Revised Lake O’ Reservoir Bill Takes Sugar Land Out Of Equation

The head of Audubon Florida says he thinks Everglades advocates will support changes to legislation for a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee.

Senate President Joe Negron has scaled back an earlier bill opposed by the sugar industry. Instead of buying acres of sugar land, above-ground reservoirs would be built on land the state already owns. It’s fewer acres but can store nearly the same amount of water, up to 120 billion gallons.  “Imagine a big bathtub on the landscape, a really big bathtub on the landscape, that’s what these sites will look like,” said Audubon Florida’s Executive Director Eric Draper. These reservoirs would hold water that’s normally released into east and west of Lake Okeechobee.  Those discharges are blamed for toxic algae blooms. 

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