Today, Audubon of Florida, along with our partners the Everglades Foundation, Everglades Trust, and Florida Wildlife Federation, sent a letter to Florida Senate President Mike Haridipolos explaining that the proposed Senate budget could cause serious long-term problems for Everglades restoration funding.
The proposed cuts would reduce ad valorem collections by the South Florida Water Management District by 30% - from $399 million to $294 million. The Senate bill also uses a new approach to directing spending of ad valorem funds collected by water management districts.
These cuts could potentially have crippling effects on Everglades restoration projects. “There are major Everglades restoration projects that will be stopped in their tracks by these unnecessary cuts,” stated Eric Draper, Executive Director of Audubon of Florida in a press release issued earlier today.
Projects that clean dirty water flowing into the Everglades and projects to store water to alleviate the impacts of drought may be put on hold as a result.
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