By Suzanne Wentley staff writer
May 29, 2004

STUART — State grants worth $6.5 million will go toward the restoration of the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie and Loxahatchee rivers, thanks to innovative lobbying that has worked better than its originators had hoped.

State Sen. Ken Pruitt, who helped form the St. Lucie River Issue Team six years ago, said the way the local group of scientists and activists prioritize water-quality projects has been used by other environmental groups throughout the state with equally successful results.

"It's a template being used throughout the state," he said. "There is $120 million for water-quality projects included in our budget this year. We're now seeing the fruits of our labor."

By surviving the governor's veto pen Friday, the St. Lucie River Issue Team will receive $4 million to fund 17 water-quality projects for the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie River — adding to $28 million the group has received since it was formed.

An additional four projects that will improve water quality in the Loxahatchee River will be funded with $2.5 million, thanks to a package of projects submitted by the Loxahatchee River Preservation Initiative, which has already received $7 million.

That group formed three years ago and was modeled after the Issue Team, which was created in 1998 after an outbreak of fish lesions in the St. Lucie Estuary brought national attention to the health of local waterways.

Each year, the groups hear presentations from agencies interested in working on construction efforts that will make a rapid improvement in water quality. Those projects are then ranked by the availability of local funding, readiness to begin work and its "bang for the buck."

Pruitt, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, credits the funding success to the fact that such organizations are "community based."

"Any time you have a citizen-based initiative, that's the key to success," he said. "What happens is the citizens take ownership, and they challenge the local government to make sure they come up with the match."

Karen Smith, director of the Stuart office of the South Florida Water Management District and Issue Team co-chairwoman, was also pleased with the funding.

"This group is made up of stakeholders and has a mechanism for prioritizing projects," she said. "By the time the Legislature gets it, (the projects) are put in perspective to the other problems of the region."

It helps that the 18 Issue Team members are representatives of a diverse group of agencies, including the St. Lucie River Initiative and the National Marine Fisheries Service, she said.

"It's a regional perspective," she said.

David Brown, chairman of the Loxahatchee River Preservation Initiative, said the model has worked so well that the group plans to lobby for federal funding next year.

"There were a lot of people who doubted whether we'd be able to drum up any money," he said. "We put together a very comprehensive package. We can do it."

- suzanne.wentley@scripps.com

State-funded water quality projects

•Conserving and restoring 942 acres of sand scrub habitat in western St. Lucie County in the C-23 watershed.

•Monitoring for pollution in St. Lucie Estuary tributaries.

•Adding stormwater retention ponds and cleaning devices in Port St. Lucie for water flowing into the North Fork of the St. Lucie River.

•Connecting Jonathan Dickinson State Park to water and sewer lines to protect the Loxahatchee River from sewage pollution.

•Removing exotic plants and restoring habitat in the 10,953-acre Loxahatchee Slough in Palm Beach County.

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