South Florida Water Management District and the National Park Service broke ground on the Taylor Slough Flow Improvement Project within Everglades National Park. This environmental restoration project will allow cleaner freshwater to flow south through Taylor Slough and onto Florida Bay, where it is needed to balance salinity levels and promote ecological health, agency officials said. Taylor Slough is in the southeastern part of the national park and was historically a major contributor of freshwater to Florida Bay. The duration, timing and extent of wetland inundation of Taylor Slough’s interconnected wetlands and freshwater flows through Florida Bay are a critical component of the Everglades ecosystem. The project will install up to 18 culverts at nine locations along a 3.2-mile section of Old Ingraham Highway in Everglades National Park to improve the distribution of freshwater flows and restore natural plant communities and wetlands. The project is expected to be completed in summer 2023.