(The Center Square) – Restoration in the Everglades is sought with an $805 million appropriation request of the Florida Legislature by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
He said on Thursday at a news conference in Juno Beach that he wants to work with the incoming Trump administration to secure more control for the state over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Everglades restoration projects to save time and money.
“There are more things we want to do as a state, but if you look at the things that need to be done, it’s almost all the federal government that simply just does not work the way the Florida works,” DeSantis said. “You see that other states don’t work like Florida works with the things in the news. Our view is we’ve got a job to do and we want to get it done.
“We don’t want to be bogged down by red tape, we don’t want to be bogged down by bureaucracy. Once we make the decision to get something done for the state, we want to get this done as quickly as possible.”
Under the second-term Republican governor, the state has spent $6.5 billion to restore the flow of water from the Kissimmee River to Florida Bay in addition to more than $10.5 billion in federal funds under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan since 2000.
Of the proposed outlay, $670 million for Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and another $130 million would be for other projects related to Everglades restoration and water quality improvements.
DeSantis said the state has reduced, since 2019, harmful nutrients in the water flowing south to the Everglades that can cause harmful algae blooms by 727,000 pounds per year of nitrogen and nearly 500,000 pounds of phosphorous.
Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Alexis Lambert also said there have been 75 projects related to Everglades restoration that have been either completed, are under construction or have hit a key milestone.
One of those projects was the removal of the Old Tamiami Trail roadbed, which state officials say increased southward water flow by 63% and was finished six months ahead of schedule.
“Floridians understand the Everglades better than anyone else,” Lambert said. “We live, work and recreate here, and we are committed to the land that sustains this. Florida has the experience, urgency and determination to get the job done. We have proven our ability to manage restoration projects efficiently.”
Water storage capacity has tripled since 2019, going from 57.1 billion gallons to 176.1 billion gallons with the opening of the C-43 Reservoir this past year.
The state says new projects will increase that capacity to 330 billion gallons, which will reduce harmful discharges into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries and cut nutrient pollution in South Florida’s waterways.
