Lawmakers are pushing forward with plans to continue carving up millions of dollars voters more than four years ago directed to be spent on land and water protection, despite environmentalists' concerns about the way the money is being used to help the Indian River Lagoon and Apalachicola Bay.

Backers of the 2014 Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative, who continue to challenge how lawmakers have used the money in the past, contend that some of the projects outlined in bills advanced by the Senate Environmental and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday “chip away” at the intent of the constitutional amendment.

Aliki Moncrief, executive director of Florida Conservation Voters, said the septic-to-sewer conversion outlined in a measure to protect the Indian River Lagoon (SB 368) is needed. But the proposal goes beyond what voters approved, she argued.