Environmentalists and state officials agree there's "no silver bullet," no single project that will seriously curtail discharges of excess Lake Okeechobee water east to the St. Lucie River and west to the Caloosahatchee River. A suite of projects north, south, east and west of the lake are either under construction or in the planning stage to help solve the problem. TYLER TREADWAY/TCPALM
More than a dozen landowners representing about 80 percent of the acreage south of Lake Okeechobee say they won't sell or swap any of their property to build a reservoir designed to cut discharges.
Under the state law authorizing the reservoir, the South Florida Water Management District sought out "willing sellers" and property owners willing to swap land near the site of the proposed reservoir for state-owned land elsewhere.
In a response sent to the district in November and obtained Wednesday by TCPalm, the landowners declined, saying:
- The project won't stop discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers
- Farmers already have given up too much land
More: Read the letter from farmers to the water district
Signatures on the letter include Robert H. Buker Jr., president and CEO of U.S. Sugar Corp., and Alfonso and J. Pepe Fanjul, owners of Florida Crystals.
The district has presented five plans, including two "best buys," for the reservoir for the Florida Legislature to consider. All would be built almost entirely on land already owned by the state.
More: How big are the proposed reservoir footprints?
Several environmental groups argue the footprint is too small to meet the goals of dramatically cutting Lake O discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers and sending more clean water to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
On Tuesday, the Everglades Coalition, made up of 62 environmental organizations, sent a letter Tuesday to Gov. Rick Scott urging him to "direct the district" to design options using more land acquired through swaps or purchases.
More:Read the Everglades Coalition letter to Gov. Rick Scott