WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Florida state budget, which was signed into law Thursday by Gov. Ron DeSantis in Fort Pierce, includes nearly $3 million to continue the cleanup of the Lake Worth Lagoon.
The money will be used to improve water quality monitoring in the lagoon and to help plant life around Bonefish Cove, a chain of new islands in the lagoon.
State Rep. Peggy Gossett-Seidman, R-Highland Beach, said the funding will also help restore seagrass, a major source of food for wildlife.
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"We need that seagrass for the manatees, for the fish populations, for the oysters and also for seabirds," Gossett-Seidman said. "There's been a lot of nesting. If you take a boat ride, you'll see nests in the trees, in the pines along the waterway."
She said the money appropriated for the lagoon cleanup was more than $1 million more than Palm Beach County commissioners requested.
