A statewide water-policy proposal is poised for the House and Senate floors early in the upcoming legislative session.
It would set water-flow levels for the state's natural springs and guidelines for the Central Florida Water Initiative, a regional water-supply planning effort.
The plan is a top priority of Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli, and is expected to quickly pass both chambers.
But Putnam hasn't forgotten that last session, the House and Senate passed water-policy bills yet couldn't come to terms.
"This bill is a heavy lift," he says. "It fell apart last year because it is a significant water policy that is comprehensive in nature and statewide in nature. If it were easy, it would be sailing through."
The proposal has drawn some last-minute opposition from environmentalists who say it wouldn't go far enough to ensure clean waterways.
But Crisafulli says it's gotten consistent support throughout the committee process.
"I think you will find them cherry-picking the things they do like in it, and then finding other things that they don't," he says. "At the end of the day, I think we've got a good product in the policy piece."
The proposal also includes action plans for Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee Estuary and inland portions of the Caloosahatchee River watershed and the St. Lucie River.
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