Murphy Applauds Passage of Bipartisan Water Bill to Help Local Waterways

Press Release

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the conference report to H.R. 3080, the Water Resources Reform and Development Act (WRRDA). Provisions in this bill will help move Everglades ecosystem restoration forward, which will help improve the health of the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. This critical piece of legislation authorizes four new Everglades restoration projects that will benefit the entire system, including local waterways; it allows for hundreds of millions of dollars in credits for South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), allowing the District to move forward on other Everglades restoration projects; and it streamlines the Army Corps of Engineers' reviewing and permitting processes. While this is the first Water Bill to be passed in seven years, it is the sense of Congress that moving forward, this legislation should be authorized in every Congress.

"It is great to see this critical piece of legislation continuing to move forward with such broad bipartisan support, a testament to the smart investments this bill makes in our infrastructure. As we continue to fight to protect our local waterways, WRRDA is moving more important Everglades restoration projects forward. The benefits of these projects will be felt throughout our ecosystem, and the Treasure Coast is no exception," said Murphy. "Additionally, this bill will allow hundreds of millions of dollars in credits to be freed up for SFWMD to move forward on other important local projects as well as cuts through some of the Army Corps' red tape so that the agency works more efficiently.

"While it would have been great to have CEPP considered for inclusion in this bill, it should not take away from the major wins for our waterways that are in WRRDA," Murphy added. "Thanks to the hard work of my friend and fellow Floridian Congresswoman Lois Frankel, this final bill includes language that allows the State of Florida to move forward with CEPP once the Army Corps has completed the Chief's Report for this project. This is great news and means that CEPP can continue moving forward."

WRRDA will authorize the construction of 23 water projects nationwide, with the following Everglades restoration projects accounting for nearly 20 percent of these new projects: the C-43 West Storage Reservoir Project; the Broward County Water Preserve Areas Project; the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands -- Phase 1 Project; and the C-111 Spreader Canal Western Project.

Please note that WRRDA is an authorizing bill and that any funding for projects is done in separate appropriations measures. It is also important to note that while the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) was not authorized in WRRDA, no funding for this project had been allocated or has been lost.

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