WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The city of West Palm Beach is involved in a court battle over water.
Mayor Keith James, County Commissioner-elect Bobby Powell Jr. and Ryan Rossi, the director the South Florida Water Coalition, held a Wednesday news conference in opposition to the modification of a Savings Clause, which ensures how much water municipalities receive from Lake Okeechobee.
James referenced an Everglades Agricultural Area project that caused concerns for the water supply of West Palm Beach.
"The levels are governed by the Army Corps, but there were some guardrails in place on how much they could remove and how much water would be allocated to other municipalities," James said. "That's what we're fighting to protect."
The dispute stems from the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 and its efforts to provide water in Everglades restoration projects with the Savings Clause in question that makes sure nearby municipalities also have enough water.
The city filed an amicus brief with the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to challenge the Corps' interpretation of the Savings Clause.
"Water supply now is fine, we've had a lot of rain in recent months," James said. "But one reason for having this standard at that level is because it pretty much drought proofs us."
If the savings clause is changed, city officials said it could impact thousands of residents as well as businesses and other municipalities.
"We need to make sure that people have water to drink, drought conditions, the list goes on and on," Powell said. "One of the challenges is if there's not enough water for our farmers to protect our food supply. This could be catastrophic in terms of food supply in terms of drinking water, in terms of a number of things that could follow from that."
WPTV contacted the Army Corps of Engineers for comment but officials said they won't comment since this is under active litigation.
"You don't want to have our communities not knowing if they're going to have the water that they need," Rossi said.
He said residents saw a big need for water after this year's dry summer which caused lakes, and other bodies of water to have concerningly low water levels.
"Every year it seems like we have another record-breaking hottest year on record," Rossi said. "With that kind of dramatic change to our climate, in combination with a population that continues to grow here in South Florida, we've had a surge in population since 2020 since the end of the pandemic. We have to make sure that our communities have the water that they need."
The city said a federal judge will hear oral arguments in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on Nov. 20.
"If you end up with a drier year where the protections might go wrong, they say it's going to be rainy but it runs drier now you don't have that water available and you don't have those legal mechanisms in place that ensures that the water will be available, that's going to be very detrimental to our communities," Rossi said.
