160930-a
Closing the springs divide
Gainesville.com – Editorial
September 30, 2016
Ask the two most influential groups engaged in the conversation about the future of Florida’s deteriorating springs and they will offer diametrically opposing perspectives on what is needed to save these precious waters.
The politicians say they need irrefutable science to justify a massive infusion of public dollars for what undoubtedly is a long-term restoration effort. The scientists, meanwhile, say they need informed and unwavering political support and a more intensive commitment to salvaging our overpolluted and overpumped springs.
The two sides will sit down starting this morning in Ocala to try and find greater common ground and more expedient solutions when the Florida Springs Restoration Summit gets underway at the College of Central Florida. The three-day conference, sponsored by the Florida Springs Council and five co-sponsors, features two days of seminars and panel discussions and a third day actually on the water at Silver Springs.
The conference's first day will focus on the science side of the discussion and feature some of Florida’s most knowledgeable scientific minds regarding our springs and the pressures they face. The second day will focus on the political and public outreach aspects of the issue and include panel discussions by some of the state’s top environmental regulators, who will explain what steps are already being taken toward restoration.
The simple reality, however, is the state, specifically the water management districts and the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, has done too little to effectively stop the slow death of our springs. Virtually all of Florida’s 700-plus springs are being slowly destroyed by man-made pollution — especially nitrates — and declining flows caused by growth-related overpumping. In Marion County, for instance, scientists for the St. Johns River Water Management District have concluded the county is overpermitted, that is, permits have been issued for more groundwater than the aquifer can supply.
Timing, of course, is everything. While the Springs Summit will focus exclusively on our world-renown springs, it is impossible to have the discussion without acknowledging that the springs problem is just part of a much bigger water catastrophe that is enveloping the state. From Apalachicola Bay to the St. Johns River to Indian River Lagoon to Lake Okeechobee — and now the Mosaic disaster in Polk County — Florida is beset with water crises.
And they are crises. They are crises because after years, indeed decades, of warnings from scientists and environmentalists that failing to conserve and preserve our water bodies, and take tough steps to protect them from pollutants and overuse, nature is simply taking its unchosen course. Florida’s water policies, weakened significantly under the knowing leadership of Gov. Rick Scott, are simply inadequate to address the magnitude of the damage that has been done and is being down to our state’s waters, especially our springs.
Yes, DEP has Basin Management Plans for the major springs like Silver and Rainbow. But they are too timid and too slow demanding meaningful results. Worse, there are no sanctions to any business or individual that adds to the degradation of our springs. Simply put, Florida’s water laws and springs restoration efforts are weak. Enforcement is even weaker.
We encourage anyone with a heart for our springs, or who plays a role in setting springs-related policy — that is you, politicians – to attend the Florida Springs Restoration Summit. It is time to bridge the gap between the science and the politics if there is any hope of restoring our springs.
For more information about the summit, visit www.springsrestorationsummit.org.

160930-b
Deal on Flint water crisis helped move Everglades bill
News-Press.com – by Ledyard King,Washington bureau
September 30, 2016
WASHINGTON – A congressional deal to address a public health crisis in Michigan could help fix the environmental crisis in the Everglades.
The House on Wednesday approved a massive water bill authorizing $1.95 billion for projects to help restore Florida’s River of Grass. It did so thanks to a last-minute agreement lawmakers hashed out to address drinking water contamination some 1,500 miles away in Flint, Mich.
The House vote comes two weeks after the Senate approved its version of the bill -- the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 --  that also authorizes money for the Central Everglades Planning Project.
The ambitious multi-year program is designed to restore the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee south towards Florida Bay and away from coastal communities to the east and west, where polluted runoff and algae blooms have endangered residents, killed fish and hurt businesses.
Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-Jupiter, whose Treasure Coast district experienced toxic conditions due to the crisis, called the House vote “a huge win for Florida waterways.”
It almost didn’t happen.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats twice blocked spending measures designed to keep the government open past Sept. 30 because Flint was not included in the House water measure. Once they received assurances it would be, the Senate passed the spending bill Wednesday.
A conference committee still must iron out differences between the House and Senate versions of the water bill. But the nearly $2 billion for the Evergaldes – half in federal aid, the rest in local resources – is expected to remain intact because it’s in both versions.
Both bills would fund a number of water-related projects considered crucial to communities around the nation that want to widen their ports, rebuild flood-ravaged neighborhoods, or improve drinking water systems.
The legislation authorizes other Florida projects, including $113 million for the Picayune Strand Restoration Project in Collier County and $323 million to deepen the main shipping channels at Port Everglades in Broward County.
The push for Everglades funding took on a new sense of urgency this year following national attention to toxic algae blooms in the St. Lucie Rver and Indian River Lagoon on Florida’s Atlantic coast. Presidential candidates weighed in on the crisis and members of Congress joined activists in delivering bottles of the contaminated water to Capitol Hill in July.
Southwest Florida communities have experienced their own horror stories as brackish runoff from Lake Okeechobee has traveled down the Caloosahatchee River and befouled local shorelines.
The Everglades restoration program is expected to protect coastal communities from damaging runoff by diverting 67 billion gallons of water southward per year to improve the habitat in Florida Bay. That will prevent seagrass die-offs threatening valuable fisheries in the Florida Keys.
Everglades Foundation CEO Eric Eikenberg called the latest authorization “a critical step toward reconnecting Lake Okeechobee south and restoring natural water flows in the Everglades.”
Related:           Federal water bill to steer nearly $2 billion to Everglades restoration            USA TODAY, Ledyard King
Federal Water Bill Makes Way For Everglades Restoration To ...     WMFE
Curbelo, Rooney applaud inclusion of Everglades projects in WRDA          Ripon Advance
Water Resources Development Act Could Be A Big Victory For ... WGCU News
Deal on Flint water crisis helped move Everglades bill          The News-Press

160930-c
Monitor told DEP that Dan Hughes Co. dumped oil on fracking site in Collier County
Naples Daily News – by Arek Sarkissian
September 30, 2016
TALLAHASSEE — A contractor hired to monitor closing of a controversial fracking site found evidence that Texas-based Dan A. Hughes Co. illegally dumped more than 100 barrels of oil waste into its former well, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
The DEP sent the company a letter this week alleging the contractor monitoring the closure of the site on the edge of the Everglades found evidence the driller had dumped an oil waste mixture into the ground next to the well. The mixture was a byproduct of fracking and included oil, water and acidic chemicals, according to a report that accompanied the letter.
“There also was evidence that they pumped the mixture in there, and that is prohibited,” DEP spokeswoman Lauren Engel said.
Tests performed by the contractor found no evidence that drinkable water in an aquifer near the site was affected, Engel said.
“That was a big point for us, that none of it went into the drinking water,” she said.
Hughes will have 15 days to respond to the letter. Penalties from the allegations could include hefty fines and stiff sanctions.
Hughes Co. officials did not return messages left Friday.
The 712-page report to the DEP was prepared by ALL Consulting, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and includes comment from workers who said they were not aware the waste had been dumped.
Fracking is a drilling method. Fluids such as rock-eating acid are injected into theground at high pressure to release oil and natural gas.
Hughes began to frack at the Collier site in late 2013. The company refused to heed orders from the DEP to stop so it could perform a study to evaluate how it affected the environment, and it was fined.
Hughes paid a total of $1 million in fines, fees and costs to clean up the site.
The DEP hired ALL Consulting to monitor the cleanup.
Part of the resolving agreement Hughes brokered with DEP included the application of concrete throughout the well to prevent chemicals from seeping into the aquifer. That agreement was amended to include the area where the dumped waste was found.
The oil waste and other parts of the well were recycled or disposed by Cliff Berry Inc., a Fort Lauderdale-based environmental services company.
The Hughes fracking site drew plenty of public outcry in Collier County, leading Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, to twice propose legislation that would create statewide regulation. Richter’s bill died in 2015 with an abrupt end to the legislative session as lawmakers fought over a proposed expansion of the state’s Medicaid program.
This year, Richter’s statewide fracking regulation plan that trumped local prohibitions against the practice was thwarted partly by a large coalition of Florida counties and cities that passed bans.
Richter will leave the Senate in November due to term limits. The House bill sponsor for statewide fracking regulation this year was Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, who said Friday he is not interested in filing one again.
“The problem we had this year was that the Senate wasn’t interested, and I’m not sure if they’ll be interested in it this year,” Rodrigues said.
Conservancy of Southwest Florida Natural Resources Policy Director Jennifer Hecker had not yet seen the report. She said the talks with DEP had dropped off since session concluded in March.
"If this was part of a final plan to close up that well, this is news to us," Hecker said.

160930-d
Time to talk about ending sugar protections
TCPalm.com - by Editorial Board
September 30, 2016
Environmental impact, political clout and recent revelations about how industry sweetened research in its favor leaves sour aftertaste
In a Sept. 16 New York Times op-ed on "The Shady History of Big Sugar," historian David Singerman details how the industry's "machinations" have, for more than a century, helped fuel both sugar consumption and sugar profits.
The latest evidence were revelations published earlier this month in JAMA Internal Medicine showing that over the course of five decades, the industry gamed vital research on the connection between diet and heart disease, paying scientists to downplay sugar's culpability.
But as Singerman detailed, this is but one example of how the industry helped distort science and public policy.
In the late 1870s, facing competition from Caribbean-based producers, the industry lobbied for higher tariffs and made dubious claims about how competitors' products were impure and could cause illness. Big refiners formed the Sugar Trust, one of the most successful — and notorious — monopolies of the gilded age.
The industry retains its fabled clout. Earlier this year the Miami Herald reported that over the past 22 years, the industry has spent $57.8 million on campaign contributions. The money helped "beat back a voter-approved amendment that would have forced it to pay for cleaning up its own nutrient-rich runoff into the Everglades, instead shifting much of the cost to taxpayers. It won repeated delays of strict water quality standards. .... And it has undermined attempts to use a second constitutional amendment, Amendment 1, to be used to buy farmland for Everglades cleanup."
The industry is well within its rights to make these contributions and advocate for its own interests as all industries do. Yet all of this raises a key question:
Why are Americans still supporting this cunning and successful industry with price supports?
The current U.S. Sugar program was introduced in 1934, a temporary, Depression-era program that became permanent. Sugar protections are part of the Farm Bill, which is re-authorized every five years or so. The U.S. Department of Agriculture provides loans to sugar farmers and permits them to repay those loans with raw sugar if sugar prices fall below 20.9 cents per pound.
As The Manhattan Institute’s Jared Meyer and Preston Cooper wrote in a 2015 report, "This program functions as an effective mass purchase of sugar." That drives up prices. Then the federal government sells the sugar to the ethanol industry at a loss.
In addition, tariffs and quotas protect domestic producers from overseas competition. It's straight-up protectionism.
The ultimate price tag: tens of millions in taxpayer dollars annually — and billions in terms of artificially higher prices.
Sugar is a major economic driver here in South Florida, supporting more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs. But the federal sugar program also destroys jobs; domestic candy makers, for example, pay roughly double the global average price for sugar, which hammers small and mid-sized family owned firms.
Given the need to check the sugar industry's political clout, the history of its impact on the environment and the new revelations about its attempts to hoodwink the public about sugar's health hazards, it's time to say: Enough.
The Farm Bill will come up for renewal in 2019. Already, farm groups are talking about what should — and shouldn't — be in it.
We say it's time for a serious discussion about ending, or at least sharply curtailing, sugar protections. The industry will point out they get no direct subsidies — but, make no mistake, our government is watching out for sugar growers' bottom lines.
Reforming sugar policy could boost American economic growth; a 2011 study from Iowa State University showed that if sugar subsidies were ended, U.S. sugar prices could drop by a third, saving consumers as much as $3.5 billion.
Employment in industries that use sugar, like confectioners, could rise in tandem with lower prices.
And as Meyer and Cooper note, "Removing distortions caused by the sugar program would make ... environmental damage much less economically desirable."
It's time for Floridians — and all Americans — to have this discussion.
The sugar industry's economic impact has been great. So too, unfortunately, has its environmental impact and its impact on human health.
The industry may well levy excellent arguments in favor of retaining its current arrangement. But one thing it can't argue is that price supports from the very taxpayers who were misled for so long are a moral obligation.

160930-e
Who is a better friend of the Everglades, Rubio or Murphy?
Tampa Bay Times - by Mary Ellen Klas and Kristen M. Clark, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau
September 30, 2016
TALLAHASSEE — For all their differences on national issues, how Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Patrick Murphy handle one uniquely Florida issue — pollution from Lake Okeechobee — could have a profound impact on the future of the state.
The two U.S. Senate candidates both say they're committed to Everglades restoration — and boast of accomplishments in Congress to prove that dedication — but they differ on how the problem should be solved.
The issue has been teed up as a pivotal one in the next two years as incoming Florida Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, announced in August that buying land south of the lake in the heart of the Everglades Agricultural Area is essential to solving what he called the state's "environmental emergency."
Negron said it will be his top priority to get state and federal approval for $2.4 billion to buy the land so it can store and clean the lake water and prevent harmful, phosphorus-laden discharges.
Whoever is elected Florida's junior senator in November could greatly influence the congressional debate when Negron makes that pitch.
Against and for
Rubio, the incumbent U.S. senator, said last month he opposes seeking federal money to buy sugar land south of Lake Okeechobee as a way to stop the massive release of polluted water to the east and west, which spawned toxic algae blooms in the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries this summer.
It is just one of the arguments Rubio makes that echoes the position of the sugar industry, which contributed $486,000 to Rubio's failed presidential bid, according to an analysis by TC Palm in July.
Murphy, however, supports the land buy and has made advocacy for Everglades restoration a prime focus for his tenure in Congress, where he's served two terms representing northern Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast — including areas plagued by this summer's algae blooms. Murphy has received no sugar industry money and has been endorsed by several environmental groups in his bid to unseat Rubio.
For his part, Rubio isn't so much against the idea of buying sugar land as he has said he believes it's bad timing to ask now for more money from the federal government.
The U.S. Senate and House this month each passed plans to direct $1.9 billion to cleanup projects south of the lake and, before the Senate vote, Rubio argued it would be a bad idea to ask for more. He told the Times/Herald that the state cannot ask Congress for money to buy land until existing projects are funded "because we're not going to get both."
Murphy, meanwhile, told the Times/Herald in a statement this summer that Everglades restoration needs to be a collaborative effort between the federal and state governments. He said Congress needs to fulfill its obligation of fully funding projects, while Florida needs to use Amendment 1 funds to contribute its share of the cost to buy land for water storage and treatment areas.
When Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson suggested using eminent domain to seize land the sugar industry refuses to sell in order to avoid the economic havoc that resulted from the noxious and dangerous algae bloom, Murphy said that idea "would tie up all existing projects" to finance the litigation but that "no options should be off the table."
Long-term solution
Buying sugar land to build a reservoir is seen by environmentalists as the only long-term solution to the 30-year quest to restore clean, fresh water into the Everglades and ultimately Florida Bay — which has been in decline after decades of flood control has blocked the natural flow of water. The reservoir could also stem the discharges into the estuaries to the east and west of the lake.
In July, Rubio said regulators should store more water north of the lake because that's where most pollution comes from. It is the same argument made by sugar giant Florida Crystals and the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative, which argue that other alternatives to handling the polluted water exist, such as injecting it deep underground.
Rubio also has repeatedly argued that buying land would take away money from existing projects.
"We are in a competition with 49 other states for water money, and if we keep coming up with new projects, what these other states will say to us is, 'Well, we're not going to fund your programs until you guys down there figure out what you really want,' " he said.
Funding priorities
Rubio and Murphy also differ on how attentive they have been at getting Congress to fund Everglades restoration projects.
In 2000, then-President Bill Clinton and then-Gov. Jeb Bush signed the historic Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan — agreeing to divide the cost of turning thousands of acres of farmland into stormwater treatment areas used to remove phosphorus.
The legislation called for funding restoration projects every two years with the renewal of the 2000 Water Resources Development Act, Congress' blueprint for regional water projects across the nation. But after the 2000 WRDA was adopted, Congress reneged on the deal. The next water bill was not passed until 2007 and another one wasn't passed again until 2014.
The 2014 bill included authorization for four Everglades restoration projects, totaling $1.89 billion — something Murphy has touted repeatedly on the campaign trail as among his top legislative achievements.
"Fighting to protect the Everglades and our waterways has been a top priority for me since I was first elected," Murphy said in a statement this week.
But Rubio's campaign — which is trying to paint Murphy as ineffective with no accomplishments — said that he "is embellishing his record on the Everglades" by taking credit for the money. The four projects had been approved by the Army Corps before Murphy took office and were already in line to be included in the next water bill.
"Partisan attacks on the Everglades have no place in Florida politics," Murphy spokesman Joshua Karp said in a statement, calling the criticism "disappointing."
What the 2014 water bill didn't include, however, was a $1.9 billion suite of projects — called the Central Everglades Planning Project, or CEPP — that were pulled from the original restoration plan. After more than a decade of delays, Florida's legislative delegation pushed the initiative as a way to achieve incremental progress by moving 14 percent of Lake Okeechobee discharges away from the estuaries by 2029.
It took the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers until December 2014 to sign off on CEPP, too late to make the bill that Congress had passed months prior.
To the Florida delegation's delight, CEPP is included in this year's water bill — an achievement for which both Rubio and Murphy claim credit. Rubio says he persuaded a pivotal senator to support it and Murphy says he "led the fight."
Although versions of the water bill cleared both the House and Senate this month, it is still incomplete, as congressional leaders must resolve small differences.
Who's fighting harder ?
Many in Florida's environmental community say Rubio has been absent for much of this fight — with his contributions coming more recently. Murphy, by contrast, has been an active advocate during his two terms in Congress, they said.
When Murphy and U.S. Rep. Trey Radel, R-Fort Myers, arranged for a congressional briefing in October 2013 on the status of the Indian River Lagoon, Nelson and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., attended — but Rubio was a no-show.
When the Army Corps delayed approval of CEPP in early 2014 — making it impossible to include in that year's water bill — Murphy led a bipartisan coalition of Florida's delegation urging the corps to expedite its review. Four Republicans signed onto a letter to the corps authored by Murphy, but Rubio was not one of them. He sent his own, individual letter, a month later.
Later that year, TC Palm strung together a list of Rubio's Everglades promises compared with his performance. The story — headlined "Indian River Lagoon advocates ask: Where is Rubio?" — noted that Rubio frequently sent his regional director, Greg Langowski, to tour the region and attend local meetings rather than Rubio appearing in person.
Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon of Florida, told Bloomberg News earlier this year: "Rubio has never been particularly helpful on Everglades issues in Washington."
Rubio did co-sponsor a bill with Nelson to authorize CEPP without a water bill; it didn't go anywhere. Meanwhile, Murphy authored similar legislation, too, and made an aggressive pitch by writing letters to federal officials to prod them into approving and funding Everglades projects. When President Barack Obama flew to Fort Pierce for a golf weekend in April, Murphy greeted the president and handed him a bottle of brown St. Lucie River water as a reminder.
After the algae crisis captured national attention in July, Rubio visited the St. Lucie River in person. He then took to the Senate floor, warning his colleagues of the region's ecological disaster.
In an op-ed written for the Miami Herald and published on Sept. 8, U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Oklahoma — the powerful chairman of the Environmental and Public Works Committee who had been a staunch opponent of Everglades funding for more than a decade — credited Rubio with persuading him to change his mind.
Inhofe initially announced his support of the funding just days before the Florida presidential primary in March when Rubio was trailing Republican front-runner Donald Trump. After Rubio sought re-election, Inhofe agreed to move up the vote on the bill to September — instead of after the November election.
"Despite the rigor he (Rubio) faced then on the presidential campaign trail earlier this year, he worked with others to reach out to me privately and explain the importance of the Everglades to his state," Inhofe wrote this month.
But environmentalists aren't buying that Rubio inspired Inhofe's sudden change of heart.
"It's politics at its finest, and its worst," said Kimberly Mitchell, executive director of the Everglades Trust, which has endorsed Murphy. "It obviously wasn't controversial since it passed 97-3, but if it means good projects get done, that is the benefit of an election."
Meanwhile, Rubio's campaign argues Murphy plays politics, too — noting that Murphy's congressional office this summer sought to delay news about federal relief for businesses in his district affected by the toxic algae so that he could be the one to announce it.
"You pull stunts like that when you don't have any actual accomplishments to run on," Rubio spokesman Michael Ahrens said.
Karp said the attacks from Rubio "come as no surprise" given the senator's record, such as not supporting the science of climate change.
"Floridians know they can't trust Rubio in the fight to protect our environment," Karp said.
Mitchell said Murphy earned the Everglades Trust's support because he "gets it" when it comes to the central issue: buying land in the Everglades Agricultural Area for water clean up.
"We have known for years that this is the most important piece to Everglades restoration," Mitchell said. "We also know it was going to be the hardest because of who owns the land."
Eric Eikenberg, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, the nonprofit advocacy organization which, unlike the Everglades Trust, cannot endorse in elections, said it is important to end the delays and find money now for clean-up and buying land.
"The issues of the Everglades have traditionally been bipartisan issues and what the Everglades needs is a senator from Florida who is ready to go on Day One to bring the federal money home to finish these projects," he said.
Mitchell commended Rubio's recent efforts to help obtain money for CEPP but she said his suggestion that the state also should not seek federal money to buy sugar land "is just flat wrong."
"Those other projects are important components to Everglades restoration but, without the reservoir, it doesn't solve the problem," she said. "For the last 16 years, they have been nibbling at the edges but none of it is getting to the heart of the problem. It's not an either-or — you have to have both."

