NewsFlorida News

Actions

Sugar growers sue US over Florida reservoir water levels

Slaves once worked the sugar cane fields around the Whitney Plantation. The plantation first opened to visitors seven years ago and the nonprofit foundation that operates it has made it their mission to focus on the people who were enslaved here.
Posted at 12:46 PM, Aug 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-28 12:46:37-04

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Sugar growers in Florida are suing the U.S, Army Corps of Engineers over proposed reservoir water levels they say will be far too low.

The federal lawsuits filed this week by Florida Crystals’ Okeelanta Corp., U.S. Sugar and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative say the current Corps plan won’t supply enough water for their fields. In the lawsuits, Sugar Growers say the still-under-construction reservoir should be kept at higher water levels than what's currently envisioned in a Corps of Engineers plan. Everglades restoration advocates say the growers are simply putting their priorities ahead of others.