FROM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA:
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, November 20, 2013 Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam continues to push for lawmakers to remember that South Florida isn’t the only part of the state where water quality and quantity have become dire issues.
“There is an extraordinary bias to the south at the expense of the springs and Apalachicola Bay,” Putnam told reporters in the Capitol this week.
As the Florida Legislature is being asked to consider a $220 million package to redirect water and reduce pollutants flowing from Lake Okeechobee, Putnam wants lawmakers to consider other issues. That includes the challenges of pollutants entering the state’s springs, the St. Johns River and Tampa Bay, reducing pollution entering Lake Okeechobee from the north and the declining conditions of Apalachicola Bay in the Panhandle.
Florida has filed a federal lawsuit against Georgia about a shortage of freshwater flowing into Apalachicola Bay. Florida argues that heavy water consumption in the metro Atlanta area has reduced downstream flows into the bay, endangering Apalachicola’s oyster industry.
“If the Everglades were suffering from inadequate freshwater flows coming from Georgia, the whole state would have a level of interest, and a level of decibels, much higher than what they seem to have for Franklin County, and that’s not right,” Putnam said.
Putnam addressed his concerns about the need for a statewide water-management plan in October to members of the House and Senate.
The appearances before House and Senate committees came before the Senate Select Committee on Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin proposed a $220 million package that stems from pollutants being discharged from the lake into waterways such as the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.
The Senate’s package includes a wide range of projects, such as $90 million that would be spread over three years to bridge a 2.6-mile section of the Tamiami Trail west of Miami. Groups such as the Everglades Foundation have called the highway “one of the most prominent dams” blocking the natural flow of the River of Grass from the lake to the southern Everglades.
Putnam said he would increase focus on the northern Everglades and areas north of Lake Okeechobee. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers discharges water from the lake to ease pressure on a dike that surrounds the massive water body.
“If you can slow the water down from getting into the lake, or treat it before it gets in to the lake, then you’re having an impact on what the potential harm is to the dike and what the storage capacity of the lake is,” Putnam said.
The department’s budget proposal for the 2013 session includes $10 million to address nutrient reduction practices and water retention efforts in the Lake Okeechobee watershed, $8.2 million for best management practices in the northern Everglades, and $5.2 million to reduce agricultural nutrients from reaching the state’s northern freshwater springs.
The Department of Environmental Protection has included in its budget proposals $75 million that Gov. Rick Scott has proposed for Everglades restoration efforts, $40 million for environmental land acquisition, and $15 million for springs restoration, up from the $10 million designated during the 2013 session.
The proposals are being considered by Scott, who will offer a budget plan before the 2014 legislative session.