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Money Cut Hits Water Projects In Bay Area

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By MIKE SALINERO and CATHERINE DOLINSKI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 8, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - Budget cuts approved by the Florida Legislature on Friday could set back efforts to expand reclaimed water systems and delay projects that restore and protect coastal water systems.

House and Senate budget conferees agreed late Friday afternoon to reduce the amount of money going into an environmental trust fund from $100 million a year to $80 million. The money comes from an excise tax on documents.

The cuts are part of a broader budget-cutting effort that legislators are working on during a special session that convened Wednesday. They have until Friday to plug a $1 billion deficit resulting from a downturn in the state's real estate market.

The agreement cuts $10 million out of the Surface Water Improvement Management program, known as SWIM. The 20-year-old program has restored more than 2,000 acres of coastal and upland habitat in the Tampa Bay area. Work on another 2,300 acres is under way.

Though the cuts to SWIM appear deep, most of its ongoing projects will survive, said Mark Hammond, resource management director for the Southwest Florida Water Management District, or Swiftmud.

He said the district has trust funds of its own it can tap and will try to get general revenue money next year.

'We're going to work very hard to prioritize and try to stretch our resources to keep those projects going to the greatest extent we can,' Hammond said.

Another $8 million was cut from the Alternative Water Supply program, which funds water supply and conservation programs, such as reclaimed water.

Bart Weiss, administrator of Hillsborough County's Water Resource Team, said the cuts will have a serious impact as Florida grapples with a year-long drought, sinking groundwater levels and saltwater intrusion into the aquifer.

'Here, in this time of drought, when you're seeing huge water supply reductions, you would want to aggressively pursue alternative water supply projects and funding,' Weiss said.

The reduction in money to the alternative water program could also delay a carefully crafted plan to restore freshwater flow to the lower Hillsborough River, said Brad Baird, director of the Tampa Water Department.

The program depends on moving water from the Tampa Bypass Canal to the river, and connecting several spring runs to the river. More than half of that money is supposed to come from Swiftmud.

'The district's performance and payment pursuant to this agreement depends on the district board appropriating the money,' Baird said. 'Obviously, they can't appropriate the funds if they're not made available by the state.'

House Wanted Larger Cuts

But the cuts could have been larger. The House wanted to cut the trust fund by $30 million, increasing the reduction by $40 million the next year.

And the House would have practically wiped out the Total Maximum Daily Load program, which is charged with cleaning up more than 400 rivers, lakes and bays on the state's impaired waters list.

The cut could have delayed by years, maybe decades, the restoration of polluted waters such as the Hillsborough and Alafia rivers.

'That's one we fought hard for,' said Eric Draper, lobbyist for Audubon of Florida. 'In my opinion, the most important environmental issue in Florida is cleaning up those polluted waterways.'

The TMDL program will be cut by $2 million a year. The House version would have reduced annual funding by $17 million.

Republican lawmakers who pushed for the cuts acknowledged the importance of the water projects, but they said they must be weighed against more pressing societal needs, such as education and health care.

'I am concerned what it could mean; water is our most precious resource,' said Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa. 'But if you're looking at do I take the money out of health care and someone needs a respirator or a dialysis machine ... water projects are some unseen things that can be cut where people will not feel that as an impact ...'

Amendment Rejected

Democratic Rep. Shelley Vana of Lantana tried to amend the House bill so that the $30 million reduction would be for one year only. But the amendment was rejected by the Republican majority on the House Environment and Natural Resources Council. Council Chairman Stan Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, said the amendment would completely undermine the budget reduction.

Republican House leaders also ruled an amendment out of order by Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach. It would leave more money in the trust fund.

Brandenburg said that an order in her district to boil water because of contamination underscored the need to fund water projects now.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303 or msalinero@tampatrib.com. Reporter Catherine Dolinski can be reached at (850) 222-8382 or cdolinski@tampatrib.com.

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