160929-a
Ag Commisioner Adam Putnam raises concerns about State's water supply
WGCU.org - by Kate Payne
September 29, 2016
A Florida politician expected to be a front-runner in the 2018 governor’s race is raising concerns about the state’s water supply.
The 2016 election is far from over, but the 2018 governor’s race is already underway. And some politicos have their eyes on Agricultural Commissioner Adam Putnam. The Bartow Republican is considered a leading contender, and he’s raised more than $5.9 million for his political action committee “Florida Grown”. Wednesday, Putnam outlined what he sees as the most pressing issues in Florida’s future. Chief among them: water.
“We can’t take our eye off the ball when it comes to water policy for supply and quality in the Sunshine State, where it is our golden goose,” he said.
Putnam says the state's cultural identity and economy are built on water.
“If we didn’t have the Everglades in Florida we would be most famous for being the only place on earth that has the number of first magnitude springs that we have. Saving the Apalachicola Bay communities and the economies that depend on it. And saving that oyster! That’s the best oyster on the planet! The St Johns River which is the key to Jacksonville’s identity and part of its quality of life! Tampa Bay!” he exclaimed.
Putnam is also concerned with education, economic development, the citrus industry, and tourism, but believes the long-term health of the state is directly tied to its water supply.

160929-b
Mosaic says tests of 9 wells show water safe from radioactivity
TheLedger.com - by Marilyn Meyer
September 29, 2016
Nine offsite wells tested for radioactive contamination are within drinking water standards, according to the Mosaic Company, which hired a consultant to test neighbors' wells after a sinkhole opened under a gypsum stack leaking 215 million gallons of contaminated wastewater into the Floridan Aquifer.
MULBERRY — Nine offsite wells tested for radioactive contamination are within drinking water standards, according to the Mosaic Co., which hired a consultant to test neighbors’ wells after a sinkhole opened under a gypsum stack leaking 215 million gallons of contaminated wastewater into the Floridan Aquifer.
Mosaic posted results of the testing on its website Wednesday. The company operates a phosphate mining and fertilizer processing plant at its New Wales facility on an isolated site southwest of Mulberry.
Among byproducts of the manufacturing process are sodium (salt), radium (radioactivity), sulfate and fluoride, which is in a sludge pumped atop the gypsum stacks that can reach hundreds of feet high.
On Aug. 27, a technician noticed the depth of a sludge pond on a gypsum stack had dropped by 2 feet. On Sept. 5, all the water disappeared from the pond, and on Sept. 6, Mosaic confirmed that a 45-foot-wide sinkhole had opened there.
Although Mosaic reported the initial findings Aug. 28 and follow-up findings to the state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Environmental Protection Agency, no one notified neighbors or nearby communities until news accounts broke Sept. 16.
After that, Mosaic hired an independent firm, Environmental Consulting and Technology Inc. (ECT) to take samples from the wells of neighboring property owners who requested testing. As of Wednesday, there had been requests for 690 well tests and more than 200 samples had been taken.
The nine wells were the first results for radiation readings.
It takes less time to get back test results for other contaminants and, as of Wednesday, ECT had informed Mosaic that 139 well samples were within normal ranges for pH, conductivity, turbidity, sodium, sulfate, fluoride and total dissolved solids, according to Mosaic’s website.
The closest private well to Mosaic’s property is 3 miles from the sinkhole. All the samples have been taken from wells 3 to 5 miles west of the sinkhole, which, according to Mosaic, is the direction the aquifer flows in that area, at a rate of about one-fifth mile a month.
Recovery efforts are underway, including Mosaic workers pumping water sideways out of the aquifer from the sinkhole site into an existing nearby well.
The DEP, in its daily update, reported that the Florida Geological Survey had staff onsite Monday and Tuesday to help investigate the formation and remediation of the sinkhole.
Mosaic has tried several times this week to get an accurate reading on the depth of the sinkhole and may get some results today, according to a Mosaic spokeswoman Jackie Barron.

160928-a
Adam Putnam: Florida ‘can be the jumping-off point for the American Dream’
Florida Politics – by Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster
September 28, 2016
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam has a theory.
Some of the most talented people in the world are going to end up in Florida at some point in their lives. He just wants that to be sooner, rather than later.
“I want Florida to be more than the prize for a life well lived, of success accumulated someplace else,” said Putnam during the 2016 Future of Florida Forum Wednesday. “We can be the jumping-off point for the American Dream; the place where those dreams incubate, grow, develop, and explode into something bigger.”
To do that, the state should continue to focus on long-term investments in water and education, both critical to the future of Florida.
Putnam said recent water legislation was a step in the right direction, but said the state needs to “build on that success.” The state, he said, will face a one billion-gallon-a-day shortage by 2030, and lawmakers need to apply the same principles to water as they have for other aspects impacted by Florida’s growth.
“As Floridians, we’ve internalized the price of progress, the cost of growth. We’ve internalized they’re expensive, but we need them and we expect them,” he said. “We have a transportation plan … the same thing has to be applied to water infrastructure.”
Aging infrastructure could cost the state billions over the next 20 years, leaving state and local officials to figure out how to pay for the improvements. Last week, Frank Bernardino, a consultant with Anfield Consulting, estimated it could cost $48.7 billion over 20 years to address infrastructure.
And while the focus of water discussions often centers around the Everglades, Putnam said “Florida’s water issues are not limited to the Everglades.”
“Pinellas County can’t use Tampa Bay as their back-up sewage treatment plant,” said Putnam. “If (Pinellas County) can’t afford to make those improvements, how are Hendry and Glades County (going to afford it)?”
But water — which Putnam described as “Florida’s golden goose” — is just part of the equation. Putnam said the state has to keep focusing on education. While the system has changed substantially in recent years, Putnam said there needs to be as much of a focus on career training and workforce development as higher education.
“There is nothing wrong with a dual-track approach to higher education in Florida,” he said. “A dual focus of workforce development and higher education, the elite and the highly accessible, will transform Florida’s economy.”
Putnam helped kick off the Florida Chamber Foundation’s 2016 Future of Florida Forum. The annual event gives elected officials and business leaders a chance to discuss how to prepare for Florida’s future.
The 20-minute address had the feel of a stump speech, as Putnam touched on everything from economic development and workforce needs, to agriculture and growth. Putnam is widely believed to be considering a 2018 gubernatorial run, and has been a frequent speaker at Florida Chamber events across the state.
The forum, which coincides with the Enterprise Florida board of directors meeting, continues Thursday. Gov. Rick Scott, CFO Jeff Atwater, and Attorney General Pam Bondi are all expected to speak.

160928-c
Fed movement on Everglades is glacial
Naples Daily News - Editorial Board
September 28, 2016
The U.S. Senate’s mid-September vote to advance nearly $2 billion for Everglades restoration is the proverbial glass half-full, glass half-empty in a long overdue push to improve southern Florida water quality.
The $1.9 billion Central Everglades Planning Project, part of a broader $10 billion of national water resources projects, passed the Senate 95-3 and goes to the U.S. House.
Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s office said in a statement the Everglades money in the water resources bill is for “engineering projects designed to reduce the need for harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee by sending more water south into the Everglades instead of east and west into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.”
Nelson issued the glass half-full statement, calling it “a big win for Florida.” Indeed, it is. Yet we see the half-empty part of the glass in the historical view and the fact that this isn’t yet a done deal.
It was 16 years ago, September 2000, when the U.S. Senate voted 85-1 for Everglades restoration. The initiative then was projected to cost $7.8 billion total and be finished in 35 years.
Are we nearly halfway there? Not even close. This $1.9 billion won’t in itself get us there.
Incoming state Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, wants to leverage the federal money by acquiring additional water storage land south of the lake, but we expect a showdown in the 2017 legislative session. The state so far is putting in about $2 for every federal dollar on what was supposed to be a 50-50 proposition.
So we’ll see the glass moving closer toward full when we see swift passage of the water resources bill in the U.S. House.
The historical view shows land and projects aren’t getting cheaper. For the future of the western Everglades, and both the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie watersheds, we can’t afford to keep coming up half-empty.

160928-d
History piling up on non-action of water policies
News-Press.com – by John Cassani, chairman of the Southwest Florida Watershed Council
September 28, 2016
This year’s barrage of propaganda involving every conceivable factor in response to yet another water crisis has left many wondering what can be done to finally fix the problem in a reasonable time frame.
Frustration over this discourse, that has embarrassingly attracted national media attention, is understandable. A look back at previous attempts to address Florida’s ongoing water crises reveals a common outcome.
In 1987, the Florida Legislature created the Surface Water Improvement and Management Program to address non-point pollution but impairment of Florida’s waters has only become more widespread. In 1997, the people of Florida approved Constitutional Amendment 5, also known as the “polluter pays amendment,” requiring the polluter to pay the majority of the pollution they create. Long story short it was never implemented as intended by the voting public. Ironically, the majority of pollution cleanup cost was externalized from polluters to the public.
In 2000, our representatives in Florida passed the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act. Some 16 years later, the lake is now heavily polluted with phosphorus and nitrogen and stricken with toxic algae blooms.
In 2007, the legislature created the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program and was hailed as the solution to the declining condition of the lake and the estuaries. The program has fizzled from lack of adequate funding and many would consider the problem only got worse.
In 2008, the South Florida Water Management District passed the Lake Okeechobee Water Availability Rule intended to make more water available during drought conditions to declining public waters like the Caloosahatchee. The result was that even more water was allocated to consumptive uses making the situation again worse.
The simple fact is identifying the common outcome of all these fine sounding projects and others alike was the lack of political will to adequately fund, implement and enforce them. How could this happen with so much at stake? Massive special interest campaign contributions to willing legislators is part of the problem but the fact that the electorate keeps putting the same politicians back in office, year after year is the more fundamental cause.
The problem is now made worse in that a single political party dominates both the executive and legislative branch of Florida government. Without the checks and balances created by an opposition party, the equitable representation of the people has been largely lost.
It’s a common joke that the most secure job in Florida is as an incumbent politician. Will you be laughing again this November with the same lineup of incumbents dominated by the same political party ?

160928-e
Research milestone is just another day for FIU scientists
FIUnews - by JoAnn Adkins
September 28, 2016
In an effort to understand the diets of plant-loving fish, FIU Ph.D. student Jessica Sanchez and marine sciences professor Joel Trexler delved into the world of herbivory in freshwater ecosystems. They wanted to develop a research framework for other scientists to follow in studies on the evolution of these diets. Their efforts resulted in a scientific paper that was published in a recent issue of Ecosphere. It was the 800th scientific paper published by research faculty in FIU’s Southeast Environmental Research Center (SERC).
 “Many of our publications have not only had important scientific impacts, but they have also shaped current management practices and policy,” said Todd Crowl, director of the Institute of Water and Environment, which houses SERC.
The publication milestone was just another day for SERC researchers who have informed scientific policy and management for more than 20 years. Research results have helped set the water quality standards for Everglades restoration that are still followed today. Center researchers also have provided scientific evidence that informed current coral reef and sea grass conservation and restoration plans. In addition, many of the sport fisheries conservation efforts in South Florida are based on research results generated by SERC scientists.
“With its history of impacting environmental decisions by conducting interdisciplinary science in a collaborative, multi-institutional framework — and its vision for addressing the biggest challenges facing South Florida’s future — SERC reconstructs the way science is conducted to solve problems both locally and around the globe,” said Evelyn Gaiser, executive director of the School of Environment, Arts and Society and lead principal investigator of the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research Program, a key component of SERC’s work in the Florida Everglades.
SERC was established at FIU in response to a growing regional need for scientific investigations in threatened environments of South Florida. The center’s research programs have been instrumental in the management decisions for fragile resources including Everglades National Park, Biscayne National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Florida Bay, the Florida Keys and the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

160928-f







Current flow:



Desired flow:

