POLITICS

Sen. Bill Nelson asks Republican Senate leader to bring EAA reservoir up for a vote

Staff report
TCPalm
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson speaks with more than a dozen local citizens and leaders about the toxic algae outbreak during a roundtable meeting on Friday, August 3, 2018, at Florida Sportsman Magazine, 2700 Kanner Highway in Stuart.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson urged his chamber Tuesday to vote on a bill authorizing a reservoir to curb Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.

During his floor speech, Nelson asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to schedule a vote on the Water Resources Development Act, a bill that funds some and authorizes some water infrastructure projects.

The Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) reservoir is included in the WRDA bill the U.S. House passed last week, after the Senate failed to pass the version the House passed in July.

More:White House approves Lake Okeechobee reservoir 

If the Senate passes the bill, it would go to President Donald Trump for his signature.

Lake O discharges cause algae blooms

Lake Okeechobee discharges are the largest contributing factor to sometimes toxic blue-green algae blooms in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers. 

The South Florida Water Management District claims the project's 10,100-acre reservoir and 6,500-acre man-made marsh will be able to reduce discharges to both rivers by 63 percent and send more than 120 billion gallons of clean water south to the Everglades each year.

More:Health effects of breathing toxic algae in St. Lucie River is focus of Harbor Branch study

More:Toxic algae killed dog after contact with St. Lucie River, owner says necropsy reveals

“We should take it up and pass this bill immediately so that it can go to the White House for signature into law and so we can get to work on the reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee,” Nelson said in a statement. “The reservoir is particularly important and it's timely right now because of this algae crisis in Florida, but it's also a critical piece of a broader Everglades restoration effort. We need additional storage so that we can move water gradually from Lake Okeechobee, clean it up, and send it south to the areas of the Everglades that are starved for freshwater.”