The goal of CERP is to recapture the fresh water that is currently pumped out to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico in order to reduce water levels in Lake Okeechobee and redirect it south to the Everglades National Park that has been receiving greatly reduced inflows since the 20th century drainage of the landscape.
The majority of the water will be devoted to environmental restoration, reviving the degrading Everglades terrestrial, wetland and marine ecosystems [citation needed].
The Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) Project,[3] which was first authorized by the U.S. Congress in 1948, is a multi-purpose project that provides flood control, water supply for municipal, industrial, and agricultural uses, prevention of saltwater intrusion, water supply for Everglades National Park, and protection of fish and wildlife resources.
The fourth report in the series, released in 2012, found that little progress has been made in restoring the core of the remaining Everglades ecosystem; instead, most project construction so far has occurred along its periphery.
[7] Overall, the report concluded that substantial near-term progress to address both water quality and hydrology in the central Everglades is needed to reverse ongoing degradation before it’s too late.