TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Bob Graham says bills that would allow for water privatization and redefining of public and private land threaten the progress of Everglades restoration.
The retired Democrat spoke Tuesday at the inaugural meeting of the bipartisan Everglades Legislative Caucus in the Capitol.
Graham said “the Everglades is water” and “water belongs to the people of Florida” and not private interests.
The South Florida Everglades have suffered from the gradual intrusion of housing developments and farms and have been polluted by urban and fertilizer runoff. State lawmakers cut Everglades restoration funding last year.
Gov. Rick Scott was noncommittal about privatizing water later in the day at an Everglades panel held at Florida State University. He would only say the question “requires a lot more study.”
Source: Associated Press
