Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014

Floor Speech

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Mr. MURPHY of Florida. Madam Chair, I rise today to voice my support for vital funding for important Army Corps of Engineers' projects across the Palm Beach-Treasure Coast district that I proudly represent.

This bill includes funding for the critically important Indian River Lagoon C-44 project, which will greatly improve the water quality in my district. For those of you unfamiliar with this local treasure, it is the most diverse estuary in North America, many of its species already threatened or endangered. But due to extreme pollution, local officials have issued health warnings advising residents to not contact this waterway. Tragically, it has also witnessed a major die-off of its population of manatees, dolphins, pelicans, and other crucial species. Completion of this project is essential to protecting this vital ecosystem as well as improving the water quality throughout the region.

The C-44 project is part of broader Everglades restoration efforts that the Army Corps is tasked with, which will protect this unique and important habitat. Furthermore, the Everglades provide drinking water for one in three Floridians, and restoration efforts also have a 3-to-1 return on investment in the local economy. Completion of the overall Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project will shore up Florida's access to clean drinking water and improve the local environment and economy.

Locally, Everglades restoration is part of the solution to the harmful discharges that are currently being released from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River on the Treasure Coast. By returning water flows south of the lake and improving water quality in the area through projects such as C-44, we can mitigate the effects these harmful discharges from the lake continue to have on our local waterways year after year, devastating the environment and the economy.

Furthermore, the Army Corps is responsible for repairing the Herbert Hoover Dike, which surrounds Lake Okeechobee and is listed as one of the most at-risk of failure in the Nation. This project keeps local residents safe from devastating flooding that could occur if the dike were to fail. The Army Corps has already been struggling to meet its obligations on this and other projects, which is why we must continue to provide funding or risk further delaying these important ongoing jobs.

In addition to the important Indian River Lagoon, Lake Okeechobee, and Herbert Hoover Dike projects this bill supports, it also provides important funding for inlet dredging projects. Being able to access and safely navigate our local waterways and ports is essential for public safety and our economy. The same can be said for those shore restoration programs that this bill also funds, returning our local beaches to their pre-storm conditions after extreme weather events such as Hurricane Sandy.

If you speak with any of my constituents, they'll tell you that all of these projects are vital to their daily way of life and to the health of the local population as well as the economy. We must provide certainty and continue the Corps' funding or risk devastating their progress on these important projects. Jeopardizing funding for these ongoing projects would only further aggravate the serious problem of toxic discharges in my district, prevent progress on essential water quality restoration projects, and have an overall negative impact on our local environment and, in turn, our local economy. To me, that's simply not an option.

Madam Chair, we have the obligation to provide adequate resources for programs that protect public safety, water quality, and our environment, such as these. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the underlying legislation to continue to fund these projects that are critical to the well-being of the Treasure Coast and Palm Beaches.

I yield back the balance of my time.

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