Gov. Ron DeSantis dropped by the Treasure Coast at the end of April to announce appointments to the state’s new Blue-Green Algae Task Force. Sen. Gayle Harrell said the new governor’s emphasis on and push for the legislature to focus on and fund solutions to water issues was great for St. Lucie County.
“I think the environmental budget was a huge win for the Treasure Coast,” she said in a telephone interview. “We have been so hard hit with the releases from Lake Okeechobee and the blue-green algae we’ve had.”
The Florida Legislature wrapped up its 2019 session on Saturday, May 4, by passing a $91 billion budget. DeSantis announced the task-force appointments at the Nathanial P. Reed Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge on Monday, April 29. Harrell spoke to St. Lucie Voice after the legislative session.
While the governor has authority to create task forces to study issues and make recommendations, the legislature can help or hinder them through the budget. Harrell – a Republican whose district includes St. Lucie and Martin counties – said the state legislature gave the task force $10 million to work with.
“(The Blue-Green Algae Task Force) was created under executive order, but it was key to put it in legislation, to put it in statute,” Harrell said. “In total, we put $686 million into water-quality issues.”
The task-force appointments include two locals: Valerie Paul, director of the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce; and James Sullivan, executive director of Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce. Other members are Wendy Graham, University of Florida; Michael Parsons, Florida Gulf Coast University; and Evelyn Gaiser, Florida International University.
Harrell said while the Treasure Coast has been hit hard by blue-green algae blooms with their signature acrid scent and cyanotoxins, such as in 2016, it’s not a unique problem to the area.
“They’ve had it in Jacksonville,” she said. “They’ve had it in many other places. And all up and down the Indian River Lagoon. There are seven counties that touch the Indian River Lagoon.”
While the 156-mile lagoon runs through five counties, Martin north to Volusia, seven are in its watershed. The other two are Palm Beach and Okeechobee counties.
At press time, a bloom on the St. Johns River that could reach Jacksonville has been ongoing since April. The St. Johns River Water Management District reports that bloom is stretching from Lake George to Palatka. The St. John’s starts in Indian River County and flows north to Jacksonville, passing through three counties that border the Indian River Lagoon.
Harrell said the science is making it increasingly clear that the state’s waterways are interconnected to surprising levels, and the Indian River Lagoon is a linchpin to fixing the state’s water health.
“We really need to address water issues,” she said. “For me, this is so key, the Indian River Lagoon.”
Which also highlights a legislative disappointment for Harrell this year. The state senate rebuffed her proposal to tap the Florida Land Acquisition Trust Fund for the Indian River Lagoon Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. Harrell’s bill (S 368) got a 4-1 nod by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, but then was stopped cold.
“We got bogged down in (the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment and General Government) because of money issues,” Harrell said.
The trust fund was created by the Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative, Amendment 1, in 2014, which voters overwhelmingly passed. The amendment to the Florida Constitution dedicated a third of net revenue from documentary stamp taxes on land transitions, often called doc stamps, to “acquire, restore, improve and manage conservations lands including wetlands and forests.”
Harrell plans to refile the bill during the 2020 legislative session.
“I’m really going to work on that over the next year,” she said.
In addition to progress on water issues, the freshman senator – who had a long career in the Florida House – said she’s proud that the Florida Legislature increased education funding by $783 million this session. “This is a huge increase in education funding,” Harrell said.
The state legislature budgeted about $7,700 a student. “That is $242 (increase) per student allocation.”
Another highpoint of the legislative session to Harrell is about $1.85 billion for Hurricane Michael relief that passed. “An issue (people on the Treasure Coast) know so well after what happened in ’04 and ’05 is what happens when you have major hurricanes,” Harrell said.
“Hurricane Michael was so devastating.”
