Barring some legal challenge, the Florida DEP (“Don’t Expect Protection”) is scheduled to issue its permit for Phase 1 of the Southland rock mine project on Aug. 11 — and the one person who can stop it, Gov. Ron DeSantis, doesn’t seem inclined to do so.

As we’ve noted before, DeSantis reportedly prides himself on being the “Everglades Governor.” But given what the rock mine might do to the adjacent EAA Reservoir — and the impact “Alligator Alcatraz” is already having — the name hardly seems to fit.

The FDEP issued notice it intended to approve the permit for Phase 1 construction of the “Southland Water Resource Project” back on May 29, one week after Palm Beach County Commissioners approved the project. But there’s still time to change course.

DeSantis has received thousands of emails and calls asking him to kill the Southland project. Even if he doesn’t — and FDEP issues the permit — Southland applicants Phillips & Jordan still need the South Florida Water Management District to sign off on the “water resources” part of the project.

The next SFWMD public meeting on that proposal has not yet been scheduled because the applicant, Phillips & Jordan, has not yet submitted an updated proposal to the district; they’ve got until Aug. 27 to do so. This is to assume the company — and big sugar, which owns the land — doesn’t just blow off the “water resource” aspect of the plan and focus on rock mining, which may be exactly what happening.

But if they do submit an updated plan and the meeting gets scheduled, we’ll be sure to tell you all about it — and you should definitely plan to attend.