Hundreds meet in Sanibel over Caloosahatchee water releases

By Kate Spinner
Bonita News

Friday, November 11, 2005

Fed up with polluted waterways and dying seagrasses, more than 400 people
packed the Big Arts building on Sanibel Island on Thursday night to figure
out a way to stop Lake Okeechobee's polluted freshwater releases from
destroying their estuaries.

"There has never been an issue that has unified so many people than the
threat that we face today," said Steve Greenstein of the Sanibel Chamber of
Commerce, pointing out that environmentalists, developers, attorneys,
fishermen, Democrats and Republicans had come together to fight the same
battle. "We now recognize that our very existence is being threatened. This
is not about principles or social justice, this is about our survival."

The mouth of the Caloosahatchee River spills out into San Carlos Bay, nearly
opposite the bay side of Sanibel Island. Fresh water from the river normally
mixes with gulf waters in the bay to create a healthy estuary - a place
teeming with seagrasses, young fish, shellfish and crabs.

Too much water flowing into the bay from the river is throwing the estuary
off balance, killing the seagrass beds that aquatic creatures need for
shelter. The dying grasses are floating into the island's canals and
waterways, fermenting and causing a buildup of viscous scum. Blue-green
algae blooms, which are not normally present in salt water, have also been
spotted in the bayside waters. Some of the slime from the decaying grasses
is also working its way to the island's Gulf shoreline.

"The turbidity of the water seems a lot worse than it was last year. And
down around the lighthouse, it's chocolate-brown foam, which no one wants to
swim in, and balls of goo that stick to your legs," said Don Rice, an island
resident who attended the meeting.

Environmentalists and Sanibel leaders blame the bulk of the problem on a
water management policy, adopted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the
South Florida Water Management District, which at times sends freshwater
discharges of up to 48,000 gallons per second from Lake Okeechobee into the
Caloosahatchee River.

The lake's water historically flowed south, but decades ago the land to the
south was drained and converted to sugar cane fields and communities. To
prevent flooding and to keep those farmlands dry, the water is directed east
to the St. Lucie River and west to the Caloosahatchee when the water level
in the lake becomes too high.

Michael Valiquette, a long-time resident of Sanibel and organizer of
Thursday's meeting, said it wasn't until continuous releases from Lake
Okeechobee began several years ago that salinity problems started to plague
the island.

Rob Loflin, natural resources director for Sanibel, said fishermen on the
island pier have been catching talapia and gar - fish normally found in
fresh water.

Most catastrophic, he said, is the death of the seagrasses.

"If we lose our grass beds, together with the mangroves that's the basis of
the environmental food chain," Loflin said.

Erick Lindblad, executive director of the Sanibel/Captiva Conservation
Foundation, said the effects of the water releases are becoming more
damaging.

"The blue-green algae outbreaks and the seagrass degradation is something
that we have not seen to this extent before and the certainty that this
decade is going to see more storms is a concern because we don't see an end
to the management scheme," Lindblad said.

In addition to talk about dying grasses and polluted water,
environmentalists and planners suggested action - reporting fish kills,
calling government officials and understanding the politics behind the
freshwater flows.

Valiquette and Lindblad also talked about holding the Corps of Engineers and
the Water Management District responsible for wrecking the bay, while
keeping farm fields dry.

"You can't kill an entire state's estuary system for a business," Valiquette
said, before the presentation.

Lindblad said the conservation foundation is forming a coalition of groups -
chambers of commerce, boards of Realtors, commercial and sport fishermen -
to tackle the problem. He said the coalition is looking into the legality of
the government's practice of flooding the estuaries.

While focusing the bulk of his presentation on salinity changes, Rob Jess,
director of the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, reminded the audience
that they had power as citizens.

As a government employee, he said, "Agencies can be held accountable for
their actions."

Wayne Daltry, smart growth director for Lee County, gave an overview of
Florida's history and the story behind why water from the lake now flows
west. He, too, urged residents to make their voices heard.

"Silence is consent," Daltry said.