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Governor’s Conference Promotes Continued Funding for Everglades Restoration
On April 22, Gov. Ron DeSantis held a press conference at the Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Naples to highlight his budgetary support for Everglades restoration.
SCCF CEO James Evans attended the press conference to show SCCF’s support for the governor’s proposed budget for Everglades restoration and water quality projects for 2025-26 — an increase from last year at $805 million.
The Senate’s proposed budget is somewhat lower than the Governor’s ask, but Gov. DeSantis thanked Senate President Ben Albritton for his general alignment. He then focused on the large gap between the Senate and House budgets, as the House’s contains only $357 million for the Everglades and water quality efforts.
This discrepancy needs to be resolved before the end of the Legislative Session on May 2, and Gov. DeSantis urged Floridians to contact their members of the House to ask them to support the full proposal.
While discussing the importance of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, Gov. DeSantis also highlighted that the Caloosahatchee River (C-43) West Basin Storage Reservoir is scheduled to come online this summer, providing an extra 55 billion gallons of water storage to our coast (as much as 73 University of Florida football stadiums).
The C-43 Reservoir will store excess water in the wet season and provide the necessary dry season flows to protect the Caloosahatchee Estuary when basin runoff and Lake Okeechobee releases are not enough to maintain a healthy salinity gradient.
Sanibel & Captiva Chamber of Commerce CEO & President John Lai also attended the press conference. Following the governor’s remarks, South Florida Water Management District Governing Board Chairman Chauncey Goss delivered comments recognizing both Evans and Lai for their work positioning poor water quality as not just an environmental problem, but an economic problem.
“Water is the lifeblood of South Florida,” Goss said. “Our economy depends on clean water, it depends on healthy coasts.”
Since 2019, Florida has invested more and made more progress on the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan than ever before in the state’s history, including breaking ground or completing 75 projects.