Groups say funding executive order is crucial to Florida's ailing waters
Chad GillisEnvironmental groups say a recent $2.5 billion executive order may sound expensive but not addressing Florida's ailing waterways actually costs more.
Gov. Ron DeSantis last week issued the order, which, if executed, will fund water quality projects not included in Everglades restoration plans.
Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani pointed to a 2015 Florida Realtors report that showed Lee and Martin county property values are suppressed by about $900 million a year because of poor water quality as proof that the order is needed.
Property values in both counties have gone up but would be higher if the waters were cleaner, the report says.
"I hope it gets straightened out so we can try to put out these fires without too much delay," Cassani said. "I believe the Legislature will find the money for this, especially if you look at the costs. I think that’s what you have to look at when you do full cost accounting."
Southwest Florida has been plagued by a red tide that started in October of 2017.
The bloom killed hundreds of sea turtles, manatees, dolphins and even a whale shark and has varied in intensity along the coastline.
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A blue-green algae bloom started on Lake Okeechobee in June and quickly spread to the Caloosahatchee River.
The big project in the order for Southwest Florida is the addition of a water quality treatment component to the Caloosahatchee River reservoir, often called C-43.
Water quality scientists have long argued that the reservoir needs a treatment component, a way of removing nutrients from the reservoir before the water is released back into the Caloosahatchee River.
Eric Eikenberg with the Everglades Foundation said it and other projects in the executive order would be funded with the $2.5 billion.
A lot of the money will come from a 2014 amendment passed by more than 75 percent of Florida voters that says one-third of documentary taxes be set aside for land acquisition and management.
Some of that money was used for land restoration and management, but much of the funds went to offset operation and maintenance costs.
Environmental groups sued, and a judge sided with them last summer.
The tax generates about $800 million per year.
"I think it’s going to be Amendment 1, the land acquisition trust fund," Eikenberg said. "They are looking to secure that two-point-five over four years, so it’s going to have to be an increase over what Rick Scott’s administration proposed."
The executive order directs various agencies to work together on water quality projects.
Other facets of the order will need a legislative bill.
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"For the items in the order that would need a statutory change or legislative action the administration is looking for legislative partner for a bill," said Eikenberg, who was on the transition team for DeSantis.
Eikenberg, former Gov. Charlie Crist's chief of staff, was with DeSantis when he announced the order in Fort Myers last week.
So was Rae Ann Wessel, natural resources policy director for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation on Sanibel.
"I’m really looking forward to figuring out how we can help make that happen because obviously this is a huge pressing issue for Florida," Wessel said. "It’s early to know exactly (how the order will play out), but they’ve hit the ground running."
The News-Press reached out to the governor's office but did not receive a reply.
Gov. DeSantis' executive order also calls for:
• The creation of a blue-green algae task force to help reduce the impacts of blue-green outbreaks like South Florida suffered this past summer.
• The South Florida Water Management District to immediately start the next phase of the Everglades Agriculture Area, or EAA, reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee.
• The appointment of a chief science officer to coordinate and prioritize scientific data and research.
• A harmful algal bloom task force to provide technical assistance and study causes and impacts of red tide.
"We feel pretty bullish that the Legislature is going to work with the administration to get this order done," Eikenberg said. "It's going to play out over a period of time and it's going to be an exciting legislative session."
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