U.S. Senator Bill Nelson (D) FL met with four Lee County mayors today. He said the U.S. Senate is pushing to pass a bill to speed up Everglades restoration.
Nelson said there’s an algae bloom on Lake Okeechobee covering about a third of the lake. So it’s no wonder blue green algae has made its way once again to southwest Florida.
Nelson said he wants the Florida legislature to use a two-year-old constitutional amendment to buy land South of Lake Okeechobee. That would reduce water releases moving east and west. But, Nelson said state lawmakers have not used the money for that.
“I want to encourage you all to encourage your legislators to appropriate the money for what the constitution calls for and some of that money would qualify in purchasing lands further south of the lake to create that additional storage as well as cleansing,” said Nelson.
Nelson also talked about using eminent domain to buy the agricultural land to send water south of the Lake.
The Army Corps of Engineers will reduce the amount of water flowing from Lake Okeechobee beginning this weekend.
