Today, Governor Ron DeSantis visited Naples and Miami to announce his environmental budget proposals, including over $960 million for Everglades restoration and the protection of water resources and more than $550 million to continue to support efforts to ensure that state and local communities are prepared to deal with the impacts of sea-level rise, intensified storms, and flooding.
The proposed $960 million investment will bring the total four-year investment for Everglades restoration and protection of water resources to over $3 billion, more than doubling investments from the previous four years and surpassing Governor DeSantis’ ambitious goal of $2.5 billion over four years.
The proposed $550 million investment for resilience will build upon the historic funding already received this year. This would bring the total state investment in resiliency to more than $1 billion over two years.
“When I took office, I outlined a bold vision to protect Florida’s environment, and we have not only kept the promises we made, we’ve exceeded them,” said Governor Ron DeSantis. “We are excited to announce this historic support for Florida’s environment, Everglades restoration, and our water resources. We have seen great results so far, but we are not yet at the finish line. It’s nice to see so many coming together to support these initiatives. We will be pushing hard to continue the momentum this legislative session.”
The Governor’s proposal for the FY 2022-2023 environmental budget recommendation includes major investments in Everglades restoration and water quality protection, as well as investments to support state and local communities with efforts to prepare for impacts from sea level rise, storms, and flooding. The budget proposals include:
- $960 million for Everglades restoration and the protection of water resources including:
- $660 million for Everglades restoration including the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), the EAA Reservoir Project, and the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Restoration Project.
- $175 million for targeted water quality improvements, including the wastewater grant program which provides grants to improve infrastructure in BMAP areas.
- $40 million for the Alternative Water Supply Grant Program.
- $50 million for projects to restore Florida’s world-renowned springs.
- $35 million for increased water quality monitoring and to combat harmful algal blooms including blue-green algae and red tide. This includes $15 million for innovative technologies and $5 million specifically to aid in local government red tide cleanup efforts.
- $3 million to remove invasive Burmese pythons.
- $550 million to build upon historic funding in FY2021-2022 to increase the resiliency of our coastal and inland communities.
- $500 million for the Resilient Florida Grant Program for projects to make communities more resilient to sea level rise, intensified storms, and flooding.
- More than $50 million to close the gap in resiliency planning and to protect our state’s coral reefs.
“The Everglades is a national treasure, and the entire country is behind the movement to protect it,” said Capt. Daniel Andrews, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Captains For Clean Water. “With this record funding, Governor DeSantis is going far above the commitment he made when he took office to restore and protect the Everglades and Florida’s water resources. On behalf of the united voice of our anglers, fishing guides, boat captains, industry-related businesses, and the entire outdoor recreational community throughout the country, thank you for allowing Captains For Clean Water to become an active and welcome participant in safeguarding clean and usable waterways for all of Florida’s residents and visitors.”
“We are pleased to see Governor DeSantis’ proposal for continued historic investments to protect Florida from the impacts of climate change,” said Dawn Shirreffs, Florida Director, Environmental Defense Fund.“This continued investment in the Resilient Florida Program will help ensure our communities have the tools to deal with the challenges sea level rise and increased flooding pose.”
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