Farmers in South Florida’s Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) have again cut phosphorus levels by more than double what’s required under federal law.
Farmers reduced those levels in the past year by 62% when compared to the baseline established under the Everglades Forever Act. That’s well above the 25% target set under the legislation.
Members of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) announced the achievement for Water Year 2025 at a recent board meeting in West Palm Beach.
In the years since the federal government launched an incentive program in 1996 to encourage phosphorus reduction, farmers have seen an average 57% reduction against the federal baseline, which was set by measuring output from 1979 to 1988.
“Our farmers in the EAA have done an incredible job again this year reducing phosphorus amounts in the water,” said Jake Fojtik, assistant director of government and community affairs at the Florida Farm Bureau Federation.
“They’re implementing all sorts of BMPs (best management practices) to do this, oftentimes on their own dime, while continuing to provide a safe, abundant and affordable food supply for everyone in the state of Florida and the nation.”
Relaxed regulation led to a major lawsuit in the late 1980s asking that runoff be cleaned more thoroughly. The Everglades Forever Act aimed to reduce phosphorus runoff from farms, as it can lead to toxic algae growth in Florida’s waterways. Farmers have since consistently met the benchmark set up under that legislation.
Lake Okeechobee, in particular, has been impacted by the growth of toxic algae in decades past. Water discharged from Lake O can also carry that algae into other waterways. But by 2016, as reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, less than 6% of the phosphorus in the lake came from land south of Lake Okeechobee.
“We’re very proud of the work that we’ve done,” said Stephen Basore, director of food safety for TKM Bengard Farms, one of several farmers recognized by the SFWMD for their work over the past year.
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