LET IT FLOW
An important groundbreaking ceremony for Palmetto Bay took place on Friday, December 3, 2009.
No, we didn’t open a new park, playground, or municipal building. In fact, if you drove around the village on Friday, you couldn’t find any traces of this historic event.
Still, the impact of this project will effect the village for years to come.
About 25 miles away, in the heart of the Florida Everglades, a groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the beginning of the construction of the Tamiami Trail Bridge.
How does the building of a Federally-funded bridge a marathon-distance away from Palmetto Bay affect us?
Three words: CLEAN DRINKING WATER
Tamiami Trail, the road that connects the east coast of Florida with the state’s west coast, acts as a type of dam and restricts the southerly flow of water from Lake Okeechobee into the Everglades.
The bridge being built is considered a crucial part of a preliminary Everglades restoration project. The goal is to allow a natural flow of water in wide sheets to replenish Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
It has taken 20 years of planning, haggling, lawsuits, and lobbying for federal funding to get to this point.
The Tamiami Trail Bridge is being built to allow a natural flow of water in wide sheets to replenish Everglades National Park and the Florida Bay to provide clean water for future generations.
Some Palmetto Bay residents are unaware of the crucial role the Everglades plays in the quality and quantity of our drinking water. As South Florida continues to expand its urban borders, demand for clean water will rise. Without a constant supply of fresh water from the Everglades, long-term economic stability in Palmetto Bay and neighboring communities could be threatened.
Let’s hope the new Tamiami Trail bridge is the first step in a long-term plan to protect the Everglades environment and safeguard the primary source of our community’s water supply.
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