Sen. Debbie Mayfield, R-Vero Beach, has filed a proposal that would provide voter-approved money for restoration work in the Indian River Lagoon system. Mayfield's proposal (SB 982) would send $15 million to the St. Johns River Water Management District and another $15 million to the South Florida Water Management District.
Mayfield wants the districts to use the money to help restore the Indian River Lagoon system, which covers the waterways from the Ponce de Leon Inlet in Volusia County south to the Jupiter Inlet in northern Palm Beach County.
The measure is similar to a proposal (SB 234) filed last month by Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, that would send $35 million a year to help pay for projects to restore the St. Johns River, its tributaries or lakes in the Keystone Heights region.
Both proposals seek money from the state's Land Acquisition Trust Fund, which is used to carry out a 2014 constitutional amendment aimed at water and land conservation.
Each proposal is at least somewhat similar to money that lawmakers earmarked last year for Everglades projects, natural springs and Lake Apopka under the title "Legacy Florida."