Jacob Ogles
The Senate is devoting $10 million to water storage and treatment at the Caloosahatchee River basin.
The funding was included as part of the Senate’s supplemental funding initiatives, often called the sprinkle list. That’s money that one chamber can dedicate to certain projects and priorities without obtaining agreement from the other to include in the state budget.
Of note, water basin storage for the Caloosahatchee basin has been a priority for a number of Southwest Florida local governments and is part of broader efforts at improving water quality in the coastal region.
The Caloosahatchee River basin covers a massive part of the state, nearly 1,400 square miles, and stretches from Lake Okeechobee to San Carlos Bay. According to the Coastal & Heartland National Estuary Partnership, the basin contains 62 named lakes and ponds, 92 named rivers, streams and canals, and two named bays and bayous.
The basin falls within the larger Caloosahatchee watershed, which covers Cape Coral and reaches into the Gulf.
Of note, Senate President Ben Albritton, a Wauchula Republican, represents much of the basin, and Lake Okeechobee holds critical value to agricultural and environmental interests in the region.
The sizable funding request shows the statewide value of the basin, which also impacts restoration efforts further south in the Everglades.
The Senate funded the project entirely from nonrecurring general revenue.
Of note, Sen. Jonathan Martin and Rep. Mike Giallombardo this year had put in a $3.5 million budget request on ecosystem restoration. The Lee County Republicans wanted that money to go toward reestablishing tape grass in the Caloosahatchee River Estuary.
Those were the only budget requests that mentioned environmental spending specifically in the Caloosahatchee systems, though this doesn’t satisfy those requests.
But the waterways are part of a larger network of restoration efforts that have been a priority for Southwest Florida lawmakers for years.
The spending comes as the Legislature tries to wrap up an extended Session on the budget that is anticipated to be finalized early next week.
