President Donald Trump praises Rick Scott, bashes Bill Nelson over EAA reservoir

In a tweet Tuesday night, President Donald Trump said he supported a plan to design and construct a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee that aims to reduce algae blooms in coastal Florida communities, also taking an opportunity to praise the state's Republican governor and U.S. Senate candidate, Rick Scott, for the project.

The Senate is scheduled to make a final vote on the Water Resources Development Act, a major water infrastructure package, no later than Thursday.

The president also took an opportunity to bash Florida's Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, saying he's been "no help" on the project.

"The president should know better than to play politics in the senate race on behalf of Rick Scott when there's a dangerous storm taking aim at Florida's Panhandle," said Dan McLaughlin, Nelson's campaign spokesman, referring to the category 3 Hurricane Michael expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.

The South Florida Water Management District, which oversees Everglades restoration and advises the Army Corps of Engineers on Lake Okeechobee discharges that cause algae blooms in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, claims the reservoir project will, when used alongside other existing and planned projects, reduce the number of damaging discharge events from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers by 63 percent. 

The U.S. House of Representatives already approved the WRDA bill twice. However, the Senate's version of the bill was long-stalled, leading to frustration from Florida's senators, Nelson and Republican Marco Rubio, and environmentalists statewide. 

Scott and Nelson's roles

Scott signed state legislation for the project back in May 2017, which calls for the state and the Army Corps of Engineers to each pitch in $800 million for to build the reservoir.

More: Rick Scott signs Lake Okeechobee bill in former critics' territory

But Scott has come under fire from Democrats and environmentalists for the budget cuts that could have increased algae blooms, earning the nickname "Red Tide Rick."

After Scott took office in 2011, DEP laid off 134 people and cut a dozen vacant jobs, saving the agency about $6.5 million. DEP also relaxed rules to make it quicker and easier to get permits, and shifted from enforcing rules to helping violators comply. Scott also gutted the South Florida Water Management District, cutting the agency's budget in half, by $700 million, resulting in 500 layoffs and several dozen vacant jobs being cut or frozen. 

Scott blamed Nelson for delays in WRDA. However, Nelson has no control over when the bill gets voted on; it's the Republican leadership that schedules bills for floor votes.

Both Nelson and Rubio have lamented the delays, calling publicly for the project to get approved. 

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

More: Bill Nelson, Marco Rubio ask Senate leaders to bring Lake Okeechobee reservoir up for a vote