The federal money would trigger the design
work, but concerns remain that construction
could take up to a decade. Negron is pushing for a fall groundbreaking and
for a goal of three to five years to complete the
reservoir.
Everglades Foundation Chief Executive Officer
Eric Eikenberg said Floridians, the state’s
estuaries and coastlines and the Everglades
cannot afford to wait. “If the government is not up to the task, then
we should competitively outsource the project
to the private sector and build in financial
incentives for early completion,” Negron said.
“The nearly 21 million residents of Florida do not
want to hear weak excuses about why earlier
generations of Americans could apparently
solve problems and accomplish goals without
tedious procrastination.”
“If the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can repair the
Mosul Dam in Iraq in one year, this critical Florida
reservoir should not take another decade,”
Eikenberg said in a prepared statement. “It
now falls on Congress to appropriate the $200
million annually that is needed to construct the
reservoir and move other critical Everglades
restoration projects forward quickly. Be assured,
the people of Florida will be watching.”
A Negron-backed bill, signed into law by Scott
in May 2017, allows Florida to bond up to $800
million for the reservoir.
The bill capped annual state funding at $64
million and placed the reservoir on state-
owned land rather than private farmland in the
Everglades Agricultural Area.
To make the proposal more acceptable to
farmers, residents and politicians south of the
lake, Negron’s plan was redrawn to lower the
costs and the bonding amounts. Also thrown
in were a number of economic development
projects in the Glades region, including an
expansion at the Airglades Airport in Clewiston
and an inland port in western Palm Beach
County.
Scott said Tuesday the bill he signed into law
“will help end the algal blooms on our coasts.”
But Scott, who is running for U.S. Senate in the
Nov. 6 election, added that Congress has failed
to “properly” fund Everglades restoration.
“Everglades projects should have a 50-50 cost
share between the state of Florida and the
federal government, yet, thanks to inaction by
Congress, the federal government is nearly $1
billion behind on its commitment,” Scott said.
14
DITCHMEN • OCTOBER 2018