[dropcap]B[/dropcap]y a 4-1 vote Tuesday, Martin County commissioners supported state legislation to buy land south of Lake Okeechobee for a reservoir to help curtail discharges to the St. Lucie River.
Senate President Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican, has proposed the state and the federal government equally share the $2.4 billion cost to buy up to 60,000 acres south of Lake O and build a 120 billion-gallon reservoir.
Toxic algae photographed from overhead in 2016.
Commission Chairman Doug Smith voted against the resolution, saying Negron’s plan doesn’t fit into the strategy for Everglades restoration established by the South Florida Water Management District, the Army Corps of Engineers and local governments.
“There’s a system, there’s a process in play,” Smith said after the meeting. “People may come up with ideas on how to do things differently, but we need to deliver on actual projects already in the works.”
