Opinion: Effluent forever

When Gov. Jeb Bush signed a $3-billion, 10-year extension of the state's popular conservation land-buying program in 1999, he beamed: "Florida Forever will continue Florida's role as a national leader in preserving and protecting our precious natural resources for the enjoyment of future generations." He said nothing about sewage effluent pipes. However, that's what some House members are now trying to buy with Florida Forever money.

The House last week passed an amendment that expands the definition of "water resources" such that water management districts could use land-buying money for pipes that sprinkle treated wastewater on lawns and golf courses. The districts, too cheap to find the money for themselves, use a strained line of argument. They say that Florida Forever is supposed to protect natural resources, of which water is one, and that potable water is saved when sewage effluent is used for lawn irrigation. U.S. Homes could not have said it better.

This is not the Legislature's first attempt at such creative enterprise with Florida Forever. Last year, lawmakers began the raid, taking $75-million from the program to finance Everglades restoration. At least the Everglades money was used to restore an environmental treasure. The water districts' plan would use land-buying money for a purpose that runs directly counter to the intent of the program. Sewage pipes enable and promote more development.

Once environmental groups got wind of the malodorous provision, Rep. Dudley Goodlette, R-Naples, quickly pledged to remove it. But, as most legislative observers readily know, Goodlette's commitment doesn't kill the deal. It only sends it, much like the sewage pipes themselves, underground. Sometime between now and the session's end, the "water resources" definition is likely to reappear in some other bill or some other form.

Gov. Bush is in a position to put a stop to this latest assault on Florida Forever. The program was created in 1990, under the last Republican governor, Bob Martinez, for the express purpose of protecting land from development. It acknowledged that regulatory agencies can do only so much to save some natural treasures, that the only true protection is public ownership. For the state now to consider using Florida Forever money to lay sewage pipes is a legacy of a different kind.

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