120731-a
Failing to protect Florida’s water
Ocala.com - Opinion by Terry Brant, Melrose, FL
July 31, 2012
Holding Adena Springs Ranch accountable for adverse effects and unsustainable water withdrawals after they have been given a withdrawal permit as Adena recommended in their recent full page ad would be another clear sign the water management districts are not serious about protecting Silver Springs, or Florida’s endangered water resources.
In 1972 the Legislature directed the water management districts to set minimum flows and levels for all surface waters and aquifers. In spite of a long history of escalating problems and controversy, including increasing withdrawals, pollution, falling levels and clear impairment of Silver Springs, The St. Johns River Water Management District failed to follow this directive.
The establishment of minimum flows and levels (MFL’s) prior to the granting of any withdrawal permit to Adena is absolutely necessary. If the District sets this consideration aside, it will have side-stepped a vital prior consideration of adverse cumulative changes to Silver Springs and protection of water for existing and reasonably foreseeable future water use.
Local businesses, agricultural interests, domestic users, nearby wells, Silver Springs and sustainable future water resources all require a full, fair and honest and unbiased scientific determination of the effect of Adena’s withdrawals. These considerations should be at least as important as the interests of a Canadian billionaire’s bank account and his desire to make a profit using Florida’s water held in the public trust.

120731-b
Front & Center: Everglades effort helps economy
Orlando Sentinel
July 31, 2012
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Central Florida earlier this month to announce that his department would spend $80 million to protect the Everglades ecosystem by conserving and rehabilitating ranch land between Orlando and Lake Okeechobee. Vilsack told the Sentinel editorial board that the investment would bring the total committed to Everglades restoration under the Obama administration to more than $1.5 billion. The former Iowa governor said the project was a good fit with the president's broader goal of revitalizing the nation's rural economy.
Q: Why did the administration make this latest investment in the Everglades?
A: … One, we obviously want to preserve the Everglades. We want to improve the quality of water; we want to make sure that the flow and quantity of water is what it needs to be to service the various needs of agriculture and communities. Two, we want to preserve wildlife and enhance tourism opportunities. And three, we want to be able to have farmers and ranchers … be able to preserve their livelihood. This project … gives farmers the capacity to avoid the lure of high-price development options …
Q: So how much progress has been made toward the goal of restoring the Everglades?
A: …Land in Florida is pretty high priced.… It takes a lot of money to do a lot of good work in Florida. I don't think we're anywhere near saying that we've completed this effort, but I think the message that we're sending is that this is a priority, and it's consistent with the president's overall approach toward water issues.
Q: What do you tell critics worried about spending scarce dollars on the Everglades?
A: At least one study estimates that every dollar that's invested can generate $4 in return. … This is actually a net winner for the economy. We're going to generate business and jobs. … We're going to create new tourism opportunities, which is a dollar which rolls around in the economy fairly quickly.
It's part of this overall revitalization and rebuilding of the rural economy, which is working. We have had record farm income, record exports, record acres enrolled in conservation, record investments in local and regional food systems, record investment in the bio-based economy, all of which has translated into higher incomes and better jobs. … One way you deal with the deficit is by growing the economy at a faster rate than it's grown.…
Q: Why should Congress pass another farm bill that pays billions in subsidies to a sector earning record income?
A: …We have a drought in this country right now. It's impacted 60 percent of the crop land ... The worse it gets, the more likely people will suffer, and unfortunately, the disaster programs that were in the 2008 farm bill expired on Sept. 30, 2011.
The safety net that's being created [in the new farm bill] is different than the one created in the 2008 farm bill. No longer are you going to have checks sent to farmers just because they're growing something … What will replace it will be a greater reliance on crop insurance, in which the farmer will essentially purchase, with some government help, protection against the risks of Mother Nature. …
There's also the circumstance where crop prices will drop, or livestock prices will drop … and so this legislation will provide some kind of revenue protection, also a partnership with the farmer and the government …
Q: What other industries get government help or insulation from falling prices?
A: The amount of assistance that we're giving to our farm families pales [next] to what we've given to the auto industry and the banking industry and the airline industry.… I think farmers give back a tremendous amount. They give you food security. They give you affordability.
Q: Does the administration support keeping the federal sugar program in the farm bill?
A: That's going to stay. Congress has spoken fairly clearly. There were efforts to remove it and they were defeated soundly. … We're focusing on the fights that we think we can win.=

120731-c
Rallying point
Gainesville.com
July 30, 2012
Silver Springs was an obvious rallying point for those opposed to the Adena Springs Ranch consumptive-use permit request to pump 13 million gallons of water a day from the aquifer. But turning the Adena Springs debate into the symbol of all that is wrong with Florida's water policies, however, took more than local residents' protests. That required someone, indeed something bigger and more far-reaching.
Enter former governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. The populist Graham saw opportunity in Silver Springs' image as one of Florida's great water resources and called on his friends and supporters in the environmental lobby to seize the moment and come together like they never had before.
They responded, and the Florida Conservation Coalition was formed, creating what is likely the most formidable environmental group ever to get behind a single issue in Florida.
Last week the coalition delivered more than 15,000 petition signatures to Gov. Rick Scott's office calling not only for the brakes to be put on the Adena Springs permit, but for the creation of a statewide "resource management committee" by gubernatorial order to begin a serious evaluation of the condition of Florida's waterways and what remedies there are for saving them.
It wasn't the biggest petition signing, but it was the first time all of Florida's environmental organizations showed up locked arm-in-arm to tackle what is clearly the environmental issue of the 21st century in Florida.
Having such an impressive partnership led by a marquee civic leader like Graham is a huge step forward in what has become known as Florida's water wars. It's a first, and it couldn't come at a more critical time,
This time, those fighting for the people are organized, informed and connected — and united. Let's hope it's enough to save Silver Springs and Florida's other endangered waterways.

120731-d
Reducing tax rate for water district unwise
Miami Herald - by Eric Buermann, former chairman of the Governing Board of the South Florida Water Management District.
July 31, 2012
Can you imagine turning on the faucet but having no water come out? Or, after a tropical storm, grappling with standing water in the streets, or even your living room, because there isn’t an adequate flood-control system?
Florida’s water-management districts protect against these unpleasant situations and fix them when they occur. In addition to performing these important duties, our regional water-management district, the South Florida Water Management District, is the state partner in Everglades restoration. Lacking snow-capped mountains that melt into reservoirs, South Florida depends on the Everglades to recharge underground aquifers as our source of water. Unfortunately, in just the past 60 years since our modern flood control system was built, the Everglades have been severely damaged because of the disruption of water flow and other human activity such as farming and development. Restoring the Everglades, aside from having obvious environmental appeal, is imperative for maintaining our only supply of water.
Last year’s massive funding cuts to water-management districts severely compromised those agencies’ ability to carry out core missions of water supply, flood control, and in South Florida’s case, Everglades restoration. In just the past two years, SFWMD’s water supply budget has been cut almost 70 percent. This is the program that ensures you will have running water tomorrow and 20 years from now; develops alternative water supplies as upper aquifers become tapped out; and fosters water conservation. SFWMD has also severely cut its science, education, and monitoring programs. As Everglades restoration progresses, it is crucial to have adequate science programs to monitor and adapt to changing conditions and to maximize our restoration investments. Land stewardship programs that allow recreation on district-owned lands such as trails, horseback riding areas, and waters have also been greatly reduced.
Initially this year it appeared things might be headed back to the right path. Gov. Scott signed new legislation that lifted his artificially imposed spending limits, ostensibly allowing water-management districts to raise revenues needed to sustain their missions.
Recently, however, the water-management districts set their tax millage rates for next year to establish the revenue they will raise through property rates. Even though the South Florida Water Management District reported an almost $5 million shortfall, it decided to set a millage rate that further reduces its tax revenue — even less than last year’s funding after the draconian Scott cuts. To make matters worse, these reductions will have cumulative impacts in the coming years.
Sadly, politics, rather than science and common sense, have driven the decision-making. It’s understandable in an election year that raising the funds necessary to carry out even legislatively mandated missions might paint a district as increasing taxes. With recent legislation virtually ceding budget decisions to Tallahassee, SFWMD’s Governing Board rubber-stamped these crippling cuts without meaningful discussion.
In exchange, do these cuts produce actual savings for South Florida’s tax payers ? For the owner of a $300,000 house, the reduction in this year’s millage rate will save about $1.50 — less than the cost of a half-gallon of gas.
Gambling with our region’s water supply for fear of appearing to “increase taxes” is irresponsible and a disservice to Floridians. Whether politically popular or not, investing in long-term water supply, restoration, and science is a necessity and best serves the public interest.

120731-e
The Silver disaster
Ocala.com - Editorial
July 31, 2012
The state’s top environmental regulator will be in Ocala today to discuss the nitrate pollution that is slowly destroying Silver Springs and the Silver River and how to bring it into check.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard will be joined on a cruise down the Silver River this morning by Florida’s top water quality enforcer, Drew Bartlett, as well as St. Johns River Water Management District chief Hanz Tanzler Jr. The three have as much power to enact controls and programs to save the river as anyone in the state, so what they take away from their visit — especially their up-close look at the springs and the river — will be important.
Silver Springs, as has been well documented, has seen its nitrate levels triple over the years and its flow decrease to one-third its historical average. The combination has left the river sick, its floor and plant life covered in algae, its fish population dwindling.
We can tell Vinyard and company what they will see today. They will see a once iconic natural wonder that is no longer sparkling and swift, but rather clouded and sedentary. The once-shimmering river bed that gave it its Silver name because the sunlight made it appear a glistening silver, is no longer silver, but brown with algae.
All this has come about because of nitrate pollution — compounded by the worrisome and steady reduction in flow. And that is why Vinyard and Bartlett are in town.
They will hold a public hearing today at 1 p.m. at the McPherson Complex to discuss the state’s plans to implement a nitrate reduction program for the springs and the river. The DEP is proposing that the nitrate levels be reduced to .35 mg per liter over time. That is ambitious, considering the agency issued a 92-page report earlier this month that shows current nitrate levels are 1.47 mg/L, more than four times the proposed rate. To achieve the .35 mg/L level will require new efforts to control septic tanks, agricultural runoff from animal waste and fertilizer and more prudent use of fertilizers by homeowners. Even with all that, it will be a monumental task to clean up Silver Springs and the river it feeds.
While it is encouraging to see DEP finally addressing the environmental disaster that is Silver Springs and the Silver River, the gravity of the nitrate pollution problem demands more than a slow, long-term approach. The springs and river are at a crisis stage and DEP should be as aggressive as possible in trying to stem further deterioration of this once spectacular water body.
Silver Springs has once again taken center stage in the minds of Floridians from Pensacola to Pine Key because of the Adena Springs Ranch’s request to pump 13 million gallons a day from the aquifer. The public uproar is not because Floridians do not understand the importance of agriculture and its water needs, nor that they are even against growth. They are up in arms because Silver Springs and the Silver River, which symbolize what many of Florida’s water bodies are facing, cannot take another environmental hit that such a massive withdrawal could deliver.
But today, the conversation is about nitrate pollution. Let’s hope Vinyard and Bartlett recognize the disaster and become champions for reversing it.

120730-a
Areawide Study for Florida Phosphate Mining is Badly Flawed
Sierra Club Florida News - by Frank Jackalone
July 30, 2012
The Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club, ManaSota-88, People for Protecting Peace River (3PR) and Protect Our Watersheds (POW) on July 25 filed extensive joint comments on the US Army Corps of Engineers Draft Areawide Environmental Statement (DAEIS) for phosphate mining. We pointed out that the DAEIS is flawed in several serious ways.
A chart which appears at 4-191 of the DAEIS illustrates many of the problems:
- FIGURE 1: Acreage of mined and not yet reclaimed areas from 1975 to 2060.
This is a chart of acreage of mined and not yet reclaimed areas from 1975 to 2060. The areas in the graph are also the areas in which all surface water is captured by the ditches and berms of the mines, and it is sometimes called the “capture area.” The chart shows that the capture area has gotten better since its high of 40,000 acres in about 1995, but, with the new mines considered in the DAEIS it’s about to get much worse, going all the way back up to over 35,000 acres. And the continuing damage continues for decades. While the graph ends in 2060, one can see that the capture area/mined and unreclaimed land extends beyond that, into the 2090s in fact.
So, while the mining companies tell us that things are much better than in the past, in fact most of the major insults of mining, the vast areas of mined and unreclaimed land, including wetlands, and the surface water capture, and the groundwater pumping, are actually continuing or getting worse. We’re about to enter the second significant era in mining in central Florida. While there is great disagreement about whether the companies can reclaim wetlands sufficiently, the fact is that whatever inadequate reclamation they do won’t occur for decades.
Estimates in the DAEIS differ from page to page. Of the mines immediately proposed, Ona, Wingate East extension, South Pasture extension, and Desoto will involve over 51,000 acres; and will destroy almost 10.000 acres of wetlands and over 49 miles of streams. Future mines, Pine Level/Keys and Pioneer, will involve almost 50,000 acres and destroy 15,000 acres of wetlands.
The DAEIS does not provide a map with all past and future mines, but an idea of the extent is suggested by combining the following two maps. First past and presently proposed mines, then the two additional mines coming somewhat later:
- FIGURE 2: Extent of mining - past and presently proposed mines
- FIGURE 3: Extent of mining - the two additional mines coming somewhat later
The phosphate mining companies pump extraordinary amounts of water from the Floridan aquifer to use to slurry their phosphate matrix from the mine to the processing plants and to slurry the clay and sand back to dispose in the mines. Mosaic alone is allowed almost 70 million gallons per day on average. This is more than 3 times more than is used by the entire downstream Peace River Manasota Water Authority’s 200,000 users. And claims by Mosaic that it recycles 95% of its water doesn’t mean they pump less, it just means its water use, for slurrying for example, is actually 20 times its pumping rate. The water the companies pump is free, it is simply allocated to them by SWFWMD.
And the damage from mined and unreclaimed lands and wetlands is not just to the surface water and groundwater. A study (by NASA, NOAA and other scientists) presented with the Sierra comments concluded that the draining of wetlands and elimination of land cover in the past had contributed to localized climate changes with less rainfall and higher daytime temperatures in the rainy season, as well as lower nighttime lows. So the water is not only impounded by the mines, there’s also less rainfall to begin with.
These lost flows will impact streams like Horse Creek, where three mines are scheduled, as well as downstream uses like Charlotte Harbor, where reduced flows can result in changed salinity levels and impacts on species, including the endangered small tooth sawfish. These changes were not studied.
The Environmental Groups’ criticisms of the DAEIS also addressed the failures of wetland reclamation, the failure to do a cumulative analysis, adding the damage from proposed mining to that of past and current mining, the failure to consider increased radioactivity at mined lands, and, astoundingly, the failure to consider the impacts of mining gypstacks in which the waste from fertilizer plants is stored forever in giant phosphogypsum stacks which frequently spill their acid wastewater in times of rain. Gypstack spills have been an ongoing problem in Florida, with the state diverting hundreds of millions of dollars from state mine reclamation funds to clean up rivers and harbors damaged by spills from stacks like Piney Point.
Sierra Club retained Professor Richard Weisskoff from the University of Miami to comment on the economics of the DAEIS. Weisskoff pointed out that the DAEIS conclusions that phosphate mining had a net economic benefit failed to consider many of the economic benefits, including the employment, of the agriculture which it replaces. The jobs comparison, for example, is not close, with roughly 10 times more agricultural cluster jobs than mining cluster jobs. And the cash from agricultural inputs tends to stay in Florida, while a good part of the mining profits go to the mining company parent.
Weisskoff also studied the world phosphate market. Here his results are eye-opening. Contrary to common perception, the world has a great deal of phosphate reserves, much of it in stable reliable source markets. The US has only 1.2% of world reserves. BUT, the US produced 14.9% of the world phosphate rock in 2010 (down from 25.3% in 2000). The US exports no phosphate rock, instead it turns its rock into fertilizer (at the fertilizer plants which produce gypstacks) and exports exports it. Over 27% of phosphate fertilizer exports worldwide are from the US. In other words the mining companies are basically fertilizer export companies, using up a phosphate resource which is limited in the US, but widely available in the rest of the world. They have a low cost advantage in their competition for the global market because of low taxes, high quality rock, access to transportation, free water and minimal land reclamation costs.
The citizens of Florida and the Florida environment are subsidizing the phosphate companies.

There is still time to comment on the DAEIS and urge that it recognize the damage being done to the Florida environment. The deadline for comments is July 31, 2012.
You may want to urge the Corps to recognize the multiple impacts on our groundwater and our surface water and wetlands from mining; ask for an analysis of wetland and stream damage and the problem of long delays in replacing these important features, ask the Corps for a full study of the impacts of gypstacks and their spills; and recognize that Florida phosphate mining is not necessary for US or world fertilizer production and that Florida mining is being subsidized by Florida taxpayers and the Florida environment.
Comments should be sent to:
John Fellows: John.P.Fellows@usace.army.mil
Steven Gong: teamaeis@phosphateaeis.org
CLICK HERE FOR OUR FULL COMMENT LETTER: Comments on the Draft AEIS for the Central Florida Phosphate District which are filed on behalf of ManaSota-88, People for Protecting Peace River (3PR), Protect Our Watersheds (POW) and the Florida Chapter of the Sierra Club

120730-b
Audubon files challenge to sugar permits
SouthEastAgNet.com - by Michael Peltier, The News Service of Florida
July 27, 2012
THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE…Patience lost because of a lack of action, Florida Audubon Society on Friday filed legal petitions to force the South Florida Water Management District to enforce more-stringent laws put in place five years ago to reduce phosphorus levels in the Everglades.
The environmental group wants an administrative law judge to rule on separate permits granted to U.S. Sugar Corp., Sugar Farms Cooperative and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative that Audubon says do not require individual farms to reduce phosphorus releases to permissible levels, a requirement that began in 2007.
Despite repeated requests to the water-management district board, Audubon’s Charles Lee said the pleas have fallen on deaf ears, a lack of action that prompted the environmental group to seek satisfaction in an administrative hearing.
“We had hoped that the district would act voluntarily,” Lee said Friday. “It appears that they are not going to do so. It’s time to get an independent third party to weigh in on this.”
Water management officials, however, say reduction in the amount of phosphorus polluting the Everglades has been dramatic.
Since 1994, industry best-management practices, coupled with the district’s network of wetlands, have kept more than 4,000 metric tons of phosphorus from entering the Everglades, water management district spokesman Randy Smith said in a statement Friday.
“As part of an ongoing commitment to clean water, the district continues to work with landowners to improve BMPs (best management practices) and achieve further nutrient reductions,” Smith said.
Up until 2007, individual farms within the Everglades Agricultural Area were not required to meet individual standards as long as the EAA as a whole reduced phosphorus releases by an agreed-upon percentage. After that point, however, individual farms were supposed to fall under the same restriction, a process Audubon claims has not taken place.
The result is while many EAA farms have met or exceeded phosphorus reduction goals, Lee said “dozens” have not and are instead releasing water into the Everglades system that far exceeds state and federal guidelines.
The case will be forwarded to the Division of Administrative Hearings, which will assign a judge to oversee the case.
Water management officials and sugar producers say the amount of phosphorus finding its way into the region has dropped precipitously. Since 1994, the amount of phosphorus flowing from the 470,000-acre area just south of Lake Okeechobee was down an average of 55 percent per year. That is more than double the reduction called for in the Everglades Forever Act.
Lee however, said the average hides a small percentage of farms that far exceed the recommended release levels, a lack of compliance the challenge seeks to address.
“What we’re doing is focused on those farms that are off the charts,” Lee said.
Related:
Audubon demands hearing over sugar producers' Everglades pollution ‎- Palm Beach Post
Audubon challenge targets farm water pollution - Sun-Sentinel
Tired of Waiting, Florida Audubon Sues Management District Over - FlaglerLive.com
Audubon Florida files legal challenge against sugar farms' permits ‎- The Florida Current

120730-c
Exclusive: A fight to save the Caloosahatchee River
News-Press.com
July 30, 2012
Special report: River at Risk
Saying the waterway suffers even as farmers and sugar firms benefit, advocates take their case to federal court.
It’s old news that the Caloosahatchee River is in trouble.
For decades, beach closures, water plant shutdowns, disappearing wildlife and toxic algae blooms have plagued the 75-mile-long river as advocates have tried strategy after strategy to help it.
What’s new is that this week, someone did something unprecedented, making the river a federal judge’s problem.
Filed in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee on Monday, the lawsuit charges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with chronically breaking Florida’s own water protection laws.
“Under the U.S. Clean Water Act, all federal agencies must comply with state water pollution rules,” said David Guest, the Earthjustice attorney spearheading the suit on behalf of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida. “These aren’t suggestions — it’s what they’re required to do.”
But they don’t, Guest says.
Instead, the Corps, which controls the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the river and operates its three locks and dams, cuts off the life-giving supply of fresh water, leaving the river vunerable to outbreaks of toxic algae and leaves its wildlife and estuary struggling. And it does so, Guest says, with the knowledge and blessing of the South Florida Water Management District.
“This is a big deal,” Guest said. “When you have a water supply so contaminated it can’t be used, smething is very wrong.”
He refers to several items:
• Chronic closures of the river’s two public swimming beaches, at the Cape Coral Yacht Club and the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam in Olga,
• The Lee County Public Health Department’s periodic warnings to stay out of the water when algae are blooming — often several times a year.
• The Olga Water Treatment Plant shutting down repeatedly when the water gets too polluted to use.
“Our case is simple,“ Guest said. “It relies on state statute. What we’re saying to the Corps is ‘You violate it; we’re going to prove it and you’ve got to stop it.’”
The Corps did not return several phone calls seeking comment, but in a July 24 story in The News-Press, spokesman Jason Campbell said the Corps operates three dams along the river in accordance with a 2008 document that the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and other stakeholders had a say in creating.
High salinity levels in the river, he said in that story, can be attributed to lower than average rainfall over the past 18 months. The Corps can only release fresh water when it’s available, he said.
“A lot of that is subject to the availability of water,” Campbell said in that story. “There’s been a long-term rainfall deficit down there.”
Worth the wait
Plaintiffs don’t expect to get inside a courtroom until late fall, but if they score a win for the river, it will be more than worth the wait, said Andrew McElwaine, executive director of the Naples-based Conservancy.
“So far, (the Corps) has avoided addressing this,” McElwaine said. “But they’re breaking the law, so we really need a federal judge to weigh in.”
Laws aside, he said, there’s a fundamental question of fairness he and fellow river advocates are itching to see addressed.
“Agriculture gets their water, Miami and the east coast get their water, and we get the short end of the pipe,” he said.
Over the years, people from the Caloosahatchee watershed have asked federal and state water managers to follow the laws, and nothing has happened, McElwaine said. From letter-writing campaigns to formal petitions, their efforts have been fruitless.
“We’ve tried a variety of strategies to compel them to create a natural flow regimen,” McElwaine said. “And the best tool we came up with was to hang our hat on the rules themselves.”
By “natural flow regimen,” he means a pattern of freshwater releases from the lake that approximate what would happen normally. It may seem odd, but people have so drastically altered the lake-to-river system, that continued human intervention and management will be necessary if the river and its estuary are to become healthier.
It started in the late 1800s, Guest says, with the idea of draining the soggy southern portion of the state to make way for sugar plantations and development.
“They took a wetlands ecosystem and decided to turn it into something completely different,” he said. “The idea was that nature made a mistake and we’re going to fix it.”
The Corps built and runs three locks and dams that control the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee and then to the Gulf of Mexico. When it’s dry, the river needs lake water to keep its fresh and salt water in balance. Without it, life in the estuary is harmed, as is the region’s multibillion dollar tourism industry.
Rather than giving the river with the fresh water it needs to stay healthy, the Corps allows the water to be used to irrigate 500,000 acres of sugar cane fields south of the lake, Guest says, leaving the river starved and sick.
In the past, water managers have said they have to do it that way because the river and its estuary are not permitted users. The way the system is set up, only entities that have what are called “consumptive use permits” — utilities, businesses and government agencies — can withdraw lake water. The river and its estuary are not included in those.
“So all of the lake is advocated to consumptive uses — ag and flushing toilets — but the river isn’t a consumptive user,” McElwaine said. “We want to put natural systems on an equal footing, or at least any footing.”
It’s not only fair, says biologist John Cassani, a founding member of Southwest Florida Watershed Council, it’s the law, whether or not water managers abide by it.
“State water law says public resources like the estuary are supposed to get their water off the top, not what’s left over after it’s allocated to consumptive users,” he said.
What’s more, one of the permits’ conditions is that “it will do no harm to the resource and is in the public interest,” Cassani said. “It’s a farce... the district has grossly overallocated the water, and the public lakes, rivers and estuaries have been harmed as a result.”
Trying to remedy that harm isn’t some starry-eyed, eco-hippie cause, McElwaine says; it’s squarely in the region’s financial best interests.
“I often hear, ‘Ah, you’re just a bunch of tree huggers,” McElwaine said, but he begs to differ. “Our local economy — tourism, shrimping, fishing — all depend on this. Horrible smells and closed beaches do not an economy make.”
Another public perception that galls some river advocates is that the Caloosahatchee isn’t entitled to any water from the lake because their connection is a man-made, artificial thing.
Not true, Guest says; lake and river have been geologically connected since both formed.
Originally, the southwestern part of the lake didn’t have sharply defined banks. Depending on the time of year, lake water seeped or flowed into a massive sawgrass marsh that drained in a vast and shallow Everglades-style sheet into the Caloosahatchee.
“There wasn’t a channel but there was continual flow,” Guest said. “The river has always historically existed.”
Fairness question
In recent times of drought, river and estuary advocates watched in horror as permitted users got water while the Caloosahatchee got none.
It’s not that there isn’t enough water to go around, says Cassani, it’s that it’s not given out fairly.
“There is plenty of water in Lake O, and agriculture could easily be profitable without harming the state’s waterways,” Cassani said. “Sugar had its highest harvest since 2004 last year after a significant drought (while) the estuary was in its fifth consecutive year of ... severe harm.”
That’s a tide that river advocates are hoping to stem.
“This lawsuit gets to the heart of the issue, which is providing good quality water, in the right volume and at the right time to prevent algal blooms, manage salinity for healthy, diverse habitats to sustain a healthy estuary and river ecosystem,” said longtime river champion Rae Ann Wessel, natural resource policy director at the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation.
“These last two years have been poster children for what’s wrong with the way our water’s being managed,” Wessel said. “While we’ve had all these problems, U.S. Sugar has had record harvest years.”
Wessel recalls a recent conversation with a sugar executive.
“I was complaining about the terrible drought we’ve had, and he said, ‘Well, we haven’t had a drought.’ That encapsulates it right there. Our natural systems are serving these big corporations at the expense of the public’s resources.
“Why should the river have to pay the price to irrigate sugar?”

120730-d
Florida water pollution rules in election-year limbo
Herald-Tribune - by The Associated Press,
July 30, 2012
WASHINGTON -- When the Obama administration agreed to set the first-ever federal limits on runoff in Florida, environmental groups were pleased. They thought the state’s waters would finally get a break from a nutrient overdose that spawns algae, suffocates rivers, lakes and streams and forms byproducts in drinking water that could make people sick.
Nearly three years later — with a presidential election looming and Florida expected to play a critical role in the outcome — those groups are still waiting. The rules, originally scheduled to take effect in March, now won’t be active until next January, and even then could be replaced altogether by state-drafted regulations.
In fact, a growing number of regulations are being delayed at federal agencies or at the White House. The list includes a rule cracking down on junk food at school bake sales, another banning children from dangerous work on farms and one setting federal standards for disposing toxic ash from coal-fired power plants.
Together, the delays suggest caution by the administration at a time when President Barack Obama is increasingly under attack by Republicans and business groups for pushing regulations that they say will kill jobs or needlessly extend federal power.
“Issuing more regulations now would not help dispel the perception that President Obama’s administration is ‘anti-business,”’ said John D. Graham, who from 2001 to 2006 headed the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the White House’s political gatekeeper for new rules. And with unemployment at 8 percent, “the Obama administration knows that more costly burdens on business will not create jobs. Those rules will have to wait until after the election.”
It’s not uncommon for rulemaking to slow during election years “because the White House does not want to create any controversy,” Graham, now dean of Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs, wrote in an email to The Associated Press.
Just last week, the EPA announced it would wait until 2013 to issue a regulation aimed at reducing the number of juvenile fish and shellfish that die in power plants’ cooling water intakes and would also tweak a rule requiring new power plants to control mercury and other toxic air pollution. Republicans and industry had charged that both rules would help “kill” coal as an electricity source by helping to shut down older plants and preventing new ones from being built.
“Election-year politics commenced earlier than I have experienced in over two decades of working on these issues,” said Vickie Patton, an attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund, which through litigation has forced the Obama administration to unveil politically sensitive rule changes, such as a stronger standard for soot, before the election.
But it’s difficult to pin down the motives, especially when a rule gets to the White House. “If something sits over there for a year … is it political pressure or is it that they are tinkering with the details? The speculation is not the latter, but none of us really know because the process is so hidden,” said Randy Rabinowitz, director of regulatory policy at OMB Watch.
Asked whether the delays on some rules had political motivations, White House spokesman Clark Stevens said in a statement that “every standard or rule is different, and the process for finalizing a rule and making sure it meets administration priorities is unique.”
In January 2011, Obama issued an order for all federal agencies to get rid of rules that were excessively burdensome, redundant, inconsistent or overlapping. The ax fell on hundreds of regulations, including some to streamline tax forms, let railroad companies pass on installing expensive technology and speed up the visa process for low-risk visitors to the U.S. The administration said the moves would save businesses about $10 billion over five years and spur job growth.
One of the most high-profile reversals was on a pledge to set stricter limits for lung-damaging smog. Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, bypassed the advice of independent scientists who said the current standard was too weak. The EPA under Obama had promised to change that, only to have the White House put on the brakes, explaining it was acting to reduce regulatory burdens and uncertainty in a shaky economy.
Other environmental regulations, including a rule to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from refineries and lower the sulfur content in gasoline, are also behind schedule, and top EPA officials have said not to expect them anytime soon.
In the area of worker safety, the Obama administration in 2009 said it would set new standards for combustible dust, calling the current rules “fragmented and incomplete.” A proposal has yet to come out. And another standard to protect workers from cancer-causing and lung-damaging silica has languished at the White House for more than a year.
The pattern is similar for new Agriculture Department nutrition standards for sodas, snacks and other foods sold in public schools outside the regular meal plan. Republicans pilloried the idea that the federal government would do anything it could to restrict school bake sales. The rule has been under review at the White House for months, and was supposed to be ready in June.
The Agriculture Department says it was delayed because Secretary Tom Vilsack had further questions and wanted to make sure the policy was done right.
After industry pressed for more time, the Food and Drug Administration pushed back by six months a rule requiring sunscreen manufacturers to make clear how much protection their lotions and balms really provide.
The retreats have not stopped Republicans from continuing to paint the president as a regulatory zealot.
At a recent campaign appearance in Houston, presidential candidate Mitt Romney said he would work to reverse damage that Obama had done.
“These entrepreneurs are being crushed by high taxation, burdensome regulation, hostile regulators, excessive health care costs and destructive labor policies,” Romney said.
In Florida, industry groups and the state mounted a fierce campaign that charged the nutrient rules would kill the Florida economy. Water bills were stuffed with pamphlets warning of an increase in rates. And letters to Florida’s congressional delegation threatened action in the November elections if the lawmakers supported the EPA’s regulations.
“It was a simple protect-public-health issue,” said David Guest, head of the Florida office of Earthjustice, the lawyer who sued on behalf of environmental groups to force the EPA to set the standards. But Guest said that what started out as a wonky pollution lawsuit has become a fat target for Republicans.
The rules, after two subsequent delays, won’t take effect until next year. And another regulation aimed at protecting coastal waters isn’t expected to be proposed until after voters go to the polls.
Critics of the regulations are hoping for another election-year gift: a decision by the EPA to abandon its requirements, and instead endorse ones drafted by the state.
“It did not hurt that there was an election year coming, and Florida, once again is going to be a competitive state,” said Tom Feeney, president and CEO of the Associated Industries of Florida, one of the groups leading the charge

120730-e
Scientists lambaste phosphate mining report
Herald-Tribune - by Kate Spinner
July 30, 2012
Several environmental scientists from area government agencies blasted a new federal report on Florida phosphate mining, saying it is fatally flawed and should be rewritten.
Officials with Sarasota, Charlotte, Manatee and Lee counties say the report uses bad science to conclude that mining vast swaths in Central Florida will not harm regional water resources that people rely on for drinking water, fishing, swimming and boating.
They contend much of the document — funded by the mining companies, but led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — needs to be revised before being used to guide government decisions on permitting mining thousands more acres of land, including wetlands and streams.
Phosphate, an essential ingredient in fertilizer and other products, is strip-mined near the headwaters of the Peace and Myakka rivers and several smaller streams that flow to Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay. Many of the rivers and groundwater resources in the mining area are critical for the region's drinking water supply and natural resources.
With 246,000 acres of land already mined in the watershed and another 55,000 acres awaiting permits, the report concludes that environmental impacts will be minimal. But the study reaches the conclusion based on annual average rainfall, not Southwest Florida's highly variable climate.
The study is still in draft form. Comments on it were due to the Corps today.
Scientists criticizing the study say it needs to show how mining affects water resources during the dry season, when river flows and groundwater levels naturally fall.
"Freshwater flow is the lifeblood of the estuary and changes to those flows can affect habitat to a great extent and also to the public water supply," said Lisa Beever, director of the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program. She said the report's water flow impacts need to be recalculated, a substantial undertaking.
Counties and environmental groups pressured the Corps for the comprehensive study for a decade. Last month, after about 15 months of work, the agency and its contractor, CH2MHill, produced a draft of the long-awaited report.
The report is supposed to be the region's first comprehensive look at the long-term environmental impacts of phosphate mining.
"I was disappointed that they didn't use more accurate techniques to take an honest look at the impacts of phosphate mining," said Theresa Connor, director of environmental utilities for Sarasota County. "There are answers out there about how to minimize the impacts. I just think we need to be honest about how we look at it."
In letters to the federal agency, counties called the report oversimplified, flawed, misleading and deficient, especially as it related to water resources.
The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program called the two main chapters of the report "so inadequate as to preclude meaningful analysis."
Inland counties that benefit economically from mining were not so critical. Hardee County's staff said it is unlikely to submit comments. DeSoto County's administrator, Guy Maxcy, said he didn't have any "heartburn" with the report.
The Peace River-Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority and the Southwest Florida Water Management District planned to file official comments today.
The Corps says it will consider all comments and possibly modify the report.
"We thought that what we put in the draft was good," said John Fellows, regulatory project manager for the Corps. "But we're going to take a look at it and see what else we might need to do, or better explain what we've already done."
The study's biggest flaw, critics say, is that it ignores Southwest Florida's dry season, when all environmental resources are stressed, including drinking water supplies, wetland habitats that rely on groundwater and fish nurseries that need healthy fresh-water river flows.
"We understand what they're saying," Fellows said. "They point out, 'Hey, annual average isn't the same thing as wet and dry season.' That's something that we'll take a look at and see how we'll move forward."
Other problems cited by county and estuary program officials include:
• Important groundwater resources that coastal counties rely on for fresh drinking water were not studied.
• The study assumes that mined lands can be restored to correctly mimic the natural environment that existed before the land was mined, even though history suggests otherwise.
• The study assumes that other water users, such as farmers, will significantly reduce their water use over time.
• Only four proposed mines totaling 55,000 acres are studied in-depth, when an additional 210,000 acres of land is considered mineable.
• Economic analysis did not include the economic value of healthy rivers or Charlotte Harbor, which is a major tourism draw for the region.

