The South Florida Water Management District is hiring the Hendry County lawmaker who helped the agency win a decade-long reprieve in finishing its $1.1 billion Everglades cleanup.

State Rep. Joe Spratt, R-LaBelle, will be the water managers' liaison to agriculture starting Monday, district spokesman Randy Smith said this week.

The position pays between $54,000 and $87,000 a year. Smith said Spratt's exact salary had yet to be determined.

Spratt, a legislator since 1996, has chaired the House's committees on natural resources and agriculture, as well as the joint legislative committee overseeing the Everglades.

Spratt hopes his new job will allow him to use the expertise he gained in Tallahassee, as well as his 52 years' experience in dealing with agriculture, he said Wednesday night through district spokesman Roberto Fabricio.

"People work best when they feel comfortable with the folks they deal with," Fabricio quoted Spratt as saying. "I hope I can make the growers feel more comfortable in dealing with the district."

Last year, Spratt shepherded a controversial bill that postponed, from 2006 to 2016, the enforcement of strict pollution limits for farm and suburban runoff in the Everglades.

Supporters -- including district leaders, sugar growers and Gov. Jeb Bush -- said the legislation would help water managers finish the cleanup, prevent lawsuits and provide an extra $451 million for the project. But environmental groups and some Florida congressmen condemned the bill as a cave-in to the sugar industry.

As of late last year, Spratt had received more than $148,000 in donations from agricultural companies throughout his legislative career, The Palm Beach Post reported in December.

Spratt's new job will include working with farming companies as well as the state and federal agriculture departments, among other agencies, Smith said.

"I think Joe Spratt is an excellent choice," said Robert Coker, senior vice president of United States Sugar Corp. in Clewiston. "Joe Spratt is a guy who has a long history with Florida agriculture and understands a lot of the natural resource issues facing the water management district."

Environmentalists were less thrilled about Spratt's appointment.

"I'm not surprised," said David Guest, Florida director for the environmental law firm Earthjustice. "The water management district has always been the governmental arm of Big Agriculture. This shows nothing has changed."