primary source <br />of drinking water for Sunny Isles Beach. The Everglades National Park is critical to <br />South Florida's tourism, with nearly a million visitors each year. The Everglades <br />Ecosystem has continued to decline in the face of restoration delays and an expedited <br />solution is needed to increase the quality, quantity, timing and distribution of freshwater <br />flows into the central Everglades, Everglades National Park, and Florida and Biscayne <br />Bays. Increased deliveries of water south of Lake Okeechobee will reduce damaging <br />discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries. <br />The goal of the Central Everglades Planning Project is to significantly reduce planning <br />times and deliver a finalized plan for a suite of restoration projects in the central <br />Everglades within 18 months. Full support and funding by the State of Florida and the <br />U.S. Congress is needed to implement this project that will protect regional water supply, <br />create much needed jobs and strengthen the local economy. <br />The attached Resolution supports the completion of a Project Implementation Report by <br />the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers <br />through the Central Everglades Planning Project by May 2013 that addresses key <br />obstacles for restoring freshwater flows and implements meaningful ecological and <br />economic benefits toward restoring America's Everglades. <br />ATTACHMENTS: <br />i Resolution <br />Backup <br />Agenda Item No. 10MDate 6/21/2012 <br />153 <br />