120729-
United for water
Ocala.com
July 29, 2012
Silver Springs was an obvious rallying point for those opposed to the Adena Springs Ranch consumptive-use permit request to pump 13 million gallons of water a day from the aquifer. After all, the famed but distressed springs are just a few miles from the ranch.
Turning Silver Springs and the Adena Springs debate into the symbol of all that is wrong with Florida's waterways and its water policies, however, took more than local residents' protests. That required someone, indeed something bigger and more far-reaching.
Enter former governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham. The populist Graham saw opportunity in Silver Springs' image as one of Florida's great water resources and called on his friends and supporters in the environmental lobby to seize the moment and come together like they never had before.
They responded, and the Florida Conservation Coalition was formed, creating what is likely the most formidable environmental group ever to get behind a single issue in Florida. The organizations that are part of this consortium include Audubon Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation, 1000 Friends of Florida, League of Women Voters, Sierra Club, St. Johns Riverkeeper, the Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land. There are also 37 "affiliate" member organizations, including Rainbow River Conservation Inc. and the newly formed Silver Springs Alliance.
Beyond the collective horsepower the organizations bring to the FCC table, there is an impressive list of individuals serving as FCC board members or advisers. Besides Graham, who is chairman, the individuals who sit on the FCC board include five former water management district chairmen, two retired water management district executive directors, a trio of former Department of Environmental Protection secretaries and Estus Whitfield, who served as the principal environmental adviser to five Florida governors.
We have always taken pride in the power of Silver Springs' draw in its long and colorful history, from when Timucuans were drawn to its waters to when steamships used to come up the St. Johns to the Ocklawaha to the Silver and, ultimately, to Silver Springs. It was Florida's first true tourist attraction.
The power of Silver Springs is once again being felt here, in Palatka — where the St. Johns River Water Management District has received thousands of public comments on the Adena Springs plan — and in Tallahassee, where FCC leaders and Marion Countians on Tuesday delivered more than 15,000 petition signatures to Gov. Rick Scott's office. Those petitions called not only for the brakes to be put on the Adena Springs permit, but for the creation of a statewide "resource management committee" by gubernatorial order to begin a serious evaluation of the condition of Florida's waterways and what remedies there are for saving them.
It wasn't the biggest petition signing, but it was the first time all of Florida's environmental organizations showed up locked arm in arm to tackle what is clearly the environmental issue of the 21st century in Florida.
Having such an impressive partnership led by a marquee civic leader like Graham is a huge step forward in what has become known as Florida's water wars. It's a first, and it couldn't come at a more critical time, This time, those fighting for the people are organized, informed and connected — and united. Let's hope it's enough to save Silver Springs and Florida's other endangered waterways.

The endangered
Cape Sable Seaside
Sparrow, only found
in the Everglades, gets
federal protections that
during the summer rainy
season can lead to
draining water out to
sea to avoid drowning
nests.

120727-a
Audubon demands hearing over sugar producers’ Everglades pollution
Palm Beach Post - by Christine Stapleton, Staff Writer
July 27, 2012
The Florida Audubon Society took on the state’s largest sugar producers on Friday, challenging recently issued permits that allow the pollution control practices the companies use on 234,932 acres of farmland in the Everglades.
The permits were issued after the South Florida Water Management District approved the companies’ “best management practices,” procedures growers undertake to reduce pesticides, fertilizers, animal waste and other pollutants that flow off from their fields.
Audubon filed a petition with the district Friday for an administrative law judge to intervene and deny the permits. The petition will be sent to the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings to determine whether to appoint a judge.
“Everglades water quality goals can be met more quickly and at less cost to the public if the district adhered to state law and required operators of the dirtiest farms to implement additional cleanup measures,” said Audubon president Eric Draper. According to Audubon, a 2007 law requires the district to impose additional management practices for farms that contribute high levels of phosphorus to local waterways.
“The district should have inventoried farms producing high levels of phosphorus and should have required these individual farms to do more,” said Charles Lee, Audubon’s Director of Advocacy.
Judy Sanchez, spokesperson for U.S. Sugar, said the existing practices work “extremely well” and that Audubon’s accusations “sound like a broken record.” Sanchez pointed to a recent report from the district that showed farmers in the 470,000-acre Everglades Agricultural Area achieved a 71-percent reduction in phosphorus leaving the farming region for the 2011-12 water year, almost three times better than required under Florida Everglades Forever Act.
“There are things that need to be done in the Everglades and the part that is working best is what the farmers are doing,” Sanchez said. “There are so many other things that someone truly interested in the Everglades could spend their time and effort on.”
The district cited also double-digit nutrient reductions during the best management practice program’s 17-year-history, which has an overall average reduction of 55 percent — more than twice the amount required by state law.
However, Lee said the data are misleading.
“When the district trumpets a 71 percent reduction, you have to ask a reduction over what ?” Lee said. The Everglades Forever Act requires a 25 percent annual reduction in phosphorus compared to baseline levels between 1978-1988 — a decade that saw very high phosphorus levels. The annual percent reduction cited by the district is an average of data collected from hundreds of farms throughout the region. Farms with high phosphorus loads are offset by farms with effective practices that put out small amounts of phosphorus, Lee said.
The goal is phosphorus levels below 10 parts per billion, he said. Some farms covered by the permit average as much as 400 parts per billion.
“For the farmers to crow about how well they’re doing when individual farms are putting out 200 ppb and the standard is 10 ppb, I think that’s a little disingenuous,” Lee said..
Related:
Audubon demands hearing over sugar producers' Everglades pollution ‎- Palm Beach Post
Audubon challenge targets farm water pollution ‎- Sun-Sentinel
Tired of Waiting, Florida Audubon Sues Management District Over - FlaglerLive.com
Audubon Florida files legal challenge against sugar farms' permits ‎- The Florida Current

120727-b
Bold leadership needed to protect Caloosahatchee and Everglades
Sanibel-Captiva Island Reporter – by Rae Ann Wessel
July 27, 2012
The past six years, drought has seriously impacted Caloosahatchee water quality and devastated estuarine and freshwater habitats - habitats that are nurseries for protected species, recreational fisheries and seafood.
Drought conditions have been made worse by water management practices and policy decisions that single out the Caloosahatchee estuary, depriving it of needed water even when there are absolutely no restrictions on water use for other permitted users. Our water quality and economy suffer as a result.
Each drought year there has been water available for the Caloosahatchee, but it has been directed to other users due to a protocol adopted by the South Florida Water Management District. This protocol was designed to help water managers make decisions about where and how much water to deliver, particularly during droughts and the dry season. Our District Governing Board representative, Dan DeLisi has challenged the staff to find alternatives to rectify this unacceptable inequity.
Last month district staff revealed alternatives and their preferred plan called "Water Supply Augmentation." WSA or water supply backpumping would pump excess, nutrient-polluted water from the Everglades agricultural fields into Lake O in order to meet the dry season and drought needs of the Caloosahatchee. WSA is not a new alternative, but rather a version of an already tried and failed policy that negatively impacts the ecological integrity of water quality and aquatic habitats - in both Lake O and the Caloosahatchee - which in turn hurts our local and regional economy.
For these reasons SCCF cannot support the district recommended proposal known as Water Supply Augmentation. The good news is that there are alternatives and adaptations that can improve conditions without backpumping.
Backpumping has very significant costs to the ecological health of our natural resources and economy by undermining taxpayers' significant public investment in restoration by continuing to allow the dumping of nutrient pollution into Lake O where costs to clean it up are transferred to the public.
Backpumping will add significant volumes of damaging nutrients - nitrogen and phosphorus - into the already impaired waters of Lake O, the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, undermining efforts to meet the state required water quality targets.
District estimates reveal that 359 metric tons of nitrogen will be added into Lake O, a naturally nitrogen-limited water body. That could cause potentially perpetual harmful algal blooms as the additional nutrients recycle within the lake to feed future algae blooms, all the while decreasing oxygen and sand bottom habitat for this extraordinary recreational resource.
To add some perspective, the lake's TMDL restoration target is 104 metric tons of phosphorus. We are nowhere close to achieving that level: currently, 300-400 MT are introduced each year. Backpumping would add an additional 10 MT of phosphorous per year or 10 percent of the state's mandated target. This completely undermines any chance of reaching the goal.
This additional nutrient load will also be exported to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries in lake discharges during high flow conditions, undermining our local communities' investment in meeting our state mandated nitrogen removal targets.
Lee County has been working to clean nitrogen from a tributary to Estero Bay at a cost of $638 per pound per year, exclusive of land and Operation & Maintenance costs. So conservatively the cost to clean up the additional nitrogen alone would be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Who pays that bill?
Backpumping is not an option we can afford. Transferring the obligation for clean up from the polluter to the public increases the cost of cleanup and transfers the financial obligation and expense to the public taxpayer.
It adds up to real money. To comply with a Federal Court Order, the SFWMD has submitted a plan for cleaning up Everglades water quality, an investment of $880 million dollars. This is the bill coming due from decades of decisions that put off addressing nutrient loading at the source, leaving that obligation for future generations. We are that future generation, the bill is due and we are obligated to pay for cleaning up what was neglected in the past. WSA will continue to degrade water quality while we pay to clean up the current condition. This is a formula that assures no chance of success.
The good news is that there are alternatives that protect the public economy, the ecological resources and the future growth of this state. There are alternatives in the operation of the system, in the protocols for deciding when, where and how much water is delivered to competing users. In addition, the RESTORE Act recently passed by Congress can provide needed funding for construction of the C43 Reservoir to capture and provide water within the Caloosahatchee's watershed. Shared prosperity depends on shared adversity.
We need bold leadership that will stop the failed public policy practices that got us here in the first place by passing responsibility to the next governing board, the next administration, the next generation to clean up. If not now, when? If not us, who?
We need your voice to reach out to the SFWMD Governing Board before their vote on August 9. Please write to the members of the Governing board, Secretary of DEP and Governor Scott. Urge them to find mutually sustainable solutions and not rely on reruns of past failed water policy.

120727-
SFWMD considers Lake O backpumping proposal
Captiva Current - by Jim Linette, Sanibel-Captiva Islander
July 27, 2012
South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) has two important meetings coming up in August to consider a proposal to backpump water laced with phosphorous and nitrogen from the Everglades into Lake Okeechobee.
The district is considering the proposal as a possible solution for water releases into the Caloosahatchee River. It has drawn the attention of a number of water quality organizations, including the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, which object to the proposal and are marshaling support from government officials and the public ahead of the SFWMD workshop meeting on Aug. 2 and governing board meeting on Aug. 9.
"We want the public to write, fax or call SFWMD members to voice their concerns or attend one or both of the meetings," said Rae Ann Wessel, Natural Resource Policy director at SCCF. "The concern is all about water quality."
Backpumping was outlawed in 2007 by the governing board after a massive push and several lawsuits against it.
"That was backpumping where the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) folks when they have too much water just pump it back into the lake where it would stay until they needed it," said Wessel. "Then they would pump it for their irrigation demand. Part of the problem was they were really using the lake like a reservoir, even though they would be able to set one up on their own properties."
SFWMD staff spent eight months of looking for solutions to the lack of water flow for the Caloosahatchee to come up with this newest proposal. The proposal sets a "limited amount of backpumping" significantly less than that which was overturned in 2007.
"This is a subset of that," said Wessel. "It's a mini variation of that. They think they can add water to the lake and give that water to the Caloosahatchee. It's their preferred alternative in doing their evaluation even though we have found an alternative that does not require backpumping and really use the no-cost alternative."
The backpumping proposal undermines all of the water quality work the state of Florida just promised a federal judge by spending $880 million in cleaning up Everglades water quality.
"We're having to do that for the very reasons that sources of pollution have been allowed to discharge into public water bodies where they have festered and created this water quality problem," said Wessel.
"This same district is now proposing to backpump water into Lake Okeechobee in this mini variation of the previous proposal that is going to deliver 10 metric tons of phosphorous and 359 metric tons of nitrogen into the lake," Wessel adds. "In a limited nitrogen system like the lake, it causes toxic algae blooms that leads to deterioration of the water quality. You add 359 metric tons a year and you're going to have an ecological upheaval on your hands."
Wessel asked the Sanibel City Council for its support to stop the proposal at the council's monthly meeting last week.
"There has been a lot of effort to clean up Lake Okeechobee, tremendous focus on reducing nitrogen and phosphorous levels in this polluted body of water," said Sanibel vice mayor Mick Denham. "It is very difficult for me to fathom how the SFWMD would support backpumping into the lake. This would increase the levels of pollution and undo all the good work that has been done over the past few years. The quality of water in Lake Okeechobee benefits both the citizens of Moore Haven and the citizens of Sanibel."
Mayor Kevin Ruane was one of several island officials and business owners who lobbied SFWMD to release water into the Caloosahatchee during the dry spring.
"We know that we need to find interim solutions to provide dry-season freshwater flows to the Caloosahatchee while we wait for the C-43 reservoir to be constructed, but we want to be sure that any interim solution that we support does not further impact the water quality in Lake Okeechobee or Everglades restoration," said Ruane. "All issues impacting water quality remain at the top of our priorities."
"Our focus is on the Caloosahatchee because it has been like a stepchild, the one that's always been forgotten or cut off or whatever the consequence was," said Wessel. "The Caloosahatchee was being cut off when all other interests were not restricted. We got cut off this past spring for a month and a half when there were no other restrictions. Not only were there no restrictions, there was no threat of a water shortage."

120727-d
State: Mercury Too High In Gulf Waters
SarasotaPatch.com - by Charles Schelle
July 27, 2012
It's probably a good idea to limit eating fish caught from Gulf of Mexico waters for the time being as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection says the mercury levels need to drop 86 percent in fresh and marine waters in the state.
The Department of Environmental Protection will go over the study's findings and how it plans to help reduce the mercury levels during a meeting today at 1 p.m. at the Southwest Florida Water Management District Sarasota Service Office, Governing Board Room, 6750 Fruitville Road.
For now, the state's Department of Health says don't eat more than two meals of Florida fish a week to avoid health risks. That comes out to a total of 12 ounces of cooked fish, according to the state.

120726-
Water Levels on Okeechobee, Kissimmee Stable
TheLedger.com - (blog) by Del Milligan
July 26, 2012
Water levels on Lake Okeechobee and Lake Kissimmee changed very little over the past week with rainfall more scattered.
On Okeechobee, the water level was at 12.13 feet above sea level on Thursday, compared to 12.06 feet a week ago, according to the South Florida Water Management District. That’s well above the 10.24 feet a year ago, but more than 18 inches below the historical average of 13.72 feet.
At Lake Kissimmee, the level is 50.34 feet compared to 50.33 feet last week. The long-term average is 50.07 feet.
Lake Istokpoga is at 38.31 feet, close to the historical average.

120725-a
Everglades restoration plan evokes concerns at public hearing
Palm Beach Post - by Christine Stapleton, Staff Writer
July 25,2012
DELRAY BEACH — The proposed $880 million plan to restore the Everglades drew concern from all sides at a public hearing Wednesday, from environmentalists saying it didn’t provide enough guarantees, to a water district board member who called the plan impractical and “a financial train wreck.”
Ernie Marks, an administrator in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection branch of Ecosystem Projects, told the audience of about two dozen that the department would consider the comments at the meeting but would only respond to written comments it had received in the weeks before the meeting.
The plan is the byproduct of 18 months of closed-door negotiations between the DEP, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other parties in a 2004 lawsuit over the agencies’ failed effort to meet restoration deadlines to lower phosphorus levels.
On July 11, U.S. District Judge Alan Gold agreed to let the EPA approve permits for a group of projects that would lower levels of phosphorus pollution that flows into the Everglades. The hearing, at the South County Civic Center on Wednesday allowed the public to comment on the permits, which could be issued in the next two months.
The projects have received widespread support from the agriculture industry, environmental groups and the water district. Alisa Coe, attorney from EarthJustice, the public-interest law firm representing the Florida Wildlife Federation, said the group supported the projects but with reservations, including extending the restoration deadline to 2025 and not requiring growers to implement farming practices that would reduce phosphorus runoff from their fields.
Money was also a concern.
“The permits should make clear that funding is not adequate reason for delay,” Coe said. “True restoration requires that you be clear that future political haggling over funding is not an adequate basis to jeopardize restoration.”
Friends of the Everglades, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, did not have a speaker at the meeting but filed written comments critical of the plan, which calls for a single permit to cover all five stormwater treatment areas, rather than single permit for each unique STA. Friends said the permits also lack monitoring for other pollutants, such as mercury and sulfates, and testing at all discharge points rather than a select few.
In a 14-page, single-spaced letter, Albert Slap, attorney for Friends, wrote that the District should also be required to provide a specific plan to the judge and public on “how it intends to acquire all the necessary funds to complete the projects….”
Jim Moran, a governing board member of the South Florida Water Management District said the plan would be a train wreck for the district. Moran referred to a study that found that the permits’ phosphorus reduction requirements are not attainable with current technology and that the district had already reduced phosphorus levels significantly.
Additional phosphorus reductions required by the permits are not scientifically necessary or financially prudent, said Moran, who was the only member of the district board to attend. The governing board is scheduled to vote on the plan at its August meeting.
“There is serious dispute in the environmental community as to whether this is even possible,” Moran said. “Now for EPA and DEP to ask us to come up with another $880 million is not reasonable. It’s wrong for the district. It’s wrong for the taxpayers. It’s wrong for the environment.”

120725-b
Mercury pollution must drop 86%, Florida says
Herald-Tribune - by Kate Spinner
July 25, 2012
To eliminate the risk of poisoning from eating too much fish in Florida, the amount of mercury pollution entering the state's lakes, rivers and estuaries needs to drop 86 percent, a new analysis by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection shows.
The state is setting goals to reduce the amount of mercury in all of Florida's waterways, including brackish bays and the Gulf of Mexico — an ambitious step that no other state has taken.
But achieving that 86 percent goal may be impossible and the state has not yet figured out its strategy. Much of the mercury pollution comes from beyond Florida's borders.
Air pollution, primarily from coal-burning power plants, is the main source of mercury contamination in fish. The pollution settles out of the air onto the ground and into water, where it easily enters the food chain.
Eating too much mercury can cause birth defects, including severe brain damage, and developmental problems in children. Adults who eat too much mercury can suffer heart attacks.
Although fish is considered generally healthy for most people, state health officials recommend eating no more than two meals of most Florida fish per week. Guidelines for women and children, and for anyone eating certain top predators, such as sharks, are much more cautious. Women who want to have children, for instance, should never eat cobia or shark from coastal waters or largemouth bass from most freshwater lakes and rivers.
Statewide mercury reduction goals are required by the Florida Watershed Restoration Act and the federal Clean Water Act. Mercury levels exceed federal guidelines for clean water in 265 streams and rivers, 128 lakes, 588 estuaries and 151 coastal water-bodies statewide.
Once goals are finalized, the state will begin to determine how to go about reducing mercury pollution.
On Friday at 1 p.m., the DEP will hold a public comment session on the mercury reduction goals in Sarasota. The last in a series of meetings around the state, it will be held at the Southwest Florida Water Management District's office on Fruitville road.
"Eighty-six percent is a large reduction when you're looking globally," said Trina Vielhauer, deputy director for the DEP's division of environmental assessment and restoration. Some elemental mercury is naturally occurring, but pollution makes up the bulk of it.
"Certainly we're expecting Florida sources to do what they can to meet that goal," Vielhauer said.
In Florida, coal-fired electric plants accounted for half the mercury emissions released in 2005, more than 2,000 tons. Cement plants released 710 tons of mercury and waste-to-energy plants released 692 tons.
Vielhauer said stronger federal clean air laws should eventually result in lower air emissions from power plants and other industries.
The state plans a more direct approach with industries that discharge pollutants into waterways. Each of those industries, many of which are waste-water treatment plants, have permits to discharge pollutants. When those permits expire, the DEP can issue new permits with tighter limits.
"Largely we will be asking them to look at waste minimization," Vielhauer said.

120724-
Sierra Club opposes plan to pump sugar cane pollution into Lake Okeechobee
Sierra Club Florida News - by Jon Ullman
July 24, 2012
Water managers for the South Florida Water Management District will soon consider a proposal to pump polluted sugar run-off into Lake Okeechobee, a controversial practice that ended more than a decade ago.
Under the plan to boost water levels, untreated sugar run-off water, laden with nitrogen, phosphorus, pesticides and herbicides, would be pumped backward into Lake Okeechobee a controversial practice that ended more than a decade ago.
The pollutants, according to a recent South Florida Sun-Sentinel report, “could lead to a dead zone in the lake, resulting in algae blooms and low oxygen levels that kill fish, aquatic insects and disrupt other aspects of the lake’s food chain.”
Polluted runoff could run through the heart of the City of Belle Glade and be pumped into Lake Okeechobee at Torry Island, home to the community’s public fishing area and recreation space.
Pumping water into Lake Okeechobee diverts water critically needed for Everglades restoration. Instead sending water south into the Everglades after being cleaned-up, managers would force water back north - the opposite direction of the Everglades’ natural flow.
Backpumping would also reduce water available to Southeast Florida’s urbanized areas. Water that would otherwise go to Everglades and into aquifers to replenish them, would be diverted.
Sierra Club and other environmental groups recently wrote:  “…this shortsighted proposal undermines water quality efforts and investments, and will cause long-term harm to the Greater Everglades ecosystem, and the people and the economies that depend upon a healthy ecosystem.”
South Florida Water Management Governing Board is scheduled to vote on the measure on Thursday, August 9, in West Palm Beach.

120723-a
3 Florida environmental groups sue Army Corps over algae blooms
NaplesNews.com - by Eric Staats
July 23, 2012
NAPLES — The fight to stem devastating algae blooms in the Caloosahatchee River has landed in court.
Three environmental groups filed suit Monday in federal court in Fort Myers to force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to change the way it operates water control gates on the river to flush out pollution blamed for carpeting the river in a bright green slime.
The algae blooms wreak havoc on the river’s ecosystem, prompt public health warnings, close a drinking water plant that serves 40,000 households in eastern Lee County and threaten a tourism industry that depends on a healthy Caloosahatchee, river advocates say.
“It’s unacceptable,” said Becky Ayech, president of the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida. “It’s more than that. It’s sickening. It’s sickening.”
Earthjustice filed the lawsuit on behalf of the confederation, the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
Three gates — the Moore Haven Lock, the Ortona Lock and Franklin Lock — control the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee into the river and downstream into the Gulf of Mexico.
The corps releases water from the lake under a regulation schedule that calls for keeping lake levels between 12.5 feet and 15.5 feet to protect the environment, avoid breaches in the lake’s aging dike and provide flood control and water supply.
The lawsuit says a lack of fresh water in the river during the dry season leads to violations of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s water quality standards and a South Florida Water Management District regulation that sets a minimum flow for the river.
Without enough fresh water, high salinities kill off sea grass beds that act as a fish nursery. Inadequate flows also lead to low oxygen levels in the water. Stagnating water with high levels of nutrients, such as from fertilizer or waste, creates ideal growing conditions for algae.
Algae blooms have afflicted the river eight of the past 11 years, including eight weeks of blooms in 2011 alone, the lawsuit says.
That’s bad for business at the Alva Village Market, a convenience store that is a frequent stop for ice, beer and sandwiches for boaters and fishermen. Manager Dick Spence said his business drops off 90 percent when there is an algae bloom on the river.
“You can’t give it away,” he said. “Nobody goes out on the water. It’s ridiculous. It’s a shame.”
Corps spokeswoman Terry Hines-Smith said the agency would have no comment on the lawsuit but said flows down the river require a “very delicate balance” between the environment and water users.
So-called pulse releases the corps periodically makes from the lake into the Caloosahatchee aren’t enough, Conservancy President Andrew McElwain said.
“It’s been completely hit or miss,” he said.
A representative of the agriculture industry, which has fought for years with environmental groups over how water managers divvy up water from Lake Okeechobee, called the lawsuit “kind of a futile thing to do.”
“It uses up money in the court system rather than on (river) restoration,” said Charles Shinn, vice president of government affairs for the Florida Farm Bureau Federation.
* * * * *
Posted earlier:
TALLAHASSEE — Three environmental groups sued the Army Corps of Engineers, the state and a water management district Monday over smelly, slimy green algae blooms that have been polluting the Caloosahatchee River in Southwest Florida.
The lawsuit in U.S. District Court here alleges the corps is violating state and South Florida Water Management District regulations by diverting water that should be going into the river to 500,000 acres of sugar cane fields instead.
"The Corps' refusal to supply enough water from Lake Okeechobee is wrecking the Caloosahatchee," said David Guest, a lawyer for the environmental legal group Earthjustice. "It's an environmental crisis, and it's also an economic one."
Earthjustice sued on behalf of the Florida Wildlife Federation, Conservancy of Southwest Florida and Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida.
Corps spokesman John Campbell said he had nothing to say, citing a policy against commenting on pending litigation. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the water management district had no immediate comment.
The suit seeks a court order declaring that the corps' operation of water control structures violates state laws and regulations and directing it to comply with those requirements.
The environmentalists say algae outbreaks in eight of the past 11 years, including one last week, have resulted in health department warnings against touching or drinking the water or eating fish caught in the river. It's also caused Lee County to shut down a public drinking water plant that uses river water.
Tourism has suffered because the green slime has caused a stench and fish kills on Gulf of Mexico beaches near the mouth of the river, they said.
"We are lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places in the country, but how many tourists will keep coming here when the river is covered with stinking slime?" said Andrew McElwaine, president of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
Florida Wildlife Federation President Manley Fuller said marine and estuarine habitats vital to recreational and commercial fishing are being harmed.
"The polluted water is killing the sea grass nurseries at the estuary where fish and shellfish spawn," Fuller said.

