Oasis in Crisis: Conversation with Dr. Wanless

Coversation with Dr. Wanless
By: Kristi Stout

Photo by Bruce Garrison

Dr. Harold Wanless is the Department Chairman Professor for Geological Sciences at the University of Miami. He is an expert in coastal and shallow marine processes and environments, environmental geology, forensic geology, and sedimentology. Dr. Wanless is currently researching sea level history of the past 4,000 years in Florida, as well as the evolution of the southern Florida landscape and seascape. His current research also includes the reconstruction of paleo-environmental history of south Florida coastal marine environments.

According to Dr. Wanless, now is the time for the men and women involved in the Everglades restoration process to assess both the positive and negative aspects of the project. Dr. Wanless believes it is imperative that the scientists are certain their efforts will make a change for the better. Without proof that the restoration process will benefit the Everglades, the investment of both time and money will be wasted.

Dr. Wanless regards the policy of adaptive management as a key factor to the success of CERP. This policy is the guideline the scientists follow and simply means that if something is not going well in the restoration process, it should be stopped, re-evaluated, and changed.

According to Dr. Wanless, one of the major problems of the restoration process involves the storage of water. Water is necessary for the community, for protection against hurricanes, and for the ecosystem. It is very difficult to balance the amount of water each area receives and even more difficult to find a place to store the water.

There are only two options: store the water in the ground or store the water on the surface in containers. Earlier in the restoration process, floodwater was placed underground for storage. However, this option failed because floodwater is polluted and can contaminate the groundwater. In addition, many wells have been dug around Lake Okeechobee and along coastal communities. Instead of working together to find the best storage method for water, the communities are competing to see who can store their water first. This will result in a number of inefficient storage methods, instead of a single plan that could benefit everyone.

On the other hand, Dr. Wanless points out that above ground storage is not the perfect solution either. This method loses about five feet of water each year through evaporation and although some of the water is replaced by rainfall, the overall loss is still calculated at about three feet of water. Due to poor surveying techniques, no one is sure how much water is lost underground, making it impossible to compare the two methods. Dr. Wanless agrees that more research must be done to determine which method will be more advantageous.

Another challenge spawning from the storage problems adds money and politics to the equation. Well drillers will want underground storage, and construction companies will want above ground storage.
Man-made canals also present a problem to the efforts. The canals begin at Lake Okeechobee and extend out to the coast. These canals bring large quantities of fresh water to a very concentrated area of salt-water habitats, often damaging the environment. Before these canals were built, Lake Okeechobee was drained in sheets, instead of specific areas, posing no threat to the natural environment. Sheet drainage may be restored, but Dr. Wanless explains that the question of global warming must be considered.

Over the last 2,000 years, the sea level has risen by an average rate of one-and-half inches. Over the past 70 years, the sea level has risen by nine inches, indicating that over the next century, the sea level will rise by two feet, This will have enormous affects on coastal communities which brings up the question, “If these coastal communities will not be here in the near future, is it worth the effort to spend the time and money on restoration?” CERP has begun to incorporate future sea level increases into the plan, establishing upper parts first, as opposed to focusing on the south and on the coastline.