A proposal to reduce Lake Okeechobee discharges is likely dead this year after lawmakers decided they won’t use the state’s credit card to pay for environmental projects.
Sen. Joe Negron’s plan to finance up to $500 million to buy land south of the lake to build a reservoir to move excess water away from the St. Lucie River hit a major roadblock this week when budget writers decided they won’t borrow money.
Negron’s plan was never included in the budget that lawmakers are negotiating this weekend.
The House had proposed to issue bonds to buy land using money available through Amendment 1, approved by voters last year to set aside dollars for land and water conservation, but the Senate opposed the measure during budget negotiations. On Thursday, the House complied by removing bonded money for land purchases for springs and Kissimmee River restoration, among others. By the House agreeing not to borrow any money, Negron’s plan is likely dead.
Budget writers expect to hammer out a final spending plan early next week, in time for a vote by the House and Senate next Friday.
Negron’s proposal wasn’t expected to gain a lot of traction despite his clout in Tallahassee — he’s vying to become the next Senate president in 2016 — because Gov. Rick Scott also opposes borrowing money and the House is against land purchases south of the lake, said Audubon Florida Executive Director Eric Draper.
Negron followed up on pleas from constituents worried about the effects of lake discharges in the Indian River Lagoon and intense lobbying by organizations such as the Everglades Foundation.
Audubon Florida is working on language that it will lobby to include in the budget that would direct the South Florida Water Management District to estimate how much land is needed south of the lake to build a reservoir to store water, Draper said. That will put more pressure on the Legislature to appropriate the money next session.
Draper and other environmentalists are disappointed the Legislature hasn’t used Amendment 1 to buy more conservation land for parks and habitat preservation under the Florida Forever program.
The House and Senate so far have proposed $15 million and $37 million, respectively, a distant cry from the about $300 million the program used to receive until 2008 and the $150 million Amendment 1 sponsors wanted.
Without financing, it will be difficult to boost Florida Forever funding, especially when the House is hostile to buying more land under the program.
Still, Draper said he expects the Legislature to use money this year tucked away and that hasn’t been allocated yet to get $100 million for land purchases needed for Everglades and springs restoration.