“Of course, you don’t want to build the reservoir before you have all this conveyance, but it has to be in the queue so that when other elements come on line, you’re poised to flip the switch and start getting immediate benefits,” said Davis of the Everglades Foundation.
Supporters also worry that if that option to buy sugar land struck by Crist expires, the state will never be able to buy the huge expanse it needs. The proposed bill calls for the district to negotiate with willing landowners. If none are found, then the district must exercise its option on the sugar land.
Although U.S. Sugar once agreed to sell its land, it now fiercely opposes it, spinning the move as a land grab by big government, environmentalists intent on wiping out Big Sugar and rich Treasure Coast residents indifferent to the fate of small farmers.
But much of the land Negron originally targeted is owned by corporate farms, not small farmers. And many sugar jobs were replaced years ago by mechanized farming and more efficient mills. Negron has wants to pay for the reservoir with money from 2014’s Amendment 1, which is supposed to be reserved for purchasing environmental land. Lawmakers are currently being sued by environmental group for spending much of the $700 million collected last year on state salaries, risk management insurance and other administrative issues.
