Agriculture and Ecosystem Restoration in South Florida: Assessing Trade-offs from Water-Retention Development in the Everglades Agricultural Area

Marcel Aillery, Robbin Shoemaker, and Margriet Caswell

Elsewhere No. (0108), February 2001

The Florida Everglades is widely acclaimed as one of the world's most productive wetland ecosystems. However, decades of land and water development, some of it for agriculture, have seriously degraded native wildlife communities. Agricultural production decisions have contributed to the loss of some ecosystem functions and reduced environmental quality. Policies to restore the Everglades environment will affect the profitability of the farming sector in Florida. Considerable attention has focused on the retention of wet-season water flows in the northern watershed that is currently drained to meet urban and agricultural needs. In this study, a dynamic model of agricultural production, soil loss, and water retention in the Everglades Agricultural Area was developed to assess agricultural impacts under alternative water policy and land acquisition scenarios.

Keywords: agricultural economics, ecosystem, everglades, drainage, restoration, water management, returns, soil loss

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Updated date: February 2001