Committee advances broad water-management bill with Everglades funding and local referendum protections

The Appropriations Committee reported CS for SB 7002 after the sponsor offered a strike-all amendment that, supporters said, consolidates multiple legislative priorities for Florida's water-management districts and Everglades restoration.

Sponsor Senator Broder described the measure as a comprehensive package that increases transparency for water-management districts, improves long-term planning for large resiliency projects, funds Everglades restoration at increased levels, and adjusts district authorities. Key changes in the strike-all include: removing the statutory barrier that limited St. Johns Water Management District basin creation (aligning its authority with other districts); authorizing South Florida Water Management District to acquire land, if necessary, for a reservoir north of Lake Okeechobee; requiring construction-phase reporting against schedule and budget and requiring operation-phase reporting against performance indicators; clarifying that water-quality projects may be funded with ad valorem taxes; and instructing the preliminary budget to flag locally-referendum-funded projects and preventing the Legislative Budget Commission from rejecting referendum-funded projects.

The strike-all also extended resiliency grant eligibility to the Northwest Florida and Suwannee River water management districts and updated Everglades restoration appropriation language. The sponsor filed an amendment to the amendment to clarify that district repayments on a new revolving-loan authority must come from non-state revenue sources.

Committee action: The strike-all and the technical follow-up amendment were adopted; the committee then reported CS for SB 7002 favorably.

Why it matters: The bill affects the management and funding of water projects across multiple districts and explicitly protects voter-approved, local millage-funded measures from Legislative Budget Commission rejection. It also sets higher reporting and performance standards for large reconstruction and resiliency projects and increases state support for Everglades work.

Quotable: "This comprehensive legislation makes historic investments in Everglade restoration and increases transparency in the planning, funding, budgeting, reporting, and business practices of Florida's water management districts," Senator Broder said.