A lawsuit over water rights could impact the future of South Florida.

The City of West Palm Beach and the Lake Worth Drainage District have joined farmers in a lawsuit over water rights.

The lawsuit was filed by U.S. Sugar Corporation, Okeelanta Corporation and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2023.

In May, Captains for Clean Water launched a campaign against the lawsuit claiming it “threatens Everglades restoration progress.”

"This lawsuit gets to the core of the fight which is—who’s in control of the water in Florida and how is water being prioritized? Are we prioritizing water for the benefit of our economy, our environment? “ stated Daniel Andrews of Captains for Clean Water. 

At issue is the “Savings Clause.”

The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), approved by Congress in 2000, includes a promise that existing legal water users – such as cities, farmers, businesses, the Seminole Tribe and the Miccosukee Tribe – will not lose the water supply they had before the legislation was enacted.

The “Savings Clause” established in the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 which authorized the CERP states: “Until a new source of water supply of comparable quality and quantity as that available on the date of the enactment of this Act is available to replace the water to be lost as a result of the implementation of the Plan, the Secretary and non-Federal sponsor shall not eliminate or transfer existing legal sources of water, including those for an agricultural or urban water supply.”

At issue is the operation plan for the new Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area, currently under construction, with expected completion date around 2030. The reservoir will cover 10,500 acres and hold up to 240,000 acre feet of water. Water from the reservoir will flow into a 6,500-acre STA which will clean the water and send it south (as capacity allows) through Water Conservation Area (WCA) 3-A and under the Tamiami Trail to Everglades National Park. The reservoir and STA could store, treat and release up to 360,000 acre feet of water per year from Lake Okeechobee. Lake O covers 730 square miles or about 467,000 acre-feet. That means, over the course of a year, the new reservoir could handle the equivalent of about 9 inches of water on Lake O. (Note: Some capacity in the reservoir will be taken up by direct rainfall.)

The lawsuit will not delay or impact the construction of the new reservoir.  USACE and South Florida Water Management District staff have confirmed the reservoir construction will not be delayed.

The lawsuit does not impact the benefit of the reservoir to the coastal estuaries. Moving billions of gallons of lake water south into a reservoir means that much less excess water will be sent east to the St. Lucie River and west to the Caloosahatchee River in wet years when flow from the north exceeds the lake’s capacity.

At issue is how water will be allocated in time of drought.

The lawsuit has been joined by the City of West Palm Beach, the Lake Worth Drainage District, the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association and the Florida Farm Bureau Federation.

Florida Sugarcane Farmers released the following statement: “The attacks against South Florida’s sugarcane, vegetable, fruit and rice farmers are completely baseless and ignore all of the stakeholders seeking to defend the water rights of millions of South Floridians. In 2000, the Federal government made a promise to native tribes, businesses, farmers and millions of South Florida residents, but the Army Corps’ recent actions in how it will manage future water projects attempt to go back on that promise. As a result, Florida’s sugarcane farmers are joining the City of West Palm Beach along with fruit and vegetable farmers in court to ensure the water rights of all South Floridians continue to be protected. Should anti-farming groups like Captains for Clean Water prevail in court, less water for all of South Florida could threaten to offshore America’s food production in a major way.”

 Florida Sugarcane Farmers and South Florida’s agriculture community have consistently supported the EAA Reservoir along with all CERP projects since they were first approved by Congress in 2000, the farmers explain. This lawsuit doesn’t change support for the project.

According to the City of West Palm Beach’s legal filing, the USACE failure to protect water supply could result in a “potentially catastrophic reduction in available water supplies for urban water users like the City.”

“The 20-year or greater permit duration is intended to give water users certainty so they can properly make planning and financial decisions based on the assurance that the allocated quantity of water will be available for the duration of the permit. This consideration is of particular importance to public water suppliers like the City that must make long-term planning decisions to assure that future water needs will be met, including significant capital investments in facilities added to withdraw, treat and distribute source water,” argued City of West Palm Beach attorneys in their brief.

The Lake Worth Drainage District’s (LWDD) legal brief points out that Lake O serves as a primary or backup water supply for more than 8 million people in South Florida: “Without adequate water in its canals LWDD is unable to meet the water supply needs of its 42 dependent water users, struggles to support groundwater supplies and cannot adequately recharge the aquifer to prevent saltwater intrusion, leading to significant environmental and economic impacts.”