160928-f
The complicated science of the fix
FloridaWeekly.com – by Nanci Theoret
September 28, 2016
TOO MUCH WATER  -  TOO LITTLE WATER.
Weather extremes wreak havoc throughout South Florida where an antiqued water management system designed decades ago with little regard to the environment connects the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers to Lake Okeechobee. Too much rain like this winter’s El Nino event means fresh lake water is flushed in 70,000-gallons-per-second torrents east and west, impacting habitat along both rivers and the biodiversity of their sea life-sustaining estuaries near the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.
Too little rain, and lake water is withheld, forcing the 67-mile stretch of Caloosahatchee into water-starved survival mode.
Come rain or shine — hell or high water, some say — either scenario creates the potential for cyanobacteria, the blue-green algae that this summer swirled like ominous green clouds in the lake, rivers and tributaries downstream, coating shorelines with goo. The algae are also deadly, capable of producing toxic incarnations that kill off plant and fish life and pose hazards to humans if inhaled or touched.
Mankind is pretty much responsible for building the perfect environment for cyanobacteria, fortifying Lake O water with nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen and diverting historical water flow through a series of locks, dams, canals and levees. Instead of water seeping south as nature intended within the original 18,000 square miles Everglades from Orlando to Florida Bay, freshwater is diverted east and west where coves and inlets provide the standing water the bacteria need to thrive. High volume releases reduce the salinity of brackish estuaries, essentially the nurseries for aquatic plants and sea life.
“Sunlight, sitting water and nutrients create the perfect storm for blue-green algae,” says Wayne W. Carmichael, a professor emeritus at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, who has studied cyanotoxins for over 40 years. “Cyanobacteria impacts all aspects of water — fish, invertebrates the fish eat, dominates other algae and limits the food chain. It’s a potent toxin. Any animal drinking the water is going to be affected, get ill and may die. It affects everything down the line and up the line to humans.”
The Army Corps of Engineers is mandated to release Lake O’s freshwater into the rivers whenever rising lake levels pose the potential of breaching the earthen dike protecting 1 million people to the south. The water is tainted with phosphorous and nitrogen from agricultural operations, municipalities and development to the north.
In a twist of irony, the very algae scientists attribute to creating the oxygenated environment for life on earth some 3.5 billion years ago is also toxic and impacts the water also needed to sustain life.
Nature also plays its part. Seagrass beds that succumb to the algae add additional nutrients, allowing it to grow exponentially through photosynthesis and to monopolize oxygen. Its deadly kin spawns toxic microcystins that affect the liver and cause skin rashes.
“Algae was the first oxygen-producing organism on earth and is largely responsible for the air we breathe,” says Dr. Carmichael. “They adapted and evolved. They flourished and they dominate.”
The scientist visited Lake Okeechobee in the 1990s, summoned by the South Florida Water Management District when drought conditions created algal blooms in the lake.
“I was there to help identify which algae were involved in the water blooms and if they were toxin producers,” he says. “Back then it was the same cyanobacteria that is present and a problem currently.”
The only way to control cyanobacteria in Florida’s warm sunny climate is to control the nutrients in freshwater. Dr. Carmichael says agriculture, septic tanks and municipal affluent runoffs are largely responsible for feeding harmful algal blooms, or HABs, which technically are toxin-producing bacteria that look and act like algae.
The water management system eliminated the historic sheet flow north of the lake, where wetlands and marshes once filtered out nutrients from the Kissimmee River and Chain of Lakes near Orlando.
“It’s all part of the same pattern, the result of cultural and natural enrichment eutrophication and human activity,” says Dr. Carmichael. “It’s a situation people like to say is getting worse and there’s no questions HABs are a lot worse. It’s coming to a point the nutrient input has to be controlled. Even then, it’s going to take decades to get the water quality back.”
Phosphorus in Lake O is notoriously high and has been for decades. Right now it’s anywhere from three to four times higher than targeted levels, according to Dr. Melodie Naja, chief scientist for the Everglades Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting and restoring the River of Grass.
If there’s any consolation, we’re not alone. Blue-green algae blooms have been reported almost every summer along western Lake Erie since 1995. In California, lakes and rivers have tested for high levels of anatoxin-a, a cyanobacteria toxin that kills dogs and wildlife within 20 to 30 minutes of exposure. Problems with cyanobacteria and HABs exist in freshwater bodies around the continent. Dr. Cartwright has seen it so thick in Africa, stones thrown at the slime layer bounced back.
“It can get worse,” he says. “I’ve seen it in half a dozen different places. It’s affecting more and more water bodies.”
Residents along Lake Erie took notice this summer when Lake O’s woes overshadowed their ongoing problems. Both lakes are large but shallow, however, winter temperatures kill off blooms in the Great Lake. This summer, toxin levels in the St. Lucie Estuary reached 86 parts per billion — eight times the threshold allowed by the World Health Organization, reported Mark Perry, a native Floridian and executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society, a Stuart-based nonprofit with a mission of protecting, preserving and restoring the state’s ocean and coastal ecosystems
The algae can be treated chemically and filtered if crucial to the health of a small reservoir or drinking water supply but there are consequences associated with chemical treatments. “With something the size of Lake Okeechobee, those methods don’t work,” says Dr. Carmichael. “You have to go back and control the watershed and the nutrients going into it.”
“Since Jan. 1 to date, 614 billion gallons of water have been released from the lake,” says Dr. Naja. “That’s a staggering amount and it impacts the estuaries, is killing ecosystems and altering the ecology. There’s also an impact on tourism and the economy because of the huge algae blooms.”
The massive Lake O releases were also attributed to the brown water along portions of Southwest Florida’s beaches and killed off oyster and seagrass beds along the St. Lucie and Indian River Lagoon.
“The St. Lucie does not need any of this water,” says Mr. Perry. “We need a third outlet to provide capacity to move a significant amount of water equivalent to the amount moving east and west. In our case we’re advocating for an order to stop discharges into the St. Lucie and Indian rivers.”
Since the outbreak of the algae blooms, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has been issuing daily Lake Okeechobee updates on its website, monitoring salinity conditions along both rivers based on optimal conditions for adult oysters. Recent reports showed levels within the fair range at Sanibel and poor at Cape Coral.
Complicating the challenges in South Florida is the physical water management system, some parts of it nearly a century old, built by “people who are no longer here, who in the greatest leap of their imagination maximized the region at 2 million people, not 7.5 million people,” says Florida native Shannon Estenoz, director for the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Everglades Initiatives. “We’re pushing it beyond what it was designed to do to begin with — push water east and west not knowing whether it’s going to stop raining in six months.”
“Environmental protection wasn’t as valued as it is today,” says John Campbell, a public affairs specialist with the Corps of Engineers’ Jacksonville district office. “In the late 19th century and early half of the 20th century, nature was something man wanted to conquer. Now 50 to 60 years later, these values have changed and protection of the environment becomes more important. Our current system was not designed as environmentally friendly.”
Indeed. In the name of growth and progress, our predecessors installed various obstacles inhibiting natural flow, drained Everglades swampland for agriculture use, straightened the Kissimmee River and bypassed the Caloosahatchee’s historic headwaters from Lake Hicpochee to a manmade canal linking to Lake Okeechobee.
“If you look on Google Maps, Lake Hicpochee is just a big circle,” Mr. Perry says. “It over-drained the lake.”
Corralling Lake O into the 143-mile Herbert Hoover Dike also impeded water flow to Biscayne Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands and Florida Bay, as did construction of the Tamiami Trail through the southern Everglades. The Army Corps of Engineers is in the middle of a $1.5 billion restoration of the dike around the 730-square-mile Lake O, which the International Hurricane Research Center ranks as the second-most vulnerable mainland area to hurricanes.
The Corps also manages the lake level, releasing water whenever it rises above 15.5 seasonally adjusted feet, calculated from 30 years of precipitation and lake water activity data. Optimal lake levels are between 12.5 and 15.5 feet.
Plans within a bigger plan
The big-picture plan guiding water management in the 16-county South Florida Water Management District is inherently tied into the federal-state Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, or CERP, a 68-project puzzle focusing largely on water flow, storage and quality and restoring the River of Grass to the fullest extent humanly possible. Pieces of the project already call for creation of reservoirs expected to divert water from Lake O and ultimately the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.
In her role, Ms. Estenoz works with the plan’s architects, a consortium of agencies and nonprofits. She’s a former member of the SFWMD and has been involved with Everglades restoration since 1996 as the chairwoman of the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, established by Congress to facilitate a partnership between federal, state, tribal and local governments.
Ms. Estenoz is pleased with the progress to date on CERP and the multi-agency collaboration making it happen — although it’s not moving as quickly as some might want.
“We’ve made steady progress over the past two decades,” she says. “Because of what we saw this winter with El Nino and high water and the other extreme — the terrible lake fires during droughts — it reminds us our job is not done. I’m never surprised when the public sees this happening and gets upset. If you have algae in your backyard, you want it gone. For me, these events are a very sharp reminder we have a lot of work to do.”
Components of CERP are designed to reverse ecological damage created by the existing water and flood management systems, which Ms. Estenoz describes as “broken. It took a long time to build these systems and it’s going to take a while to reconfigure it. It’s a system ironically designed to throw water away.”
“Right now we’re wasting 1.7 billion gallons of water a day through discharges to the Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean,” Mr. Perry says.
CERP is unfolding in incremental improvements spread over 30 years, possibly 40. It includes completed components and a whirlwind of projects currently under construction and some fast-tracked because of the summer’s excessive releases and algal blooms.
Elevating portions of Tamiami Trail has eliminated a water flow choke point but posed a new set of challenges. “There’s seepage,” Mr. Campbell says. “The water still wants to flow south. The state is actively constructing levees and features to better control it.”
The Corps also is in the process of building water storage in Hendry County; constructing a storm water treatment area, discharge system and a pump station in Martin County; and addressing water in the western Everglades near Big Cypress National Preserve.
“Some of these ongoing projects don’t get a lot of attention because everyone is looking for the one project that solves everything,” says Mitch Hutchcraft, a SFWMD board member since 2013 and vice president of real estate for King Ranch/Consolidated Citrus in Fort Myers. “These small projects are in the right locations. The district is restoring natural systems and historic flow where we have the opportunities. We all talk about ‘Yes, we need to restore the Everglades,’ but don’t talk about the over 1 million people who live within the boundaries of the Everglades. The portions that can bring back the highest quality of water flowing through the River of Grass won’t happen unless you can convince 1 million people to move.
“What we can do is work very hard to get the quality and timing right of the water in the areas that do exist.”
The public hearing phase is commencing for the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project, a multi-pronged plan to improve water quality, quantity, timing and distribution of water entering Lake Okeechobee and to reduce high-volume discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries.
A 2015 study by the University of Florida Water Institute recommended creating hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water storage north of Lake Okeechobee, where it will provide the fresh water the Caloosahatchee needs during dry season and droughts.
The SFWMD already owns thousands of acres north of the lake and is in a holding pattern in accessing 27,000 acres of federally owned lands south of the lake, which Mr. Campbell says would provide minimal storage.
Water enters Lake O five to six times faster than it’s released, according to Mr. Hutchcraft, who grew up in the Fort Myers area. He swam and sailed the Caloosahatchee and remembers episodes of “brown water” along the river. “Brown water happens almost every year and people think brown equates to toxic. That’s not necessarily true. Even in the late 1880s before the river was connected to Lake O, people were writing about the brown water.”
Water quality, which the federal government leaves to states to enforce, ideally would be controlled naturally in the Everglades. But ultimately it’s up to the state Department of Environmental Protection to enforce infractions by property owners leeching phosphorous and nitrogen into the flow ways.
Several high-impact CERP components have been advanced as a bundled restoration project to deliver water — an estimated annual average of 200,000 acre feet — to public lands south of the Everglades Agricultural Area to Everglades National Park and Florida Bay. In the works since 2011, $1.9 billion in funding for the Central Everglades Planning Project, or CEPP, was overwhelmingly approved Sept. 15 by the U.S. Senate as part of the $10 billion Water Resources Development Act. CEPP will also redirect water from the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers and remove 25 miles of canals and levees with the goal of reintroducing historic sheet flow to the south.
The bill is expected to receive heavy opposition in the House.
CERP is already showing promising environmental benefits since water-slowing bends were restored to the Kissimmee River. Before development, water flowed about a mile every four days, Mr. Perry says.
“The ecosystem has responded positively and the Kissimmee is bouncing back,” says Ms. Estenoz. “It’s proving to be a sound hypothesis and needs a little help here and there.”
By slowing the flow, it also allows plants to uptake nutrients, says Campbell.
Continued implementation of CERP projects will reduce large Lake O water releases and improve the Everglades’ health.
“Big wet years used to happen every 10 years, now it’s every three years,” says Ms. Estenoz. “We have to get the water right, make sure it’s clean, and distribute and move it around in the right way. Timing is a big part.”
Comes now a new plan
Regional water storage around Lake Okeechobee has been identified as a crucial piece of overall Everglades restoration and reducing Lake O releases. But where to store it has become a heated debate, fueled by a recent proposal by Florida Senate president-designate Joe Negron, a Republican from Stuart, the first city the tainted lake water reaches along the St. Lucie. Sen. Negron wants to purchase 60,000 acres of land south of Lake O in the Everglades Agricultural Area to provide 120 billion gallons of storage.
The price tag is about $2.4 billion, a cost the senator hopes can be split between the state and federal governments, as is the standard for CERP projects.
The plan was derived from the input of stakeholders representing environmental and nonprofit organizations, farmers, city and state officials, scientists and hydrologists.
The two potential storage areas, identified in big red circles on a map accompanying Sen. Negron’s announcement, include land straddling the Miami and Bolles canals and an area to the southeast adjacent to existing storm water treatment areas, canals, and a shallow basin that captures and stores stormwater runoff until it’s needed.
Some say Sen. Negron’s plan is his response to public outcry following algae bursts this summer — a search for that silver bullet or quick fix to this squeaky wheel, the failing dike constructed decades ago as a stopgap measure in response also to public outcry. Citizens south of the lake long ago demanded protection from future flooding and hurricanes.
Water flow south in the agricultural area has long been part of CERP, just not scheduled for now. Initial work is scheduled to begin in 2020 with design plans finalized six years later.
Sen. Negron’s proposal to speed up use of EAA land has been well received by many citizen advocates and environment groups.
The Everglades Foundation’s Dr. Naja was one of the scientists modeling the benefits to both rivers and their estuaries by comparing CERP north and south reservoirs under existing conditions. Unfinished components of CERP were not factored in.
“Our goal basically was to answer Sen. Negron and the Legislature’s request to reduce discharges to the estuaries and quantify the benefits to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie,” she says. “There’s a huge amount of freshwater that needs to go somewhere. Building reservoirs south of the lake have much higher benefits to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie.”
Southern storage could decrease high discharge frequency to the St. Lucie by 37 percent, the Caloosahatchee by 31 percent. Store water to the north and the percentages drop to 3 percent and 9 percent, respectively, she says.
The 60,000 acres would also supply precious freshwater to the Everglades and Florida Bay, where lingering drought has claimed a 40,000-acre dead zone of seagrass, Dr. Naja says.
“Once the water is south of the lake, it’s pretty much gone,” says Randy Smith, a spokesperson for the South Florida Water Management District. “The Caloosahatchee needs a certain amount of freshwater during the dry season. If we store water north of the lake, we have more flexibility in how we can use it.”
Lake Okeechobee is the primary backup drinking water source for 6 million South Floridians.
“We realized at an early point just how intrinsically the Everglades is linked to the prosperity and sustainability of the region,” says Ms. Estenoz. “If we don’t have water in the Everglades, you don’t have water in your tap. We’re on our own. We’re on a peninsula and can’t borrow water from another state.”
As outlined in CERP’s Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project, northern storage would help reduce nutrients entering the lake; storing it south doesn’t have the same ecological or water quality benefits. It also notes existing water management systems south of the lake are limited by design capacity, ecosystem concerns and enforcement of the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
While saying the water management district would consider alternative plans, Mr. Hutchcraft also pointed out that public is reacting to an anomaly.
“We’ve had two years of greater than average rainfall but prior to that we were more on the drought side,” he says. “There’s no denying this year’s event was significant and had an adverse impact on the lake and estuaries. But we can’t abandon 25 years of planning to react to the short term. In the long term, we need a more predictable supply of water.”
Pitting north vs. south
Opponents of the Negron plan prefer a wait-and-see approach. Complete the in-progress CERP and planned CEPP projects first and evaluate their impact.
Not everyone views these nonprofit foundations and environmentalists as knights in shining armor determined to save the Everglades and the estuaries impacted by Lake O releases. Nor do they think the Negron plan is the answer. They criticize nonprofit organizations for conducting meetings in ritzy resorts and spearheading fundraising machines that generate millions of dollars to rob them of their livelihood.
“There are so many parts to this conversation and it’s sad because there has to be a villain and ag is it,” says Hendry County Commissioner Karson Turner. “If there was no villain, there would be no reason for the existence of these groups and no reason for millions of dollars in fundraising.”
“The environmental refrain from the Everglades Foundation and the answer to every Everglades issue is to buy south, buy south,” says Judy Sanchez, senior director of corporate communications and public affairs for U.S. Sugar, which owns sugarcane property in Sen. Negron’s red circles.
Hendry County’s northeast boundary borders a small portion of Lake O yet most of its land lies south of the lake. With a population of just 39,190 –— many who make their living in agriculture — the county lacks the resources or manpower to fight for its future. It’s also Florida’s fourth poorest county with 25 to 26 percent living below the poverty level.
“We’re making sure the trash is picked up, the toilets flush, our dogs aren’t running the streets and our babies are fed and covered,” Mr. Turner says. “We don’t have a diverse economic portfolio. You remove ag, you remove our existence.”
A 2012 agricultural census showed Hendry County had 406 farms operating on 495,734 acres and selling products with a market value of nearly $500 million. More than half of its farms reported $99,999 or less in sales; 113 recorded $1,000 or less.
Hendry ranked No. 1 in Florida for acreage devoted to all varieties of oranges and was second, behind Palm Beach County, for acreage of sugarcane. It also had the state’s highest sale value for fruits, tree nuts and berries.
“Sen. Negron’s plan sounds sexy, but in all due respect to the incoming senate president, I wish it were that simple,” Mr. Turner says. “I don’t think data supports a shift in focus from the north to the south. It’s treating the system not the problem. It’s a Band-Aid on a jugular vein.”
Shortly after Sen. Negron’s plan was announced Mr. Turner’s fellow Commissioner Janet Taylor led 50 residents in protest to the senator’s Martin County office.
“All these conversations are happening about us without us,” says Mr. Turner. “The sad thing for me, is we don’t have a louder voice from south of the lake. Our people are focused on existence, covering our bills and working the very land environmentalists and everyone in the state wants to acquire. I’ve talked to colleagues in Orange County and Osceola County and they’re not even in these discussions. There’s been an unfair bullseye put on industry south of the lake.”
Agricultural land in Palm Beach County, also within Sen. Negron’s red circles, boasted Florida’s top agriculture sales in 2014-15 with 36 percent of its total land, or 460,445 acres, dedicated to farm operations. Total ag sales were estimated at $1.41 billion in 2014-15 with the county leading the nation in the production of sugarcane, sweet corn and sweet bell peppers. It’s also the state’s top producer of rice, lettuce, radishes and celery and leads Florida in agricultural wages and salaries with over $316 million.
And will it work?
Opponents are also questioning the science — or lack thereof — behind Sen. Negron’s plan.
“Have you seen it?” asks U.S. Sugar’s Ms. Sanchez. “Have you seen any specifics about how this plan is going to do what people say it’s going to do? All we see are two big red circles.”
Ms. Sanchez’s questions aren’t sardonic; she just curious if additional details have been released.
“It’s really hard for U.S. Sugar to comment on the plan because there are no other details,” she says. “We haven’t seen any specifics. We haven’t seen the science behind it.”
Ms. Sanchez notes the lands identified in the Negron plan are already waterlogged at the same time lake water would be released south. The timing just isn’t copasetic.
“We can’t see how buying additional land south will help when it’s wet,” she says. “To the south of these areas are the state’s water conservations areas which have been full to the brim since January. They haven’t sent any water to the conservation areas because water at Everglades National Park is high. If water is stored south of the lake you don’t have the ability to send it farther south because of federally mandated flood levels in the Everglades. If a reservoir dries out, incoming water flushes out all the phosphorous and that’s a big no-no going into the Everglades.”
She also questions why the in-depth and already evaluated science behind CERP and CEPP is being questioned.
“Those systems provide deeper storage,” Ms. Sanchez says. “It’s like they want to create a diamond-encrusted bucket which would have to be deep, really deep. They’ve discharged 1.6 million acre feet of water. Unless there’s some way to continuously move water south, it’s going to be a very small and very expensive bucket. You’d still have a 1.3 million discharge which would blow out the estuaries anyway while putting the farming folks out of business.”
To date, Sen. Negron’s proposal doesn’t incorporate treatment facilities to reduce nutrient levels before lake water is sent south, although Republican state Rep. Gayle Harrell of Port St. Lucie said it would be part of the plan.
Mr. Hutchcraft cautions the plan “won’t bring the quick solution everyone wants. The district has made it very clear we’re going to implement CERP and CEPP to the extent they get approved. We are actively building projects. The district has a world-class staff of researchers, Ph.Ds. and an entire water modeling team.”
Negron’s plan would give the Corps “additional flexibility,” says Mr. Campbell. “We don’t know to what degree or if the federal government will pick up half of the bill. There’s no silver bullet that doesn’t impact several economies.”
There’s no doubt water flow to the south of Lake O is needed not only to coax back the Everglades but also to recharge its aquifers which supply water to the Miami-Dade metro area. And the megalopolis that is Southeast Florida will forever present a major roadblock in Everglades restoration.
As Ms. Sanchez notes, I-95 now skims the southern boundaries with “20-plus miles of suburbia west of I-95. It’s not as simple as buy land and send water south. We can’t go back to the way Mother Nature intended because we did away with that.”
South Florida’s water woes — either too much or too little — will continue to pose uncertainties from year to year, even month to month.
Ms. Estenoz was serving on the water management board in 2007 during the worst drought on record at the time.
“The lake was down to eight feet,” she says. “Low water is scary. High water is scary.
“We understand the nexus between a sustainable economy and sustainable ecosystems in Florida. You can’t separate the two. I’ve always said ‘As the Everglade goes, so does the region.’ I’ve based my whole career on it.”

