DEP Requests $95 Million for Treasure Coast Projects
By Tyler Treadway
September 22, 2017
TC Palm
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection budget request for fiscal year 2018-19 includes about $95 million for projects that would help improve Treasure Coast water quality.
In all, DEP is seeking $305.8 million for Everglades restoration projects, the largest single request for protecting the “River of Grass” in the agency’s history.
The DEP request includes $64 million to spend during the next fiscal year on the proposed reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to help alleviate lake discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.
The Florida Legislature and Gov. Rick Scott this year approved Senate Bill 10, a plan for the state and the Army Corps of Engineers to each pitch in $800 million to build the 78.2 billion-gallon reservoir.
Combined with other water storage and conveyance projects, the reservoir is projected to reduce discharges by up to 60 percent.
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