The economy's recent nosedive could push Gov. Charlie Crist's monumental land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. back at least six months.

The South Florida Water Management District will meet next week to consider new terms of Crist's proposed deal to buy some of the Clewiston-based sugar company's farmland. Crist wants to use the land to build reservoirs and filter marshes to restore the once-flowing connection between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades.

The latest terms set a March 2010 deadline for securing the bonds necessary to finance the new, $536 million deal to buy 73,000 acres of farmland. The deal, which had an original deadline of September 2009, must the close within 90 days.

The South Florida Water Management District plans to float the bonds and pay off the debt over 30 years with property taxes levied within its 16-county area from central to south Florida.

Opponents of the deal, including rival sugar grower Florida Crystals and a group of Glades-area leaders who fear that the sale will decimate their sugar-producing economy, are fighting in court to block the state from financing the purchase.

That challenge combined with the sinking economy to force Crist to scale back an earlier proposal to buy more than 180,000 acres of U.S. Sugar land for $1.34 billion.

U.S. Sugar's board will vote on the new terms Friday, said spokeswoman Judy Sanchez, who declined further comment.