SF Water District offers Palm Beach County $30M and 1,500 acres for Mecca Farms land

Nearly 1,900 acres of Palm Beach’s Mecca Farms could become a water reservoir, if the county agrees to trade 1,500 acres and $30 million for the land, the South Florida Business Journal reported.  On Thursday the South Florida Water Management District governing board directed its staff to begin negotiations with the county – whose recent $100 million attempt to develop a biotech park on the land has largely failed. The reservoir would be used to redirect water to the Loxahatchee River during droughts, according to Randy Smith, a spokesperson for the district. [SFBJ] – Christopher Cameron