IMAGES – algae blooms 

120723-b
Lawsuit Filed to Clean Up Caloosahatchee River in Florida
Earthjustice - Press Release
July 23, 2012
TALLAHASSEE – On behalf of Florida Wildlife Federation, Conservancy of Southwest Florida and the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, Earthjustice filed suit today in federal court against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because the agency is repeatedly violating water protection laws in Southwest Florida’s Caloosahatchee River.
The Caloosahatchee – officially designated as a public drinking water source-- has been covered with slimy green algae outbreaks eight of the past eleven years, and an outbreak slimed the river just last week. The algae releases a nauseating smell, gives people respiratory problems, causes massive fish kills and harms many wild species.
The Glades, Hendry, and Lee County public health departments have had to issue multiple public health warnings saying that that neither people nor animals should come into contact with the water, drink it, or eat the fish.
Lee County’s Olga drinking water plant, which draws from the river and is supposed to serve 40,000 people, has had to shut down repeatedly because the water is unfit to drink, even after extensive treatment.
The suit (available at this link) is filed against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, because the Corps has caused the Caloosahatchee’s problems by cutting off the river’s water supply. The Corps operates three water control structures which regulate the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee estuary at the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of providing the Caloosahatchee with the flow it needs to stay healthy, the Corps diverts water to irrigate 500,000 acres of sugar cane fields south of Lake Okeechobee. The river is too often left stagnant and polluted.
“The Corps’ refusal to supply enough fresh water from Lake Okeechobee is wrecking the Caloosahatchee,” said Earthjustice attorney David Guest. “It’s an environmental crisis, and it’s also an economic one. Tourists who came to visit Sanibel Island over the Christmas break this year arrived to find stinking green algae and dead fish on the beaches. People have had to endure a nasty stench in downtown Fort Myers. Dead fish have washed up on the beaches in front of condos and hotels in Naples. This can’t be good for tourism.”
ABC News in Fort Myers last week interviewed a fisherman, Dan Sabo, who lives on the Caloosahatchee, and he said he moved to Florida to get away from respiratory issues in New Jersey. The river in his back yard has been a stinking mess.
“It's a green slime,” he said. “It would be like if you add oil and water to a jar and you dyed the oil green. That's what it looks like. Chest is sore, you're breathing funny, you're sick. It's like the beginning of the flu. It smells like something is rotting."
Andrew McElwaine, president of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, said the pollution is affecting the region’s economy – where most jobs are dependent on the tourism industry.
“We are lucky to live in one of the most beautiful places in the country,” he said.  “But how many tourists will keep coming here when the river is covered with stinking slime? The Corps simply has to do a better job protecting the Caloosahatchee. It is imperative for the Corps to provide adequate flow to keep the river healthy.”
Manley Fuller, president of the Florida Wildlife Federation, said the Corps’ operations are devastating essential marine and estuarine habitats that support recreational and commercial fishing.
“The polluted water is killing the seagrass nurseries at the estuary where fish and shellfish spawn,” Fuller said. “It’s too bad we have to go to court to get the authorities to do their job of protecting this river, but we do what we have to do. It belongs to the public, and we should all be able to enjoy it.”
CONTACT:
David Guest, Earthjustice Attorney; (850) 228-3337 or (518) 668-9628
Andrew McElwaine, President, Conservancy of Southwest Florida; (239) 403-4210
Manley Fuller, President, Florida Wildlife Federation; (850) 567-7129

120723-c
Slime-covered river prompts Florida environmental groups to sue Corps of Engineers
Tampa Bay Times - by Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer
July 23, 2012
A coalition of environmental groups is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, arguing that the way the agency dumps polluted water from Lake Okeechobee is causing toxic algae blooms throughout the Caloosahatchee River near Fort Myers.
"This is making people sick, figuratively and literally," said Becky Ayech of the Environmental Coalition of Southwest Florida, citing complaints about everything from nausea to earaches among people who live along the river. "People have a right to clean water."
When heavy rains push the water level in Lake Okeechobee too high, the Corps opens floodgates that dump millions of gallons of lake water into the Caloosahatchee and also into the St. Lucie River on the state's east coast. But the lake water is full of pollutants, especially nutrients that can fuel algae blooms.
Algae blooms have plagued the Caloosahatchee eight of the past 11 years, the lawsuit points out. Last year's algae bloom lasted for eight weeks, during which officials in Glades, Hendry and Lee counties warned residents to avoid contact with the river water and not to eat the fish.
Those blooms have repeatedly created ecological and economic disaster areas. In 1998, when the Corps flushed huge amounts of lake water out through the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie, mullet were soon swimming in the St. Lucie with half their flesh eaten away. The algae bloom in the Caloosahatchee was so noxious that Lee County officials calculated they lost $4 million in tourist dollars.
People who own boats don't go out, Ayech said, "because who wants to be out in the slime ?"
Even worse, according to the suit filed Monday in federal court, is the fact that what the Corps is releasing from the lake is so polluted it forces the shutdown of a water plant that is supposed to use the river to quench the thirst of 40,000 people.
The problem, according to the suit, is that when water levels are low, the Corps holds water back from the rivers —- to the point where the Caloosahatchee sometimes runs backward. That not only lets the freshwater river turn salty, it also bottles up the pollution in the lake and makes it worse when it's finally released, the suit contends.
So the environmental groups —- including the Florida Wildlife Federation, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and Earthjustice —- want a federal judge to order the Corps to stop holding water back and instead allow the water to flow all year long.
"We want them to get off their butts and open the gates," said David Guest of Earthjustice.
Corps of Engineers officials could not be reached for comment on the suit. No hearings have yet been scheduled on the case.
Related:
3 Florida environmental groups sue Army Corps over algae blooms NaplesNews.com
Lawsuit Filed to Clean Up Caloosahatchee River in Florida Earthjustice
Groups file suit against Corps over river        Jacksonville Daily Record
Army sued for toxic slimy Florida water, dead fish, 'flu'       Examiner.com
Environmental groups sue over algae blooms St. Augustine Record
Pressure Mounts to Protect a Florida River    Public News Service
Lawsuit to clean up Caloosahatchee RIver    Fox 4
Florida environmental groups sue over algae blooms WWSB ABC 7
Lawsuit Filed to Clean Up Caloosahatchee River in Florida eNews Park Forest
Environmental group sues Army Corps over Caloosahatchee water ...          Marconews

120722-a
A good option for Lake O
Sun Sentinel – Editorial
July 22, 2012
Rains aside, water managers say, Lake Okeechobee is in need of water. Is their solution – rolling back restrictions on "backpumping" to allow polluted stormwater to be discharged into the lake – backpedaling? Not exactly.
The discharge plan under consideration by the South Florida Water Management District is a far cry from the days when backpumped stormwater from agricultural lands was routine way of doing business – and of polluting Lake Okeechobee. Water managers stress this new version – call it "backpumping lite" – is limited, strategic and badly needed to address serious environmental concerns.
Lake Okeechobee remains a major source of freshwater for the region, and the demand for water from agriculture and urban communities is relentless. Add the ongoing efforts to rid the lake of pollution from water tainted with nitrogen, phosphorus and other pollutants and, well, the problem gets plenty more complicated. Water managers also face the challenge of pumping more freshwater into southwest Florida's Caloosahatchee Estuary, which often experiences a devastating level of salt-water intrusion and could benefit from an increased flow of freshwater from Lake Okeechobee.
Still, backpumping seems counterintuitive. Adding polluted water to an already polluted lake just doesn't make much sense. For years, water managers have tried to rid Lake Okeechobee of pollution. Those efforts prompted local agriculture, particularly Big Sugar, to improve farming techniques to significantly reduce phosphorus and other pollutants from water flowing through their vast holdings. Over the years, indeed, the water quality in Lake Okeechobee improved.
The district is now studying ways to draw stormwater with low levels of pollutants from basins in nearby farmlands. The goal is to keep lake levels high enough to divert water to the Caloosahatchee, meet the demands of the region's farms and urban centers, and provide the natural flow of water to nourish the Everglades to the south.
This time, though, water managers want to use far less stored stormwater than the historic high discharges that helped pollute the lake. The discharges under the new backpumping plan typically would be activated during rainstorms, and then only if lake levels and the water needs of the southern portions of the Everglades warranted them.
The onus is on water managers to craft a strategy that makes sense and calms valid concerns about backpumping resulting in an environmental catastrophe for Lake Okeechobee. Old fears die hard, so it's incumbent upon district officials to take the time and expend whatever energy is needed to educate the public on the proposal's merits.
Backpumping isn't the ideal solution. There isn't one, short of consistent and heavy rains or the quick appropriation of government funding to complete the C-43 West Basin Storage Reservoir and the rehabilitation of the Herbert Hoover Dike. Both are necessary to provide consistent water storage and supply to feed freshwater to the Caloosahatchee without skimping on the needs of a thirsty region, but they are still future rather than present solutions.
In the meantime, some form of backpumping is about as reasonable as we can expect and as risky as we can accept.

120722-b
Is anybody listening ?
Ocala.com - Editorial
July 22, 2012
Maybe now they will listen.
On Tuesday, a contingent from the Florida Conservation Coalition, led by former governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, will deliver more than 13,000 petitions to Gov. Rick Scott. The petition calls on the governor to exert his executive powers to begin confronting "the degraded conditions of Florida's imperiled rivers and springs."
Specifically, the FCC and Graham are asking Scott to direct the Department of Economic Opportunity to establish a "Resource Planning and Management Committee," which is authorized by Florida statute. The committee could bring "the appropriate stakeholders" together to develop action plans for halting the rapid deterioration of Florida's 700 springs and its other waterways, plans that could later be presented to the Legislature.
The time has certainly passed for action out of Tallahassee, where our elected leaders seem ignorant about or insensitive to what is happening to our water supply and waterways. Spring flows are declining across the state, some of which is attributable to drought and some to overpumping due to overdevelopment. At the same time, environmental emergencies are erupting as algae blooms slime rivers and beaches from one end of the state to the other.
Meanwhile, the Department of Environmental Protection dithers, with its leadership promising to "get water right" — just as soon as it "gets the science right."
Florida cannot wait any longer.
Appropriately, the petition drive that has garnered so many signatures was launched at Silver Springs on June 23 when Graham and 1,700 other Floridians gathered at Silver River State Park to raise awareness about the state's growing water crisis, especially the startling decline of its waterways, even those in remote locations.
Silver Springs has become the symbol of Florida's water crisis because of its iconic status. But it is merely one ailing example. Policymakers and policy enforcers have been asleep at the switch, and the evidence abounds.
Besides the fact that the vast majority of Florida's springs are experiencing diminished flows — and some have simply dried up — and nutrient levels have multiplied many times over in the past couple of decades — they are up 500 percent in Silver Springs — the state simply has failed to adhere to its own water policy.
Consider that a 40-year-old law requires that the five water management districts establish minimum flows and levels for the state's springs and thousands of rivers and lakes. So far, though, only 322 MFL studies have been completed. Silver Springs is arguably the most studied and measured, not to mention historic, water resource in the state, yet the St. Johns River Water Management District still has yet to complete an MFL study of it. And with the spring at an all-time low, how useful will the one that is under way be?
Finally, LobbyTools, a Tallahassee outfit that keeps lobbyists informed on key legislative and policy issues, conducted a recent poll asking if Florida should put a moratorium on water consumptive-use permits until the MFLs are done or keep permitting while waiting out the drought. The results: 83 percent favored the moratorium.
Floridians are aware that we have a water crisis on our hands and are trying to be heard in Tallahassee. Let's hope that come Tuesday, Scott and his administration show that they are listening — and acting.

120721-a
Glades vows kept thanks to the courts
Miami Herald - by Carl Hiaasen
July 21, 2012
Politicians in both parties have resumed rhapsodizing about the magnificence of the Everglades, a phenomenon that occurs every four years with varying degrees of sincerity.
Polls show that most Floridians want the Everglades restored and preserved. This requires candidates to show some love. Neither Democrats nor Republicans want to look like obstructionists on this issue in an election year.
That’s one reason why the Obama administration and the state have reached an agreement tentatively resolving 20 years’ worth of lawsuits that have hobbled efforts to clean the polluted water being pumped into the Everglades.
It’s true that under Obama, funding for Everglades restoration is way up from the Bush years. It’s also true that Gov. Rick Scott pushed for the recent settlement with Washington, which should restart some projects that will help the cleanup.
However, the semi-miraculous truce between Florida and the feds wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for a fellow named Alan Gold. He’s a U.S. district judge in Miami who got so fed up with the stalling of both sides that he gave them a glorious reaming two years ago.
You couldn’t blame the man for being ticked off.
Gold was presiding over drawn-out litigation that was holding up some of the Everglades projects. The Miccosukee tribe had sued because phosphorus pollution from farms, ranches and subdivisions was being flushed into the reservation.
In the summer of 2008, Gold had ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) and the Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to start enforcing clean-water standards that had been set to take effect back in 2006.
But in the face of heavy lobbying, the feds and the state decided on a 10-year extension — a nice break for the polluters. That didn’t sit well with the Miccosukees, most environmental groups or the judge.
In 2010, Gold issued a ruling that scalded the EPA and the DEP for showing “glacial slowness” in cleaning up the flow into Everglades. He characterized the restoration plan as “rudderless.”
 “The hard reality,” he wrote, “is that ongoing destruction due to pollution within the Everglades Protection Area continues to this day at an alarming rate.”
Here’s what else Gold did, which got all sides scrambling:
He threatened to hold state and federal administrators in civil contempt if they didn’t comply with the court. Then he ordered the head of the Environmental Protection Agency to personally appear in front of him and answer some questions.
This is why you never, ever want to piss off a federal judge.
A month before her hearing date, EPA chief Lisa Jackson said she needed to fly to China. She offered to send another official to Miami in her place, but Gold said no. Jackson appealed and got an emergency stay.
That’s how desperately she wanted to avoid Gold’s courtroom.
Ever since then, the EPA and environmental regulators in Florida have been toiling over a compliance plan that would satisfy the judge and save them further humiliation. On July 12, Gold approved a settlement that should trigger about $880 million worth of cleanup projects designed to reduce nutrient levels in agricultural waters feeding the Everglades.
The next day, the Obama administration announced it will pay $80 million to farmers and ranchers for conservation easements on about 23,000 acres in the northern Everglades, protecting key wetlands from development.
All this is encouraging, but turning cartwheels is premature. Restoration is an extremely complex and expensive project with multiple layers of exasperating bureaucracy.
The commitment of Gov. Scott has yet to be tested, but his gator-skin boots send a disquieting message. So far, Mitt Romney hasn’t uttered a peep about continuing Everglades funding if he wins the White House, but he’ll come up with a sound bite between now and November.
However the political prospects for the Everglades might change after the election, let’s hope Alan Gold will still be on the bench trying to make sure the clean-water laws are obeyed. It’s a titanic challenge in South Florida, and he isn’t the only judge with an important role.
In another case, U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno has told state officials they must do more to clean up the runoff being sent into the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
Neither Gold nor Moreno are radical, firebrand jurists. Nor was William Hoeveler, the senior district judge who for years steadfastly fought to make Big Sugar clean up its mess.
These guys didn’t write the pollution laws, or the lawsuits. They got jurisdiction, period. To preside over these cases is to have your patience, if not your sanity, pushed to the limit.
But without judges who are willing to yank a federal agency chief or even a governor into court, what remains of the Everglades has no chance of rebounding. To leave its fate in the hands of Tallahassee and Washington would be a death sentence.

120721-b
National Environmental CEO's Ask EPA to Reject Florida's Nutrient Standards
Sierra Club FL News – Letter, Press Release
July 19, 2012
The Honorable Lisa Jackson, Administrator       The Honorable Nancy Sutley, Chair
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency              White House Council on Environmental Quality
Ariel Rios, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.         722 Jackson Place N.W.
Washington, DC 20004                                       Washington, DC 20506
Dear Administrator Jackson and Chair Sutley,
As leaders of the nation’s largest environmental organizations concerned with public health and clean water, we write you on behalf of our millions of members and supporters to urge you to protect Florida’s waters from toxic algae outbreaks and disapprove Florida’s proposed standards that fail to achieve that goal. This is both a regional and national imperative, as nitrogen and phosphorous pollution from sewage treatment plants, fertilizer and manure runoff, and other sources foul not only Florida’s waters but also rivers, streams, lakes, and beaches across the country.
Passage of the Clean Water Act forty years ago was one of the most important and popular environmental achievements in our history, creating a legacy of cleaner water in the United States. The growing numbers of toxic algae outbreaks in Florida and beyond demonstrates that the job of ending the pollution of the nation’s waters is still far from complete.  In Florida, 70 percent of freshwater springs have nutrient concentrations at least 500 percent higher than historic background concentrations.   Just last month, Northern Florida’s Santa Fe River experienced it’s first ever massive algae bloom along the most popular canoeing section of the river. Last month, Glades, Hendy, and Lee counties all issued public health advisories warning the public to stay out of the algae infested waters of the Caloosahatchee River in the southwest part of the state.
Reducing nutrient pollution is a critically important issue for the environmental community in Florida and it has been a long fought battle with polluting industries and their friends in state government to address it. EPA must act to protect Florida’s waters from toxic algae outbreaks to avoid economic impacts in addition to the environmental ones. Tourism at Florida’s famous beaches is vulnerable if swimming means risking respiratory distress from red tide toxins. Waterfront property owners are faced with “Algae Alert” signs warning people not to swim in, drink, or eat fish from those waters, or even let their pets near the water. People who swam, fished, and went boating in these lakes, rivers, and streams as children are shocked by their current condition.
At issue today is whether EPA will approve Florida’s state standards. Governor Scott’s administration is asking EPA to approve state rules written for the polluting industries.  While the state claims to have adopted EPA-approvable rules, it has not. 
We understand that a great deal of lobbying pressure is being applied to get EPA to approve Florida’s standards.  We urge that you do not. At a minimum, EPA must look carefully at whether the state’s rules will meet acceptable pollution limits and protect Florida’s waters.
As the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act approaches, EPA is asking the public “Water, Is It Worth It?”  We believe the answer in Florida and across the country is a resounding “Yes.”  EPA can demonstrate its commitment to clean water by ending toxic algae pollution in Florida.   We urge you to protect America’s legacy of clean water so that future generations may benefit from these important resources.
Thank you for your continued commitment to protecting our nation’s waters.
Respectfully,
CEOs:
American Rivers ● Clean Water Action ● Earthjustice ● Environment America ● Friends of the Earth ● Izaak Walton League of America ● League of Conservation Voters ● National Parks Conservation Association ● National Wildlife Federation ● Natural Resources Defense Council ● Physicians for Social Responsibility ● Sierra Club

120721-c
Safety concerns linger as Lake Okeechobee dike fix drags on
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
July 21, 2012
After five years of construction costing more than $360 million, safety concerns remain about Lake Okeechobee's ailing dike heading into the peak of another hurricane season.
The lake's more than 70-year-old Herbert Hoover Dike has been considered one of the nation's most at-risk of failure, with those deficiencies gaining heightened scrutiny after the New Orleans levees failed following Hurricane Katrina.
The Army Corps of Engineers contends that the work so far has beefed up a key portion of Lake Okeechobee's dike, improving its ability to protect South Florida from flooding. But the dike is still considered an "unacceptable risk," according to the corps. It is among those with the lowest ranking on a federal rating system that evaluates flood-control structures across the country.
Army Corps officials acknowledge that the work on the Lake Okeechobee dike remains far from finished and that the solution for the ultimate fix has yet to be identified.
A study aimed at determining how to proceed with dike repairs is expected to last until 2014.
water in the lake that is the primary backup for South Florida water supplies.
"It's something that goes on and on and does not get fixed," said Palm Beach County Administrator Burt Aaronson. "They are not dedicating enough manpower or dollars to it."
The 143-mile-long dike corrals lake water that once naturally overlapped the southern banks, sending sheets of water flowing south to hydrate the Everglades.
Decades of farming and development led to the lake's dike and a vast system of South Florida draining canals and levees, which drain vast swaths of former Everglades land and guard against flooding.
The dike's initial construction was prompted by devastating hurricanes in 1926 and 1928 that led to massive flooding and deaths. More severe flooding from hurricanes in 1947 and 1948 led to an expansion that completely encircled Lake Okeechobee.
The dike, about 30 feet tall in some areas, essentially converted Lake Okeechobee into South Florida's largest retention pond.
The Army Corps of Engineers ultimately controls how much lake water flows where. If lake levels get too high, threatening the integrity of the dike, the corps dumps hundreds of billions of gallons of water out to sea — often with damaging environmental effects on coastal estuaries.
After the levees in New Orleans failed during Hurricane Katrina, officials stepped up federal scrutiny of dikes and levees across the country.
A 2006 engineering report commissioned by the South Florida Water Management District heightened safety concerns about the Lake Okeechobee dike with its finding that the dike "poses a grave and imminent danger to the people and the environment of South Florida."
The Army Corps' repair plan since 2007 has targeted a 21-mile section that stretches from Port Mayaca to Belle Glade, which is the portion of the dike considered most at risk of a breach.
The goal is to reduce and redirect the amount of water seeping through the dike to avoid erosion, which causes cavities in the dike that can collapse and lead to flooding.
The thrust of the work has been building a "cutoff wall" extending deep through the middle of the earthen dike. Since 2007, contractors have completed just 7 miles of that wall. Another 13 miles of wall is installed and nearly complete, with some portions still undergoing testing or other monitoring, according to the corps.
Army Corps officials say they are on track to complete the entire 21-mile wall section by the end of 2013 as planned. It's costing taxpayers about $10 million a mile to get the wall done.
"We have made some major steps," said Tim Willadsen, Army Corps project manager for the dike repair project. "We have got a lot of work that is in the pipeline … We are addressing it as quickly as we can."
Earlier repair plans called for supplementing the wall with berms and other improvements to the outside base of the dike, aimed at increasing stability. Much of that work has yet to be accomplished because of hurdles acquiring more land along the dike.
Homes, businesses, government buildings, parks, rail lines and other obstacles sit right beside the dike in some areas. The Army Corps in recent years has been exploring dike improvement alternatives that could avoid the disruption of gobbling up more land.
"It would have wiped us out," Pahokee Mayor J.P. Sasser said about the possibility of dike construction taking up city land. "It would have eliminated a large portion of Pahokee's tax base because we are literally right against the base of the levee."
The corps' ongoing study is exploring options such as building alternative seepage collection systems and filters within the dike embankment. The corps is also exploring how to best beef up other sections of the dike, beyond this first 21-mile-long piece.
While working on that long-term plan and finishing the wall, the Army Corps has begun removing and replacing deteriorated culverts throughout the dike.
Fixing the first five culverts is expected to cost $90 million. Plans call for removing or replacing 32 culverts.
Janette and Glenn Campbell, who live in a 1930s-built, wood-frame house beside the dike in Canal Point, have had a front-seat view of the lingering construction. They question the need for it to be taking this long.
But while the federal government considers the dike a risk, the Campbells say they have never worried about the dike's safety, preferring to ride out hurricanes from their boarded up home beside the dike.
Hurricanes through the years toppled their barn, knocked a tree into their house and claimed a garage. But the portion of the dike that blocks what would otherwise be their waterfront lake view never failed them.
"We just think [the Army Corps] went overboard," said Janette Campbell, a retired math professor. "Maybe we are just being naive."

120721-d
Snowmelt water and BP oil spill killed dolphins in Gulf: Report
iTechpost.com - by Sangeeta Mukherjee
July 21, 2012
Read more at http://www.itechpost.com/articles/3555/20120721/snowmelt-water-bp-oil-spill-dolphins-gulf.htm#8VIiLMZjXzIWhOmF.99
Snowmelt water and the 2010 BP oil spill, both the natural factor and human catastrophe, caused the death of 86 baby dolphins who were either aborted or died shortly after birth in early 2011 in the Gulf of Mexico, a new study suggests.
"Unfortunately, it was a 'perfect storm' that led to the dolphin deaths," Graham Worthy, study researcher and a biologist at the University of Central Florida, said in a statement. "The oil spill and cold water of 2010 had already put significant stress on their food resources. ... It appears the high volumes of cold freshwater coming from snowmelt water that pushed through Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound in 2011 was the final blow."
According to Ruth H. Carmichael, senior marine scientist at Alabama's Dauphin Island Sea Lab, the bottlenose dolphins, who were already suffering from the issue of premature birth for the 2010 oil spill event, succumbed to death due to the extremely harsh winter of 2010.
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"When we put the pieces together, it appears that the dolphins were likely weakened by depleted food resources, bacteria or other factors as a result of the 2010 cold winter or oil spill, which made them susceptible to assault by the high volumes of cold freshwater coming from land in 2011," Carmichael said in a statement. She further added that "These freight trains of cold fresh water may have assaulted them, essentially kicking them when they were already down," she said.
While dolphins are naturally able to tolerate fluctuating temperatures, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) survey of dolphins in Barataria Bay during the summer of 2011 indicated that the animals were already sickly underweight and anemic, had low blood sugar, liver and lung disease along with low levels of hormones to respond to stress, metabolism and immune function. Therefore, they could not battle against the rapid entry of large volumes of cold melt water in the upper reaches of the Mobile Bay watershed.
"From studies of other mammals we know that adrenal insufficiency can lead to some fairly severe health problems; it can cause low blood sugar, weight loss, low blood pressure and eventually even lead to kidney and heart failure and death," Lori Schwacke of National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said during a news briefing. "So we're concerned that many of the Barataria dolphins are in such poor health that they're likely not to survive."
NOAA scientists, along with a team of marine mammal health experts, are investigating the causes of high dolphin mortality in the region.
The study was published on July 18 in the PLoS ONE journal.

120721-e
Thumb up: Everglades may benefit from enormous fines BP will pay for Deepwater Horizon spill in Gulf of Mexico
TCPalm.com - by Editorial Board
July 21, 2012
GOOD NEWS FOR 'GLADES ?: 
File this under the heading, "Something good may come from the worst ecological disaster in U.S. history."
Oil giant BP is expected to pay fines ranging from $5 billion to $21 billion for the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Congress has mandated that 80 percent of the fines go to Florida and other Gulf Coast states. The Florida Legislature has mandated that 75 percent of the fines Florida receives be distributed to counties along the northwest coast where the spill did the most damage.
The remaining proceeds, possibly hundreds of millions of dollars, could be used to help restore the Everglades.
Let's hope so.

120720-a
Cooperation key to saving Fla.'s waters
Orlando Sentinel – ‘My Word’ by Herschel T. Vinyard, Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection
July 20, 2012
As a Jacksonville native and St. Johns River enthusiast, I take the health of our waters personally. I share the frustrations of my fellow Floridians that some of our state's water bodies — including our springs — have been in serious decline for years.
Our water bodies are facing real, longstanding and complex problems that we won't be able to fix overnight. We know there is much to be done, which is why the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is working with the state's water-management districts, local governments and stakeholders to address the issues facing our water bodies.
Last year, with the support of Gov. Rick Scott, DEP elevated its Office of Water Policy to an invigorated, higher-profile role in the agency. Part of the idea for this office came after a family trip to Stephen Foster State Park in Hamilton County. During our visit, we learned the mighty spring that once flowed through the park essentially stopped flowing about three decades ago. A key role of the new office is to focus on preserving Florida's water resources through better coordination of science and policy at DEP and throughout Florida's water-management districts.
Because the rivers and tributaries that feed our springs flow beyond district boundaries, it's imperative that our science doesn't end at the district lines. We must take into account what's going on upstream or in the neighboring district to truly understand the impacts downstream.
An example of this collaborative approach is the Central Florida Water Initiative, an agreement launched between DEP, three water-management districts, local government and various stakeholders to better study regional water demands and identify cross-boundary groundwater issues. We have started a similar effort to protect the waters and springs in North Florida, and we've also deployed the scientists at DEP's Florida Geological Survey to work with the St. Johns and Southwest Florida water-management districts to share data on Silver and Rainbow springs.
The efforts we've initiated over the past year are creating a better path to protecting Florida's waters and springs. DEP recognizes that the only way to resolve the water body issues is by working with our partners and stakeholders. We remain committed to moving forward to ensure a sustainable supply of water for Floridians and our environment. We have to do this now, and we must succeed.

120720-b
Florida cane farms cut pollution
Agra-Net.com
July 20, 2012
For the 17th year, regional water managers say the sugar industry beat the state target for cutting pollution damaging the Everglades, local press reports said.
The amount of phosphorus flowing from the 470,000 acre area south of Lake Okeechobee was down 71% compared to 1994, nearly three times the reduction called for in the Everglades Forever Act. The average reduction has been 55%.
(continued - subscription required for full article text)

120720-c
Obama administration report addresses Everglades restoration.
ThomasNet.com
July 20, 2012
Press release date: July 13, 2012
July 20, 2012 - Obama Administration released report outlining historic Federal investments and progress made in Everglades restoration under leadership of President Obama, and announced $80 million in additional funding to support farmers and ranchers who voluntarily conserve wetlands on agricultural land in Northern Everglades Watershed. Administration has invested $1.5 billion in Everglades projects and initiatives, including nearly $900 million for projects that will restore water flow and essential habitat Over $1.5 Billion Invested in the Everglades Since 2009; USDA To Fund Fourth Year of Easements for Water Quality, Wildlife Habitat Improvements in the Northern Everglades Watershed.
KISSIMMEE, FL., -The Obama Administration today released a report outlining the historic Federal investments and progress made in Everglades restoration under the leadership of President Obama, and announced $80 million in additional funding to support farmers and ranchers who voluntarily conserve wetlands on agricultural land in the Northern Everglades Watershed. This new investment, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), will restore an additional 23,000 acres of wetlands vital to water quality and wildlife habitat in the Everglades system.
President Obama has made restoring the Everglades a national priority. Using the partnerships and community-led approach that is a hallmark of the President's America's Great Outdoors initiative, the Administration has reinvigorated Federal leadership in Everglades restoration, investing $1.5 billion in Everglades projects and initiatives that will make a measurable impact on the ground, including nearly $900 million to jump start key construction projects that will restore water flow and essential habitat. These projects already have generated 6,600 Florida jobs and are expected to generate more. President Obama also has requested an additional $246 million in the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget to build on this progress and continue the investments, partnerships and projects that will return the Everglades to health.
Senior Administration officials including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, U.S. Department of Interior Assistant Secretary Rachel Jacobson, and Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy released the report and made the funding announcement today in Kissimmee, FL.
"The Everglades are an icon, an American treasure, and essential to the health and economy of Florida communities," said Sutley. "With the President's leadership, we are making real and measurable progress in Everglades restoration, dramatically increasing Federal funding, launching key construction projects, and working with the State and other partners to deliver results on the ground. There is much more to do, and we are committed to returning this majestic natural resource to health."
"President Obama has made restoring the iconic Everglades a national priority," Vilsack said. "Restoring these wetlands demonstrates a strong commitment to partnerships with ranchers and farmers to improve water quality and habitat protection while supporting Florida's strong agricultural economy and ranching heritage. These investments are paying off, creating nearly 7,000 jobs in Florida's economy and preserving thousands of acres of precious wetlands for future generations to enjoy."
"The Everglades are one of America's most treasured places - for the people of Florida and for visitors and tourists from all over the world," said Ken Salazar, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. "By working together in pursuit of President Obama's vision for a renewed and healthy Everglades, we honor the stewardship of generations of Florida cattle ranchers and other landowners who understood that we all have a stake in preserving the health of our land, water, and wildlife. Under the President's leadership, our commitment to restoring the Everglades is benefiting the environment and the Florida economy - creating jobs, while protecting this unique place for years to come."
"The Everglades are essential to the environmental and economic strength of so many Florida communities. The health of this ecosystem affects everything from water quality and biodiversity to tourism, an industry that supports thousands of jobs across the state," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "The success we've already seen in restoring the land, water and wildlife of the Everglades shows how investments in America's extraordinary outdoors are also investments in our health and our economic future. Thanks to the additional funding announced today, we can expand our efforts to protect this vital watershed and build upon the progress that's already been made."
"In the last three years there has been unprecedented restoration progress in the Everglades," said Darcy. "President Obama has invested more than $130 million to restore flood plains and waters that flow from the Kissimmee River. The Kissimmee River restoration project is the largest restoration project undertaken by the Corps to date and the benefits are already being realized. Since 2009, the federal family and the State of Florida have invested in and broken ground on seven restoration projects. We have seized the opportunity for stakeholders to work together toward common goal of restoring the Everglades."
Working in partnership with the State of Florida, Tribes and local leaders, since 2009, the Administration has restored more than 3,000 acres of the floodplains along the Kissimmee River; worked with landowners to improve habitat and water quality on more than 400,000 agricultural acres; begun constructing the first mile of bridging for the Tamiami Trail to restore water flow to Everglades National Park; begun implementing key components of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan to make more water available for environmental, urban and agricultural use; and reached an historic agreement with the State of Florida to make essential water quality improvements, including $879 million in State commitments for water quality projects.
Today's investment in the WRP also builds on other significant Obama administration accomplishments to conserve habitat in the greater Everglades ecosystem. Earlier this year, the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) established the 150,000-acre Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area. Assistant Secretary Jacobson today announced that FWS has received $1.5 million in reprogrammed 2012 funding to begin securing additional conservation easements on priority parcels of some of the last remaining grass-land savannahs in the Northern Everglades - working with private land-owners to conserve the land, water and wildlife of the Everglades Headwaters.
More about USDA's Wetlands Reserve Program
Since 2009, USDA has invested $373 million to restore and protect more than 95,000 acres of wetland habitat in Florida's Northern Everglades. Through the WRP program, Florida's private landowners voluntarily sell development rights to land and place it in a conservation easement that permanently maintains that land as agriculture and open space. The program's goal is to achieve the greatest wetland functions and values, along with optimum wildlife habitat, on every acre enrolled in the program. The program also helps landowners to establish long-term conservation and wildlife practices and protection.
The $80 million announced today will fund projects such as an easement on a property known as American Prime, a key habitat corridor for the endangered Florida panther. USDA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in May 2012 that they have collaborated with private partners to protect this 1,278-acre piece of land in Glades County that is critical for panthers dispersing into habitat further north. A female panther and two kittens were recently photographed near this property -- the first documented evidence of a female Florida panther that far north since 1973.

120719-b
Judge Gold issues another historic Everglades order this week: EPA proposal moves forward
JDSupra.com – by Rosa Eckstein Schechter
July 19, 2012
United States District Judge Alan Gold makes news this month (again) with another Everglades Order: you'll recall that he issued a pretty big ruling last fall with his decision to put the federal government and not the State of Florida in the role of issuing pollution permits that impact the Everglades (read our earlier post as well as that order here).
Miami's Judge Gold has been making lots of news, in fact.
Earlier this month, he issued a federal court order that requires the Miccosukee Indian Tribe to fork over its financial records to the federal investigators that are checking into claims that the Miccosukee Indians have not reported income tax on millions of dollars in gambling profits coming to members of the Miccosukee Indian Tribe.
The Tribe's argument that it did not have to honor the IRS subpoena because it was a separate, sovereign nation was not victorious with the court.
But that wasn't the only July 2012 ruling of Judge Gold that is making national headlines.
This week, Judge Alan Gold in a rather short and sweet order (it's only three pages long) okayed the $880 million dollar phosphorus clean up plan proposed by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency).
News pundits are reporting that Judge Gold may have just ended around 20 years of litigation with this single order.
What he's done is okay the EPA to review and approve permits in a number of different projects all targeting the problem of phosphorus pollution in the River of Grass.  Which brings us back to the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians.
The Miccosukee were one of a number of parties concerned with protecting the natural resources here in Florida, and the tribe joined with the Friends of the Everglades in filing a federal lawsuit several years ago against the EPA alleging that the federal agency was violating federal law by not cleaning up the Everglades pollution problem, a byproduct of the sugar industry here.
The Friends of the Everglades have issued an opinion statement that the proposal approved by Judge Gold is not going to work.  Read it here.
The Miccosukee Indian Tribe has not issued a formal statement, yet (at least not that we could find).  On either newsmaking order of Judge Gold's this month.  Stay tuned.

120719-c
Wild Florida Airboats embarks on adventure through the headwaters of the Everglades
1888PressRelease
July 19, 2012.
 (1888PressRelease) In an effort to promote Orlando's Eco Tourism, Wild Florida Airboats is embarking on an adventure on June 26th to paddle nearly 50 miles by canoe down Shingle Creek. They will begin their journey at the Headwaters of the Everglades in Orlando and finish at Cypress Lake in Kenansville.
Wild Florida Airboats (http://wildfloridairboats.com/), an airboat tour and alligator exhibit attraction, is pleased to announce that on July 26th, 2012, they will embark on an adventure to paddle nearly 50 miles by canoe through Shingle Creek to the docks at Wild Florida Airboats on Cypress Lake. They will take this journey in an effort to promote Orlando's Eco Tourism, create awareness for the Florida Everglades, and donate to The Nature Conservancy.
In the peak of Florida's summer, the guys at Wild Florida will set sail at the Headwaters of the Everglades near the Millenia Mall in Orlando. Their canoes will then follow Shingle Creek through downtown Kissimmee, where it eventually empties into West Lake Tohopekaliga. Shingle Creek flows under the Florida Turnpike, 528 Beachline, 417 Greenway, Osceola Parkway and Highway 192. After this, Wild Florida will paddle nearly 10 miles across West Lake Toho to the Southport Canal. After navigating the canal, they plan to float across Cypress Lake to their final destination, Wild Florida Airboats, located on the beautiful shores of Cypress Lake.
"This journey will take our guys through highly developed regions of Orlando as well as total wilderness areas," says Ranier Munns, co-founder of Will Florida. "Who knows what they might find and see?"
Wild Florida's journey is expected to take 2-3 days to complete. You can follow their progress and check for updates along the way on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and at wildfloridairboats.com. Watch for their story in the local media too !
Wild Florida is accepting sponsorships and partners to join forces as they make this expedition a reality. Each partner will be highlighted before, during, and after the trip. Also, a special page will be added to Wild Florida's website, http://wildfloridairboats.com/, to document the journey and spotlight those who helped make it happen.

