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Lawsuit Delays Everglades Restoration

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 18, 2008

WEST PALM BEACH - A massive Everglades restoration project will be put on hold pending the outcome of a lawsuit by environmentalists, a move that could end up costing the state nearly $14 million just for the delays.

The board of the South Florida Water Management District voted Thursday to halt construction of a mammoth reservoir, bigger than Manhattan, designed to revive the ecosystem of the once-famed River of Grass.

The 25-square-mile aboveground reservoir - the largest of its kind in the world - is estimated to cost up to $800 million and was set for completion in 2010. The district has spent about $250 million on construction.

No one disagrees that storing runoff water is key to reviving the Everglades, but the restoration effort has pitted environmentalists against the government.

The Natural Resources Defense Council sued over the reservoir, claiming the state has not legally committed itself to using the water primarily for restoration efforts.

The state insists at least 80 percent of the water will be for environmental purposes, but critics fear that without a legally binding agreement, the water could be sent elsewhere.

Council attorney Brad Sewell said the intent of the lawsuit is not to stop construction, but to bind the district legally to its own resolution passed last year by its board.

The district fears that if a federal judge revokes its permits for the project because of the lawsuit, millions of dollars could be lost.

"It will be much more expensive if we got into the middle of this contract and then all of a sudden it gets shut down," said district spokesman Randy Smith. "The board's decision was made solely on prudent financial responsibility to the taxpayers."

The district board anticipates construction could be halted through the end of the year. The board agreed to stop construction as of June 1 and begin paying its contractors $1.9 million for each month the project is delayed, up to $14 million by the end of 2008. The district is not ruling out the possibility that the project could be terminated altogether.

The Associated Press

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