$65 million. Thats the price tag for short-term fixes for Floridas coastal estuaries unanimously approved by a Senate select committee Tuesday.
The Select Committee on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin approved a final report of near-term and long-term suggested actions worth $220 million during the final of three hearings, which began Aug. 22 in Stuart, the home of both the St. Lucie Estuary and Chairman Joe Negron.
These recommendations are going to be our guiding force behind our legislative efforts going forward, the Stuart Republican told the committee.
The short-term recommendations varied in terms of geography and function, including:
$5 million for the 44-mile Kissimmee River restoration project.
$5 million for the C-111 spreader canal project.
$4 million for water monitoring.
$3 million for water storage on public and private lands.
$3 million for FDACS' agricultural Best Management Practices north of Lake Okeechobee.
Support of $2.7 million in funding authority to aid water movement from the water conservation areas to Everglades National Park.
$2 million to the Picayune Strand project.
$1 million for pilot programs to restore oyster populations and seagrass.
Evaluating holding more water in Lake Kissimmee and Lake Okeechobee for longer periods.
Establishing an advisory group to evaluate technology to reduce nutrients and increase salinity when needed.
Analysis of how to reduce urban pollution from septic systems.
Three additional short-term suggestions were added to the 12 initial ideas, including $15 million for construction of a C-43reservoir in the Caloosahatchee basin on the west side of Lake Okeechobee, championed by Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers; more than $2 million for Lake Worth Lagoon restoration; and $20 million to remove muck from the northern and central Indian River Lagoon.
The proponent of the last amendment, Sen. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, told the committee, Three inches of muck can do as much damage as 3 feet of muck.
Captain Don Voss, who had traveled from Fort Pierce to Washington, D.C., to advocate for the St. Lucie over the summer, urged lawmakers in Tallahassee Tuesday to find ways to fix water problems at their origin, north of Lake Okeechobee. Were looking for more storage north because fixing the faucet is better than fixing the drain.
The Nature Conservancys Janet Bowman echoed his appeal, saying, Were very pleased that youve addressed storage north of the lake and opened the door to addressing that issue. Bowman also called for using some of the money to create permanent conservation easements north of the lake for long-term storage.
Ernie Barnett, the South Florida Water Management Districts assistant executive director of Everglades and water resources, said the main solution to reduce nutrients flowing from the northern basin into Lake Okeechobee is finishing the Kissimmee River restoration.
Negron tried to resuscitate Charlie Crists flowway idea south of the lake that would take agricultural land out of production for water conveyance, even though that plan (known as Plan 6) had been summarily dismissed in the committee's draft report as a thrice-studied and rejected idea.
The Stuart Republican offered amendments to the final report that called for more studies and funding from the federal government. Other committee members, including Sen. Alan Hayes, R-Umatilla, worried about creating unintended consequences by flowing more water south to Florida Bay. In response, Barnett warned lawmakers they cannot move additional water south into the Everglades until the state achieves federal court-mandated water-quality nutrient levels and said they must meet a regulatory requirement in order not to harm Florida Bay. But, the Everglades Restoration Strategies plan approved by the Legislature earlier this year will provide the projects needed south of the lake.
The feds were also in the committees crosshairs in terms of the disparity in dollars contributed to the 50-50 cost share between the state and federal governments. The committee contended the feds are more than $1.5 billion behind the states Everglades funding.
Since the state is left footing an ever-increasing bill for restoration, senators were cognizant that they must protect the environment while also safeguarding taxpayers.
Sen. Maria Sachs, a South Florida Democrat, said of the final recommendations, We are stewards of the taxpayers money but equally as important we are stewards of our resources in this great state."
After the meeting, Negron told Sunshine State Newshe is utterly committed to twohighlights in the committee report: redirecting lake discharges and getting control of release decisions out of Washington and back to Florida.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423.