160928-g
The fight is real and interests involved are plenty
FloridaWeekly.com - by Evan Williams
September 28, 2016
Clean water activist John Heim of Fort Myers Beach protests regularly and vociferously. “The high walls (of the Clewiston Inn cocktail lounge) bear a beautiful 360-degree mural of the verdant, incomparable flora and fauna of the Everglades to scale. Will the mural need an update in the years to come? The animals absent, the trees bulldozed and a cane field falling off into the horizon of smoke stacks, perforated with brown irrigation ditches leading seaward.”
— Michael Adno, August 2016
“Perhaps, even in this last hour, in a new relation of usefulness and beauty, the vast, magnificent, subtle and unique region of the Everglades may not be utterly lost.”
— Marjory Stoneman Douglas, “The Everglades: River of Grass”
WITH SO MANY POWERFUL AND often vocal interests involved, finding consensus enough on restoration plans to fund them is one of the primary obstacles to fixing South Florida’s plumbing and the Everglades. But the polluted discharges in estuaries this winter that gained so much attention could also force positive action.
 “I have to say that it’s a social-political response that’s driving a lot of the urgency because the pollution has been going on a long time but the public’s now more aware of it than ever,” said Joel Trexler, a marine ecologist and professor at Florida International University who has studied the Everglades for more than two decades.
A comprehensive University of Florida Water Institute study identified solutions to Everglades restoration, primarily by increasing storage and treatment of water surrounding Lake O by an enormous amount beyond what current plans call for, and then moving more of it south into the ’Glades.
But federal and state money needed to carry out even current plans such as the $1.9 billion Central Everglades Planning Project — widely regarded as an example of good planning by scientists, representatives of U.S. Sugar and a fishing trade group, among others — is still caught in political gridlock. The Senate passed the Water Resources Development Act bill that includes CEPP on Sept. 15. The House has yet to vote.
“In the interim, the coupled human-ecological system is continuing to degrade in ways that may not be reversible,” the UF report reads.
It also notes that despite so many smart people working on this problem, they aren’t planning for future unknowns: “(r)esearch indicates clearly that climate change, changes in human demographics, energy costs and land use will affect Florida’s future, yet there is little evidence that salient information is being incorporated into restoration project plans.”
Without action the water problems that grew in intensity this year will worsen, said Stephen Davis, a wetland ecologist with the Everglades Foundation.
“I think this year is just an example of how bad things could get so we could see it repeat or even a scenario that might be worse than what we saw this year.”
Meanwhile, agriculture corporations, small towns and the fishing, tourism, and real estate industries offer a glimpse of the social-economic quagmire facing politicians and planners as they try to move forward to fund projects.
Sugar
Florida’s powerful sugar industry owns land south of Lake O. that could be a key piece of efforts to store and treat water. But unlike years past, they appear unwilling to sell any more of it.
Bubba Wade, a senior vice president of corporate strategy and business development with U.S. Sugar, described as the company’s environmental expert, said that to even discuss buying sugar land is “putting the cart before the horse.”
He argues that plans such as Sen. Joe Negron’s, which calls for buying 60,000 acres south of the lake now, could crimp funding for other necessary projects, and that it should be a priority first to clean up pollution in the northern part of the system. Selling sugar land is the last thing on the list of restoration priorities he cares to discuss these days, if it is on his list at all.
That’s a change from the company’s attitudes in the past decade.
U.S. Sugar, Florida Crystals and others boast some 14,000 employees and a $2 billion economic impact from farming cane on about 440,000 acres in the 700,000-acre Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake O.
In 2010, U.S. Sugar sold the state 26,800 acres for restoration for $194 million — with the option to buy another 153,000 acres at fair market value by 2020. But since then, the company has balked at selling any more land.
“I think at the time U.S. Sugar had some significant financial issues so I think what they were proposing was a sale that would essentially take them out,” said Samuel Poole, a Fort Lauderdale attorney who represented the interests of Florida Crystals during talks leading up to the deal, and in the mid-to-late 1990s worked toward Everglades restoration as head of the South Florida Water Management District. “(I) think that infusion of capital put U.S. Sugar back on its feet and they have since prospered and really have no interest at this point in a transaction that would have them selling the assets. They’re back in business and seem to be doing well.”
Mr. Wade said profits in recent years have increased.
Some suggest that U.S. Sugar will sell more land to the state at some point, but it is waiting for better prices. With the Hilliard Bros., the company convinced Hendry County officials to permit a 43,313-acre development with residences and retail two years ago. State officials have not approved it.
At the same time, pressure to find solutions to Lake O discharges has reached a fever pitch as economically powerful industries such as fishing, tourism and real estate are increasingly hurt by water quality problems.
While buying land in sugar country has become a rallying cry for many on the coast, including Sen. Negron, Mr. Poole said attention should be focused on cleaning up drainage north of the lake, for now.
“In the long run I would see the need for additional storage and treatment south of the lake, but the real crisis for the lake and real priority for the lake has to be the drainage from the north. That’s where all the nutrients (and phosphorus pollution) are coming from.”
John Cassani, a former water manager and research scientist who is chairman of the Southwest Florida Watershed Council, supports Sen. Negron’s plan. But he said people on both sides of the issue have at times overplayed their hand.
“In a general sense they’re saying buying land south of the lake is the silver bullet and it won’t necessarily do that,” he said. “It won’t fix all the problems but it was never meant to solve all the problems.”
On the other hand, he argues that buying land south of the lake will not crimp funding for other projects as Mr. Wade suggests, but is a key part of them.
“The state has plenty of money to do this additional storage,” said Mr. Cassani, citing a budget surplus and Amendment 1 money.
Florida TaxWatch estimates the average surplus each of the last four years has been more than $1.2 billion, but growth in programs such as schools and Medicaid will soak up a lot of it next year.
Amendement 1, approved by about 75 percent of voters, requires a third of the tax money collected from documentary stamps that come with every real estate sale in Florida between 2015 and 2035 be set aside and used to buy land and help save water now being polluted and degraded. That will amount to $700 million to $900 million or more each year.
Lake O towns
If sugar companies decide to sell property for Everglades restoration, Hendry County Commissioner Janet Taylor worries it could harm local economies in Clewiston, Belle Glade, South Bay and Pahokee that already have some of the highest unemployment rates in the state.
With combined populations of about 36,000 and smaller economies, the towns in Hendry, Glades and rural Palm Beach counties have scant political representation compared to urban areas and rely on agriculture and sugar farming.
They are often an afterthought for coastal economies furious about discharges from the lake, Ms. Taylor feels. Those residents don’t seem to understand the Army Corps is forced to discharge the water when it’s too high to protect the lives and property of people who live every day in the shadow of the lake’s aging Herbert Hoover Dike.
And much of that water that ends up discharged east and west is drainage from north of the lake, a fact some people south of the lake resent.
“There’s no shared adversity,” said Clewiston Mayor Phillip Roland. “In other words, the people of Orlando down to Lake Kissimmee don’t give a damn how much it rains or whatever, they’re not going to be flooded, so they don’t ever even think about a water problem. I mean it doesn’t even cross their minds.”
In an article published in SRQ Magazine in August, writer Michael Adno observed, “These sleepy agricultural towns seem so far removed from the urgent call to action along the coasts. The line of communication between coastal residents dependent upon tourism and the state’s interior based in agriculture uncannily echoes the disparity between state and federal interests.”
Ms. Taylor is concerned that buying sugar land for water storage would further damage their struggling economies. She has become a voice for Glades Lives Matter, a group that includes mayors, ministers, farmers and employees — many of Ms. Taylor’s extended family work for the sugar industry, she said — and others who fiercely oppose Sen. Negron’s plan. They aim to give a voice to Lake O communities at the divisive table of restoration planning.
“I have this saying — ‘If you’re not at the table you’re on the menu,’” Ms. Taylor said.
Florida Realtors
When water clarity increased by just one foot near single-family waterfront homes, property value increased in Lee County by $541 million and in Martin County by $428 million, a report by Florida Realtors found.
The trade group boasting 155,000 members last year released the study funded partly by the Everglades Foundation. It monitored the impact of water clarity on the value and sales of single-family homes in coastal Lee and Martin counties between 2010 and 2013. Regular Lake O discharge events could have a long-term impact on real estate sales, said the study’s author and the group’s chief economist, Brad O’Connor. This is “just the tip of the iceberg” because it only takes into account single-family homes.
“My feeling is the true economic impact is much, much greater than those numbers,” he said.
“Look on Google Earth. These communities are completely revolving around the water that surrounds them. They’re completely dependent on it.”
The report does not figure in beach closures, commercial real estate or multi-family condo complexes. And it especially does not figure in national media coverage when polluted discharges cause unsightly, stinky algal blooms. Mr. O’Connor was shocked when the national media actually took a break from Trump-Clinton news to report on the discharges this winter, he admitted.
“I think it’s devastating for both these economies — especially the national attention,” he said. “It’s not good if it keeps getting broadcast and there’s no solution. That’s awful for these two places.”
And not just on the coast.
“The bad press affects us,” said Ramon Iglesias, manager of Roland Martin’s Marina and Resort in Clewiston, recalling when a boat club from Bonita Springs canceled its reservation.
Fishing
A Lee County fishing guide, Daniel Andrews, has for years witnessed waterways being degraded, describing a labyrinth of oyster bars surrounded by grass flats that he grew up fishing as “all but gone.”
“I knew fundamentally the solution, but it was never really a cool thing to talk about,” he said. “Everglades restoration doesn’t sound very glamorous. But this winter once it got really bad right in the heart of tourist season everybody was mad.”
Capt. Andrews jumped on the opportunity to get people engaged, co-founding Captains for Clean Water, and he is now supporting Sen. Negron’s plan. He’s also lost plenty of business.
“What disturbed me the most are the amount of people who would come down and plan to fish with me for five days or a week and they’d end up leaving after one or two days because the water smelled bad or looked bad,” he said. “I think we’re going to feel that next season because of people who were displaced and won’t return because of it.”
Recreational fishing in Florida boasts $9.3 billion in economic activity and 123,000 jobs, said Gary Jennings, Keep Florida Fishing manager for the American Sportfishing Association, with millions of anglers each year contributing licensing fees and taxes.
“Hotels, restaurants, marinas, kayak and SUP rentals, fishing guides and tackle shops have all felt negative impacts from the overabundance of freshwater entering these two marine estuaries,” he wrote in an email.
“Tackle for Less, a neighborhood tackle shop located on Federal Highway in Stuart, is the latest casualty. Catering to a local neighborhood whose anglers fished mostly from shore on the St. Lucie River, business dropped off to almost nothing when the freshwater discharges began. The algal bloom and continued releases shut down fishing and forced the owner to close his doors.” ¦
Clewiston Mayor Phillip Roland’s 10-year plan for Everglades restoration
“I really think Negron’s plan is the stupidest thing that I’ve read or looked at in a long time,” the outspoken mayor said.
But he added a few minutes later, “At least the senator has a plan…”
Mr. Roland discussed over the phone how he might carry out Everglades restoration:
“You’ve got to have clean water coming from the north, and that’s the reason I think you should build deep, deep water reservoirs, that’s the only way to hold the amount of water that we need. And then you bring that water out into a meandering Kissimmee River and it finally flows into Lake Okeechobee as clean water. But you’ve got to store a year’s worth of water to the north.
“Then you have to dredge the lake. The lake has to get cleaned up. It’s got so much muck and silt and cow crap in it and it’s stored out in the bowl of the lake. The lake has to be dredged to flow water through the lake and into the Everglades.”
After that he would be willing to talk about storing and treating more water south of Lake O.
What’s the time frame on all this ?
“If you spent no money south of (the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers) and you spent everything north — if you did things together, in other words if you started dredging the lake at the same time you started digging the deep water reservoir to the north of the lake, I think you could accomplish it in 10 years. But you’ve got to cut the permits and the red tape and there’s got to be committed money from the state of Florida and the federal government.” ¦
Randy Smith of West Palm Beach, spokesman, South Florida Water Management District
“We’re examining Sen. Negron’s proposal, but so far there are far more questions than answers. There are two planning projects underway now, one to identify water storage for the Western Everglades, and the very critical study to identify storage north of the lake. The northern storage has much more benefit for the Caloosahatchee than southern storage. If it’s stored north, we have an easy avenue to put water in there during dry season. But the St. Lucie never wants additional water. As far as the St. Lucie is concerned, storage north of the lake is a nice way of keeping water from going into the lake in the first place.”
Republican State Rep. Gayle Harrell of Stuart
“For people living south of the Lake: I do not in my heart of hearts believe buying this land in the EAA will create the havoc they are foreseeing. The state will work closely so everything is done and in place, to assist them. For the land, Legacy Florida uses Amendment 1 money — 25 percent of Amendment One money is now a dedicated source of revenue for everglades restoration. It will provide about $200 million per year that will go into Everglades restoration.”
John Heim of Fort Myers Beach, president of the Southwest Florida Clean Water Movement
“Clean water is a human right, and in Florida it must be moved in appropriate amounts into the Everglades. The only solution to all this is to unchain the land south of the lake and cut off the stranglehold the sugar industry has on water going south. The reason you hear, ‘the Everglades are dying,’ or ‘stop the releases down the estuaries’ is because they cut off the natural flow of water south.” Mr. Heim doesn’t insist on the restoration of the traditional Everglades — it can’t be done, he says, echoing the opinions of most everyone else on each side of the debate — but he insists that political candidates right up to those seeking the White House recognize how important the issue has become. Though he was removed from a Donald Trump rally in Fort Myers Sept. 19 before it began, he says, “I have nothing against Trump — I’m on the fence, with voting. Both he and Hillary (have sought support) from U.S. Sugar and the Fanjul brothers. We have only one goal. Send the water south, clean. That’s why we’re called the “clean water movement.”
Republican State Rep. Kathleen Passidomo of Naples, a candidate for Senate District 28
“The University of Florida published a non-political and factual study of the water problem (that’s) the most thorough analysis I’ve seen on the issue. The scope of the study and its recommendations are compelling. Researchers concluded that the projects currently approved need to be completed. The current Basin Management Action Plans need to be updated to ensure better water treatment and quality standards. More storage to the north and south of the Lake needs to be identified and secured, including looking at the Holey Land and Rotenberger Wildlife Management Areas. Most importantly, there is not just one ‘fix’ for the problem. We must look at the problem comprehensively. So what I’m advocating for is sitting down with all the stakeholders, and interested citizens and looking objectively at the issue — without all the agendas and preconceived notions. And together coming up with an updated Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan based on sound science.”
Dr. Brian LaPointe of Fort Pierce, research professor, Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
“I believe in waste-water treatment. It’s one thing to use septic if you’re way out in the country, but to build cities, high-density urban areas with four or more septic tanks per acre in poor soil conditions at a time when we have rising water issues — that’s a mistake. These fields are inundated in the wet season, there’s fecal contamination, it’s a problem out of sight, out of mind. Now the research is finally shedding light on this problem.”
Nathaniel Reed of Jupiter Island, chairman emeritus of 1000 Friends of Florida
“A saga of errors has created this monstrosity of a system. But now there’s hope that wisdom will come. I don’t expect wisdom will come to Gov. Scott, but other people are smarter. When you’re talking about potable water, all growth depends on a rich water supply to the Biscayne aquifer, and it can only happen when the lake is connected again to the Everglades. It was one of most tragic errors every made, disconnecting the lake. The powerhouses of the counties — Palm Beach and Broward, Miami-Dade, Lee and Collier — are the chambers of commerce, the hotel and restaurant owners, anybody taking care of tourists, anybody who has a leg in the game. If you don’t have an adequate supply of fresh water, you’re up the creek. They should be clamoring to join us. They don’t give a damn about the birds, but they should look at their pocket books.”
Hendry County Commissioner Karson Turner of LaBelle
“Our population is small. We’re the miners in the coal mine and the canaries are alive and well and then everyone says the canaries died.”
Republican State Rep. Matt Caldwell of Lehigh Acres
“Everybody agrees with the statement out there from 200 scientists that to restore Florida Bay you have to send water south. From my perspective, and most scientists, that’s more than a reservoir, that’s a lot of work. The bridging of Tamiami Trail, changing way we operate the park, the way they deliver water to lower Florida — that’s the big picture and that’s what we’re doing. If we’re looking at Sen. Negron’s proposal as being the solution for the discharges we receive (down the Caloosahatchee or the St. Lucie), that’s a separate question. It’s not the same as sending water south for the health of Florida Bay. So their proposal is not the most effective way.”

