A plan to top up springs protection funding by $69 million dollars has drawn praise from a former legislator and Central Florida conservation advocate.
The Joint Legislative Budget Commission approved the plan, which will split the $69 million dollars between 27 springs restoration projects including 3 in Central Florida.
Seminole County Commissioner Lee Constantine spent 18 years in Tallahassee as a state senator.
He says politics may be part of the funding boost, but he also says it’s a sign that lawmakers are starting to grasp the importance of springs.
“It might be an epiphany and the fact that the Governor has recognized that now, as the economy starts to improve we need to put more and more emphasis on what’s going to be the long term positive effect to our economy- and obviously to our quality of life," says Constantine.
“Politics is certainly part of it but then again this is a shift, a fundamental shift in thinking,” he says.
Blue, Sliver and Wekiva Springs will get $14.3 million dollars.
Constantine, who chairs the Wekiva River Basin Commission and co-chairs the Florida Conservation Coalition, says the money could be used to help improve water flow and quality in those springs.