The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board unanimously approved the purchase of the last parcels of land needed to complete the final phases of the Kissimmee River Restoration Project. The 12,000 acres purchased for $35.8 million complete the total acquisition of 102,061 acres needed for construction of the project.

“As the headwaters of America’s Everglades, the Kissimmee watershed is a critical component of South Florida’s interconnected ecosystem,” said Governor Jeb Bush. “The State is eager to move forward and finish this first-of-its-kind river restoration.”

The 103-mile Kissimmee River once meandered across a 1-2 mile floodplain until the 1960s when it was “straightened” and channelized into the C-38 canal for flood control purposes. While the project delivered its promise, it also destroyed a floodplain-dependent ecosystem that nurtured threatened and endangered species, and hundreds of other fish and wetland-dependent animals. Ultimately, the waterway was transformed into a straight, deep, oxygen-depleted canal – no longer capable of supporting sport fish species.

Today, the Kissimmee River’s rescue is well under way and showing tremendous recovery. In 2001, the first of the four-phase Kissimmee River Restoration project was completed. That work filled in 7.5 miles of the flood control canal and restored flow to about 15 miles of historic river channel and associated floodplain.

The next phase of construction is scheduled to begin in May. It involves backfilling about 2 miles of canal, beginning at the northern end of the Phase 1 project area, as well as reconnecting about a half mile of continuous river channel. Completion of this phase is expected in summer 2007.

Future phases in 2007 through 2011 will backfill an additional 12.5 miles of canal and reconnect additional river channel. Two water control structures will be removed, restoring more than 8,000 acres of the river/floodplain ecosystem. The system will continue to be monitored for 5 years upon the end of construction to ensure restoration success.

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