FORT MYERS, Fla. — The now-withdrawn proposal for the Southland Water Resource Project was submitted to the South Florida Water Management District in July by contractor Phillips and Jordan. It lays out plans for an 8,000-acre water storage project south of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area.
Daniel Andrews is the Executive Director of Captains for Clean Water, a group that pushes for Everglades restoration.
He said, “The land that it’s being built on is land that is very valuable to the state for Everglades restorations and is owned by the sugar industry. And they’ve repeatedly said, ‘The land’s not for sale; we need this for agriculture, for production of our crops.’”
When Andrews discovered the proposal, he found plans for more than water storage.
“The proposal that was submitted doesn’t really say anything about mining, but diving further into the public records on it, and some permitting from the Department of Environmental Protection, it’s aggregate they’re looking for limestone to build roads or concrete,” Andrews said.