Florida’s sugar industry failed to convince a federal appeals court that it is the rightful owner of hundreds of billions of gallons of water that will be sent to a future reservoir that’s part of the Everglades restoration plans.
United States Sugar Corporation and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida tried to convince the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals that the sugar growers, after being denied in 2008 a portion of water they take from Lake Okeechobee, deserved the same portion of water a decade for now from the Everglades super-reservoir.
It’s called the Everglades Agricultural Area, and it will encompass 17,000 acres of manmade water treatment and storage south of the big lake.
The appeals court did not agree, saying the changes imposed on the sugar industry in 2008 were made to protect public safety after Hurricane Katrina, and had nothing to do with the Everglades restoration.
The Army Corps of Engineers, the agency overseeing the Everglades restoration, was supported by more than a dozen nonprofits that work to support the effort.
“On top of this tremendous result, the court determined the sugar industry’s lawsuit to be both meritless and ‘strange’, ” Eric Eikenberg, director of the Everglades Foundation, said in a press release. “We agree.”
The groups in support of the Army Corps include the Everglades Law Center, Captains for Clean Water, the Everglades Foundation, the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, the Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce, the city of Stuart, the city of Sanibel, the city of Lake Worth Beach, Islamorada, Village of Islands, the Islamorada Chamber of Commerce, the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association, and Florida Bay Forever.
Environmental reporting for WGCU is funded in part by VoLo Foundation, a non-profit with a mission to accelerate change and global impact by supporting science-based climate solutions, enhancing education, and improving health.
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