Late Friday evening, the Florida Senate filed a suspicious piece of legislation that poses a major threat to Everglades restoration and clean water progress.
Senate Bill 2508 was filed as a budget conforming bill, however it contains substantive pieces of policy legislation that were not heard in the legislative committee process and are being fast-tracked with virtually no accountability or transparency.
Most of the provisions appear to be bad news for South Floridians, but Captains For Clean Water is mainly concerned with the negative impacts this bill will have on Florida’s water resources.
If this legislation is implemented, it would result in more harmful discharges that fuel toxic algae blooms, give preferential treatment to the water supply needs of the sugar industry, and threaten two critical components to solving south Florida’s water crisis: the EAA Reservoir and the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM).
Senate Bill 2508 undermines the Army Corps' new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual that would reduce the harmful discharges by an average of 37% annually. The legislation also deprioritizes the EAA Reservoir which has been hailed universally by environmental and conservation groups.
Governor Ron DeSantis recently held a press conference in the Everglades to recognize the importance of the EAA Reservoir to the State of Florida. SB 2508 directly contradicts and aims to modify the governor’s plan to restore and protect Florida’s water resources.
Captains For Clean Water mobilizes thousands to oppose Senate Bill 2508
This bill will be heard one time in the Senate on Wednesday, February 9th, in front of the full Senate Appropriations Committee.
Captains For Clean Water is mobilizing local business owners, fishing captains, and concerned citizens to the State Capitol in Tallahassee on last-minute notice to oppose this legislation.
The organization also launched a petition on Tuesday to amplify the voices of their supporters in opposition of the bill, collecting more than 2,000 signatures within the first hour alone.
“SB 2508 would be an unprecedented backslide in the years of progress we’ve made for Florida’s waters. A healthy, thriving economy is not possible without the protection and prioritization of Florida’s delicate natural resources. On behalf of our national community of anglers, fishing guides, boat captains, businesses, outdoor enthusiasts, and concerned Americans, we urge the State of Florida to oppose Senate Bill 2508.”
—Captain Daniel Andrews, Executive Director, Captains For Clean Water
Several of the harmful provisions in SB 2508
- Prioritizes agricultural water supply over reducing harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
- Handcuffs the SFWMD and conditions use of funds for Everglades restoration on the SFWMD asking the Corps for changes to the lake regulation schedule. [Lines 167-172]
- Requires the District to deprioritize reducing harmful discharges in the Lake Okeechobee regulation schedule by inserting additional and competing priorities. [Lines 246-269, 348-351]
- Codifies a rule that has been unchanged since 2001 into law, preventing the SFWMD from updating it. The rule gives preferential treatment to agriculture in times of water shortage, requiring all other users to make significant cutbacks before the same is required of agriculture. [Lines 270-273]
- Modifies SB 10 so that state funds are authorized to be used for several projects, instead of just the EAA Reservoir. This threatens to further delay and dilute funding for the reservoir. [Lines 338-339]
Significance of the EAA Reservoir & LOSOM
The EAA Reservoir and the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) are two of the most important components in the big picture solution to South Florida’s water crisis. Together, they reduce the harmful discharges that fuel toxic algae blooms and send more water south to the Everglades and Florida Bay.
The EAA Reservoir is the “heart of Everglades restoration” and one of Governor DeSantis’s explicit priorities for restoring Florida’s environment, as he reiterated in a press conference held last week in the Everglades.
A daunting yet collaborative 3-year LOSOM process resulted in a new balanced lake operations plan that provides almost a 40% reduction in harmful discharges to each coast, a 3x increase in water flowing south to the Everglades and Florida Bay, and even an increase for agricultural water supply.
SB 2508 threatens all of the progress made to protect Florida’s waters and is yet another case of bad water policy that will lead to incalculable economic and environmental losses that harm all Floridians.
Contact
For information and interview requests, contact Alycia Downs, Director of Education & Awareness, alycia@captainsforcleanwater.org.
