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Major Everglades and Estuaries Victory in the Florida Legislature

Baby Roseate Spoonbills in Nest | Cynthia Hansen
News

Major Everglades and Estuaries Victory in the Florida Legislature

Toxic algae blooms and other coastal water crises led Audubon Florida to make advancing water storage south of Lake Okeechobee our top legislative priority this legislative session. Senate Bill 10, that will speed up the timeline for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir, was championed by heavy hitters in the Florida Legislature including Senate President Joe Negron and Senator Rob Bradley. The bill passed overwhelmingly, and Governor Scott has signaled that he will sign this important Everglades restoration legislation. The passing of Senate Bill 10 is the culmination of a long battle to prioritize Everglades restoration projects that can store and clean water. Water storage helps reduce dangerous discharges from Lake Okeechobee to sensitive coastal estuaries and moves freshwater south to nourish the parched Southern Everglades and Florida Bay. Audubon will fight to ensure the goals of the water storage are met as implementation of Senate Bill 10 gets underway.

This article and more are featured in the Spring 2017 edition of Audubon Florida's Naturalist magazine. 

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