Contact: Sean Cooley, Communications Manager, 850-999-1030, scooley@audubon.org

Audubon is encouraged by Governor Rick Scott’s call for funding Herbert Hoover Dike repairs and support for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir. Repairing the Dike is important to protect against the impacts that a breach could have to the Everglades and the health and human safety of nearby communities. And increasing water storage south of the Lake will reduce damaging discharges to coastal estuaries and provided more needed freshwater to Florida Bay.
 
"As Everglades champions like Senator Rob Bradley have recognized, Lake Okeechobee is one of the most important ecosystems in Florida and is the liquid heart of the Everglades," said Julie Hill-Gabriel, Audubon Florida's deputy director. "Any future decisions about Lake Okeechobee's water levels must carefully consider the impacts of holding too much or too little water in the Lake."

For more information, see Audubon’s new fact sheet on the dangers of holding too much water in Lake Okeechobee.

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