Florida's agriculture commissioner says complaints about toxic releases from Lake Okeechobee may actually help water-quality efforts statewide.
Lawmakers say it's too early in the legislative process to predict funding allocations for 2014, but Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said Tuesday that the attention given to federal releases from Lake Okeechobee could increase support additional funding for water issues.
Putnam will also pitch $5 million for restoration of the state's natural springs as a means to have farmers and ranchers reduce nutrient runoff, along with $10 million more for shallow water retention and treatment in the northern Everglades.
Putnam says the need for quality water impacts every Floridian.
"We’ve got a lot of issues facing our state, but if you look at the three major economic engines in Florida: agriculture, tourism and construction, water is an inseparable force in their future", Putnam said.
Governor Rick Scott is expected to request $40 million from the legislature to build a storm-water retention area along the Saint Lucie River.
Scott has also proposed that the state Department of Transportation put aside $30 million a year, for three years, to advance the US Department of Interior's $170-to-$210 million project to bridge a 2.6 mile section of the Tamiami Trail.
Groups such as the Everglades Foundation have called the trail "one of the most prominent dams" blocking the natural flow of the River of Grass from the lake to the southern Everglades.