Florida's Growth Machine Pressures Everglades Promises

Florida residents are organizing against data-center proposals in rural communities, where development is driving concerns over water, electricity, congestion and the disappearance of what residents call “Old Florida.” The governor’s race now features competing promises about who will shape that growth—and who will bear the costs.

Haley Busch, outreach director with 1000 Friends of Florida, said residents were discussing growth and congestion and “seeing their Old Florida disappear.” Data-center proposals have brought people together around long-term planning concerns. Those worries come alongside a state environmental record that includes major public spending on restoration, conservation land acquisition and laws limiting local governments’ authority over development.

Residents confront growth from the ground up

During his tenure, Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration secured nearly $9.5 billion for water quality and Everglades restoration and acquired more than half a million acres for conservation. He also signed a law creating a program to make coastlines and inland waterways more resilient to sea-level rise, while opposing what he called “radical climate agendas.”

Florida’s water crisis had become a political concern by 2018, when toxic blue-green algae covered Lake Okeechobee and red tide washed dead fish, sea turtles and dolphins onto beaches. Eric Eikenberg, CEO of the nonprofit Everglades Foundation, said water and algae ranked among the leading issues in that year’s governor’s race. DeSantis called himself a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican” and promised to address water quality and protect the environment. Pat Rose, executive director of Save the Manatee Club, said DeSantis “did not ignore it” and “certainly didn’t shirk from it.”

The EAA Reservoir, south of Lake Okeechobee, is a multibillion-dollar project meant to improve the amount and quality of water flowing to the Everglades and Florida Bay while reducing harmful discharges to south Florida estuaries. State and federal governments agreed to speed up its completion by five years. It’s scheduled to be finished by 2029. DeSantis has called it the “crown jewel” of Everglades restoration.

But advocates say the reservoir and related projects won’t solve all of Florida’s water problems. They want the next governor to address nutrient pollution and consider acquiring more land for water storage and treatment. Gil Smart, executive director of VoteWater, warned that a governor might declare restoration finished once the reservoir is built. “If you take the view that that is the final piece of the puzzle, then once it’s done, you can stand atop it, wave the flag, and say we did it,” he said. “But you have to look at what the system is doing at that point too.”

Promises meet the rules already on the books

Democrat David Jolly has pledged to pause hyperscale data-center construction and roll back some development laws passed under DeSantis. A 2025 law, for example, bars local governments from imposing development regulations after a hurricane. Jolly criticized the Live Local Act, saying it failed to deliver the affordable housing it promised. “What we have seen is it’s a giveaway to developers that have built the million-dollar condos and disrupted communities,” he said. “It hasn’t impacted workforce and affordable housing.”

Jolly says he’d continue Everglades restoration and expand Florida Forever. He would also consider “nearly wholesale replacing” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, whose members he described as “developers and trophy hunters.” Any new commissioners appointed by a governor would still need state Senate approval.

GOP Rep. Byron Donalds says he’d protect natural resources from data centers and overdevelopment. Critics have faulted him for accepting millions of dollars from real estate and data-center interests. At an event where the Everglades Trust endorsed him, Donalds said he’d continue state funding for restoration and that “our goal is to be done over the next four years,” followed by a management phase. “It’s not just about finishing the work, it’s about maintaining it, managing it, so it can continue to be beautiful,” he said.

Environmental advocates also pointed to the construction of “Alligator Alcatraz,” an immigration detention center in a national preserve that has since been shuttered, as a major stumble. DeSantis press secretary Molly Best cited Everglades restoration, water quality, Florida Forever, coastal resilience projects and the removal of fluoride from public drinking water. “As Governor, Ron DeSantis has prioritized conserving Florida’s natural resources since his first day in office, recognizing the direct link between Florida’s environment, our economic competitiveness, and quality of life,” Best said.