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Last week, U.S. Congressman Brian Mast (R-FL-18) led a hearing before the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment regarding toxic discharges from Lake Okeechobee and “The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and Water Management in Florida.” Everglades restoration is a top priority of the recreational boating community and NMMA applauded Congressman Mast for his leadership on the issue.

The purpose of the hearing was to discuss the restoration of the Florida Everglades, specifically, managing water flowing out of Lake Okeechobee, which can have disastrous effects to the ecosystem like the recent algae blooms in South Florida.

“This is how we’re poisoned year after year, and I don’t want anybody to make a mistake: we are poisoned. The [U.S. Army] Corps [of Engineers] and the EPA have both stated the water that we’re discussing right now is toxic,” Representative Mast said in his opening statement. “There is a complicated patchwork of infrastructure and even more complicated policy about where to move water and when to move water. While all of the policies may be complicated, the goal is simple: it’s use taxpayer dollars to store water for irrigation south of Lake Okeechobee, then demand that my community be the flood control for when too much water is stored; that we be the septic tank for this private water reservoir, and that’s the problem. This is wrong. My community is not going to be an afterthought. We’re not going to be flood control for U.S. Sugar or anybody else just because they want to keep Lake Okeechobee artificially high…even though it hurts the rest of Florida.”

According to Representative Mast, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer’s management of waterways in Florida has often led to environmental and ecological degradation of the estuaries connected to Lake Okeechobee. Over the last 25 years, Congress has authorized more than $5 billion in funding to build critical infrastructure projects needed to create additional capacity, allow for operational flexibility and restore the Everglades.

During consideration of the Water Resources Development Act, Representative Mast had secured a bipartisan agreement to include provisions in the bill prioritizing water flows south of Lake Okeechobee, protecting the stability of the Herbert Hoover Dike, sending beneficial dry season flows to the Caloosahatchee and prioritizing public water supply. At the last minute, however, the agreement was prevented from being included.

For more information, please contact NMMA director of federal government relations, Callie Hoyt at [email protected].