BONITA NEWS
March 09, 2007


Plans aim to improve river's water quality

By Michael Peltier

http://www.bonitanews.com/news/2007/mar/09/plans_aim_improve_rivers_water_quality/?local_news

Plans to pump an additional $50 million into efforts to improve water quality on the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers started flowing Thursday as a Senate panel approved a plan to expand Everglades restoration efforts through the northern regions.

Sponsored by a pair of Southwest Florida lawmakers, the plan calls for targeting additional restoration efforts in Lee County and the northern Everglades region above Lake Okeechobee to reduce pollution going into the nation's second largest freshwater lake and the rivers it feeds.

On Thursday, the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee unanimously approved a measure by committee chairman Sen. Burt Saunders, R-Naples, to allow state officials to issue up to $200 million in bonds to pay for Everglades projects while extending the restoration window by a decade to 2019.

“We'd like to spend at least $100 million south of Lake Okeechobee ,” Saunders said. “That would leave a significant amount for cleanup of ‘ Lake O' and in the northern regions. It will result in some very significant improvements.”

Runoff from Lake Okeechobee , which is controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has been a longstanding thorn in the side of conservationists trying to improve water quality and flow in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.

Lawmakers in 2000 passed the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act to improve water quality by reducing the amount of phosphorus going into the lake. The two-phased plan has already cost taxpayers $175 million.

The second phase includes the construction of water retention and storm water treatment facilities north of the lake and the purchase of additional land for wetland and habitat restoration. The plan also includes a handful of projects in Lee County to improve water quality running directly into the Caloosahatchee.

“This is really a step forward for Everglades funding,” said Andy McLeod of the Trust for Public Land.

House sponsor Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers, said she expects a similar bill to come up in her committee as early as next week. Despite support from legislative leaders and Gov. Charlie Crist, backers must wait for the budget to be completed before they know how much money they'll have to spend.

“I need to have another meeting with the stakeholders,” said Williams, noting the House bill may have slight differences from the Senate version.

In the meantime, Rep. Ralph Poppell, R-Vero Beach and co-chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Everglades Oversight, said he and others will meet with federal officials to see what is holding up their portion of restoration efforts.

“We're going to be traveling to Washington shortly to see if we can get the feds to step up to do what they promised to do years ago,” Poppell said. “The problem with Lake Okeechobee is that if you don't get to the source you don't fix the problem.”