From The News Service of Florida:
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, October 8, 2013 Complaints about the harmful impacts of releases from Lake Okeechobee into estuaries on both sides of the state may actually help water-quality efforts across Florida, according to the state’s agriculture commissioner.
Lawmakers say it’s too early in the 2014 legislative-budget process to predict funding.
But Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said Tuesday that the continued attention given to state and local efforts to combat water releases from the lake into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers could drive lawmakers in Tallahassee to support additional funding for water issues across the state.
“The environmental devastation that has occurred on the east and west coasts as a result of high volumes of fresh water being released from Lake Okeechobee has created momentum, and in the Legislature momentum is everything,” Putnam said after appearing before a joint meeting of the House State Affairs Committee and the House Agriculture & Natural Resources Subcommittee. “So I do think the stars are lining up for this to be a good year, a big year, an important year for water policy and water resource funding.”
Already, Gov. Rick Scott plans to request $40 million from the Legislature to build a storm-water retention area along the St. Lucie River. He has also proposed the state Department of Transportation spend $30 million a year, for three years, to advance the U.S. Department of Interior’s $170 million to $210 million project to bridge a 2.6 mile section of the Tamiami Trail.
Groups such as the Everglades Foundation have called the trail “one of the most prominent dams” blocking the natural flow of water between Lake Okeechobee and the southern Everglades.
Sen. Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican who heads the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, has backed Scott’s proposals and has said he could support up to $100 million in funding for Everglades restoration.
State lawmakers earmarked $10 million to protect Florida’s natural springs during this year’s legislative session, reviving after two years the restoration efforts started more than decade earlier under former Gov. Jeb Bush. Water-management districts and local governments were able to add $27 million in matching funds to the state’s 2013 contribution.
The state has about 1,000 springs that face an intrusion of nitrates and increasing signs of saltiness. Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Chairman Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, has said he doesn’t want the 2013 funding to be a one-time allocation.
Legislators on Tuesday were told how fertilizer and septic tanks are among the sources of pollution for the state’s springs. Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard told the House members the state has policies in place to clean up the springs, but needs the funding.
“I would say we’ve made a lot of progress, but unfortunately you all don’t have a magic wand either, it’s tough to solve these problems in a 60-day legislative session,” Vinyard said. “But what I will commit to you, whatever money you give me, we will use it in science-based solutions.”
Putnam said he will pitch lawmakers on spending $5 million to help farmers and ranchers reduce nutrient runoff into springs and $10 million for shallow-water retention and treatment in the northern Everglades.
The need for quality water impacts every sector of the state from its vital agriculture and tourism industries to its growing population, Putnam said.
He pointed to the ecological and economic collapse hitting Apalachicola Bay, which is now the subject of a federal lawsuit by Florida against Georgia over water withdrawals and agricultural practices in southwest Georgia that have damaged the bay.
“It’s not the most urban community, it’s not the most urban county, but it is currently feeling absolutely the most pain, certainly on a per-capita basis, of not having water quality dialed in directly,” Putnam said.
The message isn’t anything new from Putnam, who has been sounding the alarm since taking office that Florida must increase its alternative water supplies and conserve water.
His agency will also propose increases in conservation and increasing the use of recycled water, while pushing for nutrient reduction technologies and new sensors that can detect deterioration of water quality.
Rep. Larry Lee, D-Port St. Lucie, quickly gave his support for increasing technology.
“You can’t really treat a problem unless you know what you’re treating,” Lee said. “Sensors are a great way to measure what’s out in there in the water. Our Indian River Lagoon is very sick and we need to do all we can to get it back.”