160928-h
U.S. House signs off on key Everglades work
TampaBayTimes.com - by Jenny Staletovich, Miami Herald
September 28, 2016
On Wednesday, the U.S. House passed a major water bill that includes work to fix ailing marshes in the Everglades and help end seasonal flushing of Lake Okeechobee that triggered algae blooms on the Treasure Coast.
The U.S. House passed its version of a major water bill Wednesday, clearing the way for a big chunk of work needed to restore Florida's ailing Everglades.
In a 399-25 vote, representatives overwhelmingly approved the Water Resources Development Act that includes the Central Everglades Planning Project, a suite of key projects intended to target work in the central marshes. In September, the Senate passed a similar bill. The two chambers still need to iron out small differences, but supporters are hopeful that will happen after the presidential election in November, said Julie Hill-Gabriel, director of Everglades Policy for Audubon Florida.
"The path ahead looks clear," she said. "That will be such an important step for the Everglades and really get that central Everglades project in the ground and start to address the problems we've seen this year."
The bill nearly got derailed over money to help Flint, Mich., address its own water woes, but Hill-Gabriel said that effort was included in an appropriations bill.
Passing the bill, known as WRDA, also signals that Congress may be on track to resume passing regular water bills needed to keep up with restoration work, Hill-Gabriel said. Efforts lagged between 2007 and 2014 when contentious politics kept the bills from being passed. In 2014, a WRDA passed, but Everglades work failed to make the cut after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers balked at the last minute at signing off on the Central Everglades projects.
"One of the top things we look at when people ask why the Everglades hasn't made more progress is the whole program was set up on the notion that every two years it gets new funding. You keep the pipeline moving," she said. "So getting back on two-year cycles will really help us get back to that progress."
News of the approval was also applauded by the American Sportfishing Association, which in a statement said the use of wetlands, dunes and other natural features over man-made fixes to control flooding was a welcome change.
"It should be encouraging to sportsmen that Congress is making definitive moves to advance important conservation measures with major impacts for fish, wildlife, and water quality at a time when they are tasked with so much," said Steve Kline, director of government relations for the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership.
Related:           Everglades Restoration Clears House Hurdle            AmmoLand Shooting Sports News
Federal Water Bill Makes Way For Everglades Restoration To ...     WMFE
Curbelo, Rooney applaud inclusion of Everglades projects in WRDA          Ripon Advance
Water Resources Development Act Could Be A Big Victory For ... WGCU News

160928-i
Water quality: The $10 million question
FloridaWeekly.com
September 28, 2016
The Everglades Foundation is offering a prize for solutions on water quality.
VARIOUS OPTIONS AVAILable for potentially reducing Lake Okeechobee discharges into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, the Everglades Foundation is now focusing on water quality, recently announcing the $10 million George Barley Water Prize for innovative solutions addressing excess phosphorous in freshwater around the world. It’s a partnership with the Knight Foundation, the Ministry of Environmental and Climate Change in Ontario, Canada, and water technology company Xylem.
“The prize was established to research and find cost-effective technical ways to reduce phosphorus,” says Dr. Melodie Naja, the foundation’s chief scientist. “We’d like it to have global applications that work as well in Lake Okeechobee and Lake Erie. There are existing technologies to clean up phosphorus but they are expensive or require a huge amount of land. We need something else, something effective and cheap. We can’t solve it today or tomorrow but we need to start.”
Dr. Naja estimates 70 percent of the phosphorous and other algae-stimulating nutrients come from agricultural operations, the other 30 percent from urban development.
Charged by the federal government to oversee water quality in Florida, the state Department of Environmental Protection has developed best management practices for polluters but it’s not enough, Dr. Naja says.
And they’re not enforced.
An analysis of the Florida DEP’s raw enforcement data by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility noted the number of cases opened in 2015 were 81 percent below those of 2010, the year before Gov. Rick Scott took office. The group also observed fines collected were the lowest in 28 years.
“For the first time in nearly 30 years, DEP assessed no penalty above $100,000,” PEER said in a press release. “Pollution pays in Florida because violators often get off scot-free.”
DEP officials did not address that criticism. Spokeswoman Dee Ann Miller said the DEP works with governments and “stakeholders” to reduce pollution. For example, DEP officers provide “implementation assurance visits,” to farms to help them use Best Managemen Practices.
Water quality may continue to worsen in lieu of the Sept. 13 dismissal of challenges brought by several groups opposed to the state’s new Human Health Toxic Criteria Rule, which would increase the acceptable level of toxins and known carcinogens into Florida’s water.
Those challenging the rule can still appeal the decision.

160927-
What's making all those fish off Florida's coast die ?
Christian Science Monitor - by Rowena Lindsay, Staff
September 27, 2016
The proliferation of harmful algae blooms typically cause damage either directly by releasing toxins into the water and air or indirectly by throwing off the balance of the ecosystem through oxygen depletion.
An explosion of algae in southwest Florida has killed thousands of fish big and small and caused a terrible smell to permeate the area in the past week during Florida’s annual autumn red tide.
Concentrated in Sarasota and Manatee counties, the affects of the red tide, have been felt across the southwest coast of Florida causing tourists to abandon the beaches and local businesses to suffer. Meanwhile the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has been testing water samples along the coast in order to document and collect more information on the phenomenon.
“Right now we only have a couple of patches of high concentration,” Kelly Richmond, a spokesman for the FWC, told the Herald Tribune. “You go to one beach, it could be high. You go to another beach down the road, it might be lower.”
The proliferation of harmful algae blooms typically damages ecosystems either directly by releasing toxins into the water and air or indirectly by throwing off the balance of the ecosystem through oxygen depletion. Karenia brevis, which typically infects waters off the coasts of Florida, Texas, and Mexico, is an example of the former.
In addition to killing fish, the toxins can also harm marine birds and mammals, according to Kaitlyn Fusco of the More Marine Laboratory in Sarasota. But this is all expected, Ms. Fusco told WTSP News, “typically in the fall into the winter we will see red tide blooms.”
Some have questioned whether sewage overflow from this summer’s storms could have contributed to the bloom, as poor water quality has been known to exacerbate algae blooms and kill off a wide variety of fish.
“Large fish kills are often a sign that more needs to be done to restore water quality in estuaries," Doug Rader, the chief oceans scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund, told The Christian Science Monitor's Christina Beck in August. "It is a normal occurrence, but it is exacerbated by human impact.”
Hayley Rutger from the Mote Marine Laboratory said that the Florida red tide algae occurs naturally in the Gulf of Mexico, and its blooms usually form offshore, away from coastal nutrient sources. However, human-made and natural nutrients from the coast can affect blooms that move close to shore. [Editor's note: Dr. Rutger's comments were expanded from a previous version to clarify the nuances of harmful algae blooms.]
Strong winds can stir up the toxins produced by the algae and lead to harmful air pollution.
While the beaches remain open, the FWC recommends that beachgoers not take their pets to the beach and that swimmers rinse off after going in the water. The FWC has also asked residents of southwest Florida to report any fish kills, particularly in Sarasota and Manatee Counties.

160926-
Dead fish washing up at Sarasota and Manatee County beaches
WFLA.com - by John Rogers
September 26, 2016
SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — During the past week fish kills have been reported from Anna Maria Island down to Manasota Key.
Thousands of fish carcasses have crowded the shoreline and a fowl stench wafts through the air. It’s all because of red tide. An official with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says red tide blooms form offshore around this time of year. Red tide is an algae that can kill fish and cause respiratory problems for humans.
Lisa Moran flew down from Colorado early Monday morning to enjoy Manasota Beach, only to find tons of dead fish. “I have never seen this before,” Moran said.
She had never heard of red tide before. If she had known beforehand, she likely would’ve made different travel arrangements. “I don’t mind swimming in the water when the fish are alive. I can handle that, but when they’re dead, no,” Moran said.
“This is my favorite beach, usually … Now it’s so bad I can’t hardly stay,” she added.
FWC began receiving reports of local fish kills on Sept. 19. FWC officials say sewage spills could contribute to the growth of red tide. But, it’s unclear at this point if the Pinellas County spill contributed to this recent outbreak.
It’s unclear how long this outbreak will last. FWC is doing daily water tests.
FWC says it’s still safe to swim at the beach. However, red tide can cause skin irritation, so officials suggest you rinse off properly afterwards. In addition, people with chronic respiratory problems such as asthma and COPD could be more prone to coughing.
Cindy Ducklow has seen red tide outbreaks periodically over the years. It became too much for her. “I used to live about a block away from the beach, and we had to move to North Port, further away from the beach because my lungs could not handle it,” Ducklow said.
FWC also urges pet owners to be careful taking animals to the beach because they may be affected by the red tide. If you are at the beach with your pets, do not allow them to play with dead fish or foam that may accumulate. If your pet swims in the red tide, wash it as soon as possible. Most dogs lick themselves after swimming and will consume any toxins on their fur.
If you do spot a fish kill, contact Florida Fish and Wildlife. Find more information about red tide here. The red tide report is available here. It’s updated every Friday. In addition, information about beach conditions is available here.

160925-
Legislation aims to decrease nitrogen levels in springs
Hernando Sun – by Kathryn Dentato
September 25, 2016
BOCC Regular Meeting 9/12/16 - Terry Hansen, who is an Enviromental Consultant with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), discussed the Florida Springs and Aquifer Protection Act, which was passed by the legislature in 2016. This law has guidelines for protecting the Everglades and Florida’s springs, particularly the 33 first magnitude springs, which includes Weeki Wachee.
The DEP ecological standard of water quality is in relation to the intended recreation use (swimming, fishing, etc.) and not a drinking water standard, Hansen said. Data is collected and analyzed for ecological impairment.
Ecological impairment refers to pollutants or excessive nutrients in the springs. Each year, approximately 1 million pounds of nitrogen seeps into the aquifer from various sources (fertilizer, animal waste, septic systems, golf courses, etc.). It is also impacted by stormwater and wastewater management practices. Those nutrients then enter the spring.
The DEP determines the total maximum daily load (TMDL), or what can the spring tolerate before it is considered impaired. Hansen stated that if a spring is determined to be impaired, he develops a BMAP to help restore the spring to its desired condition and reduce the “nutrient footprint”. Weeki Wachee and Aripeka are part of a larger project involving Citrus, Hernando, and Pasco Counties.
The Springs Protection Act outlines planning and funding goals that must be reached every five years in order to obtain the TMDL within 20 years. Approval of the BMAP will open funding sources for the projects, allowing for continued research and pilot projects. Currently, approximately 350,000 pounds of nitrogen flows from the Weeki Wachee spring each year. The TMDL goal is to drop that to about 100,000 pounds of nitrogen annually.
Hansen agreed that is a challenge. Because Florida has a groundwater-driven system, there are Priority Focus Areas (PRAs). The use of septic tanks is one focus area because conventional septic systems provide the largest inflow of nitrogen to the aquifer, which currently contains about 1 million pounds of nitrogen.
Referring to a map showing properties with septic tanks and septic lines, Hansen stated there are really two choices. “We can improve the existing tank,” he said, “Or we can sewer.” Both options present significant cost.
Another area in the county that is under review is Chassahowitzka, which has a finalized TMDL. The goal is not to overburden the county, Hansen said, but to prioritize the tasks so that funding is used effectively. The utilities department is already working on potential projects.
And while the BOCC can approve ordinances locally, that’s not the final answer, either, Hansen said. “People have to understand that they can make a difference. They have to understand that their small action contributes.”

160924-
Water district must fund control of invasive fern
Palm Beach Post – Opinion by Patrick Gleason, served on the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board from 1999 to 2003.
September 24, 2016
The Sept. 14 letter from Jim Moran, a member of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board, demanded that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) act now to control Lygodium, a pernicious fast-growing exotic fern, that is destroying native tree-island vegetation in the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge (LNWR). Failure to do so may result in the SFWMD rescinding the FWS license to use the refuge.
My message to SFWMD is that it should stop asking the federal government for a hand-out and start using its own money to stop the seemingly inevitable destruction of this unique part of the Florida Everglades.
I was on the governing board of the SFWMD back in 2002 when the renewal agreement with the FWS was approved with the proviso that the FWS control Lygodium. The agreement was a compromise: SFWMD didn’t want to manage the ecosystem assets as a refuge, or take on the labor-intensive and expensive burden of Lygodium control; FWS wanted the refuge, and as lease-holder accepted the responsibility for eliminating Lygodium as part of the bargain even though FWS had little to no control over its budget for controlling Lygodium.
The possibility that the FWS would be successful in controlling Lygodium was doubtful even in 2002. Lygodium was well-entrenched in the LNWR and had spread over thousands of acres as shown by mapping and video documentation.
The refuge has always been a poor-stepchild of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI). Money is allocated by Congress to DOI, and this is divided up among various competing departments — including the National Park Service. The
refuge system is at the bottom of that food chain. Our Congress doesn’t understand that the LNWR is in a life-and-death struggle with an invasive fern and isn’t friendly to funding the repair of ecological disasters. Today, only $9 million is available to combat invasive plants on all 565 FWS refuges covering over 100 million land acres.
The FWS has clearly failed. But why did it take 14 years for the SFWMD to decide FWS was failing ? The SFWMD Governing Board as “Protector of the Everglades,” and Gov. Rick Scott, who directs the board, need to accept reality and fund Lygodium control in the LNWR. Official estimates put the need at $7 million to $8 million annually for five years for Lygodium control. SFWMD is the landowner ultimately responsible for the LNWR; it inherits whether the Everglades lives or dies. SFWMD should also collaborate with FWS and work to determine if Congress can provide additional funds to stop this ecological debacle. SFWMD and the governor can play the blame-game with the feds, but it would not serve as an explanation to our grandchildren as to why the Everglades disappeared from our backyard.
The possibility that the FWS would be successful in controlling Lygodium was doubtful even in 2002.

160923-a
Florida's water challenges require money, resolve, innovation and more money
Sunshine State News - by Nancy Smith
September 23, 2016
If you wanted a crash course in the biggest issue facing the state so far this century, there was no better place to be Thursday than the Florida Water Forum in Orlando.
Some 150 attendees heard panelists with a combined small fortune in Florida water history experience -- its management, its laws, its successes and failures.
As Herschel Vinyard, former secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, put it, it's a matter of will. From here on out, he said, it's all about getting the Legislature to invest in the infrastructure Florida needs to deal with its wastewater and keep from running out of affordable, sustainable groundwater.
The amount of money, commitment and innovation it will take on all levels of government is daunting. The population is expected to rise another 4 million by 2030. Meanwhile, each region of the state has a different priority -- from polluted springs in the North to a groundwater shortage in Central Florida to saltwater intrusion in the Southwest, to wastewater and fertilizer pollution combined with saltwater intrusion in the South.
Florida Atlantic University scientist Brian Lapointe, who has studied the rivers, estuaries and bays for many Florida communities, called for a complete septic tank conversion to sewer systems, where wastewater can be treated and monitored. 
Lapointe showed a video of the algal bloom-plagued lagoon and St. Lucie estuary, made in conjunction with the Florida Chamber of Commerce. He said his research showing human waste makes it clear: "Septic tanks aren't designed to keep pollutants out of waterways." With 600,000 septic tanks up and down the 157-mile Indian River, for example, "the lagoon can't take the load anymore ... you're going to have to pay to have a clean Indian River."
The Florida Agribusiness Council's Rich Budell, former director of the Office of Agricultural Water Policy, talked about the importance of Best Management Practices (BMPs) success achieved by Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) farmers in cooperation with the South Florida Water Management District and other state agencies.
"You don't hear much about it but it's a classic success story," Budell said. "The strictest BMPs in the world are implemented right there in the Everglades EAA. Over 20 years, year after year, the phosphorus load has been reduced by 50 percent," he said. "All water conservation areas are improving and most meet the 10 parts per billion standard. This is a real testament to forward thinking policy, willing farmers and state application -- we're meeting water targets.
"North of the lake is a totally different story. We have 5,000 square miles of water draining into a 750-square-mile lake."  Budell said range land can and is used for water storage. So is fallow citrus land. In fact, land north of the lake is ideal for creating deep wells to dispose of (polluted) stormwater. ..." An expensive process but the real answer, so that Lake Okeechobee can function as the reservoir it should be, holding a manageable amount of water. 
"The numbers don't work to store our way out of this by moving the water south. In flood periods, in 12 to 15 days, you're going to fill everything up there. ... The Everglades are half the size they used to be but we have the same amount of water volume."
The Nature Conservancy's Greg Knecht ventured gently into a subject not covered in the program's agenda -- rising tides caused by climate change. "We need to look at the true cost of prevention instead of restoration later," he said. Knecht, director of protection for the Conservancy, discussed the importance of preserving agricultural land to aid drainage and slow flooding and mentioned ways to do it. "We also need to think about where the growth should go ... look at public-private partnerships. ..."
Before breaking into regional sessions, heady panels took up other issues on the Forum's first day, from water reuse to energy resources.
Associated Industries of Florida's Water Forum concludes today with the presentation of an award to House Speaker Steve Crisafulli; a 2017 Water and Environmental Appropriations Preview by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater; an Amendment 1 panel; a Constitutional Revision Commission; and a discussion of emerging issues.

160923-b
Pythons extend their grip on parts of South Florida
Phys.Org.com - by David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel
September 23, 2016
Burmese pythons appear to be slithering into new territory, extending their range and putting more of South Florida's wildlife at risk of becoming lunch.
Python hatchlings were discovered for the first time on Key Largo, an ominous development for the island's wildlife, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced Thursday. And last week, a 10-foot python was found on a levee at the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in western Palm Beach County, indicating that the huge constrictor may have staked out territory in the northernmost section of the Everglades.
The big snakes, which can swim, have been found for years on Key Largo. But the discovery of three hatchlings in August is the first evidence that they have established a breeding population there.
"We worry about pythons becoming established in the Keys because there are several at-risk populations of small mammals, like the Key Largo woodrat and the Key Largo cotton mouse, that would be easy prey for Burmese pythons," said Bryan Falk, a biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.
The python at the Loxahatchee refuge was discovered by a law enforcement officer driving on a levee at night, just west of West Delray Regional Park. Upon seeing the python, he hit the brakes but ran over it. The snake was still alive, so he killed it with a machete, said Steve Henry, deputy project leader at the refuge.
The snake's remains were sent to the University of Florida for analysis. Although three pythons had been found previously on the refuge, they all turned out to be released pets. If analysis of its DNA and stomach contents reveal it to be a wild python, it would be the first such snake found on the refuge, Henry said.
The main concern would be the refuge's small mammals, such as raccoons, opossums and woodrats, he said.
"If you look at what happened with the python at Everglades National Park, it started with the small mammals," he said. "Their populations just imploded."
Native to southern Asia, Burmese pythons established a breeding population in Everglades National Park in the 1990s, as a by-product of the exotic pet business. There are thought to be some combination of released pets and escapees from a breeding facility damaged in Hurricane Andrew.
No one knows the extent of their South Florida range, said Kristen Sommers, exotic species coordinator for the state wildlife commission. Beyond Everglades National Park, they are likely to be established in other parts of the Everglades, as well as state parks and hunting lands to the west and north of the Everglades, she said.
It's also unknown how far they could spread, although the relatively cold winters of Central Florida could serve as a rough limit, she said. Even the mild winters of South Florida have in the past held down the populations of non-native species such as iguanas.
But she said the warm weather of the past few years, with the lack of severe winter cold snaps, has likely allowed pythons and other non-native species to spread.
Related:           Discovery of Burmese Python could indicate snake's expansion       WPEC, Sep 23, 2016

160922-a
Charlotte Harbor NEP hires Jennifer Hecker as Executive Director
CHNEP.org
September 22, 2016
 Jennifer Hecker has worked for the governmental, business and environmental non-profit sectors for nearly two decades to protect Southwest Florida's exceptional natural resources. As the former Director of Natural Resources Policy for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida for twelve years, she worked at the local, state and federal levels to advance the organization's advocacy and lobbying priorities regarding water resources, listed species, everglades restoration, natural resource extraction, environmental lands acquisition, and natural resources legislation. Prior, she worked as a Project Ecologist for WilsonMiller, Inc. and as an Environmental Specialist for Hillsborough County, Fla. in their Environmental Lands Acquisition and Management Program.
Hecker has a bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies from Prescott College and graduate degree in Tropical Biology and Conservation from the University of Missouri. Jennifer Hecker was selected by the Florida Weekly as a Southwest Florida "Power Woman" in 2011, is an alumnus of Leadership Collier and has served on various boards including the Florida Coastal and Oceans Coalition, National Great Waters Coalition, Southwest Florida Watershed Council, Everglades Coalition, and Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed Trust. She also was appointed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to their Statewide Stormwater Technical Advisory Committee and has been qualified as a water quality expert in a court of law.
Jennifer Hecker, as the Executive Director, is responsible for maintaining the strong partnerships developed through the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program Management Conference, continuing the implementation of the science-based Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan, and being an effective advocate for the resource.