Please contact Sam Haught if you would like to learn more about getting involved: sam@wildfloridairboats.com or             407-957-3135       .
Please click here to see a map of Wild Florida's journey:
http://wildfloridairboats.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/canoe-trip1.jpg
Please click here to learn more about The Nature Conservancy and the Northern Everglades Protection Project Wild Florida will donate to: http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/f...
About Wild Florida Airboats: Orlando's Only Airboat & Wildlife Park Attraction
When it comes to airboat tours, there is simply no comparison to Wild Florida. Just a short drive from the Orlando and Disney area, we offer beautiful day tours, relaxing sunset tours and exciting night tours. Travel deep into the protected swamps, marshes and rivers that make up the Central Florida Everglades. Get an in depth look at the gators, birds, eagles, trees and plants that can be found in our beautiful wetlands. This is Natural Florida at its best! We guarantee you won't see any development, homes, or signs of human life. Come see for yourself how good it feels to be in the middle of nowhere.
In addition to our incredible airboat rides, we offer an amazing wildlife park full of zebras, watusi, deer, hogs, monster alligators and much more ! We also have a tropical bird aviary, hands-on alligator demonstrations, gift shop, 500 ft. sightseeing dock and nature trails. Don't forget our delicious barbecue with smoked ribs, chicken, pulled pork, fried alligator and even frog legs! Our facility is properly insured with a fleet of US Coast Guard approved boats and captains. Additionally, we have over 1500 sq. ft. of covered deck meeting space directly overlooking the swamp. Day or night, we are prepared to offer an experience you'll never forget...
Read more at
http://www.virtual-strategy.com/2012/07/19/wild-florida-airboats-embarks-adventure-through-headwaters-everglades#tAHjDklHy6pIhBPm.99

120718-a
Everglades gets fighting chance
Miami Herald – Editorial Opinion
July 18, 2012
The court-approved clean-up for the River of Grass is long overdue
Ailing after a decade of broken deals, choking, invasive exotic plants, runoff from sugar and other farms, federal lawsuits, and even deadly pythons, the Everglades finally has a fighting chance to be restored to that fabled River of Grass that Marjory Stoneman Douglas sought to save more than 60 years ago.
In dispute for years: how to reduce nutrients from nearby farms and urban runoff that have poisoned the Everglades with heavy concentrations of phosphorous, changing the very character of the swampy river that Florida wildlife counts on to survive.
Under the Everglades Forever plan, Big Sugar has reduced the amount of phosphorus flowing south from Lake Okeechobee — the latest count by regional water managers was down 71 percent from 1994 levels. Despite that strong performance by farms using marshes to stem the flow into the river, the damage accumulated over decades has been hard to reverse. The water, though significantly cleaner, still does not meet the federal standard for a healthy Everglades.
That, too, seems to be resolved with U.S. District Judge Alan Gold’s order last week that clears the way for a historic $880 million cleanup plan agreed upon by state and federal governments. The Obama administration also announced an $80 million program to preserve 23,000 acres of farmland by buying up the development rights to ensure that ranchland in the Northern Everglades remains pristine in perpetuity — a key to saving the endangered Florida panther.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told the Editorial Board on Wednesday that he has been meeting with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians to hear their concerns about road improvements to Tamiami Trail. It’s good to keep an open door, but unless the facts change it’s difficult to see, after years of studies, how else to protect animals in that corridor without an elevated roadway.
Mr. Salazar visited the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to celebrate these new efforts to clean up the Everglades — part listening tour and part stump speech for President Obama’s reelection. He told the board that Gov. Rick Scott’s support is crucial to ensuring a steady course for the clean-up, instead of more stalling. The governor says he’s committed. Good.
This is not a quick fix. The landmark cleanup will take a dozen years to complete. Not only is the Everglades and the lake the source of drinking water for millions in South Florida, its survival depends on removing the canals and dikes that have drained the natural water flow and cleaning up the pollution.
 As it is, the clean-up target of 2025 comes two decades after the project was to be completed. South Florida’s future depends on keeping to the timetable. No more deadly delays.

120718-b
Pumping in polluted water considered to boost Lake Okeechobee
Sun Sentinel – by Andy Reid
July 18, 2012
Environmentalists oppose return to "back-pumping
More polluted water could get dumped into Lake Okeechobee to boost South Florida water supplies under a new proposal to roll back restrictions on "back-pumping."
Five years ago, state water managers rebuffed Big Sugar and stopped the controversial practice of redirecting stormwater that drains off South Florida farmland to store it in the lake — while also washing in pollutants from farming.
But now, with the strain of competing Lake Okeechobee water supply needs growing, the South Florida Water Management District is considering a return to back-pumping to help store more water in the lake that serves as the region's backup water supply.
Supporters of back-pumping say the farmland stormwater runoff that would be pumped back into the lake would make more lake water available for agricultural and environmental needs alike. They say more water in the lake would enable sending more freshwater to the West Coast to help the parched Caloosahatchee River during dry times, without threatening to sap lake water needed to irrigate South Florida farms.
"It's to prevent the taffy pull, the tug of war between the Caloosahatchee and the [agricultural] lake users for the last drop of lake water," said Barbara Miedema, vice president of the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. "We support back-pumping as a water management tool."
But environmental advocates contend that the phosphorus-laden water that flows off sugar cane fields is supposed to be cleaned up and sent south to the Everglades, not pumped back north into Lake Okeechobee.
The potential damage to wildlife and water quality from dumping more polluted water into Lake Okeechobee wouldn't be worth a slight boost in water supply, environmental groups say.
"They are sort of justifying pollution" Jon Ullman, of the Sierra Club, said about the back-pumping proposal. "Pumping polluted water into the lake … is not a good practice."
Phosphorus, nitrogen and other nutrient-rich pollutants that wash in with back-pumped water as a result of farming could lead to a dead zone in the lake, resulting in algae blooms and low oxygen levels that kill fish, aquatic insects and disrupt other aspects of the lake's food chain.
South Florida agricultural representatives say that improved farming practices have reduced the amount of pollution that flows off their land, but environmental advocates contend that it still does not meet water-quality standards.
Environmental concerns persuaded the water district board in 2007 to stop back-pumping for water supply needs, but leadership of the agency changed after Gov. Rick Scott was elected in 2010.
Now district officials say it's worth considering a watered-down version of back-pumping in the hopes of finding a way to stretch lake water supplies. It would send less water back into the lake than before and that water wouldn't be as polluted as in the past, according to the district.
The goal is to help the Caloosahatchee "without impacting surrounding ecosystems or water supply for current users," district spokesman Gabe Margasak said Monday. In August, the proposal goes before the district's nine-member board, appointed by the governor.
"Any time we move water around, there is always concern," said Joe Collins, chairman of the district board. "The Caloosahatchee estuary needs additional fresh water ... this is at least one option."
Lake Okeechobee's water once naturally overlapped its southern banks and flowed south to replenish the Everglades.
But decades of farming and development led to levees and drainage canals that corralled the lake and turned it into South Florida's primary backup water supply — tapped to irrigate farmland and restock community drinking water supplies.
In recent years, safety concerns about the lake's aging dike have the Army Corps of Engineers keeping the lake about one foot lower year round. During dry times, that heightens the strain of divvying up the lake water that remains.
Back-pumping would help, agricultural advocates say.
Sugar representatives say that back-pumping doesn't rob the Everglades of water, because it would occur during the rainy season when much of that stormwater ends up getting drained out to sea to avoid flooding.
"Since you cannot make it rain, this looks like a 'win-win' proposition that is extremely critical and timely," said Judy Sanchez, U.S. Sugar Corp.spokeswoman. "With Lake Okeechobee levels continuing to drop, during the rainy season no less, we support the [water district's] efforts to protect the Caloosahatchee River and estuary system by storing rainfall however possible in Lake Okeechobee."
Environmental groups say better conservation would help stretch water supplies.
The district needs to impose more restrictions on agricultural water use during the dry season, not just cut-off the Caloosahatchee River when the lake gets too low, said Paul Grey, a scientist for Audubon of Florida.
And while stormwater water pumped off sugar cane fields might not be as polluted as water that flows into the lake from elsewhere, back-pumping still brings more pollution than would otherwise end up in the lake, Grey said.
"You trade one kind of harm for another kind of harm," said Grey, who specializes in monitoring the health of Lake Okeechobee. "You are still adding more problems to the existing problems."
Related:
Water officials consider dumping polluted water into Lake Okeechobee    Palm Beach Post

120718-c
Salazar: GOP budget "death knell" for conservation
Associated Press – by Matt Sedensky
July 18, 2012
LOXAHATCHEE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Fla. -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says budget proposals by congressional Republicans could be "a death knell" for conservation programs.
Salazar railed against a variety of proposed cuts to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wetlands conservation projects and other federal efforts. He says he fears "a potential U-turn" in progress.
Salazar made the comments during a visit to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge outside Boynton Beach on Wednesday morning, where he took an airboat ride and met with conservationists.
He touted the Obama administration's support of the Everglades, saying more progress has been made in the ecosystem in the past three and a half years than in the two decades before that.
Related:
Despite progress, White House worried about “U-turn'' in Everglades        MiamiHerald.com
US Interior secretary urges continued Everglades commitment       Palm Beach Post
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar takes airboat tour of Everglades        WPBF West Palm Beach
Cabinet secretary surveying Everglades projects       Wink News
Interior secretary visits Everglades    Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Interior Secretary Salazar To Tour Everglades          CBS Local

The author in Gene Van
Schaick's homemade
buggy, which was
constructed using plate
metal, steel channel,
and parts from military
vehicles. It can drive
through 6 feet of water.

120718-d
Swamp buggy drive through the Everglades
Popular Mechanics – by Jeff Wise
July 18, 2012
For this installment of "I'll Try Anything," PM contributor Jeff Wise heads to Florida for a scary but exhilarating ride through the swamp.
The 5000-pound metal beast pitches me forward as it lurches to a stop. Eight feet below, swamp water sloshes in front of our 4-foot-high tractor tires, rousing an alligator that wriggles away for cover.
I ease the accelerator forward and begin to move, feeling my way across the submerged potholes. It's like riding a swaying, noisy metal elephant. There are reasons to take things slowly—vehicles have vanished into the sucking mud of the Everglades. "It's an extreme environment," says Gene Van Schaick, 70, the builder and owner of the behemoth I'm piloting. "It'll kick your ass."
I've met up with Van Schaick to experience the landscape he loves best—the wetlands of southern Florida—aboard the machine he's most passionate about: the swamp buggy. Most Americans tend to associate "swamp" with words such as "stagnant" and "malaria" and think of swamp buggies as dirt-flinging hot rods that race up and down mud wallows. But Van Schaick's swamp buggies are slow, utilitarian vehicles, and as for the swamp—well... "I don't know what people think of when they trash-talk swamps," he says. "I love the swamp. I love the views. I love the smell."
One point he'll concede: The swamp is hard to navigate. In recent geological time the area was limestone and coral reef, and it's still so flat that the torrential rains of summer and fall are slow to drain. For all but a brief dry season, waterlogged marshes and open water predominate. Anyone trying to hike in has to contend not only with the sheer physical exertion but dense vegetation, hungry alligators, clouds of mosquitoes, and four kinds of poisonous snakes.
For all its rigors, the backcountry has much to offer in the way of recreation; though an easy drive from Miami, it's full of game to hunt, as well as exotic specimens to lure the bird-watcher and flora enthusiast. To tap those opportunities, intrepid Floridians began a century ago to retrofit Model A and T Fords with big wheels and extra-low gearing. Today, a small but passionate subculture of builders—including a group founded by Van Schaick in 1990—carries on that legacy.
On a warm day in early February, Van Schaick takes me to a lot at the edge of an airstrip halfway between Miami and Naples, Fla. Some two dozen beefy, hard-driven machines are lined up, each one unique, having been designed and cobbled together—mostly out of plate metal and parts of other vehicles—by one of the 65 members of his club.
Van Schaick, a retired carpenter, spent six years building his behemoth, Gray Ghost. The Goodyear tires yield 27 inches of clearance. The solid-steel tie rods are behind the axle for protection against cypress knees, the club-like growths that sprout from the roots of cypress trees. (If the knee hits the axle first, it won't be able to take out the tie rods.) The engine is a 2.8-liter V-6 from a 1982 Chevy Citation, without the fuel-injection system—Van Schaick stripped it out and replaced it with a carburetor. "Everything needs to be rugged and simple," he says, "so you can fix it while standing in 3 feet of water."
Van Schaick and I clamber on top of the buggy, which, from up here, looks like a boat—fitting for a vehicle that can negotiate 6 feet of water. I fire up the engine and we head out.
Past the parking lot are 38 square miles of county-owned land. Though the landscape is nearly identical to the federally administered Big Cypress National Preserve next door, there are fewer restrictions on its use. Soon we're axle-deep in muddy water, moving across the cypress prairie. The landscape looks like something out of Dr. Seuss, an expanse of twisted gray trunks garlanded with bushy bromeliads bearing spiky red flowers. Farther on, the road becomes hemmed in by a forest so dense it feels like we're driving through a tunnel. Our wheels churn up mud the consistency of brownie batter. We never move faster than walking pace, and after an hour and a half we've covered only 5 miles.
Van Schaick takes the wheel and gives me a tour, from the high ridges and island-like hardwood hammocks that remain partially dry year-round to the sediment-filled saw-grass ponds that during the wettest months become, as he puts it, "bottomless." Van Schaick has seen lots of things in these wetlands over the years. Once he surprised a panther while on foot. "It was less than 10 yards from me," he says. "It went straight up, turned in the air, and headed the other way."
I'm surprised at how pleasant it is. There's no oppressive stench; the water in the Everglades isn't stagnant but part of a broad, slow-moving flow. Snakes and alligators thrive here; so do deer, wild hogs, and turkeys. Without buggies, much of this verdant wilderness would be all but inaccessible. "It's uncomfortable for hiking, and it's easy to get turned around," Van Schaick says. "Anyone who doesn't know the area well isn't going to be able to penetrate the interior."
Nevertheless, the machines have their detractors. "They are detrimental to the environment," says Matthew Schwartz, executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association. "The ground is very fragile, and when you put that much weight on it, the soil doesn't recover. It erodes right down to the limestone." Schwartz's group wants to keep motorized recreation from expanding within Big Cypress. But Van Schaick counters that most of the soil eroded by swamp buggies is replenished during each yearly cycle of flooding.
As we stop at a saw-grass pond and kill the engine, we can imagine that except for the machine under our butts, there is no sign of civilization. We could be in some remote wilderness, not an hour from one of the East Coast's biggest cities. A breeze moves across the tall green stalks of the saw grass, bearing a sweetly resinous tang. Overhead, two hawks coast, circling stiff-winged on the warm air. "I love the tranquility of this place," Van Schaick says. "Apart from the buggy tracks, it's just the way it's been for hundreds of years."

120717-a
Drought ?  Not for Florida
News-Press.com
July 17, 2012
Much of country battles dry conditions, but we are doing fine, thanks to Debby. While a wide swath of the country is frying, most of Florida — including Southwest Florida — is nice and wet.
Aquifers are full and there is no evidence of a drought.
Data from the South Florida Water Management District show rain has put much of the region in good shape.
It should stay that way through the rainy season. The wetness has hurt some — think golf courses — while others, such as sugar cane growers, are looking for even more rain.
Sustained rain over the state has wiped out the drought, leaving only a small area of abnormally dry conditions in parts of Collier, Glades and Hendry counties and in a 10-county area in the Panhandle.
Jennifer Colson, a forecaster for the National Weather Service in Tampa, said last month’s Tropical Storm Debby is the reason the state is no longer in a drought.
“Did she help us?” Colson said. “Absolutely.”
Colson said the forecast for the next three months is for normal rainfall, a condition she said will keep the state out of the worsening drought that has hit much of the rest of the country.
In SW Florida
“From June 1 to now, the southwest coast has received 11.12 inches,” said Randy Smith, a spokesman for the SFWMD. “That’s 78 percent of the average for the season and reflects a 3.19-inch deficit.”
However, of that deficit Smith said: “We are going to likely make that up in the next couple of days.”
Forecast models from the water district are calling for up to another half-inch to possibly 2½ inches through Thursday.
Smith said the recent rains have put area aquifers in good shape.
“All of the levels on the west coast are in the green,” he said. “They are at the historical averages for the year.”
As of Tuesday, Lake Okeechobee was at 12.01 feet — about 18 inches below historical levels for July 17.
“It will rain and it will go up,” Smith said.
Additionally, Smith said, rains that have fallen between the west coast and Lake O are a good sign for the Caloosahatchee River and will help reduce salinity levels in the river.
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation, which monitors water quality on the Caloosahatchee, reported as of July 10 pulse releases have helped reduce salinity levels to bring the estuary into a more ecologically balanced state and requested the Army Corps of Engineers to continue the releases and gradually lower salinity in the river. Higher salinity affects freshwater organisms in the river.
Judy Sanchez, a spokesman for U.S. Sugar in Clewiston, said despite all the rain, the sugar crop would appreciate more.
“For sugar cane,” she said, “rain is a good thing.”
Sanchez said sugar growers in Florida have worked in drought conditions the past few years.
“We hope that we would have a normal rainy season,” she said.
Sandy Biggar, owner of Biggar Farms in south Fort Myers, said he was enjoying the rains, especially because this isn’t the growing season.
“It doesn’t bother us,” he said. “We’re done by the end of May.”
The grower won’t begin planting the next crop of tomatoes for weeks yet.
“It’s too hot to grow in the summer in Florida,” he said.
Wet fairways
Rich Lamb, golf director for Fort Myers Country Club, said the rains have had a negative affect on many area courses.
“My buddies at Gateway said they got 4.8 inches of rain Monday,” Lamb said. “The rain has affected every single golf course. It’s like Russian roulette. Sooner or later you’re gonna get hit.”
Lamb said Fort Myers Country Club, which got 1.4 inches Monday and more Tuesday, was a mess because of the rain and had to close.
“Thank God, at least I can send them to Eastwood,” he said. The sister course to the Fort Myers Country Club received only eight-tenths of an inch of rain Tuesday, he said.
“The unique thing about Florida, you can take a big, ol’ rain and bounce back,” Lamb said about golf courses here. “Unless you get four or five in a row.”
About reopening the course, Lamb said: “Common sense will tell us when it is time to reopen.”
Conditions north of the state were not as good.
The drought gripping the Midwest and about 80 percent of the country is the most widespread since 1956, stoking wildfires and ruining the nation’s breadbasket crops, according to the latest report by the National Drought Mitigation Center. Drought conditions led the Department of Agriculture recently to declare natural disasters in more than 1,000 counties in 26 states.

120717-b
Obama’s schizophrenic Everglades election strategy
SunshineStateNews.com - by Nancy Smith
July 17, 2012
Obama surrogates swooped into Florida Friday to drop $80 million in federal subsidies for conservation easements north of Lake Okeechobee. That’s fancy talk for paying landowners to hold water.
As you can imagine, Florida reporters and environmentalists alike fell over themselves like a gaze of coons on a deer feeder, swooning over this benevolent president who cares so much about the fabled River of Grass. Press machines whirled out copy touting Barack Obama's renewed commitment to the Everglades.
With Florida being arguably the most important swing state in 2012, some suggested the timing is convenient. “The Everglades always draws a crowd in an election year,” wrote Craig Pittman in the Tampa Bay Times.
First of all, why?
Second of all, why now?
Sure, some folks -- the Everglades Foundation, for instance -- will roll out surveys saying that Floridians overwhelmingly support Everglades restoration. I love those polls: “Do you support mother nature and apple pie?”  Heavy question, that. Are we supposed to be shocked when an overwhelming majority check the "yes" box ?
But, come on, let’s put this in context. Contact Joe Floridian and ask him what’s sitting on top of his priority list. He’s worried about making his mortgage payment; he’s worried about the cost of gas to drive his kids to Disney World this summer (not to mention all the ridiculous charges once he arrives – can you say "Orlando bed tax" ?).  I can assure you, Mr. and Mrs. Floridian are not worried whether water going into the Everglades is, as one ‘Glades expert explained to me once: “Three to four times cleaner than rain.”
But, it’s an election year and Obama is anticipating his envoys will deliver 80 million delicious reasons for Floridians to cast their votes for him in November. Mother nature and apple pie, right?
Not so fast, Mr. President.
Let's not forget that this is the same administration that nearly crippled the state with its burdensome numeric nutrient criteria. Obama’s EPA fought to shackle businesses, counties and municipalities statewide with tens of billions in new taxes (see EPA Numerical Nutrient Criteria). To add insult to injury, Florida was singled out as the only state painted with this job-killing bull's-eye.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection estimated EPA’s mandates would have imposed $21 billion in costs on municipal wastewater treatment and stormwater utilities. Adam Putnam's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, along with the University of Florida, determined EPA’s directive (NNC) would’ve cost Florida’s agriculture industry – a top economic driver in the state – $1.15 billion annually and would’ve killed up to 14,500 full- and part-time jobs.
Perhaps U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., at the time, said it best: “Florida has one of the most aggressive water-quality protection programs in the nation, implemented by the people who know our state best, and it’s time the EPA stop bullying us into accepting another Washington-contrived mandate that would devastate job creation.”
Even Democrats who are not known for standing up to bullies -- U.S. Sen. Bill "Blend into the Woodwork" Nelson comes to mind -- broke from the Obama administration and instead backed Florida’s right to develop its own science-based standards.
Now, almost absurdly, the Obama campaign thinks Florida voters will forget all that and somehow be won over by merely dangling this shiny $80 million carrot?
Perhaps the president, who will be campaigning in Florida this week, should have coordinated the timing of his announcement a bit better. Did the Obama folks not realize they’d be sharing the headline with another Everglades development ?
Two days prior to Obama’s big $80 million announcement, federal judge Alan Gold took action just short of endorsing a new federal-state Everglades settlement agreement. Price tag: $880 million! And, while the financing plan remains murky, what is clear is that property taxpayers in 16 of Florida's 67 counties will have to bear a $520 million burden for it.
Shockingly, that figure represents a huge “deal” the governor's office was able to strike with the Obama administration.
As Friends of the Everglades President Alan Farago complained (no, that’s not a typo) in a recent op-ed, “The plan, which Judge Gold approved last week, falls short of what EPA believed was necessary to meet Everglades’ pollution goals -- $880 million vs. $1.5 billion …”
So, Obama's feds grudgingly accepted a compromise from the state just shy of $1 billion, instead of squeezing South Floridians for the $1.5 billion they really wanted? Well, jeez, I don't know what to say. ... Ummm … thank you ... ?
Obama's Everglades election strategy is somewhere beyond crazy-insulting after his administration's actions.
Just as bad is the failure of virtually the whole of the Florida press corps to point out what's going on here. I expect it from environmentalists who don't know the value of a dollar from a banana. But not from Florida's voraciously curious and high-minded press.
I guess if it's election time and your name is Barack Obama and if you promise you did something magnificent for Floridians even when you didn't, you get a pass.

120717-c









Melissa MEEKER
Executive Director
SFWMD

120717-c
South Florida Water Management District staying ahead of region's needs
TCPalm.com – Letter by Melissa L. Meeker, Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District
July 17, 2012
Effective strategies used in the early and mid-2000s by the South Florida Water Management District to acquire land for water resource and restoration purposes have come under recent criticism.
For anyone who lived in Florida a decade ago, it's not hard to remember the fast-paced real estate market during that time. As development increased and property values escalated, it made sense for the district to set aside lands ahead of the design and construction of projects associated with long-term restoration programs.
The SFWMD land acquisition program accomplished its goals. From 2000 to 2008, the district put close to 165,000 acres into public ownership for Kissimmee River Restoration, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and other water resource purposes.
The $1.6 billion invested in land during those years has brought tangible results. In the restored Kissimmee, for example, we have vastly expanded the river's flood plain, holding more water north of Lake Okeechobee and thereby reducing harmful discharges to coastal estuaries. For the new suite of projects that will send cleaner water to the Everglades, timely implementation would not be possible without needed tracts of land already in public ownership.
With the years of intensive land buying behind us, we are concentrating on strategic acquisitions and putting publicly owned acreage to its best use. Whether constructing on-site projects, exchanging for lands in more critical locations or leveraging our real estate assets, we are focused on targeting resources where they are needed most and implementing restoration work.
The district's policymaking, land acquisitions and surpassing activities have always been carried out under Governing Board direction in accordance with state statutes and as part of an open and public process.
For the past year, we have been reviewing and improving the agency's business, administration and operational practices districtwide. My ongoing goal is to ensure the agency is operating prudently, effectively and efficiently in the best interest of South Florida's water resources and its taxpayers.

120717-e
State targets nitrate levels
Ocala.com - by Fred Hiers, Staff writer
July 17, 2012
Silver River and springs reviewed.
Florida water regulators have announced the acceptable pollutant limit for Silver Springs and the Silver River. But at least one environmental scientist already has warned that the limit won't be achieved under current enforcement trends — and wouldn't make a difference to the ailing spring and river even if it were.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will host a public meeting July 31 in Ocala to discuss its total maximum daily load (TMDL) limit for nitrate, the nutrient known to cause destructive algae blooms.
The agency hopes that by establishing daily limits for nitrates, rising long-term nitrate levels will begin to level off and be reduced.
Nitrate sources include fertilizers and animal and human waste. Excess nitrates in water bodies results in excess algae and changes water chemistry. This harms fish and fauna and wildlife that depend on the water.
Mary Paulic, FDEP water basin coordinator, said her agency's plan is to set maximum daily loads of nitrates in Silver Springs and the river at levels no greater than 0.51 miligrams per liter. Agency scientists believe that if the FDEP can limit maximum daily load to that level, the agency will reach its long-term goal of reducing nitrate levels to a monthly average of 0.35 mg/L.
Paulic said she didn't know how long it would take to reach 0.35 mg/L under the proposed plan.
The 0.35 mg/L standard was one originally establish by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for maximum nitrate levels for Florida springs.
Paulic said the July 31 meeting is designed to present the TMDL to the public, discuss what it means to the river, and then during later meetings discuss the specifics as to how to reduce daily nutrient loads and pollutant sources.
The FDEP will have its work cut out for it.
In a 92-page report issued this month, FDEP reported that the Silver Springs, the Silver River and other water sources contributing to the river further downstream had a mean nitrate level of 1.47 mg/L — more than four times the 0.35 mg/L goal.
The report cited numerous studies that showed how various algae increased in their density as nitrate levels rose. It also showed what most environmentalists already knew: Nitrate and total nitrogen levels have more than tripled during the past 50 years.
The report cites 104 domestic and industrial wastewater facilities that could be contributing nitrates to the area feeding water to Silver Springs.
It also reported nearly 50,000 septic systems in the area that could be contributing nitrates to the springs.
"There has been a growing concern over the abundance and continuing use of septic tanks as the primary sanitary sewer disposal method within the contributing area, particularly in areas close to the springs," the report said.
On average, the total nitrogen concentration released to the environment by a typical septic system is 57.7 mg/L, the report said.
The report also cited about 240 horse farms in the Silver Springs basin area, in addition to other livestock, and estimates that between 10 percent and 30 percent of the nitrates reaching the groundwater is originating from these farms and their animal waste.
Robert Knight, director of the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute, said the TMDL goal of 0.51 mg/L is too little, too late.
"That's not protecting the water quality of the spring. That's harming the water of the Silver Springs," Knight said.
He said the maximum daily load should be half of what FDEP is proposing. He also thinks that the eventual nitrate concentration goal of 0.35 mg/L is too high.
That's because current flow rates in Silver Springs, because of drought and excess water withdrawal, have been reduced to only a third of what they were 40 years ago.
"So, at current flow, Silver River would still look bad at 0.35 mg/L," he said.
Knight said the only way to improve Silver Springs and the Silver River is to cut back fertilizer use by two-thirds and upgrade wastewater treatment plants.
"(Until then), no one is going to get to 0.35 mg/L or 0.51 mg/L unless the state gets some backbone," Knight said, adding later, "People want to do as little as they can get by with."

120717-f
Sugar farmers exceed water requirements
News-Press.com
July 17, 2012
Sugar farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee achieved a 71 percent reduction in phosphorus leaving water in the farming region in 2011-12 almost three times better than required under Florida’s Everglades Forever Act.
This follows last year’s 79 percent on-farm reduction and an overall average reduction of 55 percent for the past 17 years.
The South Florida Water Management District, the agency tasked with Everglades restoration, announced the results.

120717-g
Water district holds tax rate steady amid budget cuts
Palm Beach Post - by Christine Stapleton, Staff Writer
July 17, 2012
The South Florida Water Management District opened its 2013 budget season with good news for taxpayers: It won’t ask for a tax increase.
The proposed tax rate, accepted by the district governing board July 12, means property owners in most counties in its jurisdiction, including Palm Beach County, will pay 42.9 cents per $1,000 of taxable value. That means a home with a taxable value of $100,000 would pay a water district tax bill of $42.89 next year. That rate is slightly lower than last year, when a home with the same taxable value paid $43.63.
Doug Bergstrom, the District’s Director of Administrative Services, outlined the proposed $656.7 budget for 2013. About half of the proposed budget, $333.8 million, is dedicated to restoration projects. The next biggest portion of the budget, $182 million, is for operations and maintenance.
The District’s budget is funded by property taxes, licenses, permit fees, grants, agricultural taxes, investment income and other federal, state and local revenue.
A budget-slashing law that went into effect last year forced the district to cut its property-tax collections by 30 percent. To accomplish the task, the District closed satellite offices, downsized departments and cut its workforce by 380 workers.
The final 2013 budget will be approved in September.

120716-a
$80 Million for Wetlands and Working Ranches in the Everglades
Huff Post – by Mark Tercek, CEO, The Nature Conservancy
July 16, 2012
It's a good day when the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, the Chair of the President's Council on Environmental Quality, an Assistant Secretary of the Army and a top official from the Department of the Interior convene on a Nature Conservancy Preserve. It's an even better day when they are there to announce an $80 million investment in conservation efforts that will benefit both nature and people.
On Friday I was proud to welcome Secretary Vilsack and other government leaders to The Nature Conservancy's Disney Wilderness Preserve, a 12,000-acre protected area near the headwaters of the Florida Everglades. A demonstration site for large-scale wetlands restoration, it was a fitting venue for the Secretary's announcement of new funding to protect and restore wetland habitat on working ranches in the Everglades.
The announcement is another important milestone in a collaborative, region-wide effort to protect the many values of one of America's most important natural areas. In 2010 and 2011, the USDA committed $189 million for the purchase of conservation easements more than 50,000 acres of ranchlands in central Florida -- protecting land from development while keeping it in private ownership. And earlier this year, the U.S. Department of the Interior established the new Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area that will be a unique combination of public land, private land protected by conservation easements and cooperative management by the state and federal governments.
These projects, along with Friday's announcement, are encouraging in two important ways. First, they bring together diverse groups -- federal and state government agencies, ranchers, businesspeople, conservationists and sportsmen and women. And second, these groups all recognize the multiple benefits of conserving our country's lands and waters.
In a time of tough budget scrutiny, the widespread support for conservation in the Everglades may seem surprising. Yet, despite partisan politics that seem to dominate today's media, an overwhelming majority of Americans from all political perspectives value the protection of our natural resources, and are willing to invest in those resources for future generations. In a recent bipartisan poll done for the Conservancy, a striking 83 percent of respondents said they would be willing to pay additional taxes to protect American land, water and wildlife. Three-quarters said that even with federal budget problems, funding for conservation should not be cut.
These poll results confirm what we are seeing in Florida: that Americans across the political spectrum value the many ways nature benefits them and their communities. The Northern Everglades, for example, play a critical role in flood control and water supply for central and south Florida. Healthy wetlands act like a giant sponge, storing water in times of drought, holding it in times of flood, and filtering out nutrients that would otherwise be harmful to downstream areas. And what's more, restoring wetlands is more cost-effective than man-made infrastructure like ditches, dikes and filtering plants designed to provide these same services.
Restoration of the Everglades also helps preserve the state's ranching economy. Because cattle ranches contain much of Florida's remaining natural habitat, keeping cattle ranchers ranching is critical to both the health of Florida's lands and waters and the strength of its economy. Today, an unprecedented number of Florida's ranchers are interested in protecting their lands through conservation easements. The USDA's additional investment will provide needed funds to sustain ranching into the future, as well as restore wetlands on ranches in a way that is good for ranching, people and the environment.
These restoration efforts also support Florida's robust outdoor recreation heritage. The new Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area includes a core area open for public recreation. And the easements placed on ranches create a connected network of protected habitat for both game and non-game species.
In the highly partisan atmosphere of a presidential election year, it's encouraging to see examples of one thing that Americans can agree on: the importance of preserving our nation's natural heritage. Collaborative, landscape-scale conservation efforts like those in the Everglades are a smart investment in the American economy, culture and way of life.

