The South Florida ecosystem extends from the Chain of Lakes south of Orlando to the reefs southwest of the Florida Keys. This vast region, which is home to more than 6 million Americans, a huge tourism industry, and a large agricultural economy, also encompasses one of the world’s unique environmental resources—the Everglades. Before human intervention, freshwater moved south from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay in a broad, slow-moving sheet. The quantity and timing of the water’s flow depended on rainfall patterns and on slow releases of stored water. Even during dry seasons, water stored throughout the vast areas of the Everglades supplied water to wetlands and coastal bays and estuaries. For centuries, the Everglades provided habitat for many species of wading birds and other native wildlife, including the American alligator, which depended on the water flow patterns that existed before human intervention. Following major droughts from the early 1930s through the mid-1940s and drenching hurricanes in 1947, the Congress authorized the Central and Southern Florida Project in 1948. The project, an extensive system of over 1,700 miles of canals and levees and 16 major pump stations, prevents flooding and saltwater intrusion into the state’s aquifer while providing drainage and water for the residents of South Florida. However, as shown in figure 1, the engineering changes from the Central and Southern Florida Project, coupled with agricultural and industrial activities and urbanization, have reduced the Everglades to about half its original size and have had a detrimental effect on wildlife habitats and water quality. The loss of habitat has caused sharp declines in native plant and animal populations, placing many native species at risk. To address the ecosystem’s deterioration, the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force was established by a federal interagency agreement to promote and facilitate the development of consistent policies, strategies, and plans for addressing the environmental concerns of the South Florida ecosystem. The Task Force consisted of assistant secretaries from the Departments of Agriculture, the Army, Commerce, and the Interior; an assistant attorney general from the Department of Justice; and an assistant administrator from the Environmental Protection Agency. The Water Resources Development Act of 1996 formalized the Task Force; expanded its membership to include state, local, and tribal representatives; and charged it with coordinating and facilitating the efforts to restore the ecosystem. To accomplish the ecosystem’s restoration, the Task Force established the following three goals: Get the Water Right. Restoring more hydrologic functions to the ecosystem while providing adequate water supplies and flood control will involve enlarging the ecosystem’s freshwater supply and improving how water is delivered to natural areas. The goal is to deliver the right amount of water, of the right quality, to the right places, at the right times. Restore, Preserve, and Protect Natural Habitats and Species. Restoring lost and altered habitats and recovering the endangered or threatened species native to the ecosystem will involve acquiring lands and reconnecting natural habitats that have become disconnected through growth and development. Foster Compatibility of the Built and Natural Systems. Achieving the long- term sustainability of the ecosystem will not be possible if decisions about the built environment are not consistent with the ecosystem’s health. Land use decisions must be compatible with the ecosystem’s restoration while supporting of the needs for water supply, flood control, and recreation. The goal will also require developing public understanding and support of ecosystem restoration issues. The Task Force has published several documents and developed strategies and plans to address specific restoration issues since its establishment in 1993. However, at the time of our review in 1999, it had not developed an overall strategic plan to guide the restoration effort and accomplish its goals. We recommended that the Task Force develop a strategic plan that would clearly lay out how the restoration would occur and contained quantifiable goals and performance measures that could be used to track the restoration’s progress. On July 31, 2000, the Task Force issued its strategic plan entitled Coordinating Success: Strategy for Restoration of the South Florida Ecosystem. The July 2000 plan submitted by the Task Force fully addresses two of the four recommended elements. The plan identifies the resources needed and identifies the agencies accountable for accomplishing specific actions. In addition, because the Task Force included discussions of several important aspects of outlining how the restoration will occur, we believe the plan partially addresses the third element. (The section after this one discusses why the plan does not fully address the third element.) In identifying the resources needed to achieve the restoration and assigning accountability for accomplishing specific actions, the plan states that it will cost an estimated $14.8 billion to restore the South Florida ecosystem and describes major programs and plans that will contribute to the restoration. The plan also includes an appendix that provides additional information on the cost estimate, the categories of costs, and how the estimate was developed. The appendix