President Trump's proposed federal budget now has $200 million for Everglades restoration

President Donald Trump has amended his proposed federal budget to include $200 million for Everglades restoration.

Trump's original proposal for fiscal year 2020-21 included $63 million for the federal share of ongoing Everglades projects, including the proposed EAA reservoir designed to cut harmful Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.

Trump added $137 million for "the Army Corps of Engineers regarding funding for the Florida Everglades," he wrote in a letter Monday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

More: Trump's budget has less for Everglades restoration than leaders want

In a tweet Monday night, Trump said he would "be fighting" for the extra funding and called on Congress to "help us complete the world's largest intergovernmental watershed restoration project ASAP. Good for Florida and good for the environment."

Trump asked his administration to "prioritize funding Everglades restoration, including the additional $137 million," according to the White House, after a March 31 trip Lake Okeechobee and at the urging of Florida's congressional delegation and Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The state and federal governments typically split the cost of restoration projects 50-50, and $200 million a year has been the federal commitment envisioned since the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) was first authorized nearly 20 years ago.

Trump's proposed budget is only a recommendation; Congress appropriates federal funding for projects. But Congress can't appropriate more than Trump requests because of a ban on earmarks, which are directives to fund specific projects.

During Trump's visit to see ongoing work to repair the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee, a TCPalm reporter shouted questions to the president about increasing money in his proposed budget for the Everglades.

"It's coming," Trump replied. "Soon. And a lot more than you would ever believe."

More: Trump says money for Everglades restoration 'coming'

DeSantis, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and U.S. Reps. Brian Mast and Francis Rooney, all Republicans, issued a statement in March saying it would be "incredibly short-sighted" to continue underfunding projects needed "to ensure the environmental sustainability and economic vitality of one of the most dynamic regions of our nation." 

Perhaps hinting at the request for more funding, Rubio told Trump during the Lake O visit he could "go down as the Everglades president."

The day before the presidential visit, a group of Democrats in the Florida congressional delegation, including Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Ted Deutch, Donna Shalala and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, called on Trump to reverse his budget cuts to Everglades restoration and environmental protection.

More: Democrats blast Trump on Everglades funding ahead of Lake O trip

The Everglades funding is scheduled to be debated Wednesday by the House Subcommittee on Energy and Water.

The funding has support from "the most liberal Democrat to the most conservative Republican," said Eric Eikenberg, executive director of the Everglades Foundation.

On April 30 and May 1, Florida environmentalists lobbied House and Senate members, Eikenberg said, "and everything we were hearing was very positive for this bill."  

The projects that could be completed quicker with the extra money include: 

• The EAA reservoir (Everglades Agricultural Area) designed to curb Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers

As Trump was being briefed on dike progress away from the media corps, Mast could be heard telling the president how the reservoir is needed to help stop toxic blue-green algal blooms in the river estuaries.

The Corps and the South Florida Water Management District have begun design work on the $1.6 billion project. The state and federal governments are supposed to split the cost 50-50.

• The Central Everglades Planning Project, a suite of projects that can be fast-tracked to increase the flow of clean water south to the Everglades and Florida Bay
• The C-44 Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area in western Martin County to store and clean water before it moves into the South Fork of the St. Lucie River
• The C-43 Reservoir, designed to store water going to the Caloosahatchee River estuary during wet periods and release it during the dry season

Rubio said the president's action "makes it easier for me and people like me on the appropriations committee to go out now and make sure that money happens — not just this year, but for years to come. So we can finally get the Everglades fixed and our water quality improved.”

Mast said he talked with Trump about "how critical this money is for the Everglades, as well as to stop discharges and harmful algal blooms. ... With the White House on our team, working together, I’m confident we can get this done.”

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