Water bill to steer nearly $2 billion to Everglades
WASHINGTON - A congressional deal to address a public health crisis in Michigan could help fix the environmental crisis in the Everglades.
The House on Wednesday approved a massive water bill authorizing $1.95 billion for projects to help restore Florida’s River of Grass. It did so thanks to a last-minute agreement lawmakers hashed out to address drinking water contamination some 1,500 miles away in Flint, Mich.
The House vote comes two weeks after the Senate approved its version of the bill — the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 — that also authorizes money for the Central Everglades Planning Project.
The ambitious multi-year program is designed to restore the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee south towards Florida Bay and away from coastal communities to the east and west, where polluted runoff and algae blooms have endangered residents, killed fish and hurt businesses.
Rep. Patrick Murphy, R-Jupiter, whose Treasure Coast district experienced toxic conditions due to the crisis, called the House vote “a huge win for Florida waterways.”
It almost didn’t happen.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats twice blocked spending measures designed to keep the government open past Sept 30 because Flint was not included in the House water measure. Once they received assurances it would be, the Senate passed the spending bill Wednesday.
A conference committee still must iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the water bill. But the nearly $2 billion for the Everglades — half in federal aid, the rest in local resources — is expected to remain intact because it’s in both versions.
Both bills would fund a number of water-related projects considered crucial to communities around the nation that want to widen their ports, rebuild flood-ravaged neighborhoods, or improve drinking water systems.
The legislation authorizes other Florida projects, including $113 million for the Picayune Strand Restoration Project in Collier County and $323 million to deepen the main shipping channels at Port Everglades in Broward County.
The push for Everglades funding took on a new sense of urgency this year following national attention to toxic algae blooms in the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon on Florida’s Atlantic coast. Presidential candidates weighed in on the crisis and members of Congress joined activists in delivering bottles of the contaminated water to Capitol Hill in July.
Southwest Florida communities have experienced their own horror stories as brackish runoff from Lake Okeechobee has traveled down the Caloosahatchee River and befouled local shorelines.
The Everglades restoration program is expected to protect coastal communities from damaging runoff by diverting 67 billion gallons of water southward per year to improve the habitat in Florida Bay. That will prevent seagrass die-offs threatening valuable fisheries in the Florida Keys.
Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg called the latest authorization “a critical step toward reconnecting Lake Okeechobee south and restoring natural water flows in the Everglades.”
Contact Ledyard king atlking@gannett.com; Twitter: @ledgeking