Implementing Legally Mandated Science and Peer Review in Support of the Everglades Restoration Program

The Everglades Forever Act mandates that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District conduct any research necessary to numerically interpret Florida’s existing phosphorus criterion narrative standard, which requires phosphorus levels cause no imbalance in flora and fauna. The Act commands such research to: meet ambitious deadlines, utilize spatial-scaled science, incorporate substantive peer review, be open for public comment, and be published in scientific literature. These commands riddle phosphorus research with multiple obstacles.This article reviews phosphorus criterion research in the Everglades as an example of scientific excellence resulting from open publication in light of litigation, urgency, and ultimate need to support decision making on definitive phosphorus standards. Specifically, the article begins by reviewing the everglades system and its environmental issues, including those resulting from increased phosphorus levels. The article continues on to summarize the Everglades phosphorus research processes, challenges, and resulting benefits.Ultimately, the article supports the use of phosphorus research in the Everglades as a model example of the positive effects that can result when research is conducted in an open research process.