Officials: Fix water before restoration | FLORIDA TODAY | floridatoday.com

The Senate General Appropriations Committee continues to review a package of $220 million worth of state money to fund "scientific fixes" to the ailing Indian River Lagoon system. That seems to be their priority over establishment of oyster beds in places like the Lake Worth Lagoon. They seem to understand that we have to fix water quality issues before we spend money on things that rely on that higher water quality. After all the fresh water that poured into the Lagoon last year, the oyster beds that were taking shape disappeared, along with the Oyster Catchers. It will be years before we see them again. Click title for link to article.

As the Senate continues to review a $220 million package to reduce pollutants flowing out of Lake Okeechobee, scientific fixes to the system will take priority over research, the head of the Senate General Government Appropriations Subcommittee said Wednesday.
That could mean the package will continue to include the removal of muck from waterways in the Indian River Lagoon along the Space Coast and Treasure Coast. For now, proposals to improve oyster beds and seagrass in southeast Florida would be pushed aside.
“We’re not going to pay money to put any restoration efforts out there when we know they are likely to fail,” said Sen. Alan Hays, R-Umatilla. “If the current water environment is not conductive to that kind of growth, whether it be seagrasses, oysters, or any other type of thing, I’m not in favor of spending money in trying to establish that part of the habitat again. It’s wasteful. So let’s get the water chemistry right first and then put the proper organisms back in.”