Problem....

The St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, as well as Florida's Fort Myers region, are pushed to the brink of ecological collapse by heavily polluted fresh water discharges from Lake Okeechobee. These discharges are made by the US Army Corps of Engineers in consultation with the South Florida Water Management District. The releases are supposedly justified for public safety in fear that the Herbert Hoover Dike around lake Okeechobee will fail, flooding communities and farmlands. Actually, the discharges, in our view, are done in order to perpetuate the artificial drainage of the Everglades Agricultural Area south of the lake. These polluted discharges not only destroy the ecology of two of the most bio-diverse rivers in the United States, they all but cripple the local economy including tourism, boating, fishing, business development and real estate values. There is also a concern for human health. The Martin County Health Department has issued warnings for persons to avoid contact with the river in many areas. This is a result of the manipulation of water in favor of agricultural interests that occupy the Everglades land south of lake Okeechobee.

Solution....

The only long term solution to end the discharges is for the State of Florida to exercise anexisting option to purchase the available U.S. Sugar Corp. lands south of the lake and puttogether sufficient property to develop an unpolluted flowway south from Lake O into theEverglades. This wetlands sheet flow is the natural way the water moved under Mother Nature's direction before drainage of the Everglades Agricultural Area for farming. A flowway rich in plant and wildlife and bringing back the ground water table will contribute greatly to restoring the health of the America's Everglades, the St. Lucie Estuary, Indian River Lagoon and the Caloosahatchee river.

 

Write Your Elected Officials

Please speak out and write your elected officials, download this letter and email to the contacts below.

Download Public Letter Here. (Word .docx format)

Individual Emails to:
Representative Patrick Murphy - Congressmanpatrick.murphy@mail.house.gov
Senator Bill Nelson - bill@billnelson.senate.gov
Senator Marco Rubio - Greg_Langowski@rubio.senate.gov
Senator Joe Negron - negron.joe.web@flsenate.gov
Representative Gayle Harrell – gharrell@gayleharrell.com
Representative Marylynn Magar – marylynn.magar@myfloridahouse.gov
Representative Larry Lee – larry.lee@myfloridahouse.gov

CC to:
Governor Rick Scott – rick.scott@eog.myflorida.com
South Florida Water Management District
Kevin Powers – Vice Chair – kpowers@sfwmd.gov
Sandy Batchelor – sbatchel@sfwmd.gov
James Moran – jmoran@sfwmd.gov
Daniel O’Keefe – dokeefe@sfwmd.gov
Juan Portuondo – jportuon@sfwmd.gov
Timothy Sargent – tsargent@sfwmd.gov
Glenn Waldman – gwaldman@sfwmd.gov
Mitch Hutchcraft – mhutchcraft@sfwmd.gov
Rick Barber – fbarber@sfwmd.gov
Army Corps of Engineers
Thomas M. Greco, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, Deputy District Commander, South Florida – thomas.greco@usace.army.mil