160922-b
Dripping sound is fed movement on Everglades
Naples Daily News - Editorial
September 22, 2016
The U.S. Senate’s mid-September vote to move forward nearly $2 billion toward Everglades restoration is the proverbial glass half-full, glass half-empty in a long overdue push to improve southern Florida water quality.
The $1.9 billion Central Everglades Planning Project, part of a broader $10 billion of national water resources projects, passed the Senate 95-3 and goes to the House.
Florida U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s office said in a statement the Everglades money in the water resources bill is for “engineering projects designed to reduce the need for harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee by sending more water south into the Everglades instead of east and west into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.”
Nelson issued the glass half-full statement, calling it “a big win for Florida.” Indeed, it is. Yet we see the half-empty part of the glass in the historical view and the fact this isn’t yet a done deal.
It was 16 years ago, September 2000, when the U.S. Senate voted 85-1 for Everglades restoration. The initiative then was projected to cost $7.8 billion total and be finished in 35 years. Are we nearly halfway there? Not even close. This $1.9 billion won’t in itself get us there.
Incoming state Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, wants to leverage the federal money by acquiring additional water storage land south of the lake, but we expect a showdown in the 2017 legislative session. The state so far is putting in about $2 for every federal dollar on what was supposed to be a 50-50 proposition.
So we’ll see the glass moving closer toward full when we see swift passage of the water resources bill in the U.S. House. The historical view shows land and projects aren’t getting cheaper. For the future of the western Everglades, and both the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie watersheds, we can’t afford to keep coming up half-empty.

160922-c
Study: Florida could have 33 million residents by 2070
Associated Press - by Mike Schneider
September 22, 2016
ORLANDO — Florida could grow to more than 33 million residents by 2070, and the percentage of the state that is developed could jump from less than 20 percent to 33 percent, according to a new study presented Wednesday.
Florida's population would expand by 15 million people from 2010 to 2070 if growth trends continue, according to the study conducted by the University of Florida's GeoPlan Center for the smart-growth advocacy group, 1000 Friends of Florida, and the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services.
The number of acres of developed land would jump from 6.4 million to 11.6 million during that same period, the study concluded.
The state currently has around 20 million residents, making it the third-most populous state in the nation.
The study proposes managing the growth by focusing on higher population density, filling in empty spaces in urban areas rather than building outside urban areas and adding more conservation lands to the state. Under these alternative growth recommendations, the amount of developed land would only increase to 9.7 million acres.
Although Florida's predicted population growth is slightly smaller than it was a decade ago, the study's authors said the 15 million additional residents will affect Florida's quality of life and environment as almost 5 million more acres is used to build neighborhoods, office complexes and school campuses.
"Can we do better? Yes. We believe that is possible," said Margaret Carr, a University of Florida professor and one of the authors of the study.
The study's authors say almost 2 million acres could be spared from development if the population density for future projects increases by 20 percent and if redevelopment in urban areas takes precedence over building in undeveloped areas. If development occurs in new areas, priority should be given to areas next to existing communities and infrastructure, the study said.
Vivian Young, communications director for 1000 Friends of Florida, described a 20 percent increase in population density as a "moderate level," even though some smart growth advocates have pushed for more.
Florida's Panhandle will remain the state's least developed region, according to the study. In 2010, about 12 percent of the land was developed. It is expected to reach more than 17 percent in 2070 under current population predictions, and slightly less than that if the smart-growth measures are taken.
Under a normal growth scenario, the percentage of developed land in northeast Florida would go from about 18 percent to 34 percent. With smart-growth measures, it would be 29 percent in 2070, according to the study.
South Florida, which already has the state's highest population density and large amounts of protected lands from the Everglades and Big Cypress National Preserve, will see developed land go from about 15 percent in 2010 to 30 percent in 2070 with current trends. If smart-growth measures are used, the percentage of developed land will be 22 percent in 2070, the study said.
Central Florida will see the biggest increase of developed land since because of an expected surge in population and the current low-population density compared to South Florida, according to the study. The percentage of developed land will go from 25 percent in 2010 to 48 percent in 2070 with current growth trends, and it will be 40 percent in 2070 if smart-growth measures are taken, according to the study.

160921-a
Fla. working to reduce pollution in natural areas
WUFT.org - by Mary-Lou Watkinson
September 21, 2016
Florida officials are working toward improving the air quality in some of Florida’s wilderness areas.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Regional Haze Plan Periodic Report on Sept. 13.
The report shows how Florida has implemented what it calls a “regional haze rule” — meant to help meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act — to improve visibility in Class I areas, such as the Everglades National Park, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, and Chassahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Citrus and Hernando counties.
Class I areas represent America’s national treasures, said Preston McLane, the administrator for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Business Planning. Congress approved the Clean Air Act in 1990 so pollution wouldn’t “interfere with the ability of people to enjoy the natural beauty of these places,” he said.
Haze reduces visibility when light hits pollution particles floating in the air.
McLane said the objective of Florida’s Regional Haze Progress Report and the regional haze rule is for states to determine which of their areas need help and how to improve visibility over time.
Under the rule, states must achieve a visibility level determined by the Environmental Protection Agency. The universal deadline for reaching those levels is 2064.
Since 2000, Florida’s sulfur-dioxide emissions have decreased by about 80 percent, and its nitrogen-oxide emissions from industrial sources have fallen by roughly 70 percent, McLane said.
The state’s air is one of the nation’s cleanest, according to a news release from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Key pollutant emissions have continued to decline, with a 63 percent overall reduction since 1985, the release says.
In Alachua County from 2000 to 2013, sulfur-dioxide emissions were reduced by about 85 percent and nitrogen-oxide emissions by about 59 percent, said Brian Himes, a meteorologist for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
For Chassahowitzka, Florida is focusing on reducing the sulfur-dioxide emissions from coal-burning power plants and other industrial sources, Environmental Protection Agency spokeswoman Dawn Harris-Young said.
She said reducing haze provides cleaner air and improves visibility in natural areas.
“Improving visibility at national parks and wilderness areas provides a more rewarding experience for visitors to be able to view these areas more clearly, further distances and with greater color and contrast without the views being obscured by air pollution,” Harris-Young wrote in an email.
However, that doesn’t mean natural occurrences — such as rain and fog — won’t cause limited visibility, McLane said.
“I think the public should be glad to know that, at least as far as Florida is concerned, we have made very good progress on reducing the pollutants that contribute to visibility impairment,” he said.

160921-b
Rep. Gwen Graham demands answers for toxic sinkhole
WTSP
September 21, 2016
A massive sinkhole opened up in Florida after a leak at a phosphate plant ran into the groundwater. (Photo: CBS News)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Rep. Gwen Graham wrote an open letter to Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection Secretary, Jonathan Steverson, following the toxic sinkhole that has affected Florida communities and the environment.
“I was extremely disappointed to learn the Department of Environmental Protection had known about this toxic sinkhole for almost a month before taking measures to alert the public. The DEP should warn Florida families of potential contamination before they’re drinking toxic water, not after it’s been contaminated,” Rep. Graham said. “Their excuse for inaction – that they weren’t legally required to do so – is appalling. It’s an excuse we should expect from a special interest group – not from a group whose only interest should be protecting Florida’s environment and citizens.”
Local residents did not learn of the sinkhole until almost three weeks after it happened when the media began reporting on it. The toxic sinkhole is 300-foot-deep and located in Polk County.
A copy of the letter is as follows:
"Dear Secretary Steverson:
I was troubled to learn that the public was not immediately notified about possible groundwater contamination from more than 200 million gallons of industrial waste leaked into a sinkhole at a Mosaic phosphate plant in Polk County. Given the potential consequences, I urge you to conduct a full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the leak and to ensure the site is fully remediated to prevent long-term environmental and public health risks.
Media has reported that the leak was discovered by plant personnel and reported to county, state and federal officials nearly a month ago. Yet, most of the general public did not become aware of the potential problem until it was reported by the press last Friday, September 16. Your office claims to have followed notification requirements prescribed by current law, but I believe the Department of Environmental Protection has a greater responsibility to the public. When public health is at risk, the state has a duty to notify nearby residents as soon as possible and before their wells are polluted so they can take appropriate action.
I urge you to exercise your full ability to investigate the causes of and response to the leak by public and private stakeholders. If this was purely an unforeseen natural event, we may still be able to take action to prevent future incidents. If this leak was inadvertently man-made, we need to know that so we can keep it from happening again. If there was mismanagement either before or after the fact, we need to hold the responsible parties accountable. Only a thorough and timely investigation can answer these questions.  
Most importantly, we need to do everything we can to clean up the damage that has been done. The substances reported to have leaked from the site are potentially harmful to people and the environment. Given the enormous size of the leak, I expect this remediation to be a substantial undertaking, but it is essential. As we have learned from the contamination of Florida springs and pollution in the Everglades, the hydrology of Florida is uniquely connected. All Floridians are heavily invested in this clean up. Please use your authority to make sure it is done thoroughly and completely.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance to you.
Sincerely,
Gwen Graham"

160921-a
The Climate Change debate is over
OtherWords.org - by Todd Larsen
September 21, 2016
Increasing major storms and rising sea levels have long been predicted by climate models, and now they're coming true.
Earlier this month, Hurricane Hermine caused storm surges that flooded the Florida coast, killed one person, and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses.
This is the first hurricane to make landfall in Florida since 2005’s Category 3 Hurricane Wilma, but the Atlantic basin is no stranger to major storms. In fact, the Atlantic Ocean sees seven named storms per year now, up from an average of five just a few years ago. And storm intensity is increasing in the Pacific Ocean as well.
For decades, companies profiting from the fossil fuel economy have funded scientists, think tanks, and politicians that oppose the general consensus of scientists worldwide that humans are causing climate change.
Mountains of studies and models show that climate change is real, primarily caused by humans, and is already having major impacts on human civilization. But climate deniers have persuaded many to doubt climate change, slowing the critical transition to renewable energy and clean transportation technologies.
But now, the climate deniers have a real problem. The earth itself is providing overwhelming evidence that climate change is happening much sooner than predicted and already impacting our lives.
And it’s not just hurricanes.
In July, NASA provided data demonstrating that each of the first six months of 2016 were the hottest on record. July and August went on to break records for summer temperatures. These record temperatures couldn’t be explained away by El Nino weather patterns, but they can be by the increasing greenhouse gas effect.
So, too, can the massive rains that caused extensive flooding in Louisiana, killing 13 people and damaging or destroying over 60,000 homes.
All along the East Coast of the United States, cities are experiencing “sunny day flooding” where water inundates cities in the absence of storms. Rising seas, resulting from climate change, are already creating conditions where cities receive flood waters of one to two feet on a regular basis, causing significant damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure.
Rising seas are caused by rapidly melting ice. The Greenland ice sheet, one of the largest ice formations on earth, is losing ice at a rate of 270 gigatons of ice per year — the equivalent of 110 million Olympic-sized swimming pools per year.
This year, the arctic experienced the second-highest level of sea ice melt on record, which will impact the habitats of gulls and polar bears.
Increasing storms and storm intensity and rising sea levels have long been predicted by climate models and now appear to be coming true.
What does all this building evidence mean for climate deniers?
Clearly, it’s time to stop pretending climate change isn’t real, and recognize that it’s already having major impacts in the world. And the many corporations that tell the public they’re addressing climate change, while simultaneously funding climate-denying politicians, need to end their duplicitous practices.
Climate impacts are already harming the most vulnerable people in the United States. People of color, indigenous people, and the poor, who are least equipped to adapt to climate impacts are the most vocal advocates for stopping polluters.
We need to stop questioning the validity of climate science and instead rapidly scale up renewable energy, clean transportation, and sustainable agriculture and forestry, all while immediately investing in adaptation nationwide.
The debate is over — it’s time for climate deniers to concede defeat, and start becoming part of the solution.

160921-b
Top St. Pete water officials suspended over sewage crisis
WTSP.com – by Mike Deeson
September 21, 2016
St. Petersburg, Florida -- 10Investigates has learned that the city of St. Petersburg's  head of engineering and water resource manager have been put on administrative leave.
Mayor Rick Kriseman made the move Wednesday afternoon after a document surfaced showing Engineering and Capital Improvements Director Tom Gibson and Director of Water Resources Steve Leavitt both received a consultant report in 2014 saying the city should not shut down the Albert Whitted treatment  plant until the South West Plant expanded capacity.
The city shut down the Whitted plant in 2015 and that is being named as a major reason the city has not been able to handle the sewage during the recent storms.
Kriseman told a Pinellas County legislative delegation Monday he never saw the $94,000 study. However, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection says it saw the report last year.
Meantime, Gov. Rick Scott announced he is having the DEP launch an investigation into the sewage crisis.

160920-a
Curbelo applauds inclusion of Everglades restoration initiatives in WRDA
Ripon Advance News Service
September 20, 2016
Initiatives championed by U.S. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-FL) to restore the Everglades and provide safe drinking water reservoirs were included in the Senate-approved Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) on Thursday.
WRDA includes the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP), a subdivision of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP).
Curbelo, a member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, said that the Senate-approved provisions would increase fresh water flows through the Everglades and into Florida Bay.
“This will support our drinking water reservoirs and will improve Florida Bay’s ecosystem, which is currently under great stress,” Curbelo said. “This is important for Florida’s environment and for the economy of South Florida, especially the Florida Keys. I commend the Senate’s passage of WRDA and look forward to the House considering our WRDA bill in the coming weeks, which also includes robust funding for CEPP.”
Curbelo met with U.S. Rep. Bill Shuster (R-PA), the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, in May to discuss the inclusion of Everglades restoration initiatives in WRDA.
“During our meeting we discussed the benefits of the Central Everglades Planning Project and my strong support in including the program in the upcoming Water Resources Development Act,” Curbelo said. “I am happy to report that we had a successful meeting and I am confident that protecting this national treasure will continue to be a priority in Congress.”

160920-b
Florida Issues: What to do about Lake Okeechobee?
WGCU,org – by Topher Forhecz
September 20, 2016
State candidates and advocacy groups in Florida have made water a central issue in this year’s elections. One big debate deals with Lake Okeechobee and what do with polluted water flowing into and out of it.
Coffee-colored water gurgles near the Franklin dam and flows down the Caloosahatchee River roughly 30 miles from Fort Myers.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing this water from Lake Okeechobee. So it doesn’t overflow. But, Jennifer Hecker with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida says this water contains pollutants called nutrients. She says they can intensify the algal blooms plaguing beaches and waterways in parts of South Florida.
“It can also feed red tide offshore and cause that to be more frequent and severe and as a result of those harmful algae’s,” she said. “We can see toxins being produced that can impact aquatic so there’s a domino effect if you will.”
That effect also has an economic side. Coastal communities that are heavily dependent on fishing and tourism have already taken financial losses.
Before the Everglades were drained and settled, water flowed through marshes from the lake down to the bottom of the state. Now, a massive man-made system of canals steers, holds and treats water.
Everglades restoration plans are gaining momentum, but environmentalists say they’re not enough.
Political hopefuls like U.S. House democratic candidate Tim Canova have picked up their cause. “Water, it’s our most precious resource and the future of Florida depends on it,” said Canova.
Canova lost in the primary, but the idea he and others support is for the state to buy land below Lake Okeechobee. Water would be stored and treated there before heading into Everglades National Park.
A recent proposal by incoming Florida senate president Joe Negron would buy thousands of acres of agricultural land for this purpose.
People Live And Work In The Region
Farmer Alan Hammock uses a machete to cut a tall green sugarcane stalk on his Glades County farm.
“Probably this stalk has had a little bit of wind damage. Probably the plant told itself ‘hey we’re getting to die,” said Hammock. “It’s time to start growing again and reproduce.’”
Hammock runs Frierson Farms. It borders where advocates want the state to buy land.
His wife Ardis feels targeted because this area is rural. She said the Everglades also used to encompass what are now more developed parts of South Florida.
“What’s the difference in telling people there that I’m sorry but we shouldn’t have built your home,” she asked.
Ardis supports another solution water managers are looking into. It involves storing water in the northern part of the state before it even gets to Lake Okeechobee.
Ardis said she feels buying agricultural land in the region could upend the local economy and cause people to lose their jobs.
“I love the way of life that’s here,” said Ardis. “For me, I do live in paradise. I do live the sweet life, and I want it to continue.”
People in coastal areas feel the same way. They’re worried about the continued effects of pollution on their tourism and fishing industries. Jennifer Hecker with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said if officials wanted to buy the land there are programs available that could help communities south of the lake.
“To help train people and be able to give them resources so they that can be able to switch industries or for local governments who are losing property taxes to be able to receive assistance from the federal government to offset those loses,” said Hecker.
This argument is playing out in elections across the state this year. Environmental groups have asked politicians to sign a pledge to support buying land south of Lake Okeechobee.
Hecker said this issue should not pit coastal and inland communities against each other. She said they’re in this together, that everyone needs clean, fresh water.
This story appeared on WMFE, here.

160920-c
Funding progress on water, pieces missing
NaplesDailyNews - Commentary by Rob Moher, Naples, President and CEO Conservancy of Southwest Florida
September 20, 2016
On Thursday, Sept. 15, the U.S. Senate adopted a new water resources development bill that authorizes $1.9 billion to advance one of the key pieces of Everglades Restoration – the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP).
Though this bill still needs to pass through the U.S. House of Representatives, the support from the Senate is a key step in moving forward this large set of projects that will increase the capacity of restoration efforts for the Everglades.
On the same day in Florida, water managers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sent notice that water discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries will once again be increased to high levels due to the record lake levels, sending more pollution west into our already stressed estuaries.
The Senate support for CEPP is a vital step forward, but it is only one piece of a larger puzzle and will not by itself resolve the matter of high-volume discharges that continue to negatively impact our estuaries, water quality and economy. Sustained public education and advocacy is needed now more than ever.
To learn more about all of those interconnected pieces, I encourage every community member interested in the health of our estuaries and our coastal wildlife to attend the first Save Our Water: Market Watch Summit, presented by the News-Press and sponsored in part by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida on Oct. 26 at Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa. Go to https://tickets.news-press.com/e/save-our-water-2016 for tickets and more information. The Conservancy believes that a comprehensive set of solutions is needed to solve our water quality challenges, and this educational experience provides an excellent opportunity to learn more about the many pieces of the water quality puzzle.
Another report issued recently by the University of Florida for the 1000 Friends of Florida organization highlights the difficulty of our task in the face of the continued growth wave expected in Florida in the next 30 years. Sprawling forms of development are expected to use up more than 5 million additional acres of land, currently in natural or agricultural use, as the state’s population is estimated to grow to more than 30 million by 2070. One of the key areas of growth is expected to be in Southwest Florida. The future of our region and our quality of life will in large part be dictated by how we grow.
The continued patterns of development moving into sensitive environmental and agricultural lands and converting wetlands to pavement, coupled with our water quality challenges, should wake us up to this fact: Our economy and quality of life are directly tied to how well we preserve our remaining water, land and wildlife.
If we do not move now to acquire additional lands south of Lake Okeechobee for needed storage, treatment and conveyance of water for a growing population and a stressed ecosystem, we will lose a historic opportunity to solve one of the key pieces of the puzzle for our long-term sustainability.
Let’s not wait for lands currently in sugar production south of the lake to be converted into more development; let’s support the effort led by state Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, to buy the land now, to send the water south and to leverage the $1.9 billion the U.S. Senate has just authorized to restore our river of grass.
Let’s stop the polluted water discharges flowing into our estuaries and create a sound economic foundation for Florida’s future in the face of these many challenges.
You can learn more about the Conservancy’s water quality work online at www.conservancy.org/policy.