120716-b
Everglades plan promising, but where’s the money ?
Palm Beach Post – special commentary by Alan Farago, President of Friends of the Everglades
July 16, 2012
Half a century ago Marjory Stoneman Douglas, founder of Friends of the Everglades, was fiercely skeptical of governmental efforts to restore the fading River of Grass without ironclad assurances to reverse harm from misguided engineering and agricultural policies. The new $880 million plan to treat polluted water dumped by Big Sugar into the Everglades is the result of a federal lawsuit by Friends of the Everglades and the Miccosukee Tribe. It is a step in the right direction, but it lacks funding guarantees for construction and it is virtually unenforceable due to hug loopholes.
In 2004, Friends sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Aagency for its long-standing failure to enforce clean water standards against sugar industry polluters who were in clear violation of the 1992 Everglades Forever Act. The Act provides for a strict phosphorus limit of 10 parts per billion for water in the Everglades. Scientists universally agreed that phosphorus – a common component of fertilizers used by Big Sugar — was harming the River of Grass.
U.S. District Judge Alan Gold agreed that the EPA and the state of Florida had been derelict in enforcing clean water standards. Finally, more than four years after Judge Gold’s first ruling and with the threat of contempt sanctions looming, a Gov. Scott’s administration has offered a plan with the approval of EPA to resolve the Friends’ Clean Water Act lawsuit.
The plan, which Judge Gold aproved last week, falls short of what EPA believed was necessary to meet Everglades’ pollution goals — $880 million vs. $1.5 billion for a series of new shallow marshes to treat Big Sugar’s chemical pollution. Judge Gold isolates two critical issues: how will the plan be funded and is it enforceable?
We are encouraged that the state has at least come forward with a plan to address Everglades water quality problems; not just on the Friends litigation, but through a serious effort to fix water quality problems in other parts of the Everglades. On the other hand, Friends doubts the state, the South Florida Water Management District and, particularly, the Legislature are truly committed to providing the necessary money.
History shows that all three entities have repeatedly thwarted efforts to save the River of Grass from destruction by Big Sugar and others. Can we trust the state, given that it still is locked in a congressional battle to eliminate federal Clean Water Act standards in Florida and, once again, supports back-pumping chemically-polluted water from sugar fields into Lake Okeechobee: a dismal practice that Friends fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court?
Moreover, the Legislature has failed to repeal the 2003 legislation amending the Everglades Forever Act, passed under Gov. Bush, that bypasses earlier commitments and permits another decade of harmful Everglades pollution.
Friends of the Everglades will stay the course. We are reminded how President Reagan described the process of standing down the nuclear arms race: trust, but verify. If we can’t verify, we wonder what the future holds.
Floridians have many reasons to mistrust the motives and purposes of the Legislature and governing boards of the state water management districts. So far, what the state and EPA propose is a step in the right direction but lacks the iron clad commitments that Marjory Stoneman Douglas fought for and that our organization is determined to achieve for Florida and the nation’s interest in the Everglades.

120716-c
Obama Administration Releases Report on Next Steps in Restoring the Everglades
EPonline.com
July 16, 2012
The Obama Administration has released a report outlining the historic Federal investments and progress made in Everglades restoration under the leadership of President Obama, and announced $80 million in additional funding to support farmers and ranchers who voluntarily conserve wetlands on agricultural land in the Northern Everglades Watershed. This new investment, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), will restore an additional 23,000 acres of wetlands vital to water quality and wildlife habitat in the Everglades system.
President Obama has made restoring the Everglades a national priority. Using the partnerships and community-led approach that is a hallmark of the President’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, the Administration has reinvigorated Federal leadership in Everglades restoration, investing $1.5 billion in Everglades projects and initiatives that will make a measurable impact on the ground, including nearly $900 million to jump start key construction projects that will restore water flow and essential habitat. These projects already have generated 6,600 Florida jobs and are expected to generate more. President Obama also has requested an additional $246 million in the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget to build on this progress and continue the investments, partnerships and projects that will return the Everglades to health.
Senior Administration officials including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, U.S. Department of Interior Assistant Secretary Rachel Jacobson, and Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy released the report and made the funding announcement today in Kissimmee, FL.
“The Everglades are an icon, an American treasure, and essential to the health and economy of Florida communities,” said Sutley. “With the President’s leadership, we are making real and measurable progress in Everglades restoration, dramatically increasing Federal funding, launching key construction projects, and working with the State and other partners to deliver results on the ground. There is much more to do, and we are committed to returning this majestic natural resource to health.”
“President Obama has made restoring the iconic Everglades a national priority,” Vilsack said. “Restoring these wetlands demonstrates a strong commitment to partnerships with ranchers and farmers to improve water quality and habitat protection while supporting Florida’s strong agricultural economy and ranching heritage. These investments are paying off, creating nearly 7,000 jobs in Florida’s economy and preserving thousands of acres of precious wetlands for future generations to enjoy.”
“The Everglades are one of America’s most treasured places – for the people of Florida and for visitors and tourists from all over the world,” said Ken Salazar, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. “By working together in pursuit of President Obama’s vision for a renewed and healthy Everglades, we honor the stewardship of generations of Florida cattle ranchers and other landowners who understood that we all have a stake in preserving the health of our land, water, and wildlife. Under the President’s leadership, our commitment to restoring the Everglades is benefiting the environment and the Florida economy – creating jobs, while protecting this unique place for years to come.”
"The Everglades are essential to the environmental and economic strength of so many Florida communities. The health of this ecosystem affects everything from water quality and biodiversity to tourism, an industry that supports thousands of jobs across the state,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "The success we've already seen in restoring the land, water and wildlife of the Everglades shows how investments in America’s extraordinary outdoors are also investments in our health and our economic future. Thanks to the additional funding announced today, we can expand our efforts to protect this vital watershed and build upon the progress that's already been made."
"In the last three years there has been unprecedented restoration progress in the Everglades,” said Darcy. “President Obama has invested more than $130 million to restore flood plains and waters that flow from the Kissimmee River. The Kissimmee River restoration project is the largest restoration project undertaken by the Corps to date and the benefits are already being realized. Since 2009, the federal family and the State of Florida have invested in and broken ground on seven restoration projects. We have seized the opportunity for stakeholders to work together toward common goal of restoring the Everglades."
Working in partnership with the State of Florida, Tribes and local leaders, since 2009, the Administration has restored more than 3,000 acres of the floodplains along the Kissimmee River; worked with landowners to improve habitat and water quality on more than 400,000 agricultural acres; begun constructing the first mile of bridging for the Tamiami Trail to restore water flow to Everglades National Park; begun implementing key components of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan to make more water available for environmental, urban and agricultural use; and reached an historic agreement with the State of Florida to make essential water quality improvements, including $879 million in State commitments for water quality projects.
Today’s investment in the WRP also builds on other significant Obama administration accomplishments to conserve habitat in the greater Everglades ecosystem. Earlier this year, the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) established the 150,000-acre Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area. Assistant Secretary Jacobson today announced that FWS has received $1.5 million in reprogrammed 2012 funding to begin securing additional conservation easements on priority parcels of some of the last remaining grass-land savannahs in the Northern Everglades – working with private land-owners to conserve the land, water and wildlife of the Everglades Headwaters.

120716-d
Naples mayor: Collier agency shake-up is power grab by South Florida water district
Naplesnews. Com - by Eric Staats
July 16, 2012
NAPLES — A leadership shake-up has unsettled Collier County's water management agency and is raising questions anew about whether the South Florida Water Management District is wresting control from local hands.
The state Legislature carved the Big Cypress Basin, the Collier arm of the water management district based in West Palm Beach, out of the larger 16-county district in 1976, but cross-state power struggles have cropped up repeatedly.
Hard feelings between the basin and district over organizational changes and then budget cuts in recent years are resurging in the aftermath of the resignation of Clarence Tears, the basin's popular director, in late June.
"I just think it's a continued effort to diminish the authority and responsibility of the basin," said Naples Mayor John Sorey, who served for six years on the basin board until this year. "I think it will be continued erosion of what the Big Cypress Basin does in Collier County."
The basin operates the county's primary flood control system, with twin missions of balancing drainage with drinking water aquifer recharge, and helps local governments pay for water supply projects.
Tears, director since 1996, couldn't be reached for comment about the circumstances of his decision to leave. Sorey said he was taken by surprise when the district notified him of Tears' resignation. He said he then called Tears, who told him he was forced to quit or be fired.
In response to the Daily News' questions about Tears, the district issued a statement Friday that said Tears tendered his resignation June 25 and that it was effective July 6.
Sorey had decided not to seek reappointment by Gov. Rick Scott this year, but changed his mind after learning about Tears' fate, Sorey said. He submitted his application days before Scott announced Sorey's replacement and a second new board member.
Naples real estate consulting firm president Alice Carlson, a former district board member, and retired Naples development manager Ralph Haskins were appointed July 2 and sworn in at the basin's July 6 board meeting. The district's Fort Myers Service Center director Phil Flood took the helm of the basin at the same meeting.
At the meeting, Sorey called it "inexcusable" that the basin board wasn't consulted on the leadership change and called on board members to send a protest to district officials and reassert the basin's authority. The board took no action.
"I think we're at a very critical point in the history of the Big Cypress Basin Board," Sorey said.
Basin board member John Vaughn called the district's handling of the Tears matter "way out of line" and basin board member David Farmer said he was "conflicted" over the state of affairs.
Basin board Chairman Dan DeLisi, who is Southwest Florida's representative on the district's Governing Board, said a public meeting wasn't an appropriate place to discuss Tears but defended the district's motives.
"I don't think there's anything in terms of (the Basin) being custodians and the decision-makers over the expenditure of the Basin's money that's ever been challenged in any way," DeLisi said.
He went on to propose that board member Rick Barber work with Flood to review the Basin's operating budget before a meeting in August to look for ways to cut costs, including closing the basin's offices on Horseshoe Drive.
"I think everything should be on the table," DeLisi said.
The board voted unanimously in favor of the review, but Carlson said that doesn't mean the basin's budget is in for a slashing.
"A fresh set of eyes is always a good idea," she said.

120716-e









Eric EIKENBERG
New CEO
Everglades Foundation

120716-e
Q&A with: Eric Eikenberg
Florida Current – by Bruce Ritchie
July 16, 2012
Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg took time from his first day on the job July 9 to talk about Everglades restoration and what led him to the group. Eikenberg was chief of staff for Gov. Charlie Crist in 2010 before becoming campaign manager for Crist's failed U.S. Senate bid. At age 36, Eikenberg said he wants the Everglades to be in better shape for his four children than it is now.
Why did you take the job ?
- I've been around Everglades restoration for a number of years. I sort of cut my teeth on the Everglades and the importance of restoring it during my time working for Clay Shaw when he was in the U.S. House. The congressman was a strong supporter of Everglades restoration -- continues to be a strong supporter.  Coming from not being in Florida and yet coming down here and seeing a policymaker, a Republican, being a strong conservationist, it was very attractive to me. ...
In the announcement of your being named CEO by the Everglades Foundation, you said the mission of the group "is simple: Save the Everglades." Is the solution that simple ?
- No, I think the solution -- there are complexities to the solution. Various constituencies have their own opinions on how to get to that solution. We at the Foundation feel our solution is based on science. That was a very appealing factor to me to come and join the organization. We are science-led and science-driven. …
Last year it seemed the Everglades Foundation increased its presence in Tallahassee last year. Will it continue to increase its presence or is it about where it is at ?  
- We will continue to push an effort to elevate the issue. With term limits in Tallahassee you are constantly educating members of the Legislature on the importance of Everglades restoration. This is not just a just south Florida issue. ...
Are you a Republican?
- I am.
Quite a few Republicans have distanced themselves from your former boss, former Gov. Charlie Crist. What did you think about him leaving the Republican Party and how do you deal with Republicans now? 
- Well, as far as my current job at the Foundation, we are nonpartisan. So we welcome Republicans and Democrats, independents -- whoever they may be, who are committed to restoration. Even though I am a registered Republican I am more focused on furthering this Foundation and its mission. I think that's the way I will answer that.
Can you talk about the leadership of the present governor (Rick Scott) and the legislature that you've seen? 
- The governor demonstrated key leadership here recently with the announced proposal between the state and the federal government when it comes to the water quality plan, this is the $880-million 13-year proposal which is going to build a number of projects within the system in order to clean water. So we give the governor and DEP (the Florida Department of Environmental Protection) and the (South Florida) Water Management District a tremendous amount of support. … I think it was critical that the governor took that on as a key issue for his administration. …  What we are now committed to is working with the administration and Legislature to fund the programs so that these projects are in fact constructed and that they are constructed on time. I think it is important to note these construction projects are jobs. These are jobs that are important not only to the system but also to the state. And there have been economic studies that show for every dollar spent on Everglades restoration it kicks out a $4 benefit. ...
On a personal note, have you ever had a life-changing experience?
- I think the experience that I remember vividly is I was out in middle of the Everglades probably three years ago. I was on dry land, I looked around, I realized (and) I said to myself, 'I don't even feel like I'm in Florida.' I mean, it was pristine. There were a number of wild animals all around me. It was literally breathtaking. And you know, you see various pictures and paintings of the Everglades. But it's not until you are actually out there that you realize what a national treasure we in fact have here in Florida. ...
Do you think we see a restoration of the Everglades in our lifetime ?
- I don't think any generation can say they will fully see restoration be completed. My opinion is restoration is continuous. Because the landscape of the state changes whether it is economically or based on growth -- whatever it may entail. I think it is up to the current generation of individuals to leave the Everglades in a better state than it received it. ...

120716-f
Sugar farms cut pollution
Miami Herald – by Curtis Morgan
July 16, 2012
For the 17th year, regional water managers say the sugar industry beat the state target for cutting pollution damaging the Everglades.
The amount of phosphorus flowing from the 470,000-acre are south of Lake Okeechobee was down 71 percent compared to1994, nearly three times the reduction called for in the Everglades Forever Act. The average reduction has been 55 percent.
Judy Sanchez, a spokeswoman for U.S. Sugar said that water flowing to the Everglades is “significantly cleaner today’’ as a result of efforts by farmers and the South Florida Water Management District.
But it’s still not clean enough to meet the tough standards set for the sensitive Everglades, which focus on the concentration of phosphorus in the water. The state and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year agreed to an $800 million expansion of a network of clean-up marshes.

120716-g
Who said that ?
FloridaTrend.com
July 16, 2012
Florida's quote of the day:
"One study estimated that every dollar we spend restoring the Everglades adds four dollars to Florida's economy."
-- wrote President Barack Obama.
On Friday, the Obama administration released a report outlining continuing efforts to help restore and protect the Florida Everglades. Here is part of Obama's op-ed piece:  Committed to healthy Everglades.
"The Everglades are, and always will be, an important part of the cultural and environmental landscape in Florida. They are a national treasure and a source of pride. But more importantly, the ecosystems that make up the Everglades — from the northern freshwater marshes to the mangrove forests that lead to the Florida Bay — are critical to the local economies and jobs that so many Florida families depend on."
 Read more at the Tampa Bay Times.
Related:
Obama administration pledges $80 million more to Everglades restoration  Reuters

120715-a
No ‘made up’ science in Adena Springs water war
Ocala.com - by Jim Ross, Senior Editor/City Desk
July 15, 2012
Earlier this month, the Adena Springs Ranch farm manager sent a letter to the cattle ranch’s neighbors in Fort McCoy.
He said the purpose of the letter was “to clarify what we are doing here” and “to establish workable communications.”
One point in the letter concerned Silver Springs — the spring itself, not the park.
Charles Lee of Audubon of Florida has said that, at the current rate of decline, Silver Springs’ flow will dry up. Could happen in as soon as 20 months or as late as 12 years.
Lee made this point last month during a rally at Silver River State Park.
Adena’s response, though it didn’t mention Lee, is as follows:
“Every scientist that we’ve talked to says this is completely made up.”
Let’s begin with a style point: Calling your critic a fabulist is a bad way to “establish workable communications.”
As for the science point: Time will tell if he’s correct, but Lee didn’t “make up” this theory.
He based it on the rapidly declining flow of Silver Springs, which is measured by experts and has been registered through the years.
The flow started dramatically dropping off in 2000 or so. If the current pace keeps up — and Lee sees no evidence to suggest it won’t — then Silver Springs will tank.
“The numbers are what the numbers are,” Lee said when I called him last week and told him about the letter.
Adena argues that the reduced flow of Silver Springs is not a result of decreased rainfall or increased groundwater usage. It says the reduction may be “due in part to a change in the physical characteristics of the spring vents and/or spring vent feeder conduits.”
Lee and other environmentalists object to the ranch’s request to draw 13 million gallons of groundwater per day. They say that will hurt the spring, among other environmental ills.
Their campaign has attracted statewide attention, with Silver Springs becoming front and center in this latest edition of the Florida water wars.
Adena Springs Ranch says its water usage will actually be far less than the permit amount. Even in the worst case, it says, the water draw will have only a negligible effect on the springs or the aquifer.
I have lived in Florida for the past 23 years, and for the past 23 years I have heard dire warnings about the aquifer, the springs and the water supply in general.
Is Silver Springs really going to dry up so quickly? Will water users like Adena hasten the decline?
I welcome information. I approach the water wars on a case-by-case basis and with an open mind.
I hope Adena is correct. I haven’t been convinced that Lee is incorrect.
And I’m not making any of that up.

On Friday, the Obama
administration released
a report outlining
continuing efforts to
help restore and protect
the Florida Everglades.


FULL TEXT
Everglades Restoration
Report by the USDA

120715-b
Committed to healthy Everglades
Tampa Bay Times - by President Barack Obama, special to the Times
July 15, 2012
 In Print: Sunday, July 15, 2012 The Everglades are, and always will be, an important part of the cultural and environmental landscape in Florida. They are a national treasure and a source of pride. But more importantly, the ecosystems that make up the Everglades — from the northern freshwater marshes to the mangrove forests that lead to the Florida Bay — are critical to the local economies and jobs that so many Florida families depend on.
Over the last century, all of that has been put at risk. Population growth, development and other challenges have threatened the Everglades. For far too long, efforts to restore and protect the Everglades suffered from bureaucratic delays and a lack of leadership, including insufficient investment at the federal level. And recently, it has become clear that if we don't do something to reverse course, damage to the Everglades will continue to harm our water supply, diminish tourism, and ultimately cost us jobs.
That is why I've made restoring the Everglades a national priority. Over the last three and a half years, we have invested more than $1.5 billion in Everglades restoration — nearly as much as the previous eight years combined — to successfully jump-start restoration construction projects and support a conservation approach that is led by Floridians themselves.
On Friday, my administration released a report outlining our continuing efforts to cut the red tape, strengthen partnerships with state, tribal and local leaders, and create a strong foundation to help restore and rebuild the Everglades. This includes projects that reduce harmful runoff, and infrastructure projects — like the Tamiami Trail bridge — that will increase natural water flow while also creating thousands of jobs.
Last week, we also announced an additional $80 million investment to support farmers and ranchers who voluntarily conserve wetlands on agricultural land — helping to restore an additional 23,000 acres of wetlands vital to the water quality and wildlife habitat in the Everglades system. And to build on this success, I've proposed investing another $246 million in Everglades restoration.
These investments are critical to the long-term health of the Everglades, but they're also important for the long-term health of Florida's economy. The Everglades help provide billions of dollars in tourism, agriculture and outdoor recreation. In fact, one study estimated that every dollar we spend restoring the Everglades adds four dollars to Florida's economy. And at a time when too many families are still struggling, we need to do everything we can to give Florida families the economic security they deserve.
Restoring the Everglades is important for everyone. For cities, it means cleaner water. For rural Floridians, it means giving back to the land that's given us so much. And for all Floridians, it means more jobs, and healthier, more prosperous communities.
As we work together to boost the economy and create jobs across America, it's important to recognize the strength we draw as a nation from our abundance of natural resources. I'm proud of what we have accomplished in the Everglades — but we have much more to do. And I'm committed to building on our historic progress in the years to come.
Related:
Feds tout progress on Everglades restoration            Summit County Citizens Voice
Obama pumps $80m into Everglades as some environmentalists ...  Red Alert Politics
Everglades funds earn conservationists' praise          The News-Press
Feds, judge give Everglades a boost Bradenton Herald
Feds announce deal for preserving Everglades headwaters ranches ...         The Florida Current
$880M Everglades Restoration Plan Clears Last Legal Hurdle        Law360 (subscription)
Judge approves $880M Everglades restoration plan San Francisco Chronicle
Feds announce a new Everglades land buy   MiamiHerald.com
Obama administration releases report on Everglade restoration efforts        Water World
Vilsack Announces New Funding for Restoring Everglades            Southeast AgNet
Federal officials promise another $80 million for Everglades restoration     Tampabay.com
$80 Million Set Aside for Preserving Land Flowing into the Everglades     WUSF News
$80M in new Everglades land easements announced           WEAR

120714-a
Digital billboards could spread to South Florida Water Management District land
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
July 14, 2012
New billboards could spread to public land in a money-making move by South Florida water managers.
Digital billboards, rotating commercial advertising with public service announcements, would start showing up alongside busy roads and canals, according to a proposal from the South Florida Water Management District.
Getting into the billboard business is a far cry from the district's usual duties of guarding against flooding, leading Everglades restoration and protecting drinking water supplies from Orlando to the Keys.
But a change in state law this year opened the door to the state's five water management districts wading into billboard advertising as a way to boost revenues. South Florida district officials estimate they could make about $5 million a year from billboards.
Questions remain about whether to proceed.
"I'm struggling with this fitting into our core mission," district board Chairman Joe Collins said.
Yet, one year after absorbing a state-imposed 30 percent budget cut that resulted in more than $100 million in cutbacks that included 100 layoffs, district officials see LED billboards as worth exploring.
"What we are looking for is the best opportunities," district Executive Director Melissa Meeker said. "If it doesn't work for us, it doesn't work."
The national anti-billboard group Scenic America opposes the proliferation of digital billboards, calling them "TVs-on-a-stick" that distract drivers and mar landscapes.
"It's a bad idea," said William Pollak, who heads Scenic Miami. "Digital billboards are visual pollution ... It's not worth the trade-off."
After slashing water district budgets last year, the Florida Legislature this year authorized the agencies to start installing signs to make "public service announcements" — along with some advertising money on the side.
Legislators also agreed to allow similar advertising deals on signs along state nature trails and other "greenways."
The signs on water district lands are supposed to be paid for entirely with revenues from sponsor advertising. In addition to advertising, they would also display weather threat updates, Amber alerts and conservation messages.
The South Florida Water Management District owns more than 1 million acres, much of it used for conservation and water storage and treatment.

120714-b
Florida's Everglades Enjoys a $960 Million Dollar Win-Win
ENS-Newswire.com
July 14, 2012
MIAMI, Florida, July 14, 2012 (ENS) - A new era of restoration for the Everglades' vast but damaged wetlands began Friday with a favorable court ruling and an $80 million infusion of federal funding.
A federal judge has approved an $880 million Everglades cleanup plan, a ruling that could lead to the settlement of nearly 25 years of lawsuits.
U.S. District Judge Alan Gold issued an order Friday allowing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to grant permits for the plan's water treatment and storage projects.
Judge Gold's ruling came in a lawsuit filed in 2004 by the Miccosukee Indian tribe, whose reservation is in the Everglades. The tribe claims state and federal agencies have failed to enforce Clean Water Act standards in the Everglades. An environmental group, Friends of the Everglades, joined the tribe as a plaintiff. A similar lawsuit dates back to to 1988.
The public will have an opportunity to comment later this month before the projects get started. But in the wake of the ruling, things are moving quickly to clean up the "River of Grass," as the Everglades named by Friends of the Everglades founder Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
Immediately after the ruling on Friday, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection received a letter from the U.S. EPA, Region 4, that a permit application the department had submitted for five stormwater treatment areas and water storage projects to improve water quality in the Everglades south of Lake Okeechobee is approved.
The joint-federal state plan was developed in response to Judge Gold's April 14, 2010 order, which provided a comprehensive blueprint under the federal Clean Water Act for improving water quality in the Everglades.
In her letter of approval, Region 4 EPA Regional Administrator Gwendolyn Keyes-Fleming wrote, "The plan establishes for the first time a science-based protective water quality-based effluent limit (WQBEL) on phosphorous discharges into the Everglades, additional water treatment projects to remove excess phosphorous to achieve that limit and a robust plan of monitoring and scientific research to confirm that water quality improvement is moving forward."
This action paves the way for the DEP to move forward with Florida's permitting process to implement the plan. Some 6,500 acres of new stormwater treatment will be built and permits will be issued for the operation of tens of thousands of acres of treatment areas already built. It will also create close to 110,000 acre-feet of associated water storage areas.
"Governor [Rick] Scott recognizes both the environmental and economic importance of a healthy Everglades, which is why he made Everglades restoration a top priority for the state," said Florida DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. "Thanks to EPA's expeditious review of our revised permit, we are moving forward on a comprehensive plan that is in the best interest of the Everglades and Florida's taxpayers."
Over the past 100 years, population growth, development, excessive drainage of wetlands, and resulting changes in water flow and quality have caused great stress to this fragile ecosystem, and stresses are only expected to grow.
One problem is the overloading of the vast wetlands with phosphorous and nutrients from agricultural operations, mainly sugar plantations. Phosphorous and the other nutrients from fertilizers promote the growth of unhealthy vegetation that chokes native plants.
Now, the Everglades will benefit from an $80 million infusion of support from the federal government, also announced Friday.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack visited Kissimmee, Florida Friday to announce the new funding for support farmers and ranchers who voluntarily conserve wetlands on agricultural land in Florida's Northern Everglades Watershed.
"President Obama has made restoring the iconic Everglades a national priority," Vilsack said. "Restoring these wetlands demonstrates a strong commitment to partnerships with ranchers and farmers to improve water quality and habitat protection while supporting Florida's strong agricultural economy and ranching heritage."
Since 2009, USDA has invested $373 million to restore and protect more than 95,000 acres of wetland habitat in Florida's Northern Everglades.
"These investments are paying off, creating nearly 7,000 jobs in Florida's economy and preserving thousands of acres of precious wetlands for future generations to enjoy," Vilsack said.
The new $80 million investment, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wetlands Reserve Program, will restore an additional 23,000 acres of wetlands vital to water quality and wildlife habitat in the Everglades "River of Grass" system by placing these lands in conservation easements that permanently maintain that land as agriculture and open space.
The funding will cover an easement on a property known as American Prime, a key habitat corridor for the endangered Florida panther.
USDA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in May that they have collaborated with private partners to protect this 1,278-acre piece of land in Glades County that is critical for panthers moving north.
A female panther and two kittens were recently photographed near this property - the first documented evidence of a female Florida panther that far north since 1973.
"The Everglades are an icon, an American treasure, and essential to the health and economy of Florida communities," said Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, in Kissimmee. "With the President's leadership, we are making real and measurable progress in Everglades restoration, dramatically increasing federal funding, launching key construction projects, and working with the state and other partners to deliver results on the ground."
The largest subtropical wilderness in the United States, the Everglades is the primary source of drinking water for more than seven million people - more than a third of Florida's population - and supports the state's estimated $67 billion tourism industry, $13 billion outdoor recreation economy, and $100 billion agriculture sector.
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program, CERP, a 30-year program authorized by Congress in 2000, is the largest single component aimed at restoring the greater Everglades ecosystem.
CERP focuses on modifying the massive flood protection system in South Florida to restore the Everglades and meet other water-related needs of the region, but progress had stalled during the Bush administration.
"After a decade of little progress," those days are over, the Obama administration said in a new report on restoring Florida's Everglades, released Friday in Kissimmee.
"For many years, efforts to restore adequate supplies of high quality water to Everglades National Park and the surrounding region were at best slow, and often times stalled. Lawsuits, State-Federal disagreements over respective commitments, and bureaucratic delays led to years of limited activity and dispute," the report states.
"Over the past three years, the Obama Administration has reversed that course," states the report, by resolving conflicts and delays, dedicated funding to construct several CERP projects, and completed planning for several more.
Overall, the Obama administration has invested $1.5 billion in Everglades projects, including nearly $900 million to jumpstart key construction projects that will restore water flow and essential habitat. These include restoration of more than 3,000 acres of the floodplains along the Kissimmee River and building a bridge as part of the Tamiami Trail to facilitate water flows to Everglades National Park.
President Obama also has requested an additional $246 million in the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget to build on this progress and continue the investments, partnerships and projects that will return the Everglades to health.
For its part, Friends of the Everglades takes credit for "at least budging" the state of Florida and the U.S. EPA to hold the line on federal law.
According to Alan Farago, president of Friends of the Everglades, "Marjory Stoneman Douglas who founded Friends in 1969 never accepted her name being attached to plans and legislation that failed the final test: stop Big Sugar and other polluters from wrecking the Everglades. Her will guides still guides us."
Related:
Feds tout progress on Everglades restoration            Summit County Citizens Voice
Obama pumps $80m into Everglades as some environmentalists ...  Red Alert Politics
Everglades funds earn conservationists' praise          The News-Press
Feds, judge give Everglades a boost Bradenton Herald
Feds announce deal for preserving Everglades headwaters ranches ...         The Florida Current
$880M Everglades Restoration Plan Clears Last Legal Hurdle        Law360 (subscription)
Judge approves $880M Everglades restoration plan San Francisco Chronicle
Feds announce a new Everglades land buy   MiamiHerald.com
Obama administration releases report on Everglade restoration efforts        Water World
Vilsack Announces New Funding for Restoring Everglades            Southeast AgNet
Federal officials promise another $80 million for Everglades restoration     Tampabay.com
$80 Million Set Aside for Preserving Land Flowing into the Everglades     WUSF News
$80M in new Everglades land easements announced           WEAR

120714-c
Report on Progress and Steps in restoring the Everglades
PoliticalNews.me
Jul 14,2012
Over $1.5 Billion Invested in the Everglades Since 2009; USDA To Fund Fourth Year of Easements for Water Quality, Wildlife Habitat Improvements in the Northern Everglades Watershed.
KISSIMMEE, FL., —The Obama Administration released a report outlining the historic Federal investments and progress made in Everglades restoration under the leadership of President Obama, and announced $80 million in additional funding to support farmers and ranchers who voluntarily conserve wetlands on agricultural land in the Northern Everglades Watershed. This new investment, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), will restore an additional 23,000 acres of wetlands vital to water quality and wildlife habitat in the Everglades system.
President Obama has made restoring the Everglades a national priority. Using the partnerships and community-led approach that is a hallmark of the President's America's Great Outdoors initiative, the Administration has reinvigorated Federal leadership in Everglades restoration, investing $1.5 billion in Everglades projects and initiatives that will make a measurable impact on the ground, including nearly $900 million to jump start key construction projects that will restore water flow and essential habitat. These projects already have generated 6,600 Florida jobs and are expected to generate more. President Obama also has requested an additional $246 million in the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget to build on this progress and continue the investments, partnerships and projects that will return the Everglades to health.
Senior Administration officials including U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley, U.S. Department of Interior Assistant Secretary Rachel Jacobson, and Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy released the report and made the funding announcement today in Kissimmee, FL.
"The Everglades are an icon, an American treasure, and essential to the health and economy of Florida communities," said Sutley. "With the President's leadership, we are making real and measurable progress in Everglades restoration, dramatically increasing Federal funding, launching key construction projects, and working with the State and other partners to deliver results on the ground. There is much more to do, and we are committed to returning this majestic natural resource to health."
"President Obama has made restoring the iconic Everglades a national priority," Vilsack said. "Restoring these wetlands demonstrates a strong commitment to partnerships with ranchers and farmers to improve water quality and habitat protection while supporting Florida's strong agricultural economy and ranching heritage. These investments are paying off, creating nearly 7,000 jobs in Florida's economy and preserving thousands of acres of precious wetlands for future generations to enjoy."
"The Everglades are one of America's most treasured places – for the people of Florida and for visitors and tourists from all over the world," said Ken Salazar, Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior. "By working together in pursuit of President Obama's vision for a renewed and healthy Everglades, we honor the stewardship of generations of Florida cattle ranchers and other landowners who understood that we all have a stake in preserving the health of our land, water, and wildlife. Under the President's leadership, our commitment to restoring the Everglades is benefiting the environment and the Florida economy – creating jobs, while protecting this unique place for years to come."
"The Everglades are essential to the environmental and economic strength of so many Florida communities. The health of this ecosystem affects everything from water quality and biodiversity to tourism, an industry that supports thousands of jobs across the state," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. "The success we've already seen in restoring the land, water and wildlife of the Everglades shows how investments in America's extraordinary outdoors are also investments in our health and our economic future. Thanks to the additional funding announced today, we can expand our efforts to protect this vital watershed and build upon the progress that's already been made."
"In the last three years there has been unprecedented restoration progress in the Everglades," said Darcy. "President Obama has invested more than $130 million to restore flood plains and waters that flow from the Kissimmee River. The Kissimmee River restoration project is the largest restoration project undertaken by the Corps to date and the benefits are already being realized. Since 2009, the federal family and the State of Florida have invested in and broken ground on seven restoration projects. We have seized the opportunity for stakeholders to work together toward common goal of restoring the Everglades."
Working in partnership with the State of Florida, Tribes and local leaders, since 2009, the Administration has restored more than 3,000 acres of the floodplains along the Kissimmee River; worked with landowners to improve habitat and water quality on more than 400,000 agricultural acres; begun constructing the first mile of bridging for the Tamiami Trail to restore water flow to Everglades National Park; begun implementing key components of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan to make more water available for environmental, urban and agricultural use; and reached an historic agreement with the State of Florida to make essential water quality improvements, including $879 million in State commitments for water quality projects.
Today's investment in the WRP also builds on other significant Obama administration accomplishments to conserve habitat in the greater Everglades ecosystem. Earlier this year, the Department of the Interior's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) established the 150,000-acre Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area. Assistant Secretary Jacobson today announced that FWS has received $1.5 million in reprogrammed 2012 funding to begin securing additional conservation easements on priority parcels of some of the last remaining grass-land savannahs in the Northern Everglades – working with private land-owners to conserve the land, water and wildlife of the Everglades Headwaters.
More about USDA's Wetlands Reserve Program
Since 2009, USDA has invested $373 million to restore and protect more than 95,000 acres of wetland habitat in Florida's Northern Everglades. Through the WRP program, Florida's private landowners voluntarily sell development rights to land and place it in a conservation easement that permanently maintains that land as agriculture and open space. The program's goal is to achieve the greatest wetland functions and values, along with optimum wildlife habitat, on every acre enrolled in the program. The program also helps landowners to establish long-term conservation and wildlife practices and protection.
The $80 million announced today will fund projects such as an easement on a property known as American Prime, a key habitat corridor for the endangered Florida panther. USDA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in May 2012 that they have collaborated with private partners to protect this 1,278-acre piece of land in Glades County that is critical for panthers dispersing into habitat further north. A female panther and two kittens were recently photographed near this property -- the first documented evidence of a female Florida panther that far north since 1973.

