Roseate spoonbills © Larry Frogge C- Photo by Mac Stone - is a shallow, sub-tropical estuary nestled between the coastal wetlands of the Southern and the Florida Keys. This unique area is home to a wide diversity of wildlife including Roseate Spoonbills and other wading birds, crocodiles, lobster, and pink shrimp. Florida Bay is also crical habitat for young and adult gamesh like tarpon, bonesh, snook, and redsh. The historic flow of water in South Florida was a slow, uninterrupted movement from south to Florida Bay. But the natural hydrology of the Greater Everglades Ecosystem began to change in the early 1900s as developers constructed canals, roads, and other structures to drain wetlands. Water pushed to the coast through new canals was no longer able to reach its natural desnaon of Florida Bay in the south. The alteraons to the historic paern reduced the amount of water flowing into the Everglades and Florida Bay, leading to ecological decline across the region. opulaons of wading birds, like Roseate Spoonbills, have dropped because these changes to hydrology hurt food supply. Once nesng by the thousands, only Spoonbill nests were recorded by udubon sciensts in Florida Bay in 201. Reestablishing the flow of freshwater through the Greater Everglades is key to restoring the ecosystem and the MAP BY SFWMD historic level of wading birds and wildlife. In the Southern Everglades, this means reconnecng Slough and to sources of more freshwater. Sloughs are deeper areas in the marsh that remain flooded nearly year-round. Taylor and Shark River Slough serve as the primary pathway for water moving south towards Florida Bay. C- The C-111 South ade roect impacts the 1 square mile Taylor Slough Basin within Everglades aonal ark E and 100 square miles of addional lands outside of the park. The C-111 South ade roect was inially authoried in 192 as part of the Central & South Florida roect. In its original form, the C-111 South ade roect had unforeseen ecological consequences. The proect included canals and other structures that would drain water off wetlands and into Florida Bay to the south, and Barnes Sound and southern to the southeast. This change in flow paern caused ecological damage to Taylor Slough which became too dry. t the same me, Barnes Sound and Biscayne Bay suffered ecological damages as releases of freshwater upset the salinity balance of their waters. Once the ecological damage caused by the proect became more evident, plans were made by the US rmy Corps of @AudubonFL Page 1 fl.audubon.org June 2014 C-

Engineers USCE to modify the inial design. uthoried in 199, these modicaons will allow more freshwater into the Everglades and help keep it there, by prevenng water from draining out into Biscayne Bay or seeping into nearby developed areas. USCE and the South Florida Water Management istrict share the cost of proect construcon. The C-111 South ade roect now includes a series of detenon basins that hold water from canals that would otherwise be released into areas where it is not needed. The detenon basins also prevent groundwater from seeping out by holding more water inside the boundaries of Everglades aonal ark. The roect also includes backlling canals and removing spoil mounds that block the flow of water to Taylor Slough and surrounding wetlands. In total, the C-111 roect will remove 4. miles of barriers to flow. The proect is nearly nished with only one remaining element to be constructed, the orth etenon rea , also known as Contract . The will prevent water from seeping out of Everglades aonal ark and in turn, protect agricultural and urban areas while restoraon proects work to restore more natural hydrology. Once complete, the will act as a crical piece in the pule to achieve the maimum benets from other restoraon proects. The C-111 South ade roect will improve hydrologic condions in Taylor Slough. Increased water flows will help rehydrate wetlands in the Southern Everglades and rebalance salinity levels in northeast Florida Bay. These changes will improve the quality of habitat, allowing natural areas to support larger populaons of wildlife. Wading birds will be able to nest in larger numbers and embedded lakes in the coastal wetlands will be able to support more migratory waterfowl. opulaons of forage sh, crabs, gamesh, and other marine animals will also increase. — One of the added benets of the C-111 South ade roect is that it will enhance the benets of two other nearby restoraon proects. Since construcon in the 1920s, has served as a dam, blocking the north to south flow of water into the Everglades. Modified Water Deliveries Mod Waters is a proect located ust to the south of this roadway. The central component of the Mod Waters proect was the Tamiami Trail one mile bridge. ow complete, this bridge will allow more water to flow south. The C-111 South ade roect connects to Mod Waters and prevents this water from seeping out into canals, and facilitang its connued movement southward. To the south, the C-111 South ade roect links to the C-111 Spreader Canal Western Project . This proect also prevents water from seeping into urban areas and includes a detenon basin that delivers water remaining in the canals to the north directly into Taylor Slough. Each of these proects are part of a suite of soluons designed to provide ecological benets by delivering more water to the Everglades. The C-111 South ade roect will maimie the benets of all three by linking the proects together. Compleng the will make the restoraon investments by both the state and federal governments more valuable, ensuring that tapayers will get the greatest return. • Construct the C-111 South ade orth etenon rea. • evelop and implement a combined operaons plan focused on achieving ecological benets for the C-111 South ade, Modied Water eliveries, and C-111 Spreader Canal Western roect. • Begin the planning effort for the C-111 Spreader Canal Eastern roect, the remaining half of the C-111 Spreader Canal Western roect. @AudubonFL Page 2 fl.audubon.org June 2014