contains information on the estimated cost of each goal and shows how the costs will be shared between the federal and state governments. Information on the ongoing and future programs and activities that are associated with the goals, the agencies accountable for implementing those programs and activities, the total cost of each program and activity, and the amount appropriated for or allocated to those programs through fiscal year 2000 is also presented in the appendix. The plan also provides information on the over 260 projects that the Task Force believes will contribute to achieving the ecosystem’s restoration. The plan contains a project summary table that clearly identifies which of the goals and subgoals each project is associated with and provides information on each project’s total costs, the lead agencies accountable for implementing each project, the start and end date of each project, and the amount that has been appropriated for each project to date. For example, the plan’s table shows that the Modified Water Deliveries Project is associated with subgoal 1.A.3, Removing Barriers to Sheetflow, which is one of the subgoals of Goal 1—Get the Water Right. The table identifies the National Park Service as the accountable agency for the project, which is intended to reestablish natural hydrologic conditions in Everglades National Park, and shows that the project started in 1990 and is expected to be completed in 2003. The project summary table also shows that the total cost of the project is $135,363,000 and that $62,037,000 has already been appropriated. In addition, the plan includes detailed data sheets that provide a description of each project and detailed budget information. By showing where the projects fit into the overall restoration effort, the plan provides information that, if utilized by the participating agencies, will be very valuable in assisting the agencies involved in the restoration in establishing priorities and justifying and obtaining the authorization and funding necessary to implement the planned projects. The Task Force could also use this information to develop interim outcome performance targets—a key element not yet included in this plan—that could provide the Task Force with a greater ability to gauge the progress being made in restoring the ecosystem. The Task Force’s plan also includes discussions of several important aspects of how the restoration will occur—the third element. The Task Force added subgoals and specific objectives for accomplishing two of the restoration’s three strategic goals. For example, the plan divides the restoration’s strategic goal of delivering the right amount of water, of the right quality, to the right places, at the right times (Get the Water Right) into two subgoals. Under the first subgoal—Get the Hydrology Right (water quantity, timing, and distribution), the plan describes three objectives designed to recapture and store water that is currently discharged to the Atlantic Ocean or Gulf of Mexico and redirect it to match, as closely as possible, natural hydrological patterns. The plan also describes two objectives under the second subgoal—Get the Water Quality Right—that are aimed at reducing the level of phosphorus entering the Everglades and other protected areas and ensuring that impaired water bodies in the ecosystem will meet federal, state, and tribal water quality standards. Similar details have been provided for the restoration’s second goal—Restore, Preserve, and Protect Natural Habitats and Species. The Task Force also included a list of end results (outcomes) that are representative of what it expects to eventually achieve by carrying out the activities described in the plan. In addition, the Task Force included a description of desired future conditions when describing each of its goals to further explain what each goal means. The Task Force also included a discussion of the other factors, such as obtaining adequate and reliable funding and the willingness of landowners to sell or lease their lands, that could affect its ability to achieve the restoration’s goals. In describing these aspects in its plan, the Task Force has begun to develop a blueprint, or framework, for restoring the ecosystem that it can use to guide the restoration as well as communicating the size, scope, and importance of the effort to the Congress, other decisionmakers, and the public. Although the Task Force has included discussions of several important aspects of the third element of outlining how the restoration will occur, additional work is needed before the plan will provide a clear picture of how the restoration will occur. The current plan also does not link the strategic goals of the restoration to outcome-oriented interim goals, an element that is essential to tracking and measuring the Task Force’s progress in restoring the ecosystem. The Task Force’s strategic plan does not contain several key attributes that are necessary to clearly outline how the restoration will occur. The plan does not discuss or describe the approaches and strategies that will be used to achieve one of its long-term strategic goals—the compatibility of the built and natural systems. The Task Force recognizes that unless decisions made about the built environment are consistent with the ecosystem’s health, the long-term sustainability of the ecosystem cannot be achieved, and the billions of dollars spent to restore the ecosystem could be wasted.