Big Sugar’s lawsuit for control over Lake Okeechobee water

A local non-profit is calling one lawsuit a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies filed a lawsuit in 2021 against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the design and intended use of the Everglades Agriculture Area (EAA) Reservoir.

A federal judge ruled against the case last year. Recently, United States Sugar Corporation, Okeelanta Corporation (Florida Crystals), and The Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida, known as “Big Sugar,” filed for an appeal.

The local non-profit Captains for Clean Water says if Big Sugar wins the lawsuit, it could upend years of Everglades restoration progress while threatening the future of Southwest Florida waters.

Executive Director of Captains for Clean Water, Daniel Andrews, said it could mean more damaging discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, more toxic algae blooms, more massive fish kills and more economic peril.

Andrews and the local non-profit started a petition urging Big Sugar to drop the suit.

“This lawsuit is essentially an attempted hijacking of that reservoir to be used for water supply for the sugar industry. And that was not the intent of the project,” said Executive Director of Captains for Clean Water, Daniel Andrews.

In January, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers turned on the pumps for the first cell of the EAA Reservoir. The water flowed into the 6,500-acre project with promises of a healthy Everglades and Caloosahatchee estuary.

“The EAA Reservoir is the crown jewel of Everglades restoration, ensuring that we are sending water south and reducing harmful discharges into our waterways,” said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at the ribbon cutting.

The massive project by the Army Corps of Engineers was built to capture, store, treat and deliver more clean water south while protecting the Caloosahatchee estuary from harmful and damaging discharges from Lake Okeechobee.

The three industrial sugarcane corporations said the Army Corps’ design and intended use of the EAA reservoir threatens the water for irrigation they are owed.

“In 2000, the Federal government made a promise to native tribes, businesses, farmers and millions of South Florida residents, but the Army Corps’ recent actions in how it will manage future water projects attempt to go back on that promise,” said Florida Sugarcane Farmers in a statement, “as a result, Florida’s sugarcane farmers are joining the City of West Palm Beach along with fruit and vegetable farmers in court to ensure the water rights of all South Floridians continue to be protected.”

Andrews explains that if they win, the reservoir, which was meant to be emptied ahead of the rainy season to store water, will be kept high.

“It really gets to that core of how are we managing water within the state? Are we going to hold it artificially high for water supply? Or are we going to benefit the environment by allowing that water to flow to the Everglades… to the Caloosahatchee when it needs it? So we don’t have to deal with the summer discharges as bad as we have in the past,” said Andrews.

The Captains for Clean Water said if Big Sugar wins the lawsuit, they could push to use the reservoir as their personal taxpayer-funded water supply.

“The attacks against South Florida’s sugarcane, vegetable, fruit and rice farmers are completely baseless and ignore all of the stakeholders seeking to defend the water rights of millions of South Floridians,” said Florida Sugarcane Farmers, “Should anti-farming groups like Captains for Clean Water prevail in court, less water for all of South Florida could threaten to offshore America’s food production in a major way.”

“I’m 33 years old, born and raised here in Southwest Florida. They’ve never had significant crop loss in my lifetime due to water cutbacks,” said Andrews. “Meanwhile, just in the past couple of years, past decade or so, the Caloosahatchee River has been destroyed on multiple occasions from high-volume discharges, the way it’s being managed.”

The appeal is pending, and the court will decide whether to hear arguments. However, the timeline remains unknown.

Full statement from Florida Sugarcane Farmers:

The attacks against South Florida’s sugarcane, vegetable, fruit and rice farmers are completely baseless and ignore all of the stakeholders seeking to defend the water rights of millions of South Floridians. In 2000, the Federal government made a promise to native tribes, businesses, farmers and millions of South Florida residents, but the Army Corps’ recent actions in how it will manage future water projects attempt to go back on that promise. As a result, Florida’s sugarcane farmers are joining the City of West Palm Beach along with fruit and vegetable farmers in court to ensure the water rights of all South Floridians continue to be protected. Should anti-farming groups like Captains for Clean Water prevail in court, less water for all of South Florida could threaten to offshore America’s food production in a major way.