FROM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA:
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, September 25, 2013 Gov. Rick Scott has asked President Barack Obama to tour Lake Okeechobee in the latest attempt to draw attention to complaints about how water releases have impacted the health of estuaries on both sides of the state.
Scott, in a letter written Tuesday, also urged the president to increase the federal government’s response to the complaints and provide funding to speed repairs of the Herbert Hoover Dike system around the lake.
“After the tour, you will no doubt make Lake Okeechobee enhancements more of a priority than what is currently reflected in your budget reductions,” Scott wrote.
Scott would later tell reporters in the Capitol that the issue, which impacts the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, “is a federal problem.”
“If he cared about the citizens of that area of the state, then he’d come down here and see the problem,” Scott said. “But he won’t.”
A spokesperson for the White House didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been releasing water from Lake Okeechobee since May to lessen stress on the dike.
Scott criticized the president for federal budget allocations to maintain the dike that fell from $130 million in 2013 to $86 million in 2014.
“This funding reduction is astonishing considering the federal government has yet to deliver on its responsibility of supporting a dike system that can keep families safe while mitigating environmental impacts,” Scott wrote.
The nutrient-rich water sent from Lake Okeechobee into the rivers has reportedly killed oysters and sea grass, along with causing a toxic algae outbreak that has forced Martin County health officials to warn residents against coming into contact with the water.
But while Scott’s letter focused on the dike and other potential projects in the region, David Guest, a prominent environmental attorney with the legal group Earthjustice, contends that government officials should focus on pollution that goes into the lake and rivers from sources such as farms.
“What we need to talk about is cleaning the water up, not just moving it around,” Guest wrote in a blog post last week. “Our government has the power to do this, but instead, all that leaders suggest is more engineering to move the polluted swill from one place to another. It’s wrong-headed, and it needs to stop. They need to hold polluters accountable.”
The Army Corps tries to keep the lake level between 12.5 feet and 15.5 feet, because a major hurricane could quickly increase the level to 19 feet. When the lake is slightly above 18.5 feet, the risk of failure is considered at 45 percent.
While the federal government has spent $728 million since 2007 to maintain the dike, Col. Alan Dodd, commander and district engineer of the Army Corps, Jacksonville District, has said that more than $1 billion is still needed.
The most vulnerable section of the dike remains the area between Port Mayaca in western Martin County and Belle Glade in western Palm Beach County.
To combat the latest releases, the Joint Legislative Budget Commission has allocated $2.77 million to improve pump stations, reducing the flow of polluted waters that have negatively affected the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers. The money will also go to a build a canal that assists the southern flow of water from the Florida Everglades across the barrier of the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County.
Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, has proposed $1 million to help restore oyster beds and sea grass that reportedly have been damaged by the releases.
Meanwhile, Scott has pitched $90 million over three years to bridge a 2.6 mile section of the Tamiami Trail, which groups such as the Everglades Foundation have called “one of the most prominent dams” blocking the natural flow of the River of Grass from the lake to the southern Everglades.
Scott has also proposed $40 million to help build a storm-water retention area along the St. Lucie River.
“Should you accept our invitation, you will have an incredible opportunity to see first-hand what can be done with a strong partnership,” Scott wrote to Obama on Tuesday.
Obama has proposed $30 million this year for the bridge. The budget allocation remains before Congress.
The bridge, which could start to go up in late 2014 if design and build plans are completed early next year, would be the second in that stretch of roadway.