Former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham led a gathering of activists Wednesday calling for Gov. Rick Scott and legislative leaders to preserve the state’s water resources, while renewing its longstanding commitment to the environment.

“We need strong gubernatorial leadership to reverse the damage that’s been done,” Graham told a rally at the state Capitol.

Graham debuted Wednesday as leader of the Florida Conservation Coalition, which includes Audubon of Florida, 1000 Friends of Florida, the Nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, Trust for Public Land and League of Women Voters. The coalition plans to lobby Scott and the Republican-led Legislature to restore funding to water quality programs, the Florida Forever land-buying program, and Everglades restoration, which supporters say have been staggered by budget cuts since 2007.

Graham was joined by state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, Nathaniel Reed of 1000 Friends of Florida and representatives of environmental groups, which generally praised Scott’s environmental stance, but blasting legislative moves which reduced oversight and dollars for green programs.

Advocates derided the Legislature for approving a $210 million cut in water management district property taxes, which has led to wholescale staff layoffs and program reductions, the most profound occuring at the South Florida Water Management District. Graham said taxes were “reduced by the amount of two pizzas a year,” but that the cuts did wide-ranging harm to existing programs and services.

Environmentalists, though, withheld direct criticism of Scott, who campaigned for the reduction and embraced the  cuts. Instead, Graham, apparently buoyed by recent Scott comments which underscored the need for effective environmental policy and Everglades restoration, urged conservationists to “join Scott’s army.”

Graham also warned the coalition planned to hold lawmakers accountable for actions which hurt Florida’s environment.

“We want to alert the voters in 2012 who was responsible for what happened in 2011,” Graham said.

Legislation that would add financial muscle to the obsure Lake Worth Drainage District — and possibly launch an ambitious South Florida water project — was approved Wednesday without comment by the House.

The House OK’d the legislation 117-0 by first-year Rep. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach, as part of a consent calendar that included almost two-dozen local bills.

The measure (HB 741) would give the drainage district authority to issue taxpayer-backed bonds to pay for canal improvements and construction of a 25-billion-gallon reservoir in western Palm Beach County to hold stormwater.

 The water would then be treated and moved through existing canals to South Florida’s thirsty shoreline communities from Wellington to Fort Lauderdale.

The legislation now awaits a Senate vote.

Supporters have touted the project as a common sense solution to the region’s environmental and growth management problems. But Gov. Rick Scott’s office has raised questions — which still may be unresolved — about taxpayer liability stemming from the plan, called the C-51 Reservoir Project.

Berman was warned earlier this session that Scott was considering vetoing the legislation. But the governor’s office hasn’t shed more light about his views on the project.

Currently, stormwater is wasted — flushed from the C-51 canal into the Lake Worth Lagoon — bringing with it sediments, pollutants and fresh water that seriously damage wildlife in the lagoon.

Instead, the project calls for it to be routed from the new reservoir east through the C-51 canal, then south to the Hillsboro Canal in Broward County. The project would rely on the ability of a patchwork of water managers, utilities and a controversial mining company — all with separate motives — to work together on the estimated $500 million project.

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Lake Worth Drainage District representatives are trying to get Gov. Rick Scott to embrace legislation aimed at helping direct water from remote northwest Palm Beach County to the crowded cities that line its eastern shoreline.

First-year Rep. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach,  drew a warning this week from Scott’s office that the Republican governor was inclined to veto her bill for the special district (HB 741) if it continued on the path to approval.

On Tuesday, the House Finance and Tax Committee unanimously approved the measure — its third straight OK without opposition — leaving it tantalizingly close to full House action.

But district attorney Terry Lewis said he’s also stepped in, huddling with representatives of Scott’s office to ease concerns the legislation could add tax liability to taxpayers within the district’s 200 miles of Palm Beach County.

“It won’t,” said Lewis, although he acknowledged the measure will give the district authority to issue bonds to develop new water supply sources. “We’re talking. I think the governor’s office has a better understanding.”

Scott spokesman Brian Hughes said discussions are continuing over the bill.

The district is looking to build a reservoir, improve canals and other work to direct water from wetlands northwest of the C-51 canal toward southeastern Palm Beach County — where the people are.

The district also is seeking the Legislature’s go-ahead to become a water supplier to county and municipal utilities, once the work is completed.

Lewis said enhancing the supply will make water costs cheaper for county taxpayers. Also, the work planned by the district will create jobs — all part of his sales pitch to Scott.

Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday signed a bill that, among other things, strips public access from state decisions about who controls Florida’s precious water resources.

The new law takes effect Wednesday.

“It is surprising,” said Charles Lee of the group Audubon of Florida, who had denounced the bill as this year’s worst piece of legislation. “My hope is the governor will put his political efforts toward undoing this.”

Environmentalists also decried another portion of the wide-ranging bill that gives the state’s largest landholders the ability to secure water permits for as long as 50 years. Before Crist signed the bill, the longest a water permit could be secured was 20 years.

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