160920-d
Lake Okeechobee level hits peak range, raises flooding threat
Sun Sentinel – by Andy Reid, Reporter
September 20, 2016
Lake Okeechobee's rising waters are pushing past the peak range intended to guard against flooding South Florida, and are expected to keep going up before the end of hurricane season.
The Army Corps of Engineers tries to keep the lake between 12.5 feet and 15.5 feet year round to ease the strain on the leaky, 143-mile-long dike, which is undergoing a slow-moving repair expected to take until 2025.
The lake level on Tuesday hit 15.5 feet above sea level. It's projected to top 16 feet by the end of November, when South Florida's storm season typically ends.
The rising lake is prompting increased inspections of its troubled dike — a 30-foot-tall mound of sand, shell and rock considered one of the country's most at risk of failing
"The inspections are to detect any issues as early as possible ... anything that could be a precursor of a problem," Army Corps of Engineers spokesman John Campbell said.
The lake is currently nearly a foot above normal. Just one tropical storm can boost Lake Okeechobee three feet, because the lake fills up faster than South Florida's flood control system can drain it.
The lake level going beyond 17.5 feet has triggered erosion problems in the past that required quick fixes to avoid flooding, Campbell said.
"That's the potential that still exists out there," Campbell said.
Later this week, the Army Corps of Engineers will decide whether to increase lake draining for the second week in a row.
Draining lake water to the east and west coasts lessens South Florida flooding risks, but can also fuel toxic algae blooms that kill marine life and pose a human health risk in coastal communities.
After a spike in lake draining earlier this summer, bright-green, foul-smelling algae coated waterways near Stuart. That made the water unsafe for fishing and swimming and scared away tourists.
"We are getting bombarded by these [lake] discharges," said Mark Perry, executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart. "It's still pretty nasty water."
A rainier-than-usual winter and spring followed by the summer rainy season, have boosted South Florida water levels from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades.
As a result, the Army Corps of Engineers since January has been draining billions of gallons of water each day east toward Stuart and west toward Fort Myers.
Those large influxes of freshwater form the lake disturb conditions in the normally salty estuaries, killing seagrass and scaring off game fish. That lake water also brings with it polluting phosphorus – draining in from farms and urban areas – that can trigger toxic algae blooms that make coastal waterways unsafe for swimming and fishing.
Instead of more lake draining to the coasts, environmental groups and representatives of those coastal communities have called for draining more lake water to the south – where it once naturally flowed before South Florida development and sugar farms spread across the northern reaches of the Everglades.
The South Florida Water Management District has taken emergency steps to boost pumping in South Florida, but water levels in portions of the Everglades stretching north through western Broward and Palm Beach counties remain too high to take much more water, according to the district.
And flooding sugar cane fields and other farmland south of the lake isn't an option, according to district spokesman Randy Smith.
"You can't intentionally flood someone," Smith said. "There's already a lot of water in the south."
To boost South Florida's water storage options, state Sen. Joe Negron is pushing a $2.4 billion proposal to build a 120-billion-gallon reservoir on farmland south of the lake. Negron, the next state Senate president, represents Stuart and other coastal communities suffering from lake draining.
Environmental groups have long backed building that type of reservoir.
The sugar industry and farming communities south of the lake have objected to taking more land out of agricultural production. They also say the reservoir wouldn't be able to hold enough water to avoid draining lake water east and west.

160920-d
USDA describes $328M oil spill restoration plan for Gulf
Associated Press
September 20, 2016
CARRIERE, Miss. (AP) - The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it's focusing conservation programs along the Gulf of Mexico in a $328 million plan to help recovery from the 2010 oil spill.
Undersecretary Robert Bonnie says the agency will use that focus through 2018 as it helps coastal producers plan improvements to improve water quality and improve coastal ecosystems under several Farm Bill programs.
The oil spill tie-in is a new twist to existing programs and will bring in a broader audience, Louisiana State University AgCenter Associate Vice President Rogers Leonard said in an email. Gulf Coast farmers will be interested in the amount of money available, he said.
Bonnie described the plan Monday at a Mississippi timber plot where the owner has worked with USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service to help improve downstream water quality.
"We're working side-by-side with farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to improve their operations while taking care of natural resources in the region," Bonnie said. "With most of the land in the region privately owned, working lands on the Gulf Coast are pivotal to the region's recovery."
The money covers five programs: $129 million under the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, $102.9 million through the Conservation Stewardship Program, $57.1 million from the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, $29.6 million as Targeted Funding in Priority Watersheds and Landscapes, and $9.3 million under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program.
It includes $11.3 million to restore longleaf pine forests, $3.8 million to improve water quality and enhance habitat in Florida's Everglades, $3.2 million to reduce runoff in nine watersheds around the Gulf, and $460,000 to plant wildflowers and native grasses that would attract bees, monarch butterflies and other pollinators in Alabama, Florida and Texas.

160919-a
Everglades restoration legislation earns praise from fishing groups
SportFishingMag.com - by Mary Jane Williamson, American Sportfishing Association communications director
September 19, 2016
The Water Resources Development Act provides funding to restore the Everglades and bring relief to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuary systems
Alexandria, VA — The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and Keep Florida Fishing commend the U.S. Senate for passing the Water Resources Development Act of 2016 (WRDA), which provides essential funding for the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP), as well as infrastructure and other habitat and water quality projects throughout the nation.
CEPP is an important step in bringing much-needed relief to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuary systems and will also facilitate the flow and treatment of water south of Lake Okeechobee into the Everglades system.
“With the Senate’s passage of the WRDA, crucial projects supporting Everglades restoration and waterway access move one step closer to completion,” said Kellie Ralston, Florida Fisheries Policies director for the American Sportfishing Association. “Our thanks go to lawmakers involved including Florida Sens. Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio for understanding the urgent need for measures that will lead to a more natural flow of water through the Everglades system, helping Florida maintain its role as the ‘Fishing Capital of the World.’”
"This is a significant victory for anglers and boaters in Florida and throughout the nation. Projects supporting clean water and safe navigation are non-partisan and we are very pleased this essential legislation is moving forward," said Scott Gudes, ASA vice president of Government Affairs
“We now call on the same bipartisanship effort in the U.S. House of Representatives to immediately take up this important bill, which will have a major positive impact on Florida wildlife and fisheries habitat,” said Gary Jennings, Keep Florida Fishing manager. “Our state’s environment, as well as our residents and visitors, will benefit from the WRDA for years to come.”
Recreational boating and fishing industry leaders, including Ralston, voiced their support for the WRDA by holding a briefing and panel discussion with the Congressional Boating Caucus on Capitol Hill. The Boating Caucus is an informal, bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and Representatives who advocate for the interests of the recreational boating industry.

160919-b
Recent books recount horror of 1928 Lake Okeechobee hurricane (Part 2)
National Geographic - by Willie Drye
September 19, 2016
Eighty-eight years ago, a savage hurricane tore across the Caribbean, killing thousands. Its winds probably reached 160 mph at times.
The storm turned and crossed the Bahamas before smashing ashore at West Palm Beach, Florida on September 16-17, 1928. It tore across the Everglades to giant, shallow Lake Okeechobee, where uncounted thousands of migrant workers were harvesting fall crops.
Although it had weakened some, its winds were still screaming at around 150 mph. A flimsy mud dike erected to hold back the lake was no match for the storm. The dike gave way, drowning thousands of migrants.
Two recent books recount the horror and devastation of this infamous storm. Eliot Kleinberg, a reporter at the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, has released a new edition of his book, Black Cloud: The Great Hurricane of 1928..
Bahamian meteorologist Wayne Neely’s book, The Great Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928, delves into details about the storm’s devastation across the Caribbean and Bahamas.
Both authors answered a few questions about their books. Kleinberg’s responses were posted yesterday. Neely’s responses follow:
There have been several other books written about the Lake Okeechobee hurricane. What prompted you to decide to do your book?
Many years ago I was doing research for my book Rediscovering Hurricanes-The Major Hurricanes of the North Atlantic and I went to the National Hurricane Center to research this hurricane for the book and to my surprise I discovered that the majority of the storm victims in Florida were actually black migrant farm workers from the Bahamas. I found this fascinating and unbelievable because I majored in Bahamian history and geography in college and I up to that point I never knew this and based on my research, nor did the average Bahamian either. Being a student of history I felt compelled to write this book from a Bahamian perspective to shed light on this storm and from an angle that the other books didn’t-the Bahamian migrants storm victims and the great impact the storm had on the Bahamas and the State of Florida at the time.
This hurricane is infamous for the huge death toll it inflicted around Lake Okeechobee in Florida, but it also struck a devastating blow to the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Could you explain the death and destruction the storm caused in Puerto Rico and elsewhere?
The Great Okeechobee Hurricane was one of the greatest and deadliest hurricanes of the North Atlantic. Guadeloupe received a direct hit from the storm, apparently with little warning and damage reports indicated “great destruction” on the island. Approximately 85 percent to 95 percent of banana crops were destroyed, 70 percent to 80 percent of tree crops suffered severe damage, and 40 percent of the sugar cane crop was ruined. The British colony Montserrat, just north of the storm’s center, was warned in advance of the storm but still suffered £150,000 (1928 UKP) in damages and 42 deaths; Plymouth and Salem were devastated and crop losses caused near-starvation conditions before relief could arrive.
The storm passed to the south of the islands of Saint Kitts and Saint Croix, which sustained significant property damage and crops but no reported fatalities. Nevis also reported three deaths due to the storm. The island of Puerto Rico received the worst of the storm’s winds when the hurricane moved directly across the island at Category 5 strength. The hurricane was a very large storm as it passed directly over Puerto Rico. Hurricane-force winds were measured in Guayama for 18 hours; since the storm is estimated to have been moving at 13 mph, the diameter of the storm’s hurricane winds was estimated very roughly to be 234 miles. The rainfall recorded on September 13–14, 1928, remains the record for the maximum rainfall associated with a hurricane in Puerto Rico within a period of forty-eight hours.
Property damage on the island from winds and rain was catastrophic. The northeast portion of the island received winds in excess of Category 3 strength, with hurricane-force winds lasting as long as 18 hours. Official reports stated “several hundred thousand” people were left homeless, and property damages were estimated at $50 million. On the island there was no building that was not affected. Some sugar mills (“Centrales”) that had cost millions of dollars to build were reduced to rubble. Reports say that 24,728 homes were destroyed and 192,444 were partially destroyed. Most of the sugarcane fields were flooded, ruining the year’s crops. Half of the coffee plants and half of the shade trees that covered these were destroyed; almost all of the coffee harvest was lost. The coffee industry would take years to recover since coffee needs shade trees to grow. The tobacco farms also had great losses. After this hurricane, Puerto Rico never regained its prominence as a major coffee exporter.
A sloop traversing from Ambergris Cay to Grand Turk was lost, killing all 18 people on board. The storm caused heavy damage throughout the Bahamas, mostly to property and crops. In Nassau, some buildings which were recently repaired after the 1926 Nassau hurricane were destroyed during this storm. A 10-year-old girl drowned after falling into an open trench filled with water. At the Fort Montague Hotel, the windows, doors, and furniture were badly damaged. Similar impact was reported at the Royal Victoria Hotel, while the British Colonial Hotel was largely spared. However, the gardens of the three hotels were “damaged almost beyond recognition.”
On Bimini, sustained winds of 140 mph were observed, causing major damage to buildings. Ninety-five houses and some other buildings, including a few churches and government buildings, were damaged or destroyed on Eleuthera. Minor damage was reported on Rum Cay. Most of the food crops were destroyed. On San Salvador Island, four buildings were demolished, including two churches, while several other structures suffered minor damage. Food crops were nearly wiped out.
Following is a breakdown of the death toll by location:
Guadeloupe 600-1,200
Grand Turk 18
Bahamas 3
Martinique 3
Puerto Rico 312-1,600
Total deaths in the Caribbean 1,224-2,824+
Florida 1928 estimated death toll 1,836 (changed to “at least” 2,500 in 2003)
Philadelphia area 7
New Jersey coast 3
Maryland I
Total US deaths 2,500-4,000
Total death toll 3,500-7,000
Death toll compiled by Florida Health Department:
Belle Glade 611
South Bay 247
Pahokee 153
Miami Locks 99
Chosen 23
West Palm Beach 11
Prosperity Farms 5
Jupiter 4
Fort Lauderdale 2
Kelsey City (Lake Park) 2
Bartow 1
Boca Raton 1
Canal Point 1
Deerfield Beach 1
Pelican Lake 1
Orange City 1
Stuart area 1
Unknown 669(would include 25 reported dead at Okeechobee)
Total deaths 1,833
Florida damage and Red Cross relief:
Affected about 112,200 people in 20 counties
Buildings destroyed or damaged 32,400
Damage $75 million (in 1920s dollars)
Livestock killed 1,278
Poultry lost 47,389
Families given Red Cross aid 30,325
Volunteers assisting with recovery 3,390
Many historic hurricanes from the last century have been reevaluated by contemporary meteorologists. Has the 1928 hurricane undergone this kind of reexamination, and have meteorologists altered the data about this storm, such as maximum sustained winds and lowest barometric pressure?
Yes, this storm was re-examined by the National Hurricane Center-HURDAT (Hurricane Database) and in 2003 they changed the Red Cross ‘official death toll’ from 1,836 to ‘at least 2,500’ because after re-examining the storm records they felt that the initial official count was much too low. So on the storm’s 75th Anniversary in 2003 they increased the official to ‘at least 2,500.’
Was there any particular aspect of this storm–its power, the huge death toll, or anything else–that especially impressed you about this hurricane?
For me I think it is a combination of all three factors. I was fascinated with the fact that it was a Category 5 hurricane with overall damage estimates of over $100 million, a total death toll ranging between 3,500-7,000 and the significant number of Bahamian migrant workers killed and the overall devastation it had on the region.
When you were researching your book, did you come across anything that surprised you about the 1928 hurricane?
Yes, the fact that so many of the storm victims were fellow Bahamians working on the farms in the Okeechobee region, living in sub-standard housing which contributed to the significant death toll. There was also an interesting story about an alligator who rescued a young child during the storm by keeping her afloat. What also surprised me was the fact that the meteorologists’ forecasts of this storm were wrong not because they were not skilled to give a correct forecast which would ultimately save lives but it had more to do with the lack of advanced technology (such as satellite and radar technology) to make a more accurate forecast during that era.
Do you think there were significant differences between the way Florida prepared for the storm and the way the Caribbean and the Bahamas prepared for the storm, and the ways in which they were affected?
No, all of them had advanced warnings that this hurricane was approaching their islands or countries but I think Florida not only got a wrong forecast that this storm would not strike Florida but also move into the Atlantic Ocean without striking Florida, causing many Florida residents to let their guards down.
Was there a long-term effect from the 1928 hurricane, and if there was, do you think that effect is still evident?
Yes, it was, first it resulted in the Herbert Hoover Dike being built around Lake Okeechobee to prevent future disasters like this from occurring again. To this day those dikes are still in operation in various US States. It resulted in the need to get rid of substandard housing. This hurricane also impacted the way we as meteorologists forecast future hurricanes and put in place a need for a better hurricane warning system for residents in the path of a storm. In my country of the Bahamas, it resulted in the government bringing forth the idea of developing building codes with a view of mitigating future storm damages. It was one of the first countries in the region to pass a law mandating building codes on future buildings and this storm was a template for that law. It also resulted in the Bahamas government debating and eventually came to fruition, the idea of building a local radio station as a form of hurricane warning system.
Was there a lesson to be learned from this storm?
Yes, and it is just as relevant today as it was in 1928 and that is…Preparation!
Listen to author Willie Drye discuss his IPPY Award-winning book, For Sale-American Paradise, with host Frank Stasio on WUNC radio’s “The State of Things,” and with Joseph Cooper on WLRN’s “Topical Currents.”

160918-
Massive sinkhole in Florida is leaking radioactive water into the ground
EcoWatch.com
September 18, 2016
News broke late Thursday that a massive sinkhole below a phosphate strip mine 30 miles east of Tampa has been releasing radioactive waste into the Floridan aquifer for three weeks.
News reports indicate that Mosaic, the owner of the mine, and state officials have known about the problem for three weeks, but failed to notify the public. The sinkhole formed below a phosphogypsum stack, which is a pile of radioactive waste hundreds of feet tall produced by phosphate mining, and in this case may pose a serious threat to drinking water for millions of Floridians.
"Enough is enough. Florida must finally take a stand against this destructive, radioactive phosphate mining that is putting our health and environment at risk," said Jaclyn Lopez, Florida director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
"Mosaic wants to mine an additional 50,000 acres of Florida's beautiful, biodiverse lands, but this incident makes clear it can't even handle the radioactive waste it currently generates. We must come together and demand that our counties, our state and our federal government reject further expansion of this dangerous industry."
Radioactive phosphogypsum is produced during phosphate mining when sulfuric acid is applied to phosphoric ore, releasing naturally occurring uranium and radium. Besides leaving massive piles of radioactive waste, this process produces radon gas in the air, which is cancer causing.
Forty percent of the phosphate ore that's mined in Florida is shipped overseas, but 100 percent of the radioactive phosphogypsum waste that's generated remains in the United States, the majority of it in Florida, where it stays forever. That's five tons of radioactive waste for every one ton of usable phosphate.
Phosphate mining creates 60-foot-deep to 80-foot-deep open pits thousands of acres wide. Florida is home to the world largest phosphate mine, and now Mosaic wants to strip mine an additional 52,000 acres in Manatee, Hardee and De Soto counties.
This is not the first time a sinkhole has opened up below a radioactive phosphogypsum stack, nor is it the first time Mosaic has had problems with handling its hazardous waste. In 2009 a sinkhole at the PCS White Springs facility released more than 90 million gallons of hazardous wastewaters into the Floridan aquifer. In October 2015 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Mosaic settled a lawsuit regarding a series of alleged violations of how Mosaic handles and stores its hazardous waste, paying civil penalties to the feds and Florida.

