Water Resources Science, Policy, and Politics for the Florida Everglades

Abstract

The Florida Everglades are a remnant of what was once a 15,000 km2 (5,600 mi2) wetland in central and southern Florida where water resource management now is the primary agent of landscape change. Water management has produced substantial social benefits in the region but with unexpected ecosystem costs. Relationships among scientific research, public policy, and politics explain variation in annual numbers of publications as assessed by Google Scholar searches for publications with the word Everglades in their titles. Of 4,150 formal publications on the Everglades between 1800 and 2010, the greatest number of publications per year was about 200 in 2000, 2001, and 2002 after a period of public interest, strong political leadership, and emerging policy provided consistent funding for research. After 2002, uncertain funding and lack of common political goals reduced funding for science and led to declining numbers of published works on the Everglades. A conceptual construct summarizing the connections among science, policy, and politics shows the importance of cultural effects (manifested through politics) and feedbacks among science, policy, and politics regardless of whether the objective is economic development or ecosystem preservation.