Guest columnist: Yet another reminder legal action is necessary

By KARL WICKSTROM
guest columnist

Stuart News

July 7, 2007

Today, more than ever, the pending federal lawsuit is vitally needed to prevent the horrendous drainage discharges that devastate the St. Lucie estuary in most years.
That may sound odd to some. After all, didn't the governor and beaming state officials just announce an "historic" new law, signed in Stuart no less, to solve all our river woes?

Amid great fanfare, media excitement and self-congratulatory hugging, plans to spend $200 million on Everglades restoration, however nebulous, were described excitedly as the answer to an ailing river's every prayer.
Sadly, it just ain't so.

The truth is the new funding law is basically a rerun of past plans and projects that already are years behind schedule and face huge land-acquisition problems and increasingly disputed scientific questions.

Still, it should be noted that one somewhat new twist calls for looking for ways and places to store more water north of Lake Okeechobee to delay its wet-times gush southward and thereby possibly relieve the east and west estuaries of some of the pummeling pollution they endure.

Unfortunately, the look to the north and the lingering dream of significant help from planned storage and recovery wells are considered by many of us to be at best inadequate. And they're for folks with long-range glasses that must see two or three decades ahead.

The short of it all is that the current restoration projects, while good on certain localized fronts, will do virtually nothing to halt or even significantly reduce the astoundingly large and unnatural discharges that state and federal water managers shunt in most years to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee canals.

The discharges — though we've been spared this year by Mother Nature's drought — cause all manner of very big trouble, ranging from loss of plant and animal life and lost use of the waters to diminished property values and economic repercussions.

The turbid fresh water is wasted "to tide" in amazing quantities (855 billion gallons in 2005) to drain the Everglades Agricultural Area (alias Big Sugar) just south of the lake.

Though one of mankind's worst boondoggles, the EAA is politically protected at all costs. Leading environmental groups all agree that a conveyance through part of the EAA is crucially needed, but the drainage establishment politely shrugs off such views and counters with mind-numbing public-relations blitzes (using public money).

All of which leaves us with no alternative but to pursue the federal lawsuit with everything we've got.

We've learned the hard way that nothing but court action will get the St. Lucie the help this once-great estuary certainly deserves.

The Rivers Coalition Defense Fund, the legal arm of the Rivers Coalition that represents close to 50 organizations in Martin and St. Lucie Counties, is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the Court of Federal Claims based in Washington.

It's a unique case based on riparian property rights of 22 named plaintiffs. The thrust of the complaint is simple but immensely powerful.

According to the suit, it is unconstitutional for the government to take without compensation the waterfront owners' rights to enjoy water free of pollution. It would seem difficult to argue that the degradations of the St. Lucie have been anything short of such a taking.

Important, the 22 plaintiffs do not seek compensation. They want the damaging discharges stopped. That, of course, benefits all citizens.

The case is winding its way through the rigors of pre-trial work, which includes long and expensive depositions and preparations.

The city of Stuart, town of Sewall's Point and several hundred other people and entities have pitched in. But much more funding is needed if we are to win. And we must win for the river.

A new sponsorship campaign is being launched by the Defense Fund. Citizens, companies and groups will be identified in categories of platinum, gold, silver, bronze and grassroots. Emblems for display and certificates will go to those who step forward.

"We're at the crossroads right now," said Rivers Coalition Chair Leon Abood. "This is our one big chance to solve this disastrous discharge problem that has hurt us so much. Think of your donation as an investment, and a legacy for generations to come."

ONLINE: The complete text of the lawsuit — Mildenberger, et. al., vs. United States — is available, along with supporting information, at www.RiversCoalition.org.

Wickstrom, founder of the Stuart-based Florida Sportsman magazine, is coordinator of the Rivers Coalition Defense Fund and may be reached via email at kywickstrom@yahoo.com