Advertisement

Editorial: Gator warning signal

 
Gators in the Everglades are having a tougher time finding food in dry areas.
Gators in the Everglades are having a tougher time finding food in dry areas.
Published Nov. 25, 2014

The very idea that the Everglades is running short of alligators is like imagining Florida lacking sunshine or Disney World needing more Mickey Mouse toys. In fact, the decline in alligators in the River of Grass is — to mix our metaphors — the canary in the coal mine. It means that the Everglades isn't healthy, and the state and the federal governments should accelerate restoration efforts.

Alligators are flourishing elsewhere in Florida, and the state relies on trappers to catch those that wander into subdivisions and become nuisances. Yet the Tampa Bay Times' Craig Pittman reports the alligator population is declining in the Everglades. The reason: As the Army Corps of Engineers manipulates water levels in the Everglades to control flooding along the developed coastline, alligators are having a tougher time finding food in dry areas.

The changes occurred over years, and it will take years to reverse the trend and restore the Everglades. The state and federal governments are dividing the cost of the effort, and one of the keys is improving the water flow from Lake Okeechobee into the central Everglades. But the cost of just that project has risen to nearly $2 billion, and Congress has yet to authorize spending the federal share of that project.

Gov. Rick Scott has taken a renewed interest in the Everglades and pledged to continue restoration efforts during his second term. Now the new Congress has to step up next year and do its part. Perhaps an up-close meeting with an alligator would help close the deal.