Florida Governor Challenges President to See Damaged Area

Florida Gov. Rick Scott – who has spent months sniping at President Barack Obama on everything from health care to federal budget cuts – challenged President Barack Obama to tour parts of the state that are being damaged by water being released from Lake Okeechobee.

Scott sent a two-page letter to Obama late Tuesday that invited him and his administration to see how “federal shortcomings” have affected families in the regions near the lake.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers releases water from the lake to reduce pressure on the aging Herbert Hoover Dike. Parts of the earthen dike date back to the 1930s.

Critics say polluted freshwater from the lake has ravaged the ecosystems of the Caloosahatchee River and the St. Lucie estuary.

In his letter Scott chides the Obama administration for not prioritizing federal aid including money to repair the aging dike. He says that the president’s budget recommendations for 2014 call for reducing the amount of money spent on the dike.

“After a tour, you will no doubt make Lake Okeechobee enhancements more of a priority than what is currently reflected in your budget reductions,” Scott wrote.

Earlier this month a state budget panel approved spending nearly $3 million on several projects designed to reduce water coming from the lake into nearby estuaries.

Scott this summer also pledged to push for $40 million in additional state aid to finish the construction on a storm water treatment project by the St. Lucie River that could ease the environmental impact of water being released from nearby waterways.

The Republican governor -who has been battling low poll numbers as he heads into his re-election campaign – has routinely been criticizing the Obama administration this year. Scott has complained about federal budget cuts and its impact on National Guard troops needed in case of hurricanes, the health care overhaul, and a lack of federal funding for Everglades restoration.