We’ve recounted many times how Gov. DeSantis came into office with a bang, replaced the entire South Florida Water Management District Governing Board, appointed red tide and blue-green algae task forces and set about securing massive funding for Everglades restoration.

Had he remained on that glide path, we might be speaking of him today in reverent tones. He didn’t — and we aren’t.

Back in May we noted that the Southland rock mine — which involves blasting right next to the EAA Reservoir — could tarnish his legacy. Then came “Alligator Alcatraz,” the immigrant detention center right in the middle of Big Cypress National Preserve, part of the greater Everglades.

THIS is “America’s Everglades Governor?”

This dichotomy prompted Florida crack investigative reporter Jason Garcia to wonder in his latest Substack essay whether DeSantis – for all the money’s he’s steered towards restoration — is “poisoning his Everglades legacy.”

DeSantis “still proudly touts his record on Everglades restoration and the nearly $8 billion his administration has invested in reviving the iconic swamp. But DeSantis is now polluting even that piece of his legacy.”

So what happened? Recall that back in 2019, when DeSantis came into office, Florida was reeling from the 2018 toxic algae crises, when blue-green algae and red tide slammed the state; and this, after the “lost summers” of 2016 and 2013 The political pressure to DO SOMETHING was immense, and DeSantis acted.

But now the urgency has faded. We haven’t had a toxic algae crisis in several years — the next one is always around the corner of course, but as far as the politicians are concerned the problem is “solved.”

The money for restoration flows, though the reports by the algae task forces have been shelved, most of their recommendations ignored. The strongest pro-environment voices on the SFWMD Governing Board have been ousted, replaced by developers.

But for the money, it’s the same as it ever was.

So as the gubernatorial race in 2026 approaches, we’ll be looking for candidates who have an ENDURING dedication to clean water and a restored Everglades.

We just hope such a candidate exists.