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Editorial: Another chance for Florida to buy conservation lands

 
The decision by South Florida water managers this month to kill a land purchase for the Everglades cleanup presents a test for the governor and Legislature: What is Plan B, now that lawmakers have caved to the sugar industry to block a key component of the project?
The decision by South Florida water managers this month to kill a land purchase for the Everglades cleanup presents a test for the governor and Legislature: What is Plan B, now that lawmakers have caved to the sugar industry to block a key component of the project?
Published May 28, 2015

The decision by South Florida water managers this month to kill a land purchase for the Everglades cleanup presents a test for the governor and Legislature: What is Plan B, now that lawmakers have caved to the sugar industry to block a key component of the project? The special legislative session that begins Monday offers a timely chance to get this vital effort back on track.

Environmentalists had little hope that Gov. Rick Scott and the Republican-led Legislature would follow through on a deal between U.S. Sugar and then-Gov. Charlie Crist for the state to acquire at least 46,800 acres of company farmland south of Lake Okeechobee. The land would have been used as a holding area for cleaning polluted lake water and sending it south, sparing the estuaries east and west from more pollution and helping recharge the clean water supply for people and the environment in South Florida. But Republican lawmakers said the deal was too costly, and U.S. Sugar changed its mind, declaring now it wants to build homes and businesses on the property.

With the state walking away from an option to buy the land that expires in October, the challenge now is to find property elsewhere, fund the purchase and establish a timetable for putting a reservoir into operation. Water storage south of the lake is essential for the state to achieve the multiple aims of the cleanup effort, from managing flooding near the lake and easing pollution along the coasts to sending cleaner water south to the parched regions of the Everglades basin.

Environmentalists say they are working with Senate leaders, including Appropriations Committee Chairman Tom Lee of Brandon, to come up with money for an alternative land-buying proposal. Senate President Andy Gardiner of Orlando and other Republican leaders in the chamber, such as Sens. David Simmons and Joe Negron from the east coast, also can play critical roles in the special session by crafting a deal to use a substantial portion of the new conservation funds that Florida voters approved last year for the reservoir property.

Lawmakers need to show a sense of urgency. Without additional funding, the state has little leverage in negotiating for new property. Water managers need time to design the recharge areas. State and local officials also need more stringent water-monitoring procedures for this effort to be comprehensive rather than piecemeal. All of this takes time, vision, a united approach and a sustained commitment of real money.

The land-buying budgets the House and Senate put forward during the regular session showed no serious regard for conservation or respect for the voters' intent in passing Amendment 1. With the special session, lawmakers have a chance to make investments that will have lasting impacts on public health and the ecosystem across the state, starting with the Everglades, and to uphold the will of the voters who embraced Amendment 1 specifically as a means for buying conservation lands. The Senate has popular support behind it, and it should push the House and governor to get behind a funding plan that's right for Florida's future.