Florida’s Legislative Budget Commission allocated $2.77 million to improve Everglades pump stations in a short-term benefit package to improve the health of waterways harmed by releases from Lake Okeechobee.
To protect Lake Okeechobee and the integrity of its earth dam, Florida has directed excess water – notably in the summer rainy seasons – to the two rivers that flow east and west. However, the man-made increase in polluted water has impacted the environment and homeowners who live along the rivers. It has caused a problem for homeowners and those Realtors who work as property managers for units along the water.
According to William Poteet with Poteet Properties Inc. in Naples, the onslaught of polluted water from the redirected flow pushes the saltwater farther downstream and turns “our view from clear, pristine water to a milky brown mixture. It’s just not a pretty picture.”
In addition to pump station improvements, the money will also be used to build a channel to aid Florida Everglades’ water flow across the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County that now acts as a de facto dam.
Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, chairs the Legislative Budget Commission, which is comprised of lawmakers from the House and Senate. Negron says the projects will allow the communities east and west of the lake “to mitigate the damage to the lagoons and estuaries.” The projects are “all designed to store water on mostly public lands; to have additional pumping so that the water goes south.” He says there is “a small amount of money to cut a little area in the Tamiami Trail so more water can go south.”
Florida Realtors backs environmental changes that bring a better balance to the Everglades river system. Audubon Florida Legislative Director Mary Jean Yon also supported the allocation. “If there is a surprise (to this announcement), it’s that they were able to get things going this quickly,” Yon says.
Water sent from Lake Okeechobee into the rivers has reportedly killed oysters and sea grass, and caused a toxic algae outbreak that has forced Martin County health officials to warn residents against coming into contact with the water.
The money, to come from the Water Management Lands Trust Fund, was among a number of short-term fixes by Negron’s Senate Select Committee on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin, which held an afternoon-long workshop in Stuart on Aug. 22.
“It’s going to be a tremendous boost,” says Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, that will help correct “some of the things we’ve done in Florida over the last 150 years.”
