Lake O draining option

Measure would build reservoir to curb algae

To reduce drainage blamed for toxic algae blooms along Florida’s coast, a bill filed Thursday calls for buying South Florida farmland to build a reservoir for Lake Okeechobee water.

Draining lake water to the east and west coasts, to avoid flooding in South Florida, wipes out coastal fishing grounds. It can also fuel toxic algae blooms that pose a public health risk and scare away tourists.

Building a reservoir to move more lake water south, as an alternative to draining lake water to the east and west coasts, could cost as much as $2.4 billion.

Environmental groups, coastal communities and other reservoir supporters say it would reduce that harmful lake draining by redirecting the water south, where it could be stored, cleaned up and used to replenish the Everglades.

“Coastal communities were under a state of emergency for 242 days in 2016 as a result of Lake Okeechobee discharges,” Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eric Eikenberg said in a statement released Thursday. He said the proposed legislation “moves us closer to having this critical water storage reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee ... to respond to Florida’s water crisis.”

Florida Senate President Joe Negron, a Republican from Stuart, has proposed buying 60,000 acres of farmland south of the lake and building a $2.4 billion reservoir. He proposes that the cost be shared by the state and federal government.

The bill filed Thursday by state Sen. Rob Bradley, a Republican who represents north central Florida, would enable paying for Negron’s proposed 120 billion-gallon