WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Oct. 14 (UPI) -- Florida Gov. Jeb Bush announced plans Thursday to speed up restoration of the Everglades by launching eight projects at a cost of $1.5 billion.
The eight-project program - known as Acceler8 -- will be carried out over the next seven years, The Miami Herald reported Thursday.
In addition to Everglades restoration, some of them will improve freshwater flow into Biscayne and Florida Bays as a result of the disastrous four hurricanes that have hit Florida this summer and fall.
It is all a part of the $8 billion Everglades restoration program funded by the state and federal governments, believed to be the most expensive environmental project in history.
Bush made the announcement at a ceremony at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County.
The plans include a shift of the bulk of the work to the South Florida Water Management District rather than the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
