TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Top Florida Republicans have taken a big step toward making their plan of building a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee an easier-to-swallow proposal for its opponents.
A Senate budget committee on Wednesday approved drastic changes to the project, which seeks to divert toxic algae blooms from Lake Okeechobee after the harmful discharges threatened coastal tourism and marine wildlife in South Florida last summer.
Senate President Joe Negron has made this project a top priority during the legislative session. The adjustments to the bill were made after the plan received pushback from the sugar industry, which would have lost more farmland with the initial proposal.
The revisions mean the project has scaled back in size from the 60,000 acres that were initially proposed.
