Federal officials on Tuesday potentially derailed a nearly $2 billion plan intended to help the Everglades and curb coastal water pollution.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers‘ Civil Works Review Board, in an unexpected move, refused to sign off on the Central Everglades plan, which would redirect more Lake Okeechobee water south to replenish Florida’s famed “River of Grass.”
That postponement threatens to torpedo efforts to convinceCongress to split the $2 billion cost with the state to help restore lake water flows to the Everglades – cut off by decades of drainage to make way for South Florida development and farming.