A nearly $2 billion project to move more Lake Okeechobee water south to the Everglades cleared a key hurdle Thursday, though significant obstacles remain to actually getting water flowing.
The South Florida Water Management District gave initial approval to the Central Everglades plan, despite ongoing concerns about the price tag as well as the ability to meet federal water quality standards when moving more lake water south.
Moving forward still requires the district and Army Corps of Engineers to finalize the agreement for divvying up costs and responsibilities for completing the Central Everglades plan.
And perhaps more daunting, state and federal officials have to persuade Congress to help pay for it.
"We have a unique window of opportunity," said Cara Capp, co-chairwoman of the Everglades Coalition, which backed the deal. "The Everglades can't wait."
The Central Everglades plan includes a series of construction projects that would get more lake water flowing south toward Everglades National Park by removing portions of levees, filling in sections of canals and boosting pumping capacity.
In addition to replenishing the Everglades, restoring more water flows to the south would provide a drainage alternative that lessens the need for damaging lake flood-control discharges to the east and west — which are polluting coastal waterways.
Lake Okeechobee dumping into the St. Lucie River this summer has been blamed for killing oyster reefs and sea grass, scaring away game fish and toxic algae blooms that make waterways unsafe for human contact.
"We can kill the river or we can fix it," said Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard, among a contingent of river advocates backing the Central Everglades plan.
Despite the optimism about the Central Everglade plan, actual construction could still be more than a decade away.
Also, district board members warned that a cost-sharing arrangement with the federal government and the water quality issues must be addressed before the agency can be expected to give its final approval this fall.
"We have been working on it for two years and there hasn't been a hint of a resolution," district Board Member James Moran said.
Water that once naturally overlapped Lake Okeechobee's southern shores and flowed south to the Everglades, now gets drained out to sea to make way for South Florida farming and development.
Florida already spent nearly $2 billion on Everglades restoration and has another $880 million Everglades water pollution cleanup plan in the works.
The $1.8 billion Central Everglades proposal calls for the federal government and the South Florida Water Management District to split the cost.
While the Central Everglades plan could bring a water quantity boost that the Everglades needs, it could create a water quality problem due to an increased influx of water pollution.
Polluting levels of phosphorus — found in fertilizer, animal waste and the natural decay of soil — washes off agricultural land and urban areas and drains into the Everglades.
Water district officials want federal assurances that investing in getting more water to the Everglades won't end up generating federal sanctions for failing to meet water quality standards.
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