Farmers produced mixed results this year meeting pollution-reduction requirements for water headed to the Everglades.

Florida's Everglades Forever Act calls for sugar cane, citrus and other growers south of Lake Okeechobee to limit the amount of damaging phosphorus that washes off agricultural land in stormwater that flows to the Everglades.

Growers in the Everglades Agricultural Area, the region directly south and southeast of the lake, met their requirement to reduce phosphorus levels at least 25 percent, according to the annual review by the South Florida Water Management District.

But agricultural land in the region southwest of the lake, known as the C-139 drainage basin, failed to meet phosphorus limits. Those lesser standards require the region to maintain the historic level of phosphorus in stormwater runoff.

Instead, the C-139 region more than doubled the top target range for phosphorus levels, according to Pam Wade, of the district's Everglades Regulation Department.

An influx of phosphorus, found in fertilizer, fuels the growth of cattails, which crowds out other plants and damages the Everglades ecosystem.

To reduce pollution, the state requires farming practices on 670,000 acres of agricultural land intended to limit the amount of phosphorus that flows south. Those methods include fertilizer management, sediment controls and water retention.

Exceeding the state phosphorus standards can trigger requirements for more limits on farming practices.

The state needs to "tighten" its requirements and encourage growers to reduce the reliance on chemicals, said Drew Martin, of the Sierra Club.

The types of farming, more intense land uses and differing rainfall patterns are among the reasons the C-139 region has trouble meeting its phosphorus standards, Wade said.

The water that flows off agricultural land south of the lake gets directed to pollution-filtering, manmade marshes intended to absorb phosphorus before the water reaches the Everglades. Those stormwater treatment areas have so far failed to consistently reach long-term phosphorus reduction goals.

Phosphorus-laden stormwater that drains into Lake Okeechobee worsens the Everglades' phosphorus problems. South Florida growers tap the lake for irrigation and the phosphorus keeps moving south.

The water management district's proposed $536 million deal to buy 73,000 acres from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration should help combat the infusion of phosphorus, district Executive Director Carol Wehle said.

The pending deal includes citrus land in the C-139 basin that could be used to expand water storage and treatment. The goal is to "control the volume and velocity of the water," Wehle said.

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