The South Florida Water Management District decided Thursday morning to OK an Everglades restoration project it designed.
Since 2011, the District has been working to develop a $1.9 billion plan to put some circulation back into the heart of the Everglades.
"It is going to require removing lot of things that have been put in," says Randy Smith, a representative for the Water District. "[It will require] creating new water-flow projects and water storage projects. The landscape is going to more closely resemble what it was originally."
Since the late 1800s, South Floridians have tried to turn the marshy Everglades into livable, arable land.
While that change has created a population boom, it has also strained the ecosystems of the everglades. The biggest culprit is lack of water movement.
The project will now be reviewed by the Army Corps of Engineers and then move on to Washington for congressional funding approval.
