FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Everglades Coalition met Friday to discuss Southwest Florida’s water crisis.
The group wants to send harmful Lake Okeechobee discharges toward the Everglades away from the Caloosahatchee River.
“It’s not only our lifestyle, but it’s our economy,” said Cara Capp, national co-chair of the Coalition. “It’s our public health. It’s what people love about being in the Sunshine State.”
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is currently building a reservoir near the border of Lee and Hendry counties as part of the C-43 Reservoir Project.
“The purpose is to provide another option for flows that come out of the Lake Okeechobee,” said Col. Jason Kirk, Jacksonville district commander of the Corps.
The C-43 Project costs about $584 million and is being funded from the federal government, a local sponsor and the Southwest Florida Management District.
