The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) have led in the development of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). The CERP's principal restoration goal is "to deliver the right amount of water, of the right quality, to the right places, and at the right time" (USACE, 2001). In order to achieve this goal, information that specifically measures the quantity, quality, timing and distribution of water within the Everglades ecosystem must be obtained. In 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began a project to measure freshwater discharge from the Everglades wetlands into northeastern Florida Bay. The project objectives are to determine the quantity, timing and distribution of flow into northeastern Florida Bay. Flow, water level, salinity and water-quality data are collected at monitoring sites in estuarine creeks that connect northeastern Florida Bay with the Everglades (Hittle, 2000). Information from this project will help determine how freshwater flow affects the health of Florida Bay, a critical component of the CERP, and how changes in water-management practices upstream (Taylor Slough and C-111 basins) directly influence flow conditions in the estuary. The USACE, SFWMD, USGS, Everglades National Park (ENP) and other agencies as well as universities are currently using the data from this study in research projects that will benefit the restoration effort.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. October 2001. Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Project Management Plan Florida Bay & Florida Keys Feasibility Study.