120714-d
South Florida water agency says it will not need tax increase
News-Press.com
July 14, 2012
The South Florida Water Management District has recommended to its governing board no tax increase for the coming fiscal year.
More than 7 million South Florida residents in 16 counties pay property taxes to the district for flood protection, water supply and environmental restoration.
For most counties for fiscal year 2013, including Lee, the tax rate will be 42 cents per $1,000 of taxable value on a piece of property. A $250,000 home with a taxable value of $200,000 after the homestead exemption, would have a water district tax bill of $84.
In Collier and mainland Monroe counties, which are under the district’s Big Cypress Basin, taxes on the same home would be $33.95 cents, or a bill of $66.
The recommendation came Thursday at the district’s governing board meeting in West Palm Beach. Water district tax rates have remained the same since 1998.
“Budget challenges remain at all levels of government and in households and businesses of all sizes,” according to a statement by Randy Smith, spokesman for the district. “The South Florida Water Management District continues to focus on its core mission responsibilities and has reduced operating expenses throughout the agency, streamlining processes and directing resources toward key initiatives.
“We remain committed to achieving our mission-critical goals without increasing the burden of additional taxes on the people of South Florida.”
The tax rate becomes part of the proposed $656.7 million fiscal year 2013 budget. The budget year begins Oct. 1.
Included in that budget is $333 million for restoration in the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee, $153 million for restoration in the Central Everglades Planning Project, and $12 million for scientific support which includes regional water quality monitoring.
In addition to property taxes, the district’s budget is financed from sources such as permit fees, grants, agricultural taxes and investment income.
The agency is a special taxing district with authority to collect property taxes from landowners within its 16-county jurisdiction.

120713-a
Federal plan announced to buy more ranchland south of Orlando in Everglades ecosystem
Orlando Sentinel - by Kevin Spear
July 13, 2012|
For the second time in two years, federal officials have committed to buying at least $80 million worth of conservation lands in the Everglades ecosystem.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that his agency's Wetlands Reserve Program will acquire development rights for 23,000 acres of ranchland south of the Orlando area – though details on specific locations where not immediately available.
The ailing Everglades ecosystem flows south from near downtown Orlando, through Lake Okeechobee and to Everglades National Park at the state's southern tip.
Two years ago, federal authorities made dramatic news when they unveiled plans to spend $89 million to buy development rights in parts of five ranches in Highlands County, covering a combined 26,000 acres.
That purchase, which took more than a year to finalize, was to protect headwater swamps and wetlands of Fisheating Creek, which flows into Lake Okeechobee.
The Wetland Reserve Program purchases aren't meant to take complete ownership of parcels, rather they are crafted to prevent future development, restore wetlands but still allow ranchers to continue using the land for cattle grazing.
Environmental activists immediately celebrated the news. Nature Conservancy President Mark Tercek said the acquisitions are "transforming protection of the entire Everglades system."
Audubon of Florida's vice president for advocacy, Charles Lee, also praised the announcement. "Maintaining the cattle ranching economy in the Everglades headwaters is a vital component of the strategy to restore the ecosystem."
Related:
Feds tout progress on Everglades restoration            Summit County Citizens Voice
Obama pumps $80m into Everglades as some environmentalists ...  Red Alert Politics
Everglades funds earn conservationists' praise          The News-Press
Feds, judge give Everglades a boost Bradenton Herald
Feds announce deal for preserving Everglades headwaters ranches ...         The Florida Current
$880M Everglades Restoration Plan Clears Last Legal Hurdle        Law360 (subscription)
Judge approves $880M Everglades restoration plan San Francisco Chronicle
Feds announce a new Everglades land buy   MiamiHerald.com
Obama administration releases report on Everglade restoration efforts        Water World
Vilsack Announces New Funding for Restoring Everglades            Southeast AgNet
Federal officials promise another $80 million for Everglades restoration     Tampabay.com
$80 Million Set Aside for Preserving Land Flowing into the Everglades     WUSF News
$80M in new Everglades land easements announced           WEAR

120713-b
Obama administration announces $80M in new Everglades funding; to be used for land easements
Associated Press
July 13, 2012
KISSIMMEE, Fla. — The Obama administration is announcing $80 million in additional funding to help in Everglades restoration.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack publicized the funding Friday in Kissimmee.
It will be used for land easement programs on farms and ranches in the Northern Everglades Watershed.
Officials say it will help restore another 23,000 acres of wetlands that are part of the vast Everglades system.
State officials have also increasingly turned to land easement deals for Everglades projects. Proponents say it's far cheaper than buying up huge swaths of land. Plus, by keeping the property in private hands, they remain on the tax rolls.

120713-c
Obama pumps $80m into Everglades as some environmentalists ponder motive
The Guardian – by Richard Luscombe in Miami
July 13, 2012
Region's restoration is a popular topic during election years, some say, but more money and attention is still needed.
Senior loyalists in the Obama administration seized a valuable election-year opportunity to talk up the president's environmental credentials today as they announced an increase in funding to restore the Florida Everglades.
Tom Vilsack, the secretary of agriculture, was one of several top officials chosen to front a press conference in Kissimmee trumpeting a further $80m investment in a project supporting farmers and ranchers who preserve land for agriculture and wildlife.
Claiming that President Barack Obama has made the restoration of Florida's troubled 2.4m-acre ecosystem "a national priority" with more than $1.5bn of government money since 2009, Vilsack said the project would revitalise more than 23,000 further acres of wetlands.
"Restoring these wetlands demonstrates a strong commitment to partnerships with ranchers and farmers to improve water quality and habitat protection while supporting Florida's strong agricultural economy and ranching heritage," he said.
"These investments are paying off, creating nearly 7,000 jobs in Florida's economy and preserving thousands of acres of precious wetlands for future generations to enjoy."
Environmentalists welcomed the investment but questioned how much political posturing was in play at a press briefing attended by Vilsack plus the head of the White House council on environmental quality and the assistant secretaries of the departments of the interior and the US army, whose corps of engineers is central to the 30-year restoration plan.
"Every little bit helps, but $80m is a drop in a bucket for the big projects that need to be done," said Randy Scheffer, executive chairman of the Florida Sierra Club that has campaigned for the protection and restoration of the state's famous "River of Grass".
"It's great that the government wants to put in more money, but they have to work with the state of Florida. It's a dual project between the state and government and the state administration has been dragging its feet.
"There is a lot to be done. Elevating the highways is a huge project, and another big problem is the run-off of phosphorous from the big sugar industry and cleaning that up. The state has been very lax in funding."
Restoring the Everglades is a political hot potato in Florida, where the state's tourism and agriculture-reliant economy is significantly dependent on the health of its millions of acres of marshland.
Widescale development through the last century, especially in agriculture, and the growing population's increasing demand for water led to a sapping of Everglades resources and a massive loss of wildlife habitat.
In 2000, Congress approved the Water Resources Development Act, which incorporated the 30-year Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (Cerp) and more than 60 major projects that would return the natural flow of fresh water from the centre of the state to the Florida Keys in the south.
In 2007, the cost of the entire operation to revive a parched habitat for more than 60 threatened and endangered species and establish a reliable water supply for millions of residents was estimated at $11.5bn, though experts warn it will end up far higher.
One big boost to the fund could soon come from BP following the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
While most of Florida's share of the petroleum giant's fine of up to $21bn would be sent to the Gulf coast counties affected by the disaster, hundreds of miles from the Everglades, up to five per cent could be redirected to ecological projects elsewhere.
And last month, federal regulators approved an $880m payout from the environmental protection agency towards projects that would reduce the amount of pollution from farms and communities running into the Everglades.
EPA regional administrator Gwen Keyes said it was "a significant and historic milestone in restoring America's Everglades".
'Conservationists for one freakin' day and that's it'
Successive politicians including presidents, senators and state governors, have used the Everglades issue to play up their "green" credentials. Last October, the respected Miami Herald columnist and novelist Carl Hiaasen, speaking at a conference of environmental journalists in Miami, warned that candidates seeking the presidential nomination would soon be descending on the region dressed in khakis and posing for photo opportunities.
"They'll be conservationists for one freakin' day and that's it," he said.
Obama, meanwhile, said he intends to continue his commitment to the Everglades, having requested $246m from the 2013 federal budget for restoration projects.
"The Everglades are an icon, an American treasure, and essential to the health and economy of Florida communities," said Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the council on environmental quality.
"With the president's leadership, we are making real and measurable progress in Everglades restoration, dramatically increasing federal funding, launching key construction projects and working with the State and other partners to deliver results on the ground. We are committed to returning this majestic natural resource to health."
Related:
Feds tout progress on Everglades restoration            Summit County Citizens Voice
Obama pumps $80m into Everglades as some environmentalists ...  Red Alert Politics
Everglades funds earn conservationists' praise          The News-Press
Feds, judge give Everglades a boost Bradenton Herald
Feds announce deal for preserving Everglades headwaters ranches ...         The Florida Current
$880M Everglades Restoration Plan Clears Last Legal Hurdle        Law360 (subscription)
Judge approves $880M Everglades restoration plan San Francisco Chronicle
Feds announce a new Everglades land buy   MiamiHerald.com
Obama administration releases report on Everglade restoration efforts        Water World
Vilsack Announces New Funding for Restoring Everglades            Southeast AgNet
Federal officials promise another $80 million for Everglades restoration     Tampabay.com
$80 Million Set Aside for Preserving Land Flowing into the Everglades     WUSF News
$80M in new Everglades land easements announced           WEAR

120713-d
Working on ‘Getting the Water Right'
TheLedger.com - by Herschel Vinyard, Jr., Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection
July 13, 2012
As a Floridian, I recognize the important role our state's waterbodies play in our environment and economy. As a Jacksonville resident and St. Johns River enthusiast, I take the health of our waters personally. I share your frustrations that some of our region's waterbodies — including our groundwater and springs — have been in serious decline for years.
We know there is much that needs to be done, which is why the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is actively working with the state's water management districts, local governments and stakeholders to address these issues and work toward a cleaner and more sustainable supply of water.
One of the most significant challenges facing our waters is nutrient pollution. This is a long-standing and complex problem throughout the state, and it won't be solved overnight. The DEP, in cooperation with partners from wastewater treatment utilities, agriculture, local governments and environmental stakeholders, is aggressively developing and implementing long- and short-term strategies to improve water quality for generations to come.
For example, in my hometown of Jacksonville, the St. Johns River has historically experienced problems from nutrients and bacteria. In 2008, the DEP worked with numerous local stakeholders and partners to implement a five-year plan that established a road map to improve the health of the river.
By updating infrastructure and implementing best-management practices along St. Johns, local utilities and municipalities have successfully reduced nitrogen by 63 percent and phosphorous by 79 percent in the river.
This spring, the DEP and local restoration partners adopted the same type of five-year battle-plan to reduce nutrients and improve water quality in the Santa Fe River. I am confident the actions laid out in this plan represent the right steps to achieve the 35 percent nutrient reduction that the Santa Fe needs to be healthy. We must succeed.
At the heart of our efforts to improve water quality is establishing comprehensive standards that set healthy levels of nutrients in our waterbodies. Over the past year, the DEP has worked to finalize water-quality rules that will provide a more scientific way to identify nutrient-impaired waters and prevent harmful discharges from occurring.
These rules have been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the most comprehensive water-quality rules in the nation. Our rules have received bipartisan support from the Florida Legislature, and Florida's congressional delegation, including Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio. The rules were upheld last month by an experienced judge.
In addition to water quality, it's also critical that we ensure a healthy supply of water for our environment and our citizens. The DEP is working with the five water-management districts, which are the backbone of our water supply efforts throughout the state, to implement clear, coherent and consistent water policies statewide.
The DEP is accomplishing this by coordinating the way the water management districts each study, manage and protect our waters. Because many of Florida's rivers and streams — as well as groundwater— flow beyond district boundaries, it's imperative that we make sure our science doesn't end at the water management district boundary lines. We have to take into account what's going on upstream or in other parts of the state to better understand the impacts on the water levels in cities and regions across the state.
For the first time, the state's water management districts — with support from DEP — are sharing more science, knowledge and working to develop highly-coordinated approaches to how we study groundwater or assess water impacts.
The Central Florida Water Initiative — a new agreement between the St. Johns River, Southwest and South Florida water-management districts — is a fantastic example of this unified approach to science and planning. Public involvement will continue to be vital to the process, and we're committed to working with a variety of interest groups and organizations across the districts to ensure all interests are represented.
We won't fix this problem overnight. But the DEP and the water-management districts have an obligation to base their decisions on sound science and within the confines of Florida law. Part of getting the water right means getting the science right too.
The DEP and the water-management districts have some of the most respected water-supply and water-quality professionals in the world working to understand and protect our resources. As we continue to tackle the monumental challenge of getting the water right, we must work together to protect our waterbodies for our environment and citizens.

120712-a
Everglades to get BP bucks
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
July 12, 2012
Some good news for Everglades restoration efforts, finally.
The combination of a terrible tragedy and a favorable law will mean the Everglades could be in line for hundreds of millions of much-needed dollars.
The source of the money is BP, the oil industry giant or better put, the fines BP must pay in the wake of the devastating 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
BP is expected to pay between $5 billion and $21 billion for the damage done after an oil rig it had contracted exploded and sank in the Gulf. The catastrophic blast claimed the lives of 11 workers on the rig and left a gaping hole in the Gulf's floor from which oil gushed into the sea over a four-month period.
No amount of money can make up for the damage caused to the ecology of the Gulf or to the economies of the affected coastal communities.
But the fines -- and the public must expect and demand that they come in at the higher end of the range -- will generate dollars that are critical to making as much of the region as whole as can be.
The bulk of that money must – and is ordained by law to – go toward aiding the Gulf's ecosystems and communities. Legislation passed by Congress designated 80 percent of the fines to be used in the region, and legislation approved by the Florida Legislature put the percentage at 75 percent.
Honestly, we would have agreed with 100 percent. After all, Gulf waters were Ground Zero of the spill, the area damaged and placed at risk.
But under the aforementioned federal and state legislation, as much as hundreds of millions of dollars from the BP fines could go to other conservation and environmental initiatives. Everglades restoration is one of those.
Certainly, Everglades efforts could use the money. A state-federal partnership established years ago set forth needed and worthy goals, but the dollars to accomplish those tasks have not exactly been forthcoming.
To an extent, it's the fault of the economy and a drop in public dollars. Also, those efforts have been stunted by periodic lapses in focus and commitment in both Washington and Tallahassee.
Again, we would perfectly understand if all the money from the BP fines went to Gulf clean-up programs. Those waters got hit the worst, and the people living on the Gulf coast suffered the most.
But there's no doubt the Everglades would be a worthy place to invest a potion of those funds.
And if the law allows it, we'll stand by it.

120712-b
Federal judge OKs Everglades clean-up procedures
Palm Beach Post - by Christine Stapleton, Staff Writer
July 12, 2012
A federal judge who blasted state and federal regulators two years ago for failing to enforce anti-pollution laws in the Everglades as given his blessing to the agencies to move forward with an $880 million clean-up that would jump-start delayed projects and possibly resolve 20 years of costly lawsuits.
In a plainly-worded, three-page order, U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold on Wednesday agreed to allow the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to approve permits for a suite of projects that would lower the levels of phosphorus pollution that flows into the Everglades.
The proposed projects are the by-product of 18-months of closed-door negotiations between the parties in a 2004 federal lawsuit, known as the Gold Case, and a separate federal lawsuit filed in 1988, which alleges similar failures in restoration efforts. Longtime foes from the agriculture industry, environmental groups, Native American tribes and state and federal agencies began the settlement negotiations in early 2011 after newly-elected Governor Rick Scott hired two, top-dollar veteran peacemakers to referee the private talks.
“This is a landmark agreement,” said Christopher Kise, who served as special counsel on the transition teams of both former Gov. Charlie Crist and Scott. “Whether it will end all the lawsuits, I don’t know yet but it does appear Gov. Scott’s directive to focus on restoration, not litigation, may now be implemented.”
Scott’s other top negotiator, Parker Thomson, who helped broker the state’s $11.3 billion settlement with the tobacco industry in 1997, said Gold’s blessing means the permitting process can proceed. As for whether it will end the case, “I just can’t predict. It would be not just stupid but unwise on my part.”
EarthJustice attorney David Guest, who has represented environmental groups in Everglades lawsuits for nearly 30 years, said Gold’s ruling may not end the lawsuits immediately, “but it’s certainly going to pause them.”
Attorneys for the Miccosukee Tribe, which filed the lawsuit, did not return calls for comment on Thursday. However, in a court brief filed on July 9, Bernardo Roman III, the tribe’s attorney, expressed concerns about the plan.
“The Miccosukee Tribe finds the State’s plan is ambitious and thus a step in the right direction,” Roman wrote. “However, it is yet to be seen if the parties will fulfill their obligations rather than stall actions to reach compliance.”
Friends of the Everglades, which joined the Tribe’s lawsuit, expressed similar concerns.
“Our two main concerns are enforceability and funding,” said Albert Slap, general counsel for Friends, who said the the group is taking a “trust but verify,” approach to Gold’s order. “The thing most likely to happen is there is a hiatus period, wait and see. There is skepticism.”
The case before Gold began in 2004, when the tribe sued the EPA for failing to enforce the Clean Water Act. Friends later joined the lawsuit. In 2008, Gold ruled in favor of the Tribe and Friends and ordered the EPA and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to enforce water quality standards, including limits on phosphorus pollution.
After the EPA failed to act, the Tribe and Friends asked Gold to find the agency in contempt. In April 2010 Gold lashed out in a scathing 48-page order, accusing the EPA, DEP and South Florida Water Management District of deliberately ignoring and refusing to enforce laws limiting phosphorus discharged into the Everglades. Gold ordered the EPA to devise a process to monitor and enforce compliance of water quality laws. The ruling also forced the EPA to require the DEP to re-write the permits it had issued to the district for discharging phosphorus into the Everglades.
In June 2011 the EPA rejected the DEP’s revised permits. Finally, after months of negotiations and extended deadlines, the EPA accepted the revised permits on June 13, 2012. The proposed plan calls for adding two stormwater treatment areas and flow-equalization basins, which would ensure a constant flow of water to treatment areas. In addition, the plan sets a completion date for Everglades restoration at 2025 — nearly 20 years beyond the original 2006 deadline.
In response, Gold set a hearing on July 18 in his courtroom in Miami and ordered all parties to submit briefs on the proposed plan. But on Wednesday, Gold cancelled the hearing and issued his order supporting the EPA’s intention to issue permits that will set the new plan in motion.
The case is not over. Appeals could be filed and there will be a public hearing July 25 on the proposed plan. Even if there are no appeals or complaints from the public and the permits are issued, the case won’t be over for Friends, Slap said
“Nobody has moved to dismiss case,” Slap said. “We are going to wait and see how this plays out.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Issue:
Will a new Everglades restoration plan negotiated by stakeholders comply with water quality laws and court orders?
The Players:
— The Miccosukee Tribe filed a lawsuit in 2004 accusing the EPA of failing to enforce the Clean Water Act for waters discharged into the Everglades.
— Friends of the Everglades, an advocacy group founded by Everglades activist Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, joined in the lawsuit.
— The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is responsible for enforcing Clean Water Act.
— The Florida Department of Environmental Protection issues water quality permits on behalf of the EPA.
— The South Florida Water Management District oversees restoration projects in a 16-county region.

120712-c
Florida seeks big chunk of BP fines to boost restoration of Everglades
NewsOK.com (MCT Information Services) – by William E. Gibson
July 12, 2012
WASHINGTON — Everglades restoration backers are aiming to get a big piece of the billions of dollars of fines that oil giant BP is expected to pay for polluting the Gulf of Mexico and disrupting Florida’s delicate ecology during the Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010.
BP’s fines are expected to range from $5 billion to $21 billion, and most of the money would go toward restoring the marshes, fishing industry and oil-damaged businesses and resources along the Gulf Coast. But environmental leaders estimate that hundreds of millions of dollars may be devoted to ecological projects all the way down to South Florida.
They’re not just dreaming.
Last month, Congress passed a bill that will steer 80 percent of any fine money to Florida and other Gulf Coast states. And while the Florida Legislature passed a law last year that says 75 percent of the state’s share must be devoted to the oil-damaged counties along its northwest coast, the rest can be spent on ecological restoration elsewhere.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force last month that the BP money would provide significant funding for conservation and that he considers the Everglades “a great example for the work that we do for conservation and for jobs.”
Big deal for Gulf’s ecology
Salazar’s encouraging words and the tantalizing prospect of a giant pot of restoration money prompted environmentalists to start drawing up proposals designed to buffer the coast from future oil spills and to clean and store water that now rushes out to sea. These proposals will focus on Florida’s west coast but affect the entire Everglades watershed and potentially free up other federal and state money for projects in southern and central Florida.
The pie is potentially so huge that even a small slice would make a major impact on the re-plumbing work in the Everglades.
“This is really the largest source of funding for ecological restoration in the history of the world,” said David White of St. Petersburg, director of the Gulf restoration campaign for the National Wildlife Federation. “This is a big deal for the ecology for the Gulf of Mexico and by extension the Everglades system, which is part of that ecology.”
BP and its contractors are trying to settle a federal-court case in New Orleans accusing them of violating the Oil Pollution Act — which is guided by standards set by the Clean Water Act — when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April 2010 and spewed nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf.
Fines under the law would amount to $1,300 per barrel if the companies are guilty of simple negligence — or $4,300 per barrel if they are guilty of gross negligence.
Environmentalists say a national commission co-chaired by former Florida U.S. Sen. Bob Graham that investigated the disaster essentially established gross negligence, prompting them to think the total fines will reach as high as $21 billion.
A sweeping transportation bill passed by Congress on June 29 included legislation known as The Restore Act, which says 80 percent of BP’s eventual fine payments must go to the five Gulf states — Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas — most affected by the spill.
The Restore Act also established a formula for distributing the money:
• Pot One: 35 percent — as much as $7.35 billion — to be divided equally among the Gulf states, or 7 percent (nearly $1.5 billion) for each. The 2011 Florida law says 75 percent of the state’s share of this pot — $1.1 billion — must go to eight hard-hit Gulf counties, and 25 percent can go to the rest, about $367 million.
• Pot Two: 30 percent — up to $6.3 billion — to be distributed by a federal-state ecosystem restoration council comprised of six federal members and five state members.
• Pot Three: 30 percent to pay for state proposals for environmental restoration and economic recovery work. These plans must be approved by the federal-state council.
• Pot Four: 5 percent — more than $1 billion — to ecosystem monitoring and fisheries work administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and scientific Centers of Excellence in each Gulf state.
Money for South or Central Florida projects potentially could come from any of these pots. The council is expected to give priority to plans that promise lasting protection for the Gulf and coastline against future spills.

120712-d
FPL’s nuke cooling plan clears hurdle
Miami Herald – by Curtis Morgan
July 2, 2012
FPL intends to use wells tapping Biscayne Bay as a back-up supply of cooling water for its proposed addition of two new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point
Over the objections of Biscayne National Park managers and environmentalists, water managers on Thursday signed off on Florida Power & Light’s plan to drill a network of coastal wells designed to tap Biscayne Bay as a back-up system for cooling two new nuclear reactors proposed for Turkey Point.
FPL intends to use some 90 million gallons a day of treated wastewater from Miami-Dade County as the primary source of cooling water for its controversial $12 billion to $18 billion expansion project at the sprawling plant, which sits along south Biscayne Bay a few miles from the park headquarters.
But the utility also wants to drill a series of “radial wells’’ — named because they include up to a dozen shafts radiating out 900 feet from a central well, a design evoking bicycle spokes — that would be capable of drawing up to 125 million gallons a day of water through the porous limestone beneath the bay.
A report by the South Florida Water Management District noted “some concerns” the wells could potentially turn already too-salty coastal waters saltier, compromise Everglades restoration projects to restore fresh water flows to the bay and worsen salt-water intrusion that has already marched inland in South Miami-Dade and threatened drinking water supplies.
But the district’s analysis, based on computer modeling supplied by FPL, also recommended approval of the wells – under the condition that the utility operate them no more than the “equivalent of 60 days” over a 12-month period and monitor impacts on sea grass. The proposal faces several more hurdles before final state approval.
Mark Lewis, superintendent of Biscayne National Park, urged the district’s governing board to postpone the vote, saying the district had not consulted with park scientists as it had in past studies of Turkey Point’s impacts on surrounding shallow waters, which are thick with sea grass beds and mangroves that serve as nurseries for an array of marine life.
According to FPL’s computer modeling, 97 percent of the water collected by the wells would be salty bay water but Lewis called that work “suspect,” saying the geologic zone where sea water meets the Biscayne Aquifer, source of much of Miami-Dade’s drinking water, is not well understood. FPL and water managers, for instance, are still working to assess the role Turkey Point’s existing cooling canal system has played in pushing salty water inland.
“We’re betting the bank that the modeling works when all of our scientists say the modeling isn’t designed for this and isn’t really good in this region,” Lewis said.
Environmentalists echoed Lewis, saying the complicated report on a well system untested in South Florida’s porous limestone geology had been available for only a week. They also called a proposed monitoring plan toothless because it included no specific measures for FPL to scale back the wells or pursue another back-up source, such as the deep Floridan aquifer, if the wells prove more damaging than modeling predicts.
“The question is who is on the hook to deal with the impacts,” said Kahlil Kettering, a Biscayne Bay analyst for the National Parks Conservation Association.
Laura Reynolds, executive director of the Tropical Audubon Society, questioned whether the wells were intended solely as a back-up, saying the 60-day language would potentially allow continuous low-level operation in a bay starved for freshwater.
Peter Robbins, a spokesman for FPL, said the wells were “absolutely a back-up system’’ and the utility preferred to treated wastewater over salt water but needed the short-term back-up because of potential uncertainties over the quality or quantity of wastewater. He downplayed potential impacts to the Biscayne Aquifer, saying the modeling was “tremendously conservative’’ and based on a scenario using wells as a full-time supply rather than the 60-day limit FPL has agreed to..
Juan Portuondo, a Miami businessman who serves on the governing board, said both FPL and the county had vested interests in making treated sewage work. Under state law, Miami-Dade has to find a way to reuse some 117 million gallons a day of sewage by 2025 that it now pumps up out to the Atlantic, he said. “It’s the best solution for both.’’
Board members briefly discussed postponing the vote but unanimously approved it after hearing the agency faced a Monday deadline for filing recommendations to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Other agencies, including Miami-Dade County, which also has questioned the wells, will file similar recommendations. An administrative judge is expected to issue a recommendation sometime next year. Final approval will go to Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet.
FPL hopes to secure its license from federal regulators for the two new reactors by June 2014. If the utility goes ahead with the project, the new reactors would be scheduled to go online in 2022 and 2023

120712-e
Tax cut proposed for South Florida Water Management District
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
July 12, 2012
Property tax rates would dip again under a more than $600 million spending plan initially endorsed Thursday by the South Florida Water Management District.
State-imposed budget cuts last year dropped the district property tax rate 30 percent and cut more than $100 million from the 16-county agency that guards against flooding, leads Everglades restoration and protects drinking water supplies from Orlando to the Keys.
The new proposal would cut the district tax property rate paid in Broward and Palm Beach counties as well as most of the rest of South Florida by nearly 2 percent. It comes even as the district faces a potential $5 million budget shortfall.
Environmental groups are opposing more budget cuts at the agency, saying it could further squeeze restoration. But district officials say they are still pursuing ways to cut or at least hold the line on property taxes.
"We continue to have a few challenges," district Executive Director Melissa Meeker said Thursday.
The district's new spending plan would shave the property tax rate down to about 43 cents per $1,000 of taxable property value.
For a home valued at $230,000 and eligible for a $50,000 homestead exemption, district taxes for a property owner in Broward or Palm Beach counties would be about $77 a year. That's down from about $79 at the current rate.
The proposed cutback comes with the district facing a nearly $5 million "gap" in its projected tax revenue. Agency officials blame the potential shortfall on taxable property values going down more than expected last year.
It leaves the district looking for another $5 million to cut, one year after laying off more than 100 people and making other cutbacks.
Environmental groups warn that more budget cuts threaten to further hamper delayed Everglades restoration and long-sought water quality improvements.
Because state-required district cuts went so deep in 2011, even slight tax rate decreases in the years to come could have a compounding effect on paying for water pollution cleanups, according to the Everglades Foundation environmental group.
"You really do face a conundrum," Yvonne Gsteiger of the Everglades Foundation told district board members Thursday. "It is going to be a cumulative effect."
It's "not sustainable" to keep cutting the tax rate while pushing for needed water conservation and water quality improvements programs, said Jane Graham of Audubon of Florida.
Investing more money in behind-schedule Everglades restoration would help everything from tourism to drinking water supplies, according to Audubon.
"The benefits of Everglades restoration could be realized more rapidly," Graham said.
Environmental restoration spending accounts for about 51 percent of the district's proposed $657 million budget. District operations and maintenance, which includes overseeing more than 2,000 miles of levees and canals that guard against flooding, would cost about $182 million, or 27 percent of the spending plan.
The water management district has until Aug. 1 to submit its proposed budget to Gov. Rick Scott and the Legislature.
The district's nine-member board – appointed by the governor – holds public hearings for its final budget and tax rate votes on Sept. 13 and 25. The new budget kicks in Oct. 1.

