Gov. Rick Scott initially denied untested Alico water farm, then OK'd $124 million project

In 2015, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed funding for several water farms, including the massive Alico project in Hendry County. But in 2017, Scott approved a $35 million appropriation that led to the Alico cattle ranch receiving its final water district permit Wednesday.

More:Alico gets permit for $124 million water farm project

A state contract calls for Alico to receive $124 million in taxpayer money over 11 years.

The governor's change of heart came because pilot projects had proven their worth over the previous two years, said Scott spokesman McKinley Lewis.

"In 2015, the water management district was still gathering results from these pilot projects," Lewis said. "So our take at the time was, 'If you want these projects funded, fine; but you'll have to use money from the district's budget.'"

Two years later, Lewis said, "the projects had produced proven results, so we were ready to proceed with state funding."

There's only one problem: Alico wasn't one of the pilot projects.

Water farms' cost, efficiency vary

Water farms are designed to help protect coastal estuaries such as the St. Lucie River on the east coast and the Caloosahatchee River on the west coast.

The farms pump polluted water out of canals and rivers leading to the estuaries and store it until it eventually evaporates into the air or percolates into the ground.

More: Expanded Caulkins water farm begins operations

In 2014, the South Florida Water Management District contracted with three landowners to set up three water farm pilot projects:

• Caulkins Citrus Co., 450 acres along the C-44 Canal in western Martin County
• Evans Properties Inc., 970 acres on the C-24 Canal in St. Lucie County
• Spur Land & Cattle Co., 210 acres on the C-23 Canal in St. Lucie County

Alico's 35,192-acre project, designed to prevent water from the Caloosahatchee River from polluting the estuary near Fort Myers, wasn't part of the three-year project.

"Unfortunately, all the water farm projects were grouped together in a single line item," Lewis said. "The governor can't pull one project out of a line item. It was an all-or-nothing kind of deal. The results of the whole pilot project process played into the decision making."

The Alico project received funding "after ranking highly in an open and transparent solicitation by the South Florida Water Management District," company President and CEO Remy W. Trafelet said in a statement emailed Friday afternoon to TCPalm.

TCPalm investigation:High cost, efficiency of proposed Alico water farm questioned

A TCPalm investigation in December 2015 questioned the Alico project's high cost and ability to meet its goal of storing about 30 billion gallons of water a year, more than 18 billion of it (60 percent) pulled from the Caloosahatchee River.

The investigation noted the Alico project is 13.5 miles from the Caloosahatchee, and a series of three pumps would be needed to move water from the river to the project site.

Trafelet said the company is "committed to accountability and meeting the water storage requirements in our contract."

The investigation also found that while the Caulkins project costs taxpayers $233 for every 1 million gallons of water stored, the Alico project would cost much more, $356 according to the latest estimate.

The Alico project "is far cheaper than some and more expensive than some," Trafelet wrote.

Trafelet noted the Alico project is much less expensive than the $1.6 billion EAA Reservoir to be built south of Lake Okeechobee.

MORE: Read Trafelet's complete statements to TCPalm

While true, it's an apples-and-oranges comparison.

The Alico project would remove water before it can cause environmental damage to the Caloosahatchee River estuary.

More: PSL seeking project to clean St. Lucie River, provide water

The EAA Reservoir project is designed to take water from Lake Okeechobee that otherwise would be discharged to both the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, hold it and clean it so it can be sent south, where it's desperately needed in the Everglades and Florida Bay.

More: U.S. House OKs EAA Reservoir; awaiting Senate vote

So the reservoir wouldn't only protect the estuaries, it would help save the Everglades and Florida Bay.

Without naming Alico specifically, Florida Senate President Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican who steered the reservoir project through the state Legislature, said approval of the project's permit shows the district is "utilizing every possible option to store water and prevent it from being sent east and west to our estuaries."

Alico Inc., the country's largest citrus producer, has given more than $500,000 to Scott, the Republican Party and state lawmakers since 2014 and is one of Negron's top donors. Alico spent an estimated $760,000 on legislative lobbying fees from 2013 to 2015 with $310,000 to $719,000 to lobby Scott and the executive branch.