The state agencies charged with managing Florida’s treasured and troubled waterways, from world-renowned springs in the north to the vast Everglades in the south, would face greater scrutiny under a measure introduced in the Legislature this session.
Florida’s five water management districts, their boundaries defined by the regions they serve, are responsible for water supply and conservation and flood control in this low-lying peninsula of a state. Explosive population growth has pressured fragile freshwater resources here, as have hotter temperatures, rising seas and more intense storms as the global climate warms.
SPB 7002 is aimed at enhancing transparency and accountability within the water management districts, which were established for the purpose of managing stormwater and flood control, said Senate President Pro Tempore Jason Brodeur (R-Sanford), who introduced the bill.
“Over the years, local, state, and federal focus increased resources for environmental restoration and in particular, Everglades Restoration. In some cases, that emphasis has unfortunately manifested itself as mission creep, and left too many core operations at risk of failure,” Brodeur, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government, wrote in a media brief summarizing the measure. “The goal of this legislation is to affirm our state’s unwavering commitment to Everglades Restoration, and to support our water management districts as they focus on their original core mission.”
Citing the Trump administration as a strong federal partner, Brodeur said the bill would affirm the state’s commitment to Everglades restoration while ensuring support for other priorities such as education, public safety and health care.
The legislation comes as Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has initiated a state cost-cutting effort similar to that of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is behind many of the Trump administration’s moves to dismantle agencies. The Florida State Department of Governmental Efficiency task force aims to abolish 70 boards and commissions, use artificial intelligence to further scrutinize agencies, examine college and university spending and even return unused federal funds to the U.S. government, although the DeSantis administration did not respond to a request for more information on precisely which aspects of state government may be cut.
Meanwhile DeSantis, who ran against President Donald Trump in the 2024 GOP primary, also has suggested Florida should assume a greater role in the $23 billion restoration of the Everglades, a massive effort that historically has been shared evenly by the federal and state government. The effort is aimed at reviving key aspects of the drained watershed and securing the future drinking water supply for 9 million people in central and south Florida.
The DeSantis administration has gone so far as to suggest the state should garner authority over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the federal partner in the effort. On the opening day of the legislative session last week, DeSantis told lawmakers assembled in the House chamber for the governor’s State of the State address that the Trump administration “is receptive to block-granting money to us, so that we can complete these needed projects.”
If the Army Corps were relegated to a smaller role, the work of advancing the restoration, one of the most ambitious of its kind in human history, likely would fall to the South Florida Water Management District, the state partner in the effort. Eve Samples, executive director of Friends of the Everglades, worried the developments, taken together, could muddy the effort.
“We have a governor who wants to take over the federal government’s role in Everglades restoration, and a state Legislature that is constraining the ability of the state to fund restoration, at the same time we have a federal government that is shrinking the work force dedicated to Everglades restoration,” she said. “All of these things combined could undermine the massive taxpayer investment in Everglades restoration, and we hear a lot of talk about government efficiency these days. That sounds like the opposite of government efficiency.”
The added scrutiny for the water management districts concerned Kim Dinkins, policy and planning director at 1,000 Friends of Florida, an advocacy group focused on smart growth.
“This effort to further scrutinize their budgets is a little bit concerning,” she said. “It does again add another layer of bureaucracy to this really nationally recognized system of managing waters within their regions that is largely effective.’’
Everglades restoration costs have soared since former President Bill Clinton signed the effort into law in 2000. Back then, costs were estimated at $8.2 billion, with the effort taking a projected 30 to 40 years to complete, as the media brief summarizing SB 7002 points out. Today the time frame has shifted to 50 years, and DeSantis has reasoned Florida should play a greater role because he believes the state can carry out projects faster than the federal government.
"All of these things combined could undermine the massive taxpayer investment in Everglades restoration, and we hear a lot of talk about government efficiency these days. That sounds like the opposite of government efficiency."Eve Samples, Friends of the Everglades
“The South Florida Water Management District (District) has celebrated a lot of successes in recent years and there is a lot of momentum in support of our efforts. Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature continue to lead the way to protect America’s Everglades and advance key Everglades restoration projects. Since 2019, when Governor DeSantis took office, the District has celebrated 75 project completions, groundbreakings and other major milestones on Everglades projects—the most in state history,” according to a statement the district provided to Inside Climate News.
“The District is reviewing Senate Bill 7002 and wants to ensure that there are no delays on projects and that the commitment to Everglades restoration remains strong.”
The legislation aims for more transparency when it comes to the state’s Everglades restoration spending. The measure requires the South Florida Water Management District to include estimates for remaining costs in progress reports on the effort. The bill emphasizes that projects must be carried out expeditiously and prohibits the restoration’s coordinators from assuming additional state money, beyond that already allocated as recurring funds, will be available in the future. The bill provides $750 million this year for Everglades restoration.
The measure also gives the state’s five water management districts the option of approving tax increases for projects by referendum, in addition to the traditional way of an action by the governing board. Samples feared the provision could slow Everglades restoration, which is composed of dozens of projects already approved by Congress.
“It is very, very hard to get voter approval for property tax increases,” she said.
Brodeur was unconcerned. He said the goal was not to constrain Everglades restoration spending.
“If it’s important to the taxpayers then they’ll do it,” he told Inside Climate News. “Voters seem to like water and schools and all that stuff.”
The measure establishes a new loan program for water management district projects under the state’s Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience Plan. It also prohibits water management district officials from accepting gifts from lobbyists and requires the districts to give preference to the lowest acceptable bids on project proposals. The legislation next goes before the Senate Appropriations Committee. Florida’s legislative session ends May 2.
“I think the water management districts are one of the best things going in the state of Florida,” said Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, a former South Florida Water Management District board member. “I pray to God that they don’t dismantle them in any way, shape or form. Because there is nothing more important than water, and there is nothing more important than local input into water policy.”
This story was produced in partnership with the Florida Climate Reporting Network, a multi-newsroom initiative founded by the Miami Herald, the Sun-Sentinel, The Palm Beach Post, the Orlando Sentinel, WLRN Public Media and the Tampa Bay Times.