120711-a
Costs won’t go down; embrace new Everglades plan
Palm Beach Post - Letter by Eric Draper, Executive Director of Audubon Florida
July 11, 2012
Tallahassee - - Last week’s letter to the editor from South Florida Water Management District Governing Board member James Moran (“Phosphorus pipe dream will mean tax hike”) in which he claimed that meeting Everglades water quality standards will lead to increased taxes, deserves a response.
South Florida taxpayers are fortunate to have a person of Mr. Moran’s knowledge and principles serving on the governing board. He is correct that the new standards are expensive and hard to meet. But he does not give enough credit to the bold set of projects proposed in the new Everglades water quality plan announced by the Environmental Protection Agency and the state, a plan supported by sound science. Nor does he mention that the plan has become more expensive because of delays.
I am sure that Mr. Moran favors obedience with our laws. The Clean Water Act requires Florida to reduce pollution pouring into the Everglades from sugarcane farms and other sources. Sidestepping laws because of costs will only postpone cleanup and make it more expensive for tomorrow’s taxpayers. Mr. Moran could use his position to require sugarcane farms to clean up their wastewater on their land or contribute to the costs of building expensive treatment works.
The Everglades are an international treasure that are degraded every day by pollution and diversion of fresh water. Consensus was reached long ago that federal and state governments would work together to restore the Everglades. Most stakeholders, from conservation groups to farmers to fishermen, agree with the goal of delivering abundant, clean water to the natural system. The new plan is a step forward. This is not time to second-guess Everglades restoration.

120711-b
Judge shuts some Big Cypress trails to swamp buggies
Sun Sentinel - by David Fleshler
July 11, 2012|,
Trails in the Bear Island Unit of Big Cypress National Preserve were closed.
A federal judge ordered trails in part of Big Cypress National Preserve closed to swamp buggies and other off-road vehicles this week, in a victory for environmentalists who argued the vehicles damaged sensitive wetlands and disturbed Florida panthers.
U.S. District Judge John E. Steele overruled a 2007 decision by the National Park Service to reopen 25 miles of trails in the preserve's Bear Island region, a forested area along the north side of Interstate 75 popular with both hunters and panthers.
"The use of ORVs will necessarily affect the soil, vegetation, wildlife, wildlife habitat and resources of a particular area," he wrote.
He said the park service made the decision without the required environmental assessment and that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revised its earlier, critical review of the plan at the park service's request, without any new information or analysis.
"The court ruled, correctly, that resource protection was the fundamental reason for Big Cypress National Preserve," said Matthew Schwartz, of the Sierra Club of Broward County, also executive director of the South Florida Wildlands Association. "Recreation has to come second."
The decision is the latest in the long-running fight between hunters and environmentalists over the preserve, 729,000 acres of cypress swamp, wet prairie and pinelands that's home to a vast range of wildlife. Hunters say the vehicles — often homemade from tractor tires and auto parts — are essential for getting to remote camps and hauling out the deer and hogs they've killed.
Lyle McCandless, president of the Big Cypress Sportsmen's Alliance, said his organization had worked with the park service to get the trails reopened and he believes the "Park Service went through the proper process in doing so, including public input etc."
Filing the lawsuit were Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, the National Park Conservation Association and several other groups.
Big Cypress Superintendent Pedro Ramos said he would be reviewing the ruling with his lawyers.

120711-c
Rubio's vote to keep sugar subsidy sold out citizens
 TCPalm – Letter by Joseph_Pirrotta
July 11, 2012
It's been well established that the sugar industry south of Lake Okeechobee is a substantial contributor to the pollution of our waterways and the degradation of the Everglades. The state, and to some extent the federal government, has within the last few years spent hundreds of millions of our taxpayer dollars to purchase land, on various restoration projects, and improvements to the dike around the lake, all in mitigation efforts.
Recent U.S. Senate legislation to eliminate the price support quota program subsidy was narrowly defeated. The emphasis of this legislation was to eliminate a substantial penalty every American pays (sugar can be bought on the open international market for half of what the price support provides) to the benefit of the sugar lobby supported by the powerful South Florida Fanjul family. This sugar grower has far-reaching influence both economically and environmentally.
Locally it is well understood that the Fanjul family has substantial influence on our local politicians and bureaucrats, whereby to a large degree, the devastating environmental issues to our waterways caused by them is not effectively addressed. So here we had legislation that could deal with two very important issues — one would think an opportunity not to be missed.
And miss it is exactly what Sen. Marco Rubio from Miami did. He sold us out; it stinks of crony capitalism. His explanation for his vote was that other countries support their growers and until they amend their practices (fat chance) we should not amend ours. The spineless Rubio voted with the Democrats to narrowly defeat (table) the reform bill.
Could it be that this tea party lawyer turned politician is no better than the rest of them ? Some you win, some you lose. Is Mitt Romney listening ?

120711-d
Worried about future of Brevard's wetlands
Florida Today - Letter by Mary Hillberg, Merritt Island
July 11, 2012
I was very impressed with reporter Jim Waymer’s coverage and detail in his recent article, “Wetlands rules inspire extremes,” regarding the wetlands plans for Brevard County.
He has a solid understanding of the real challenges of the proposed amendments to the Conservation Element of the Brevard County Comprehensive Plan.
As a member of the “Wetlands Working Group” that studied this topic in depth, I can only agree with the Sierra Club and the experienced and educated environmental scientists, professionals and concerned citizens. These amendments have the potential of destroying the very heart of our aquifer health, surface water quality, wildlife diversity, natural flood control, recreation and ecotourism industry.
When the state Department of Environmental Protection, St. Johns River Water Management District, the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission all point out the great weaknesses of the efforts to place industrial and commercial development in our most vulnerable wetlands, it rings an alarm for our priceless environment.
Once it is destroyed, it cannot be brought back. We can only pray those in decision-making positions will heed the message.
As a lifelong, 65-year resident of Merritt Island, I am worried for the future of Brevard. These wetlands and fragile areas of our home are a great part of what defines Brevard County as a unique place to live and provides the foundation for our quality of life here.

120710-a
Business Models for Farm Land Ecosystem Services
Intelligentsia International, Inc.
July 10, 2012
Program for Engineering, Ecology, Agricultural Sciences, Economics and other students:
Everglades Ecosystem Restoration is the largest and most ambitious environmental restoration project in the US history. The project includes restoring wetlands, lowering agricultural production, revitalizing water quality, reviving the habitats for endangered and threatened species. However, for south Florida ecosystems restoration solutionsto be viable over their actual implementation time frame, these solutions must address problems Florida will face 50 years from now as well as the problems of today. The threats to the ecosystem are global, not just local - e.g. eliminating Florida farms (and thus reducing nutrients load flowing to Everglades) simply moves agricultural production overseas to nations using less environmentally-sensitive practices, substituting overseas agricultural for domestic production contributes to global environmental threats and thus yields no net ecological benefit at all.
By adding an ecosystem services components to the agricultural business model in Everglades Restoration Area, farm lands can serve both restoration and economic goals effectively and efficiently. Main objective of this practical program is to focus ondeveloping sustainable systems that deliver both agricultural production andenvironmental services.
List of main tasks:
 ■Investigate sustainable farming systems used elsewhere, evaluate theirs pros and cons;
 ■Provide an initial environmental and economic assessment of the investigated area/properties;
 ■Research a legislative framework for water, soil, nutrients, greenhouse gas, etc. trading by conserving the value of the farms land, as well as its continued capacity for production;
 ■Suggest new farming systems that combine revenues derived e.g. from crop sales, waste by-products, carbon credits, water storage, nutrients removal, wildlife habitat, etc.
 ■Prepare innovative financing mechanisms that can be used to jump-start markets for environmental services;
 ■Evaluate ecosystem services components of agricultural business models to quantify environmental impacts criteria (such as Environmental Sustainability Index, Environmental Loading Ratio, Ecological Footprint, Green Biofuels Index, etc.)
 ■Based on partnerships you'll cultivate, develop a pool of financial, conservation, and legal expertise;
 ■Increase public awareness of the economic importance of ecosystem services and the impacts of their loss.
Apply on website: http://www.intelligentsia-international.org/?page=h9

120710-c
Friends of the Everglades raises issues in federal court with new restoration plan
Florida Current – by Bruce Ritchie
July 10, 2012
A new Everglades restoration plan proposed by Gov. Rick Scott will delay restoration and will be unenforceable, according to the group Friends of the Everglades.
U.S. District Judge Alan S. Gold has scheduled a July 18 hearing in Miami on a framework agreement for restoration proposed by Scott in 2011. The $880 million, 12-year agreement was approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on June 13.
While Audubon Florida and the Everglades Foundation supported the proposal, Friends of the Everglades only had issued a short statement last month raising concerns.
Friends of the Everglades and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians sued the federal agency in 2004 for failure to clean up sugar industry pollution flowing into the Everglades. Gold sided with the plaintiffs in 2008 and EPA issued an amended determination in 2010 ordering Florida and the South Florida Water Management District to construct additional stormwater treatment areas to treat phosphorus-rich water.
The new plan proposed by Florida calls for construction of 6,500 acres of additional stormwater treatment areas and water storage areas capable of holding 32 billion gallons, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Gold set the July 18 hearing date and required all of the parties in the case to file briefs in response this week.
In its filing, Friends of the Everglades said the proposed new timetable for restoration extends through 2025, five years longer than EPA had directed the state in 2010. The group also has concerns about technical shortcomings in the plan, its lack of interim standards and its enforceability.
In an opinion column submitted to news media, Friends of the Everglades President Alan Farago quoted President Ronald Reagan's approach to nuclear arms negotiations: "Trust, but verify."
"So far, what the state and EPA propose is a step in the right direction but lacks the iron-clad commitments that (Friends founder) Marjory Stoneman Douglas fought for and that our organization is determined to achieve for Florida and the nation’s interest in the Everglades," Farago wrote.
Spokespersons for the DEP and the EPA were invited to comment on Tuesday but had not provided responses by deadline.
DEP's federal court filing said the plan complies with a 2010 court order, EPA's amended determination and the federal Clean Water Act. DEP said no further discussions with EPA are necessary because the matters raised in previous court orders have been resolved.
The EPA said the timetable is based on estimates provided by the South Florida Water Management District for reliably financing and constructing the restoration projects. Assuming a consent order is approved in a timely fashion, all of the issues raised by the court will have been resolved, the federal agency said.

120709-
Light shines on indigo snakes
News-Press.com - by Kevin Lollar
July 9, 2012
THE EVERGLADES, Fla. — Lifting the lid of a Mortellaro burrow last week, research associate Dave Ceilley of FGCU saw exactly what he wanted to see: A large Eastern indigo snake.
Ceilley, graduate student Brent Jackson and senior Colleen Clark are conducting a two-year study of how Everglades restoration will affect the threatened snake species.
"That was really cool," Ceilley said of finding the snake. "It made my day. A big male like that: He's the boss of this area."
The researchers are studying indigo snakes on a 6,500-acre former citrus grove near Indiantown that will become the C-44 Reservoir and Storm Water Treatment Area as part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
Funding for the project is a $29,500 grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"This is an exciting project," Ceilley said.
"The wildlife service has to protect listed species as part of the CERP permit, and this project is an opportunity to see how indigo snakes move with land-use change.
"We're looking at a federal project to see how we can protect these snakes through applied research."
Traditionally, when a construction project was to take place in indigo snake habitat, government agencies educated contractors about the species and told them not to kill any, Ceilley said.
"But indigo snakes go underground if they're scared," he said. "If somebody is clearing a site, and the snakes go underground, they get buried."
For the FGCU project, the researchers captured five indigo snakes at the C-44 site and took them to the University of Florida's Zoological Medical Service, where veterinary students implanted a transmitter in each.
Ceilley's snake team named the snakes Nagini for the snake in the Harry Potter series, Vader for Darth Vader of "Star Wars," Monty for Monty Python, Betty for the old Leadbelly song "Black Betty," and Dagwood for the comic strip character.
With the snakes back on the C-44 site, the researchers track them twice a week with an antenna that can detect the transmitters from up to one-half mile away - Betty was killed in February, probably by another indigo snake, and Dagwood was killed in May, probably by an otter or feral hog.
Tracking the snakes gives researchers information about their movements and preferred habitats.
"This has been done in Georgia, North Florida and Central Florida, but it's never been done in South Florida," Jackson said. "This will give us life history lessons for these snakes down here in a different climate."
Each snake's transmitter is set to a different frequency, so the researchers can locate each snake in turn.
To track the snakes with the antenna, researchers drive along unpaved roads on the site or walk through the thick vegetation.
Ideally, when the antenna zeroes in on a snake's transmitter, the researchers capture the animal, take measurements and check on its health.
Recently, they easily tracked Nagini, Monty and Vader, but the snakes were too deep inside burrows to be pulled out.
But merely locating the snakes provided important information. Vader, for example, had expanded his range to the northwest, and Monty moved more than a kilometer in 48 hours.
Snakes adapt
Although the study is less than a year old, it has produced some interesting data.
As a former citrus grove, the C-44 site is far from natural, and it has a healthy indigo snake population, which indicates the species will use disturbed lands.
"This is land we didn't think was high-quality habitat for indigo snakes," Ceilley said. "What makes it high quality is that it has water in the form of canals and a good food source in the form of small mammals, and there's no real human activity."
Conventional wisdom is indigo snakes depend on gopher tortoise burrows as dens, but there are no gopher tortoises at the site; the FGCU study has shown the snakes use artificial burrows, such as rock piles, septic tanks and culverts, as well as natural burrows dug by other animals, probably small mammals.
"What we've learned is eye-opening," Ceilley said. "These findings could have huge implications for the permitting process: We may be permitting lands for development where there are indigo snakes we don't know about. We assume they're not on a site because we're not seeing them."
Having found Vader, Nagini and Monty, the researchers checked a series of cover boards (large pieces of plywood placed on the ground to attract snakes looking for cover) and Mortellaro burrows (small irrigation boxes buried in the ground with an opening to the bank of a canal - the burrows are named for Steve Mortellaro of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who came up with the idea).
When Ceilley lifted the lid of the last Mortellaro burrow of the day, he saw a 6-foot indigo snake, which he captured with his bare hands - indigo snakes are docile.
Ceilley plans to have UF's Zoological Medical Service put a transmitter in the snake and release it at the C-44 site to become part of the study.
Ultimately, Ceilley would like to expand the indigo snake project throughout South Florida.
"Eastern indigo snakes are a keystone species for South Florida: They represent a lot of what's being lost," Ceilley said. "If we can protect indigo snakes, we can protect a whole array of other flora and fauna. If we lose indigo snakes, we've lost something very special."

120709-b
Plan offers solution for health of Caloosahatchee
News-Press.com – Guest Opinion by Daniel DeLisi, governing board member of the South Florida Water Management District
July 9, 2012
Drought conditions that have plagued South and Southwest Florida over the last five years underscore the need for timely restoration of the Caloosahatchee Estuary. Perhaps, now more than ever, consensus has formed among west coast residents and businesses, the agricultural community and environmental organizations that the status quo is not acceptable — the estuary needs help now.
Far too often — including this spring — the Caloosahatchee faces the height of the annual dry season without the vital flow of fresh water to maintain appropriate salinity levels. In recent years, the South Florida Water Management District has taken steps to improve the system by moving forward on local restoration projects and by implementing a new guidance document for making recommendations about federal management of the lake. But the reality is these incremental enhancements are lost in the severity of the situation: more water is needed to protect the river and estuary.
We all know that the long-term solution to this challenge is deep water storage so that fresh water is available for delivery to the estuary, even in times of drought.
Construction of Everglades restoration projects, such as the C-43 West Basin Storage Reservoir, and rehabilitation of Lake Okeechobee’s Herbert Hoover Dike will eventually provide this water storage and supply. The dilemma is that these federal projects will take decades to implement at a cost of billions of dollars. Simply put, the Caloosahatchee can’t wait.
In search of economically viable, technically feasible and immediate interim solutions, district scientists and engineers have devoted countless hours since last summer evaluating strategies for improving dry season conditions in the river and estuary. Few solutions exist. However, by analyzing thousands of computer modeling scenarios, our scientists identified modifications within existing Lake Okeechobee operations that can provide significant benefits to the Caloosahatchee without adversely affecting other ecosystems or permitted water users.
This strategy is known as water supply augmentation, WSA-supplemental environmental flows. The concept involves allowing limited volumes of stormwater runoff from the Everglades Agricultural Area to flow back into Lake Okeechobee under specific conditions, making new water available that could then be dedicated to environmental water supply for the Caloosahatchee during dry periods.
Modeling analysis shows WSA-supplemental environmental flows could dramatically reduce high-salinity months in the estuary. In fact, this supplemental source of water to the estuary can solve an enormous ongoing source of harm to our environment. The strategy also would improve ecological conditions in Lake Okeechobee without negatively affecting agriculture and other permitted water users — a true “win-win” scenario. Other potential measures analyzed, such as increasing water shortage cutbacks for permitted users, resulted in little to no ecological improvements to the Caloosahatchee Estuary or Lake Okeechobee, or had negative impacts to the agricultural economies of Hendry, Glades and eastern Lee counties.
Public discussion on WSA-supplemental environmental flows has only just begun. And well-meaning concerns have been raised over how this strategy could affect water quality in the Caloosahatchee and Lake Okeechobee. Based on the District’s analysis and forty years of credible data, WSA-supplemental environmental flows would result in little change to existing nutrient concentrations in the lake. This is due, in part, to the implementation of best management practices over the last 15 years, which have considerably improved the quality of water leaving farms south of the lake.
In short, WSA-environmental supplemental flows offer a viable, interim solution for improving the health of the Caloosahatchee as we await the construction and operation of the massive capital infrastructure improvements planned for Lake Okeechobee and the estuary basin. Until those long-term solutions are in place, my goal is to advocate for any and all actions that will benefit the Caloosahatchee while limiting harm to other parts of the ecosystem as well as existing legal users.
To support this goal, the governing board has directed staff to work with stakeholders so that WSA-supplemental environmental flows can be considered for the restoration “toolbox.” As we continue working with the federal government to seek authorizations and funding for the long-term fixes, we have a unique opportunity to do something meaningful for the estuary today — without having to wait for congressional appropriations and the construction of large engineering projects. By keeping an open mind, engaging in productive public dialogue and pursuing creative solutions, we can work together to realize practical, realistic and significant improvements to the Caloosahatchee watershed sooner rather than later.

120708-a
BP oil-spill fines could boost Everglades restoration
Sun Sentinel -  by William E. Gibson, Washington Bureau
July 8, 2012
WASHINGTON -- Everglades restoration backers are aiming to get a big piece of the billions of dollars of fines that oil giant BP is expected to pay for polluting the Gulf of Mexico and disrupting Florida's delicate ecology during the Deepwater Horizon spill of 2010.
BP's fines are expected to range from $5 billion to $21 billion, and most of the money would go toward restoring the marshes, fishing industry and oil-damaged businesses and resources along the Gulf Coast. But environmental leaders estimate that hundreds of millions of dollars could be devoted to ecological projects all the way down to South Florida.
They're not just dreaming.
Last month, Congress passed a bill that will steer 80 percent of any fine money to Florida and other Gulf Coast states. And while the Florida Legislature passed a law last year that says 75 percent of the state's share must be devoted to  the oil-damaged counties along its northwest coast, the rest can be spent on ecological restoration elsewhere.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force last month that the BP money would provide significant funding for conservation and that he considers the Everglades "a great example for the work that we do for conservation and for jobs."
Salazar's encouraging words and the tantalizing prospect of a giant pot of restoration money prompted environmentalists to start drawing up proposals designed to buffer the coast from future oil spills and to clean and store water that now rushes out to sea. These proposals will focus on Florida's west coast but affect the entire Everglades watershed and potentially free up other federal and state money for projects in South and Central Florida.
The pie is potentially so huge that even a small slice would make a major impact on the re-plumbing work in the 'Glades.
"This is really the largest source of funding for ecological restoration in the history of the world," said David White of St. Petersburg, director of the Gulf restoration campaign for the National Wildlife Federation. "This is a big deal for the ecology for the Gulf of Mexico and by extension the Everglades system, which is part of that ecology."
BP and its contractors are trying to settle a federal court case in New Orleans accusing them of violating the Oil Pollution Act – which is guided by standards set by the Clean Water Act – when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded in April 2010 and spewed nearly 5 million barrels of oil into the Gulf.
Fines under the law would amount to $1,300 per barrel if the companies are guilty of simple negligence -- or $4,300 per barrel if they are guilty of gross negligence.
Environmentalists say a national commission co-chaired by former Florida U.S. Sen. and Gov. Bob Graham that investigated the disaster essentially established gross negligence, prompting them to think the total fines will reach as high as $21 billion.
A sweeping transportation bill passed by Congress on June 29 included legislation known as The Restore Act, which says 80 percent of BP's eventual fine payments must go to the five Gulf states – Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas – most affected by the spill.
The Restore Act also established a formula for distributing the money:
Pot One: 35 percent – as much as $7.35 billion -- to be divided equally among the Gulf states, or 7 percent (nearly $1.5 billion) for each. The 2011 Florida law says 75 percent of the state's share of this pot -- $1.1 billion -- must go to eight hard-hit Gulf counties, and 25 percent can go to the rest. The still works out to $367 million.
Pot Two: 30 percent – up to $6.3 billion -- to be distributed by a federal-state ecosystem restoration council comprised of six federal members and five state members.
Pot Three: 30 percent to pay for state proposals for environmental restoration and economic recovery work. These plans must be approved by the federal-state council.
Pot Four: 5 percent -- just over $1 billion -- to ecosystem monitoring and fisheries work administered by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and scientific Centers of Excellence in each Gulf state.
Money for South or Central Florida projects potentially could come from any of these pots. The council is expected to give priority to plans that promise lasting protection for the Gulf and the coastline against future spills.
These could be new proposals, but "shovel-ready projects" already designed and studied for their environmental impact – including much of the work surrounding the Everglades – could have an advantage.
Audubon of Florida, which pushed hard for passage of the Restore Act, is considering making proposals that would clean polluted water now channeled into the Gulf and store and release it when needed to nurture the Everglades.
"That would put one less stress on Lake Okeechobee, which helps everybody in South Florida," said Julie Hill-Gabriel, director of Everglades policy at Audubon of Florida.
Southeast Florida is tied to the Gulf by the Loop Current, which brings water – and potentially an oil slick -- around the Florida Keys and up to the shores of Broward and Palm Beach counties. The Everglades watershed is also interrelated, so that work along the west coast indirectly affects water projects closer to the east coast.
Using oil money in the western Everglades might allow more federal and state restoration funding to be devoted to the central and eastern Everglades.
The money could eclipse any one year's federal appropriation for Everglades restoration, usually less than $200 million. The oil money would come at no expense to taxpayers, and it would not need to be matched by the state.
"This thing has statewide impact," said Jay Liles, policy consultant for the Florida Wildlife Federation in Tallahassee. "It mostly affects the west coast, but nobody needs to exclude any of these ideas. It just has to have a nexus to the Gulf."

120708-b
Lots of talk about Everglades restoration; little real progress in sight for the St. Lucie River
TCPalm.com - by Eve Samples
July 8, 2012
A plan to fast-track Everglades restoration is churning toward approval — but if your primary concern is the St. Lucie River, don't get too excited.
It doesn't look like the much-touted Central Everglades Planning Process will spare the St. Lucie River from releases of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee. At least not anytime soon.
Though the state-federal initiative calls for moving more Lake Okeechobee water south toward the Everglades, the problem is that it's not enough water.
Not for the Everglades, and not for the river, local advocates say.
The Central Everglades plan — led by the Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District — would create reservoirs and water treatment areas to help absorb another 200,000 acre-feet off Lake O, according to preliminary plans. That amounts to about half a foot off the lake's depth.
But that's a fraction of the roughly 1.5 million acre-feet needed to avoid damaging the ecosystems, said Mark Perry, executive director of Florida Oceanographic Institute.
Without that capacity, the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers will continue to get deluged with polluted lake water during particularly wet years, and the Everglades won't have as much water as it needs.
"What we really need to do is fully restore lots of flow to the south, so we have the capacity," Perry said.
At a June 26 meeting about the Central Everglades plan in Jensen Beach, project backers told Perry that the initial reservoirs and treatment areas are only the first phase of the plan.
But Everglades restoration moves even more slowly than water in the famed River of Grass, so it's unclear if or when future phases will start. And money is a perennial problem.
Complicating matters is that the Central Everglades Planning Process is only working with land already owned by the public. More land would be needed to move the kind of water volume Perry is talking about, but the political will for buying it is negligible.
It's an exasperating reality for advocates of the St. Lucie River.
Perry is one of five voting members of the Rivers Coalition Defense Fund, the group that sued the Army Corps in 2006 in an attempt to stop the Lake O releases.
The group recently lamented the lack of progress in an open letter to the community.
"The Rivers Coalition Defense Fund has urgently requested all elected officials to support a flow way between Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades so that clean and continuous water supply south is guaranteed, and excess water can move naturally again to the Everglades rather than be shunted east and west to the coastal estuaries, where it wreaks havoc in wet years," the letter states.
The group wants Florida's representatives in Washington to end federal subsidies to sugar growers — something that was discussed as part of the latest farm bill but ultimately nixed in the Senate.
Cutting the subsidies could make the sugar land more affordable to buy for restoration projects.
"The sugar industry enjoys guaranteed profits, perfect drainage and perfect water supply, all paid for by you and me," the defense fund letter continues. "Meanwhile the 'new' plan to ostensibly restore the Everglades relies on Everglades Agricultural Area drainage for water supply, and taxpayers for construction and operation of more water quality treatment areas to clean up the dirty drainage."
Karl Wickstrom, another member of the Rivers Coalition Defense Fund and founder of Florida Sportsman magazine, thinks a flow way south from Lake O could be built in five to 10 years.
"If you have the political will, you can fix these things, but we just don't have it," Wickstrom said. "We don't have a single statesman in office who is carrying our torch."
The goal of the Central Everglades Planning Project is to get a group of Everglades projects ready for congressional authorization within two years.
Meanwhile, federal regulators have signed off on an $880 million plan backed by Gov. Rick Scott that is supposed to cut the flow of pollution to the Everglades and resolve two long-standing federal lawsuits.
To a casual observer, it would be easy to assume that the state and federal efforts indicate progress for the St. Lucie River.
The up-close observers see it differently.
"The estuaries never have gotten their due attention," Wickstrom said.
And they won't — until voters demand it from their elected officials.

120708-c
New fight on horizon over wetlands rules
The Tampa Tribune - by Mike Salniero
July 8, 2012
TAMPA -- A committee formed to foster economic prosperity in Hillsborough County is poised to reopen debate over the historically controversial subject of wetlands conservation.
County commissioners formed the 21-member Economic Prosperity Stakeholder Committee to ease regulatory obstacles to economic development. The committee was to focus primarily on land development rules, but now, some members want to rewrite wetlands protections.
"The (wetlands) rule itself as written is not implementable without going through a lot of different processes," said land-use attorney and committee member Vincent Marchetti. "I just said we should look at ways to amend this rule to make it easier to understand and implement."
The county's wetlands rule, considered one of the more restrictive in the state, was the subject of a fierce debate five years ago when some commissioners tried to scuttle it. Angry environmentalists flooded the county center, and commissioners were forced to back down.
In the wake of that uproar, the county's Environmental Protection Commission (EPC) streamlined the wetlands permitting process. The new version did little to appease developers, who continued to complain that the fate of their wetland permits was subject to the whims of EPC inspectors.
The reason Hillsborough's wetlands rule is considered subjective by developers and protective by environmentalists is that it prohibits destruction of wetlands — period. The only exception is when protecting wetlands denies an owner the reasonable use of his property.
In other Florida counties, a developer or property owner can fill a wetland if they mitigate the loss by creating a wetland elsewhere or enhance a degraded wetland off-site.
Prior to 2008, the decision on whether preserving a wetland denied the use of someone's property was a judgment call by an EPC scientist. But during the EPC streamlining process that year, the agency drew up 12 criteria the scientist had to consider in making the decision.
For instance, if a wetland blocks access to the part of the property being developed for a commercial use, the wetland could be filled and mitigated off-site, said Rick Garrity, EPC executive director.
"In 2008, we added a lot of definition and predictability by specifically defining reasonable use," Garrity said.
But Marchetti said the 12 criteria still leave plenty of room for surprise.
"The rule says EPC may consider these factors," Marchetti said, "but … even if they do consider them, they may still deny the wetland (destruction) because each piece of land is unique."
Kami Corbett, also a land-use lawyer and member of the committee, said the county regulators don't consider the quality of a wetland when denying a permit to destroy it. So a developer might be asked to draw his site plan to avoid a ditch or swale that holds water during the rainy season, Corbett said.
"If it's a low-quality wetland and you're saying I can't develop on the corner parcel where it makes all the sense to because there's a swale there, that doesn't make any sense," Corbett said.
Environmentalists, however, say wetlands regulations shouldn't be on the prosperity committee's to-do list. When the committee was formed at the suggestion of Commissioner Sandy Murman, the focus was to streamline the county's land code so development plans can be reviewed and approved quickly.
Now, in what the environmentalists see as a backdoor maneuver, the committee is opening up the wetland rule for possible modification.
"I'm concerned this is happening under the radar of the public," said Mariella Smith, a Sierra Club member and one of two prosperity committee members representing environmental groups. "The public of Hillsborough County has demonstrated time and time again strong public support for wetland protections and environmental protections."
Environmentalists have been suspicious of the committee's real purpose since its inception. Of the 21 members, 16 are in development-related fields.
Sierra Club member Kent Bailey said the committee is repeating the mistakes of the past by concentrating on building as the engine to pull the local economy out of stagnation. More important to economic revival, Bailey said, are quality-of-life factors.
"The prosperous communities in the future are going to be walkable communities that have useable public transportation available, good schools, ample parks and open spaces," Bailey said. "Cheap houses have never made a community more prosperous."
Murman, who chairs the prosperity committee, said she doesn't want to see old wounds reopened over the wetlands issue. However, she has asked Garrity to see if the EPC can inject some flexibility into the agency's wetlands mitigation rules for big economic projects.
"The wetlands make us a well-rounded community," Murman said. "Nobody wants to see Hillsborough County paved over, including myself."

120708-d
Will Florida save its springs or let them die ?
Orlando Sentinel
July 8, 2012
Springs are among Florida's most renowned environmental treasures — fonts of crystal clear water, oases for animals and plants, year-round playgrounds for swimmers and divers from across the state and around the world.
But Florida's springs are dying. Less water is flowing, due in part to overpumping from their underground water supply to feed the development beast.
They are increasingly slimed by algae and weeds, fed by nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients contained in the run-off from storm drains, fertilized lawns and septic tanks.
At the iconic Silver Springs near Ocala, famed for its glass-bottom boats, the flow has dropped by at least half since 2000, this year reaching its lowest level ever. Algae tints the water green and weeds cover most of the white sandy bottom.
This is an emerging environmental disaster. And an economic one. A state-commissioned study in 2004 estimated that recreation and tourism associated with Silver Springs added $61 million a year to the economy and supported more than 1,000 jobs.
Silver Springs may be the poster child for decline but others closer to Orlando — including Wekiwa Springs — also are becoming gummed up with algae.
State environmental regulators and officials from the five water district agencies insist they are aware of the threat to the springs. And yet our springs are still dying.
In recent years, state leaders have thrown more energy into fighting efforts led by environmental groups to impose more-stringent water quality standards that would reduce nutrient pollution. And last year Gov. Rick Scott and lawmakers slashed funding for the state's water management districts.
With friends of the environment like these, well…
Advocates for saving Silver Springs have lately been galvanized by a proposal from a Canadian auto-parts magnate to pump 13 million gallons of water a day from the aquifer to develop a huge cattle ranch. Last month, a rally to save the springs drew more than 1,700 people, including former governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham.
Advocates are petitioning Scott to form a commission or task force to protect the springs and other endangered waterways. That's the least the governor should be doing.
Scott must launch a serious, statewide effort to protect springs throughout Florida. It'll take a wide-ranging plan, including tighter controls on groundwater pumping, more-effective curbs on nutrient pollution, and greater protection for sensitive land nearby.
To its lasting shame, Florida once allowed the near ruin of another environmental treasure, the Everglades. It's taking years, and costing billions, to restore.

