ISLAMORADA — Local officials are traveling today to impress upon Florida's congressional leaders the need to fund wastewater treatment in the Keys.

Jim Reynolds, executive director of the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, David Fernandez, Key West's utilities director, Islamorada Mayor Chris Sante and other local government representatives, as well as state officials, will meet with the state's legislators in Congress.

The Congressional delegation convenes monthly to educate members on issues important to Florida.

"Each member has a district of his own to deal with," said Jody Thomas, director of the Nature Conservancy's South Florida and Florida Keys program. "That's exactly the reason we are having this meeting, to make sure they understand this interest. Whenever anyone in the country reads about contaminated water in the Florida Keys, they think of the whole state. So it is in all Florida officials' interests to get these retrofits done."

The Florida Water Quality Improvement Act will be the sole item on the hour-long agenda, thanks to the efforts of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Thomas said. The act, approved by Congress in 2001, is supposed to provide $100 million for local wastewater projects. So far, Congress has appropriated $2.5 million of the authorized funding.

Such a delay is not unusual, Thomas said. Congress approves many programs each year and there are huge appropriations backlogs.

No one expects to get the $100 million all at once, but the hope is to obtain $30 million, Thomas said.

Chances of success are mixed. Federal money promises to be tight, with the Pentagon's request last week for $25 billion in supplemental funding for Iraq and, by the latest White House estimate, a $521 billion federal deficit.

Also, while Congress assigned this money to the Army Corps of Engineers, the administration has said this is not an appropriate project for the Corps.

Nevertheless, Thomas is optimistic.

"It is my experience that for a significant appropriation like this, you can't expect it all at once, and this year the stars are aligning," she said. "We have really strong support by Gov. [Jeb] Bush, as evidenced by the money he put in his budget, and the fact that he is sending on this trip [Department of Environmental Protection] Secretary [Colleen] Castille to meet with the delegation.

"We have been at this a long time. We have the governor's support. I am just hopeful this year we will be able to break the logjam and get an appropriation."

The state is set to provide $10 million for wastewater projects in the Keys, "a phenomenal accomplishment" on Bush's behalf, Thomas said, given that Miami-Dade, which has much bigger needs and lobbying power, received about the same amount.

The visiting officials will first remind the members of Congress about the extraordinary natural resources of the Keys, resources that are of national importance, Thomas said. They will then discuss the relevant science, notably the Environmental Protection Agency's report that there is a halo of nutrients around the Florida Keys, and the belief that the sources of some of those nutrients are inadequate wastewater treatment.

"Finally, we want to let them know how difficult it is for local municipalities to do this all on our own," Thomas said.