Governor Rick Scott and Democratic U.S. Senator Bill Nelson were both in Southwest Florida Friday. While Nelson met with local elected officials to address harmful water releases into the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee, Gov. Scott also addressed South Florida’s water woes at a stop in Naples.
At an event promoting new private sector jobs, Gov. Scott pointed the finger at Sen. Bill Nelson and the federal government for not doing enough to fund Everglades restoration and repairs to the Herbert Hoover Dike.
“We need $850 million to fix the dike. The reason why we have the discharges is because the Senator has not done his job to make sure the funding was there,” said Scott. “We’ve done our part. So he ought to show up and do his job.”
Scott also renewed calls for President Barak Obama to declare the toxic blue-green algae bloom fouling the St. Lucie Estuary and Atlantic coastline a federal state of emergency. Congressmen Curt Clawson, R-Bonita Springs, Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, are working together on a bill for the federal government to provide $750 million a year to cover half the cost of purchasing land South of Lake Okeechobee to improve water quality. Murphy plans to hold a rally in Tallahassee July 26, to pressure Scott and state lawmakers to purchase the land.
