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Lake Worth Lagoon Is Relying On Amendment 1 Funds For Restoration

Jessica Meszaros
/
WLRN

In Tallahassee, Florida counties and cities are battling over $700 million of Amendment 1 funds for this year’s legislative session. Palm Beach County is applying for a cut of that to continue restoration of Lake Worth Lagoon, the county’s largest estuary.

Palm Beach County has requested $3.3 million of Amendment 1 funds for Lake Worth Lagoon. Canal water and rainwater spill into the lagoon, polluting it.

Mayor Shelley Vana says the money would fund water projects to keep the mangroves and oyster beds healthy.

"If we can't continue to make progress with the lagoon, then we start looking at degradation of the environment for the animals and plants and organisms that live in the lagoon," says Vana.

She says people like to boat, kayak, paddleboard and fish in the lagoon, so keeping it "beautiful" is all part of the package.

"We want to be able to say, ‘We're taking care of it. It is gonna stay like this,’" she said.

She says the funds would also create more jobs -- from construction of the lagoon to service industries around it, like hotels and restaurants.

Vana says the county won’t know the status of its funding until the very last day of the legislative session, May 1, but she has lobbyists up in Tallahassee working on it.

 

RELATED: Lake Worth Lagoon's Ecotourism Increases As Water Quality Improves

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