120707-a
Gulf Coast states prepare to spend billions in fine money
USA Today News - by Ledyard King and Deborah Barfield Berry, Gannett Washington Bureau
July 6, 2012
WASHINGTON – It took Gulf Coast lawmakers more than two years of prodding and negotiating to persuade a divided Congress their communities deserve most of the billions of dollars BP will pay in fines for its role in the 2010 oil spill.
Now comes another challenge: figuring out how to spend that money.
Officials in the five states affected — Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas — have some time to weigh which projects and programs will best help the Gulf Coast recover from the nation's worst environmental disaster.
The first payments of the estimated $5 billion to $20 billion in fines imposed by the federal government aren't expected until early next year, after a scheduled civil trial. If a settlement is reached before that, the money could arrive sooner.
"It's a monumental law,'' Brian Moore, legislative director at the National Audubon Society, said of the RESTORE Act, which passed Congress last week as part of a larger transportation bill and will be signed into law by President Obama on Friday.
"The next step is just deciding the size of the fines and pressing onto people as much as possible the need for this to happen quickly," Moore said. "This place has been devastated really — the environment and the economy. We need to fix it fast.''
Under the RESTORE Act, 80% of the fine money levied against BP is earmarked for the five Gulf Coast states. It's an unprecedented arrangement. Typically, such financial penalties go to an oil-spill liability trust fund and the U.S. Treasury's general fund for distribution nationwide.
Much of the money is expected to finance projects already on the drawing board, including some proposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Earlier this year, Louisiana passed a 50-year coastal plan that calls for 109 projects, including hurricane protection and coastal restoration.
"Our priorities will be the implementation of that plan,'' said Garrett Graves, director of Louisiana's Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority. "Making an investment in ecosystem restoration, making other investments to improve the resiliencies of some of our coastal communities — that's where we plan on prioritizing the (early) investments.''
Gulf Coast advocacy groups will work to make sure state and local officials "do the next part, right,'' said Casi Callaway, executive director of Mobile Baykeeper, an environmental group based in Mobile, Ala.
"We are not finished with our work," Callaway said. "We have a long, long way to go still, but the biggest and hardest hurdle has passed — getting it through Congress.''
In Alabama, Callaway's group is pressing for a project to build 100 miles of coastal oyster reefs. She hopes to see similar projects throughout the region, which she said has lost thousands of miles of the reefs over the last six decades.
Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant named a team Tuesday to recommend state projects.
"Our work in this state is just beginning,'' he said in a statement. "The (oil spill) impacted our Gulf Coast in many complex and serious ways … We will not rest until the Gulf Coast is made whole."
Environmental groups will push to require BP to pay the maximum amount of fines.
"They're big boys … they messed up,'' said Paul Harrison, senior director of water programs for the Environmental Defense Fund. "They need to pay.''
Harrison said the groups will focus on making sure BP "lives up to its promise of doing the right thing and making the Gulf Coast whole … better beaches, better fisheries, better wetlands, clean water and a better economy."
From the outset, sponsors of the RESTORE (Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourism Opportunities and Revived Economies) Act said most of the fine money should go to Gulf Coast communities because they know best how to spend it.
But they attached a few conditions:
•Thirty percent of the money will be controlled by the 11-member Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, which will develop a comprehensive restoration plan. Members include all five governors (or their designees), the secretaries of the Agriculture, Commerce, Homeland Security and Interior departments, the secretary of the Army and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
•Sixty-five percent of the money will be controlled by state and local governments for such things as tourism, the environment and the economy.
Of that, 35% will be distributed equally among the five states for economic and ecological recovery. The rest will be distributed to the states based on a formula that takes into account factors such as miles of beachfront and population.
•The remaining 5% of the fine money will finance research, with half going to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission and half going to a "center of excellence" in each state.
Grover Robinson IV, an Escambia County (Fla.) commissioner, said many projects, such as beach renourishment and storm water systems, are logical candidates for RESTORE Act money.
"The best news is that we've got a plan and a structure without the money," he said. "That allows us the proper time to go do this. There's no rush to immediately try to make everything happen and go make decisions, because we don't have everything yet."
While each state has a different process for determining how funds will be spent, local advocacy groups hope officials will craft comprehensive plans that include projects with wide reach, long-term viability and public input.
 "We are figuring out great plans for how we can do real live, giant restoration projects on the Gulf Coast,'' Callaway said.

120707-b
Water district plan bad for Everglades
News-Press.com – by Tom Van Lent, Senior Scientist, the Everglades Foundation
July 7, 2012
In August, the South Florida Water Management District will discuss a proposal to divert water south of Lake Okeechobee into the lake for eventual delivery into the Caloosahatchee. The Everglades Foundation believes this plan is bad for the Everglades, bad for Lake Okeechobee, and is bad water and environmental policy.
Some may think taking water from the Everglades Agricultural Area and storing it in Lake Okeechobee for later use in the river will improve the health of the Caloosahatchee. In reality, this short-term solution offers little to help the river in the long-term. Instead, the plan will harm the Everglades and returns us to the damaging days of back-pumping.
Some questions must be addressed: Why would we take water from the already fragile Everglades ecosystem south of Lake Okeechobee? Why would we harm one part of the Everglades ecosystem in a questionable attempt to help another part of the ecosystem? Why would we back-pump polluted water and dump it into the already polluted Lake Okeechobee? And, how can we ensure that once we begin back-pumping that the practice will not be opened up for other consumptive uses?
There are ongoing environmental issues that must be addressed to protect and improve the health of the Caloosahatchee. For too long, this river has not received the care it needs. It is a vital link to the overall Everglades ecosystem and a critical part of the region’s economy.
We must renew our efforts to complete projects that will ensure the future health of the Caloosahatchee . Part of the solution is the completion of the Lake Hicpochee project, the natural headwaters of the river.
What we cannot allow to happen is to further degrade Lake Okeechobee by adding to the lake’s pollution. We must not defeat the pollution reducing effects of the Storm Water Treatment Areas by adding new sources of pollution. And, we should make certain that policies are in place where agricultural interests cannot take a disproportionate share of existing water supplies.
In a 2008 News-Press column, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation wrote: “The practice of back-pumping from the EAA into Lake Okeechobee is not a sustainable solution for the health of south Florida. It undermines the significant financial investments and commitment the State has made in cleaning up the lake and estuary discharges. It is failed water policy.”
We urge the South Florida Water Management District not to return to that “failed water policy.”

Editorial Comment:
It is good to see that somebody spoke out well and logically against "backpumping" highly contaminated EAA water into Lake Okeechobee. This would be a totally retrograde step backward into the last century. LO needs cleaning up, not more contamination ! The Caloosahatchee could hardly benefit from more contaminated waters from LO. Actually, the constitutional "polluters pay" should take care of cleaning up the EAA water pollution.

120706-a
Homegrown policy trumps feds' one-size-fits-all option
Orlando Sentinel - Guest column by Adam Putnam, a former state and federal lawmaker, elected Florida's Agriculture Commissioner in 2010.
July 6, 2012
I believe Florida is best positioned and most capable of protecting its own rivers, streams and coastal waters. In addition to having a long-standing successful program to manage the quality of Florida's water resources, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has developed scientifically sound water-quality standards that have been approved by the Florida Legislature, Environmental Regulation Commission and governor. Most recently, a state administrative law judge came to the same conclusion when he upheld the DEP-proposed water-quality standards. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will now evaluate and determine whether the state standards are adequate or whether the EPA will impose its own standards on the state.
Florida's commitment to restoring and protecting its water bodies is demonstrated not only by its proposed standards, but also by its strong track record. Florida has placed substantial emphasis on the monitoring and assessment of its waters and, as a result, has collected significantly more water-quality data than any other state. Florida leads the nation in advanced wastewater-treatment techniques and technology and in surface-water resource protection and restoration programs for both urban and agricultural land use. Even the EPA acknowledged that Florida has implemented some of the nation's most progressive management strategies for nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous.
Florida has also made significant progress in nutrient reduction, leading to notable successes in water resource restoration. Examples range from Tampa Bay, where sea grasses have returned to levels not seen since the 1950s and now cover 30,000 acres, to the Everglades Agricultural Area, where phosphorous levels have been reduced by 79 percent.
Establishing statewide water-quality standards is a complex task. For example, though nutrients can be harmful in excessive amounts, in balance they are natural and necessary for healthy waters. The situation is further complicated by the diversity of Florida's bodies of water, which vary greatly in size, shape, and environmental surroundings. A one-size-fits-all approach is not an option. Instead, the state evaluates conditions within each area to develop relevant water-quality standards and determine the biological responses associated with pollutant loadings and concentrations. In addition, Florida has a well-defined stakeholder involvement process that includes consideration of economic impact and other realities that must be faced in meeting water-quality targets.
In contrast to Florida's water standards, EPA's numeric nutrient criteria, proposed in 2010, were not based on sound science and would have cost Floridians billions of dollars to implement, without an equivalent benefit. In partnership with Attorney General Pam Bondi, I filed a complaint in federal court challenging the rule and, in February this year, a U.S. District Court found that EPA's rules were overly restrictive and unnecessary to protect Florida's streams.
I urge EPA to consider the ruling by the administrative law judge, as well as the U.S. District Court's opinion and EPA's own acknowledgement of Florida's strong capabilities to manage water resources, and to approve Florida's water-quality standards in their entirety. EPA's approval will allow Florida to exercise the authority envisioned by the Clean Water Act to develop and implement its own water-quality standards through an EPA-approved, predictable process governed by state law and accountable to the taxpayers.
The health of Florida's water bodies is critical to the future of this state. Part of what makes Florida the ultimate tourist destination is its natural environment. Florida's lakes and rivers offer endless family-friendly recreational opportunities for Florida's residents. Businesses — including energy producers, real-estate developers and Florida's $100 billion agriculture industry — rely on a high-quality water supply to support their operations. For these and many other reasons, Florida is committed to protecting and restoring its lakes, springs, rivers and streams.

120706-b
Is Fla. a good steward of water ?
Orlando Sentinel - by Paul Owens, Senior Editorial Writer
July 6, 2012
Environmental groups and state officials have been sparring for more than a decade over whether Florida is doing enough to protect the state's waterways from pollution. The stakes are huge: The quality of Florida's rivers and springs is critical to the state's environment, economy and water supply.
Last month an administrative law judge turned thumbs down on a challenge to the state's proposed water-pollution rules from environmental groups. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency still hasn't decided if state or federal standards ultimately will apply in Florida.
Some key industries in Florida, including agricultural and energy producers, prefer the state rules. They argue the stricter federal rules will impose too high a cost on Florida's economy. Their position is backed by Gov. Rick Scott, legislative leaders and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, one of today's Front Burner columnists.
But environmental groups contend that the state rules aren't stringent enough to restore Florida waterways degraded by pollution, especially from nutrients in run-off from streets, storm drains and septic tanks. They also want more limits on groundwater use. Their supporters include ex-Florida governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham.

120706-d
State hasn't done enough to avert quality, supply crisis
Orlando Sentinel - Guest column by Jimmy Orth, Executive Director of the St. Johns Riverkeeper
July 6, 2012
The current state of Florida's aquatic resources is unacceptable, and in many cases, simply appalling. Many waterways are suffering from the over-pumping of groundwater, poorly treated wastewater, excessive use of fertilizer, and encroaching development. Eighty percent of the river and stream miles, 90 percent of lakes and ponds, 97 percent of bays and estuaries, and 97 percent of the coastal shoreline that have been assessed by federal regulators don't meet state water-quality standards due to excessive pollutant levels.
Our springs are no better off. According to the 2010 Florida Springs Initiative Monitoring Report, only two of 49 springs continue to have nitrate concentrations in natural ranges, and over 40 percent have median concentrations that exceed the recommended nitrogen threshold by three times or more. High concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients feed invasive weeds and toxic algae blooms that clog waterways and kill aquatic life.
One of our most threatened waterways is the iconic Silver Springs in Ocala. Nitrate levels have increased 20-fold, flows have decreased more than 50 percent, and fish biomass has plummeted more than 90 percent in the last several decades. The bottom line is that we have serious water quality and supply problems and not enough is being done to address this impending crisis.
As a result, the Florida Conservation Coalition (FCC) was founded by former Florida governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham and conservation organizations to ensure that safeguards are in place to protect Florida's water resources and our rich natural environment. We recognize that our land, fish, wildlife and waters are essential to the well-being and quality of life of Florida's residents and the long-term economic prosperity of our state.
Last month, the FCC hosted "Speak Up for Silver Springs and Florida's Waters" at Silver River State Park to call for the protection and restoration of Florida's imperiled waterways. More than 1,700 concerned citizens from all over the state attended. Ocala was selected as the backdrop for this important gathering for numerous reasons. For one, the degradation that has already occurred to the Silver River and Silver Springs and the serious threats that these vital aquatic resources continue to face are critical, requiring immediate attention and swift action.
However, what is happening to Silver River and Silver Springs is emblematic of a larger statewide problem that must be also addressed. These waterways are representative of water quality and supply problems that are impacting springs, rivers, lakes, and groundwater throughout Florida. Peering through the lens that is the glass-bottom boats at Silver Springs, we also see the shortcomings of our regulatory and water-management systems that have failed to protect some of our most valuable waterways.
We are also reminded of just how important our natural resources are to our quality of life and the economic vitality of local communities and our entire state. For instance, a 2004 study found that Silver Springs supports more than 1,000 jobs and has an annual economic impact of over $61 million. A 2011 economic analysis by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission found that outdoor recreation, such as hunting, fishing, and wildlife viewing, has an economic impact of nearly $15 billion throughout Florida.
Now is the time to speak up for Florida's waters, recognizing the value of investing in the protection and restoration of our water resources. Our economic future is inextricably linked to how effectively we protect our environment and preserve our natural resources. Safeguarding our air, waters and natural lands is a prudent and wise economic investment in the future of our state.
Learn more and get involved by visiting http://www.floridaconservationcoaltion.org. Together, we can protect our water resources, and in turn, protect Florida's economy, our health and quality of life.

120705-







- and how about
"Polluters Pay",
Mr. Moran ?

(Editorial comment)

120705-
Phosphorus pipe dream will mean tax hike
Palm Beach Post – Letter by James J. Moran, Governing board member, South Florida Water Management District
July 5, 2012
The pressure from the EPA to force the taxpayers of South Florida to spend another $880 million to “restore the Everglades” is a politically correct folly (“EPA gives OK to $880M Everglades clean-up plan,” June 13).
First of all, the price tag is actually closer to $1.5 billion when you add in existing projects to be used in this effort that are already paid for. This is on top of the $1.8 billion previously spent by taxpayers since the inception of this litigation.
If you define restoring the Everglades as reducing the phosphorus count, then we’ve already done it ! Over the past 10 years the South Florida Water Management District has reduced it from about 170 parts per billion down to an average of less than 20 parts per billion. (Note: tap water is 70 parts per billion.) There is sound, peer-reviewed science which says any further long-term reduction may well be impossible. These facts remain ignored as we press ahead to meet an unnecessary and probably unattainable goal of 10 parts per billion.
The cost/benefit on this project is just not there. To spend another billion dollars we don’t have and can’t afford to shave another 10 parts per billion doesn’t make common sense. It’s not rational. Make no mistake, when the Florida Legislature declines to allocate its hoped-for share of the cost or when other unanticipated expenses arise, the South Florida Water Management District will be forced to raise taxes to pay for this unnecessary, impossible pipe dream.
Governmental agencies need to define their priorities and live within their means !

120704-
Governor appoints two to Big Cypress Basin Board
Naples News - Political Notebook by Daily News Staff and Wire Services
July 4, 2012
Gov. Rick Scott has appointed Alice J. Carlson and Ralph H. Haskins to the Big Cypress Basin Board, the Collier County arm of the South Florida Water Management District.
Carlson, 57, of Naples, is the owner and president of AJC Associates Inc. She succeeds Naples Mayor John Sorey and is appointed to serve starting this week to March 1, 2015.
Haskins, 59, of Naples, is a retired development manager for Kitson and Partners. He succeeds Noah Standridge and is appointed to serve starting this week to March 1, 2015.
The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.

120703-a
June rains wash away drought conditions in South Florida
Sun Sentinel - by David Fleshler
July 3, 2012
Wet season off to early start, but restrictions remain
Heavy rains in June brought the usual bag of mixed blessings to South Florida: fewer wildfires, more mosquitoes, a healthier Lake Okeechobee and a solid start to storing up water for the coming dry season.
Traditionally the wettest month of the year, June brought 7.5 inches of rain to the South Florida watershed, thanks largely to a thunderous six days as the fringes of Tropical Storm Debby passed over the region. The rains raised Lake Okeechobee above 12 feet for the first time in eight months and put the region's rainfall about two inches above the average for this time of year, the South Florida Water Management District reported Monday.
But officials said it was far too soon to discuss whether a successful rainy season could lead of a relaxation of water restrictions. With the current rains providing enough water for most users, the district is focused on accumulating water for the dry season and keeping streets passable.
"Right now we're in flood control mode," said Susan Sylvester, the district's chief of water control operations. "Overall, we had a typical June in our area, and because of an early start to the wet season, water levels are consistent with where they should be this time of year."
At Lake Okeechobee, the higher water improved prospects for endangered snail kites, which abandoned nests last year because of the parched conditions.
"The rain has been great for the lake's ecosystem," said Jane Graham, Everglades policy associate for Florida Audubon. "Last year the lake was at severely low levels, and the snail kite nests were failing. The contrast between that and today is really stark. The snail kites are actually doing pretty well."
The rains induced millions of mosquitoes to hatch, leading Broward and Palm Beach mosquito control agencies to dispatch aerial units to spray insecticides over many neighborhoods.
But they also reduced the risk of wildfires. After warnings of tinderbox conditions in South Florida, the rain soaked the ground sufficiently to reduce the danger.
"The risk of wildfires is down greatly," said Chris Wasil, forest area supervisor for the Florida Division of Forestry in Palm Beach County. "The rain came early this year, right as the lightning came through."
Drought conditions that prevailed weeks ago throughout Florida have vanished from most of the peninsula, with only a strip of territory west of Lake Okeechobee classified as experiencing drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor, operated by federal and academic scientists.
Although the initial water restrictions were controversial, many people have adapted.
Margie Walden, executive vice president of the Alliance of Delray residential association, said she has heard few complaints.
"Nobody has really talked about losing a lot of landscaping or anything," she said. "And now everything is flourishing. Everything is growing like crazy. I think everybody feels blessed that the rains have filled up the aquifer."
Betsy Dow, president of the Coral Ridge Association in Fort Lauderdale, said the restriction has been no problem, even though her husband is an avid gardener and their tropical landscaping generates many compliments.
Among the members of her neighborhood association, she said, "It's been a non-topic. They know what the rules are and they just follow them."
The rainy season started May 7, two weeks early. The season typically lasts until Oct. 13 and accounts for about two thirds of the year's rainfall. The season proceeds in three phases: May through July 4, which is the wettest period, July through mid-August, which is hotter and drier, and late August through October, which varies greatly depending on the arrival of tropical storms and cold fronts.
The rain has been heaviest in the Kissimmee Valley north of Lake Okeechobee, the headwaters of the Everglades, which supplies water to South Florida. Farther south, the heaviest rains fell along coastal areas where most people live, as opposed to the Everglades and other interior lands.
Not much rain is expected over the next few days.

120703-b
Water democracy: Even as supply threatens to run out, public shows little interest
Orlando Sentinel - by Kevin Spear
July 3, 2012
ST. CLOUD — The keepers of CentralFlorida'swater supply, mostly technocrats and utility bosses, have labored for more than a year to identify and divide among themselves the region's last precious drops.
Last week, they put their work on public display during an open house that, according to a sign-in sheet, was attended by several dozen people representing various businesses, government agencies and environmental-advocacy groups. Only about a half dozen of those present were simply interested members of the general public.
Such is democracy when it comes to water in Florida, even as the supply threatens to run dry.
Various public-affairs experts and advocates say they worry that people's participation in local or statewide water-policy debates is often muted by complex science, specialized regulations and lack of involvement by elected officials.
"Water will never catch the public eye until it stops running out of the faucet," said Bill Segal, a former Orange County commissioner and a formerSt. Johns River Water Management District board member.
Some water watchers think a tipping point might have been reached a little more than a week ago, however, when nearly 1,750 people turned out for a rally at Silver River State Park in Marion County.
The event had been organized in response to a ranch owner's quest to pump 13 million gallons of water a day from the state's heavily stressed Floridan Aquifer. Most of that water — as much as the nearby city of Ocala uses each day — would irrigate pastures for high-intensity cattle production at Adena Springs Ranch.
The unusually strong backlash to the ranch's water-permit request stems largely from fears that it would reduce and pollute the water flowing from the area's already-ailing Silver Springs, a well-known and popular natural attraction and tourist destination since the 1800s. Backers of the cattle ranch deny that any harm would occur to the springs or the river they create.
Where a tipping point might lead is unclear in a state where the options for public involvement in water issues are limited or daunting.
A speaker at the June 23 rally — Lee Constantine, a former Republican state senator from Altamonte Springs who's now a candidate for Seminole County commissioner — said he encourages individuals and groups to join the Florida Conservation Coalition, one of the rally's organizers, as a way to have their voices heard.
Constantine, who as a state lawmaker was among only a few in the Legislature to concentrate on water issues, said turning to a local elected official to talk about water — as routinely happens when people have concerns about schools, taxes or crime — "isn't going to do any good. They can't look at the big picture of water."
In this part of the state, most of the people capable of seeing the big picture are part of the Central Florida Water Initiative.
CFWI members are drawn from the three state agencies, known as water-management districts, that control the region's water supply, and from the city and county utilities that must share the dwindling amount of water left to meet the demands of population growth.
The invitation-only group's inaugural open house Thursday was in St. Cloud, on the edge of the Orlando metropolitan area, overlooking the Osceola County city's scenic waterfront park on East Lake Tohopekaliga. Having done most of their work so far in obscurity, its members enthusiastically described tasks that, they admitted, involve cutting-edge science that often defies easy explanation.
They said they are attempting to: determine how much harm has already been caused to the region's wetlands and waterways by heavy pumping from the Floridan Aquifer; establish whether that harm is of an acceptable degree; and set a limit for how much more water, if any, can be pumped from the aquifer.
Deirdre Macnab, president of the League of Women Voters of Florida, said it's difficult for the average citizen to understand such a discussion, much less respond to it.
"This is one of our most precious resources, and we don't really know what's happening below the surface," said Macnab, who didn't attend the open house. "We need an annual, reliable and understandable report on our water."
Robert Knight shares her frustration. Knight, a springs scientist in Gainesville and an opponent of the Adena Springs Ranch proposal, said the state's water-management districts seem intent on blunting public involvement.
"They are usually talking down to people. They give presentations that are frequently unintelligible. They go over things too fast and try to cover too much," Knight said of the districts' regular meetings. "I don't care to go to them myself."

120703-c
Water quality war rages on
Gainsville Sun - by Fred Hiers, Staff Writer
July 3, 2012
Lawsuit could come soon
The latest administrative ruling — that Florida environmental regulators acted properly when they enacted water quality standards less stringent than those of the federal government — isn't the end of the long battle over Florida water quality.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) soon will announce whether it accepts the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's (FDEP) water nutrient standards instead of its own tougher standards for regulating nitrogen and phosphorus.
If the EPA acquiesces, "we would challenge it in the federal courts. We're not just going to go away. The trend for our water bodies continue to be negative," said Florida Wildlife Federation President Manley Fuller.
"We're not just suing for the heck of it. We're going to use all the federal remedies at our disposal," Fuller said. "They (FDEP) won the last inning and now we're going into a new inning."
The "innings" in this game have been played since 1998, when the EPA ordered Florida and other states to come up with more stringent freshwater standards. Florida didn't comply, so Florida environmentalists sued the EPA to force it to develop its own water nutrient standards.
When EPA put forth such a set of rules, Florida lawmakers, utilities and businesses complained. Last year FDEP developed its own set of rules, less stringent than EPA's, and the Florida Legislature voted to approve them as the state's own guidelines.
In December, a group led by the Florida Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club filed a petition with the state Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) challenging the new state rules. Florida Administrative Law Judge Bram Canter ruled that FDEP acted within its authority.
Many Florida utilities and Florida water bodies wouldn't have passed EPA's standards. As far as area waterways go, pollutant levels for the Silver and Rainbow springs are three times higher than EPA's proposed limits. Troy Springs in Branford also would fail to pass muster. Popular Lake Weir routinely fails to meet the EPA's proposed total nitrogen standard, with levels sometimes reaching double what the EPA would allow.
The county's rivers don't fare much better: The Ocklawaha, Withlacoochee and Rainbow consistently surpass EPA's proposed river standards.
Fuller said FDEP's proposed rules allow for too many exceptions that would result in the standards never being adequately enforced.
FDEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard said in a statement that the judge's ruling validates his agency's effort to develop effective water quality standards that take into account Florida's unique hydrology and diversity when it comes to its fresh water bodies.
"Our rules provide a clear process for identifying waters impaired by nutrients, preventing harmful discharges, and establishing necessary reductions," Vinyard said.
But Fuller said FDEP's rules won't work.
"The problem (of nutrient pollution) is not going to go away. Even if we lose in court," he said.

120702-a
SFWMD land deals were expensive but necessary
Palm Beach Post - by Melissa L. Meeker, Executive Director, South Florida Water Management District
July 2, 2012
Environmental restoration took a much-welcomed step forward this month with federal and state consensus on a suite of projects to achieve Everglades water quality improvements. Timely implementation of the new projects — to be built by the South Florida Water Management District over the coming years — would not be possible without needed tracts of land already in public ownership.
Regrettably, effective strategies used a decade ago to acquire land for restoration purposes have recently come under criticism. (“Ex-congressman got millions in land deal,” June 10.) It’s easy to forget the context in which Florida’s explosive growth in the early and mid-2000s provided the impetus — and the resources — to place hundreds of thousands of acres of land into public ownership.
Anyone who lived in Florida at that time will remember its fast-paced real estate market. As development increased and property values escalated, it made sense for SFWMD to set aside lands ahead of the design and construction of projects associated with long-term restoration programs. One of these programs was the state-federal Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, just getting under way. The District’s responsibility as its local sponsor was unambiguous: acquire land for the restoration projects.
The land acquisition program accomplished its goals. From 2000 to 2008, the District put close to 165,000 acres into public ownership for Kissimmee River Restoration, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan and other water resource purposes. And, the $1.6 billion invested in land during those years has brought tangible results. In the restored Kissimmee, for example, we have vastly expanded the river’s floodplain, holding more water north of Lake Okeechobee and thereby reducing harmful discharges to coastal estuaries
A challenge then — and now — is that the District’s need for certain parcels is determined by specific geographic locations where water resource protection and restoration are needed. As a result, some acquisitions took place through the state’s formal condemnation process, which increases costs. Wherever possible, the District worked to achieve negotiated acquisitions, even if the final price exceeded appraised value. In the long run, that approach saved taxpayer dollars rather than squandered them, as some critics have charged.
The years of intensive land buying are behind us. We are now focused on putting publicly owned acreage to its very best use, whether building on-site projects, swapping for lands in more critical locations or leveraging it to gain the resources needed to carry out restoration work.
At the same time, we are assessing what worked well for our land programs in the past and what needs revision. Already, the District has improved land management with: updates to our leasing policies; organizational changes to better align real estate, land management and land stewardship activities; inventorying District lands to identify properties not directly needed for restoration or mission-specific purposes; review of the District’s land surplusing protocols; and close coordination with the Department of Environmental Protection for land surplusing as well as any needed acquisitions.
In all cases, the District’s activities are carried out under Governing Board direction in accordance with state statutes and as part of an open and public process. We have posted land-related documents and contracts to the District’s website, providing for ready access by the public.
These steps reflect our continued focus District-wide on reviewing and improving the agency’s business, administration and operational practices. Our goal is to ensure the agency is operating prudently, effectively and efficiently in the best interest of South Florida’s water resources and its taxpayers.

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What exactly is ‘surplus’?
Ocala.com - Editorial
July 2, 2012
Tropical Storm Debby provided a refresher course on the importance of wetlands — natural areas capable of absorbing and storing excess water.
Or, as some might call it, “surplus” water.
We had a lot of surplus water dumped on us last week. And much of it, having nowhere else to go, ended up flooding highways, neighborhoods and businesses and leaving considerable damage in its wake.
It is ironic that while Debby was still reminding us that asphalt and concrete are poor substitutes for natural wetlands and water recharge areas, the director of land for the St. Johns River Water Management District was in Palatka talking about the district’s plan to begin selling off “surplus” property ... said property to be identified at a later date.
“This is not a fire sale to plug a budget gap,” Robert Christianson assured.
Rather, the profits from any land sold will be used to purchase lands with presumably even greater water-storage and preservation potential.
Residents who have been stacking sandbags this past few days may be forgiven if they take that assurance with a grain of salt.
We are left with the presumption that before Gov. Rick Scott came along and slashed their tax base to the bone — St. Johns lost more than a third of its budget alone to Scott’s budget ax — the water management districts were embarked on a veritable orgy of unnecessary land purchases.
Or, as Melissa Meeker, deputy secretary for water policy and ecosystem projects for the state Department of Environmental Protection tactfully put it in a memo last year, the districts were “extremely progressive” in buying land and now must repent in the face of “substantial financial constraints.”
Frankly, the Scott administration’s record when it comes to environmental stewardship does not inspire confidence that only those district lands that have little or no value to Florida’s water resources will be sold.
Here in Marion County, we have some of Florida’s most important wetlands scattered across the vastness of the Ocala National Forest and other conservation lands. And we understand their value not only as water drainage areas, but as critical pieces of North Florida’s increasingly fragile ecosystem.
Debby’s “surplus” water demonstrated, once again, the value of retaining as much open land — nature’s sponges — as possible.
Citizens and environmental groups should be especially vigilant as the St. Johns and the Southwest Florida water districts go about the business of identifying “surplus” lands.

The Outfall Canal was
built to prevent flooding
around Lake Tarpon,
but Debby’s high tides
hampered use of the
canal gate.

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Debby's unusual weather prevented Outfall Canal from halting Lake Tarpon flooding, officials say
Tampa Bay Times - by Mike Brassfield, Staff Writer
July 1, 2012
As Tropical Storm Debby lashed North Pinellas with wind and rain last weekend, Lake Tarpon filled up like a bathtub. The water crept up higher than it had been in 40 years, topping seawalls and flooding yards and streets.
Roughly 800 homes surround the largest freshwater lake in Pinellas County. Nearly 100 nervous lakeside homeowners called the Southwest Florida Water Management District, all of them asking the same question:
Why wasn't the agency opening the gates of the Lake Tarpon Outfall Canal to drain the excess lake water into Old Tampa Bay, the way it had so many times before ?
Unfortunately, it just wasn't that simple.
"The problem is, the tides and the wind are pushing water in while we're pushing water out," Swiftmud spokeswoman Robyn Felix said as the storm raged.
Normally, the water level in Lake Tarpon is 3 to 4 feet higher than the water in Tampa Bay. But unusually high tides were forcing bay water all the way up the 3-mile canal to the lake. Swiftmud kept having to close the canal gate to prevent saltwater from intruding into the lake.
For some lakeside residents, this led to more questions. After all, the Outfall Canal was built in the first place to prevent flooding around Lake Tarpon. And Debby was just a tropical storm. Would they be able to count on the canal to stop the lake from flooding their homes if an actual hurricane hit?
'Some were scared'
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dug the canal in the late 1960s to stop flooding around the 2,500-acre lake after heavy rains.
The corps dredged a channel 200 feet wide and 12- to 15-feet deep from the south end of the lake to Old Tampa Bay. If the water in Lake Tarpon reaches a certain level, the gates are opened and water flows down the canal into the bay. That's what's supposed to happen, anyway. But it didn't happen when Debby arrived.
"The water has never been this high since the Outfall Canal was built," said Paul Kempter, a longtime resident of the Lakeshore Estates neighborhood who created laketarpon.org, a website about the lake. "This was something nobody was used to seeing. Some people were very worried, and some were scared."
The tropical storm started pounding the region on Sunday. It wasn't until Wednesday that authorities were able to drain the lake back to its normal level. In the end, there were no reports of flooded homes, but plenty of streets were impassable to low-profile vehicles.
"My street was flooded with lake water," said Clearwater harbormaster Bill Morris, who lives on the west bank of Lake Tarpon. His daughter gave him a lift out of his neighborhood in her Ford F-150 pickup. "People who had the biggest vehicles just helped everybody else get to work."
Worse than Elena
The man who oversees the gates between Lake Tarpon and the bay has a message for lakeside residents: Don't worry about a repeat of the past week's events. It's unlikely to occur again in your lifetime.
"Every storm is different," said David Crane, structure operations manager for Swiftmud. "This weather event happened to hit the whole Lake Tarpon system in an unusual way that was hard to deal with."
In his view, a hurricane or another tropical storm probably wouldn't have the same effect.
So what was different about Debby ?
"The most unusual part was the sustained winds, which didn't let up for days. The wind was coming directly up Tampa Bay, blowing straight up the canal," Crane said. "Usually we would anticipate that a storm would be moving. The wind would blow in different directions as the storm moved across the area."
Not even 1985's Hurricane Elena, which hovered in the Gulf of Mexico for days and brutalized Florida's west coast, caused Lake Tarpon to flood like Debby did, according to officials and residents.
With Debby, another factor was very heavy rainfall concentrated in a swath from Lake Tarpon up through Pasco and Hernando counties. Felix, the Swiftmud spokeswoman, said some areas got 14 inches of rain in 24 hours. Rain from the lake's 54-square-mile watershed, which includes Brooker Creek, kept pouring into Lake Tarpon.
"We worked around the clock to get the water down," Crane said. "Sometimes nature takes a different course. With Lake Tarpon, it's very unlikely that anything of this magnitude will happen again."

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