Florida House, Senate at odds over Lake O reservoir

FORT MYERS, Fla. A state House budget proposal released Tuesday contains no money for a measure that is a favorite of clean water activists.

A bill to borrow about $1.2 billion to buy land and build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to hold excess water has cleared two committees in the state Senate, but the House hasn’t scheduled a hearing about it.

Among the plan’s opponents are Rep. Ben Albritton, a Wauchula Republican who serves as chairman of the House environmental and agriculture budget committee. Farming communities around the lake and the politically powerful sugar industry have lined up against the sacrifice of 60,000 acres of farmland it would require.

But the idea of sending lake water south has high-profile support from those who say it would alleviate the brown muck and algae found in the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers when water from the lake is released into those estuaries during rainy season.

Fort Myers mayor Randy Henderson spoke in favor of it during a June symposium that brought together 90 elected officials from across the state. State Senate president Joe Negron, a Republican from Stuart, is the proposal’s main legislative backer.

Among the vocal proponents of the reservoir is Daniels Andrews, CEO of the Captains for Clean Water, a nonprofit group formed to support the idea of sending Lake Okeechobee water south.

“We have an opportunity now to make a meaningful difference to reduce or alleviate these discharges, and the legislature, the Florida House, is not taking it as seriously as they should,” Andrews said.

The discharges have been blamed for hurting tourism and causing health problems for humans and wildlife.

“We have a $70 billion tourism industry, a $9.3 billion fishing industry and a $10 billion boating industry,” Andrews said. “This is an investment in the future of all those industries, and if we don’t act now, we’re going to lose it.”

Albritton prefers to fund existing Everglades restoration projects, like injecting excess water into the ground and below the aquifer, he told the Treasure Coast Newspapers. He’s also against the reservoir because it would increase the state debt.

Andrews insists the reservoir is the only way to stop the discharges into the rivers.

“This would be like if we had a family member dying of a terminal illness, but if we did a surgery that cost money we could save them,” Andrews said. “You know, wouldn’t you save your family member? That’s the same question we have today.”

Rep. Matt Caldwell, who represents North Fort Myers and Lehigh Acres, is in favor of sending Lake Okeechobee water south, but he’d rather the state use means other than the reservoir, such as fixing the aging Herbert Hoover Dike that surrounds the lake.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a plan for fixing the dike last year but offered no promise it would stop lake releases into the rivers.