A huge victory for Palm Beach County and our neighbors out west near Lake Okeechobee.

Read an excerpt from the latest news by reporter Mary Ellen Klas at the Herald/Times Tallahasse Bureau below.

Click on image to enlarge. This was when “Send The Water South!” was a much larger project that would have wiped out the way of life for so many here in Palm Beach County:

The public came out and they spoke. And the electeds listened.

Latest news from the Herald/Times, an article today titled, “Compromise yields gift for the Everglades: 78 billion gallons of cleaner water”:

Months of negotiation and compromise over whether to build a deep-water storage reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee ended in victory Tuesday for Senate President Joe Negron as the Florida House agreed to the Senate plan and sent the measure to the governor for his approval.
     The proposal, SB 10, will cost the state and federal government $1.5 billion and will accelerate the state’s 20-year goal of storing water from the lake by using land the state owns, known as the A-2 parcel, as well as land swaps and purchases.
     The House passed the measure 99-19, after it reduced the amount the state could bond for the project to $800 million, and the measure was then passed by the Senate 33-0.
     The plan will create at least 240,000 acre feet of storage — about 78 billion gallons — south of the lake by converting 14,000 acres of state land now used as a shallow reservoir to build a deep-water reservoir. The measure will set in motion negotiations for the state to purchase land for the project from willing sellers, while prohibiting the use of eminent domain to force the sale. [emphasis added]

North of Lake Okeechobee there remain very serious issues to address. Stay tuned for news to come about all the septic tanks along the Indian River Lagoon.