TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A multi-billion dollar gaming agreement with the Seminole Tribe of Florida is making way for a new law allocating millions of dollars to environmental conservation efforts in the state.
The state will now use at least $450 million a year from the agreement to pour into the environment.
"The compact didn't mandate that the money came here," Gov. Ron DeSantis said. "This legislation is channeling it there."
Some of the major areas of focus will be on the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee.
"Today, you probably wouldn't even think about drinking from those streams. You wouldn't think about swimming in those streams because you can't see the bottom, which they could back then," said Marcellus William Osceola Jr., Seminole Tribe of Florida Chairman. "So with this and the funding that we provided through the compact, I hope that we can once do that again for our children's sake."
The state is designating $150 million for repairs and upgrades to the Florida central and south water management systems.
They are allocating $100 million for the Resilient Florida Grant Program. Desantis said this will fortify some of the most vulnerable areas in Florida.
"There have been over a billion dollars that have gone into the program between the local and state money and that is going to continue that on," DeSantis said.
Another $100 million will now be designated to the state's wildlife corridor for land and conservation assessment purchases.
The last $100 million chunk will help manage uplands and remove invasive species like pythons.
DeSantis said any money left over will go to water management projects. He called this a "landmark piece of legislature."