160917-a
Elections 2016: Candidates and advocates make Lake Okeechobee’s water a major election issue
Health News Florida - by Topher Forhecz
September 17, 2016
Coffee-colored water gurgles near the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam. It flows down the Caloosahatchee River, roughly 30 miles from Fort Myers.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing this water from Lake Okeechobee so it doesn’t overflow.
Sitting on a bench on the south side of the river recently, Jennifer Hecker with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said this water contains pollutants called nutrients that can intensify the algal blooms plaguing beaches and waterways in parts of South Florida.
“It can also feed red tide offshore and cause that to be more frequent and severe,” she said, “and as a result of those harmful algaes, we can see toxins being produced that can impact aquatic life. So there’s a domino effect.”
That effect also has an economic side. Coastal communities that are heavily dependent on fishing and tourism have already taken financial losses.
Buy The Land, Send Water South
Before the Everglades were drained and settled, water flowed through marshes from the lake down to the bottom of the state.
Now, a massive man-made system of canals steers, holds and treats water.
Everglades restoration plans are gaining momentum, but environmentalists say they’re not enough.
They want the state to buy land below the lake. Water would be stored and treated there before heading into Everglades National Park.
Political hopefuls across the state have picked up their cause, making the debate over Lake Okeechobee’s polluted water a central issue in this year’s elections.
A recent proposal by incoming Florida senate president Joe Negron would buy 60,000 acres of agricultural land for this purpose.
“The Sweet Life”
People who live in the largely agricultural area view the proposal as a threat to their way of life.  
Farmer Alan Hammock uses a machete to cut a tall green sugarcane stalk on his Glades County farm. He holds it up for inspection. Roots stick out at the base of the stalk like tiny pink tentacles.
“Probably this stalk has had a little bit of wind damage,” he said. “Probably the plant told itself, ‘Hey, we’re getting ready to die. It’s time to start growing again and reproduce.’”
Hammock runs Frierson Farms, a 650-acre property bordering the Everglades Agricultural Area. That’s the region south of Lake Okeechobee where advocates want the state to buy land.
The family-owned farm has been around since 1918.
Ardis Hammock, Alan’s wife, said she feels targeted because this area is rural. She wonders why more developed parts of South Florida are getting a pass, even though they used to be part of the Everglades too.
“What’s the difference in telling people there that ‘I’m sorry, but we shouldn’t have built your homes here, so let’s take out 10,000 homes and put a reservoir in here ?’” she asked.
Ardis supports another solution water managers are considering. It involves storing water further north before it even gets to Lake Okeechobee.
She worries that buying agricultural land in her region could upend the local economy and cause people to lose their jobs.
“I love the way of life that’s here,” she said. “For me, I do live in paradise. I do live the sweet life, and I want it to continue.”
Coastal Versus Inland
People in coastal areas feel the same way. They’re worried about the continued effects of pollution on their tourism and fishing industries.
Jennifer Hecker with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said there are programs available that could help communities south of the lake if officials bought the land.
The programs are there “to help train people and be able to give them resources so that they can be able to switch industries,” she said, “or for local governments who are losing property taxes to be able to receive assistance from the federal government to offset those losses.”
This argument is playing out in elections across the state this year. Environmental groups have asked politicians to sign a pledge supporting buying land south of Lake Okeechobee.
Hecker said this issue should not pit coastal and inland communities against each other. She said they’re in this together and that everyone needs clean, fresh water.

160917-b
Lake Okeechobee reservoir faces political hurdles, sugar industry pushback
Sun Sentinel – by Andy Reid
September 17, 2016-09-18
Florida's next Senate president plans to deliver 2.4 billion reasons for the politically powerful sugar industry to part with South Florida farmland needed to build a Lake Okeechobee reservoir.
Getting $2.4 billion approved to build the reservoir can overcome growing opposition from the sugar industry and farming communities rimming the lake, state Sen. Joe Negron said.
"It's a completely different discussion when money is available," said Negron, who also said informal discussions about acquiring land are already happening. "The next step is to build support in the Legislature for the proposal."
Negron bills the reservoir as a necessary, alternative outlet for polluted lake water now being drained out to sea — which fuels toxic algae blooms, killing marine life and scaring away tourists in the coastal communities Negron represents.
Yet sugar industry leaders have so far balked at sacrificing 60,000 acres of farmland south of the lake for a new reservoir.
They say taking that land out of farming will cost agricultural jobs without delivering enough water storage room to significantly help Lake Okeechobee drainage problems.
"Taking our land is not going to solve his problem," Gaston Cantens, vice president for sugar producer Florida Crystals, said about Negron's proposal. "There is no silver bullet."
The Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida — a collection of smaller sugar cane growers — has warned that losing 60,000 acres of sugar cane farming production means one of South Florida's four remaining sugar mills could close.
Keith Wedgworth farms sugar cane land in one of the areas Negron has targeted for building the reservoir. Wedgworth's family has been farming in South Florida for 80 years.
"It was something that we didn't see coming. We were never asked about it," Wedgworth said about Negron's proposal. "I don't want to lose (the farm) on my watch."
Dealing with foul-smelling ooze
Negron's proposed reservoir is part of a costly, ongoing effort to correct the environmentally damaging consequences of South Florida's flood control system.
Lake Okeechobee's waters – which once naturally flowed south to replenish the Everglades – get held behind a 30-foot-tall mound of rock, sand and shell relied on to protect South Florida's cities and farms from flooding.
During wetter-than-usual years like this year, the Army Corps of Engineers drains billions of gallons of water lake each day to the east and west coasts.
That influx of pollution-laden lake water into normally salty estuaries threatens fishing grounds near Stuart and Fort Myers and can fuel toxic algae blooms, like the bright-green, foul-smelling ooze on the east coast this summer that got national attention.
Negron proposes to move much of that lake water south to a 120 billion-gallon reservoir and then filter out pollutants so that the water could be used to replenish the Everglades.
His proposal estimates that it would cost $2.4 billion buy the land and build the reservoir. He is calling for the state and federal governments to split the cost, just as the state and feds are partnering on other ongoing Everglades restoration projects.
Under Negron's plan, the state would borrow the money for its share and pay off the debt with money approved by voters in 2014 for environmental efforts. The Amendment 1 state constitutional amendment designates using a portion of Florida's existing real estate taxes to buy land for water conservation and to pay for other environmental uses.
Environmental groups have long pushed for using farmland to get more Lake Okeechobee water moving south.
Eric Eikenberg, Everglades Foundation CEO, said the next step is lobbying the Legislature this spring to back Negron's plan to use Amendment 1 money to pay for the state's share of a new reservoir.
"We have got the money," Eikenberg said. "We just need the will."
Differing water-storage proposals
Buying more land for a reservoir may conflict with Gov. Rick Scott's plans for Everglades restoration, which calls for using land the state already owns to finish building other previously proposed reservoirs and water treatment areas.
"Governor Scott will review his proposal and all options that will help with water quality in our state," Lauren Schenone, the governor's press secretary, said about Negron's plan. "We look forward to working with the Legislature as session approaches."
Sugar industry representatives say the state should focus on building places to store and clean up water north of Lake Okeechobee, before the water fills the lake and gets drained toward coastal communities.
Andres Fanjul, whose family runs Florida Crystals, said Negron's reservoir proposal takes the approach of, "I'm having a problem in my backyard, send it to theirs."
"That's the wrong solution," Fanjul said.
U.S. Sugar Corp., the state's other big sugar producer, is looking to buy land for more farming, not sell land for a reservoir, said U.S. Sugar Senior Vice President Malcolm "Bubba" Wade, Jr.
U.S. Sugar in 2010 reached a $197 million deal to sell the state 26,800 acres for Everglades restoration. The deal also included a 10-year option for the state to buy the company's remaining 153,000 acres.
U.S. Sugar now prefers not to sell, Wade said.
"A reservoir (south of the lake) does you no good," Wade said. "We need to do these things that we know are going to help."
Sugar industry representatives argue that a reservoir like the one Negron proposes won't help much during a rainy year like this one, when water levels rise in the Everglades as well as Lake Okeechobee.
There are limits to how much water can flow into the Everglades, because of the risk of South Florida flooding, water-quality regulations and physical barriers to moving more water south.
As a result, critics of Negron's proposal say once the reservoir fills up, the lake draining to the east and west would likely resume.
"You can fill that reservoir up one time and you can't send (the water) south," said Rich Budell, of the Florida Agribusiness Council. "You are never going to eliminate discharges to the estuaries."
Adding a reservoir in the farming region south of Lake Okeechobee has always been envisioned for long-range Everglades restoration plans, said Eikenberg, of the Everglades Foundation.
It's intended to be one of the ways — not the lone solution — to get more lake water moving south, instead of discharged east and west, he said. Blaming the reservoir for not completely solving the problems is "the knuckle dragger's argument to not tackle the issue," Eikenberg said.
Negron said the reservoir should be pursued, along with plans for storing and cleaning up more water north of Lake Okeechobee.
As Senate president, he will have big say in crafting the state budget and determining what legislation gets through the Senate when the legislative session begins in March.
Negron, a Republican first elected to the Legislature in 2000, said he is open to building the South Florida reservoir outside of the two areas he proposed.
"All of us have an obligation to address this issue and to help provide a solution," Negron said. "Finding 60,000 acres of land south of the lake is not going to disrupt commerce. It's not going to have an adverse effect on agriculture."

160916-
Water resources bill sails through Senate, faces murky waters in House
JOC.com – by Reynolds Hutchins, Associate Editor
September 16, 2016
The bill would authorize federal spending on port improvements, flood protection, dam and levee projects and environmental restoration.
WASHINGTON — The US Senate voted Wednesday to end debate on the Water Resources Development Act, setting up final passage for the legislation that includes long-awaited funds for harbor deepening projects at Charleston and Port Everglades.
The bill also shakes up the cost-sharing formula for channel deepening projects, increasing the minimum depth required for a 50-50 federal-state funding split from 45 to 50 feet — something port interest groups applauded.
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Penn.) has said that he and his staff are now talking to Republican leadership in the lower chamber “every hour” to get a much narrower House version of WRDA — with some much more controversial language regarding the Harbor Maintenance Trust fund — to the floor as soon as possible. The House Transportation Committee chairman said he’s hoping the lower chamber will get there as early as next week.
Like its predecessors, the Senate’s $10.6 billion water projects bill would authorize federal spending on port improvements, flood protection, dam and levee projects and environmental restoration. The bill passed this week, though, identifies just roughly $2 billion worth of water infrastructure projects — a fraction of what was authorized in the 2014 WRDA bill.
It does, however, authorize funding for 8 new U.S. Army Corps of Engineers navigation projects, including projects to deepen harbors at the Port of Charleston in South Carolina and Port Everglades on Florida’s Atlantic coast.
It also includes $220 million in loans and grants to help Flint, Michigan, rebuild and recover from its lead-tainted drinking water system — something seen as a driving force pushing the bill through the upper chamber.
The inclusion of Charleston and Everglades in the WRDA bill will open the door for both projects to receive federal funds and begin construction, but — in a unique instance — the Charleston project was actually already cleared weeks ago by the Senate to begin construction with or without the WRDA bill.
Charleston is set to deepen the existing entrance channel from 47 feet to 54 feet and deepen the inner harbor from 45 feet to 52 feet, effectively making the port the deepest harbor on the U.S. East Coast.
The state of South Carolina has already secured roughly $300 million for the $493.3 million project, and has been waiting on Congress to authorize and appropriate the remaining dollars and cents through a new WRDA bill before starting construction.
For most Army Corps port projects, port authorities must wait on Congress to authorize and appropriate the necessary funds before construction can begin. Charleston, though, recently managed to circumnavigate some of that bureaucratic red tape.
The Senate Appropriations Committee earlier this month granted approval for a provision that permits construction in the Charleston Harbor area.
Farther south, however, Port Everglades will have to continue waiting for Congress to pass the most recent WRDA bill before it can begin work on its harbor-deepening project.
The $322.7 million Port Everglades project included in the most recent WRDA bill is set to deepen the main navigational channel there from 42 feet to 48 feet as well as deepen and widen the port’s entrance channel and parts of the Intracoastal Waterway so that cargo ships can pass safely by docked cruise ships.
Despite their differences, both harbor projects aim to prepare their respective ports for the arrival of mega-ships traversing a recently expanded Panama Canal, whose new locks can now handle ships with capacities of up to 14,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units, nearly triple the size of the ships that historically have transited the canal’s century-old waterway.
Charleston is already preparing to spend a combined $2.2 billion over the next decade to expand marine terminal capacity, deepen its harbor and strengthen inland infrastructure to handle New Panamax ships that are expected to bring more cargo.
“This is a big-ship industry,” Jim Newsome, president and CEO of the South Carolina Ports Authority, said Monday in his annual state-of-the-port address. “Big ships are a catalyst for port investment.”
In a nod to that style of thinking, the Senate WRDA bill passed Wednesday also takes steps to modernize the cost-share formula for channel-deepening projects, which hasn’t been updated in 30 years.
The decision to increase the minimum depth required for a 50-50 federal-state funding split from 45 feet to 50 feet received a warm welcome from the American Association of Port Authorities, the largest US port lobby.
“Modernizing the channel deepening cost-share formula would make it similar to the maintenance cost-share formula,” the AAPA said in a statement.
The AAPA also lauded the bill’s language extending the authorization to provide funds to Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund donors and energy transfer ports, which the group cited as “an important equity issue.”
It’s a step toward modernizing the HMT, but not nearly as far a step as the one outlined in the House bill introduced earlier this summer.
The proposed legislation in the House could make history and take the Harbor Maintenance Tax off budget. That user fee aimed at funding port and harbor maintenance has had only a fraction of its revenue go toward such projects. That would mean the HMT would not be subject to the appropriations process and would ensure every year that HMT revenues are directed toward projects at the nation’s ports.
“Finally taking the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund off budget guarantees that every year billions of dollars will go to keeping our nation’s ports efficient and globally competitive,” Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) who represents the constituency that is home to the Los Angeles-Long Beach port complex, said in a statement.
At 110 pages, the House version is much shorter and addresses fewer policy items than the 271-page Senate version released in April. The bill’s brevity could be a good thing for US port and infrastructure backers hoping to see Congress return to the routine of passing a WRDA bill every two years — something it only briefly managed to accomplish in the late ‘80s and early ’90s.
The House bill doles out comparably less funding than its Senate counterpart. The bill authorizes $1.12 billion in navigation channel improvements at seven ports, including the Port of Charleston and Port Everglades, so they can proceed with construction. It additionally authorizes feasibility studies at four additional ports.
The funding gap between the House and Senate’s proposed bills will be enough to pose a challenge on both the House floor and in conference. The fact that the House bill includes an historic and not-so-subtle revision to the HMT could mean lawmakers will have a long to-do list before their holiday vacation this year.

160915-a
Corps to increase flows from Lake O into the Caloosahatchee
News-Press
September 15, 2016
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will increase flows from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee during the next week.
The lake stage was 15.36 feet on Thursday, up 0.26 feet over the past week. Army Corps protocols say the lake should be kept between 12.5 feet and 15.5 feet above sea level in order to protect people and property around the lake.
The Hoover Dike surrounds the lake, protecting the towns to the south from flooding.
“We expect the lake to be in the 15.5 foot range by this time next week,” said Candida Bronson, acting operations division chief for the Jacksonville District.. “At that level, we increase inspections of the dike to ensure continued safe operation. We still have seven weeks remaining in the wet season. Even without a significant weather event, we expect that the lake will be above 16 feet by the end of November.”
The Corps will continue releasing water from the lake in a “pulse” fashion, which means flows will vary during the seven-day release period. Many have credited this practice with reducing environmental impacts from the discharges in recent weeks.
The Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers were connected to the lake about a century ago to drain the Everglades for development and farming. Today the rivers function as a flood plain for the lake, each receiving large, unnatural discharges when lake levels get too high.
Large water releases into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie have been one of the causes for algae blooms on both coasts. The 2013 rainy season caused large algal blooms on this coast. The east coast was hit earlier this summer with blooms.

160915-b
Florida’s booming population risks sprawl ahead
Palm Beach Post - by John Kennedy, Capital Bureau
September 15, 2016
TALLAHASSEE — Florida in 2070 will be a state brimming with almost 34 million residents — 70 percent more than today – but it doesn’t have to be covered in concrete stemming from urban sprawl, a report released Thursday shows.
1,000 Friends of Florida, a statewide growth management organization, is urging government planners to promote a shift toward more in-fill development and higher densities in current urban areas.
Nature preserves can be expanded and farmland maintained, the Florida 2070 Project concludes.
“We’re talking about compact development, not doing away with development,” said Vivian Young, a spokeswoman for 1,000 Friends.
The report’s release comes even as Florida is experiencing a building boom – a pent-up explosion of massive developments that follows a recession-fueled freeze of several years.
Palm Beach County’s unincorporated western area is the site of almost 14,000 new homes planned in coming years, spread across four new communities, including Westlake, the county’s 39th city.
Similar, multi-thousand-acre projects also are in the works across remote stretches of scrub and wetland – virtually in every corner of Florida.
Such mega-projects as Babcock Ranch,Plum Creek, Lake Pickett and Deseret Ranch, are poised to add thousands of houses, millions of feet of commercial space and swell the state’s population through the next decade by converting vast amounts of rural land.
A comparison of the 2010 population baseline and the Florida2070 population projections. The report proposes a reallocation of the land in an effort to minimize the population growth's effect on the state's national resources
Fostering these fresh mega-projects, some analysts say, was Gov. Rick Scott’s overhaul in 2011 of the state’s three-decades-old growth management laws.
The changes approved by Scott and the Republican-led Legislature eliminated regulatory hoops developers formerly had to clear to advance building projects.
1,000 Friends said that cities and counties should remember that planning decisions made now will shape future development across many communities.
But the report also offers alternatives to reducing urban sprawl – mostly keyed to assuring that current timber and mining land across Florida isn’t turned into future housing developments.
Florida’s current trajectory has it on course to having one-third of its land mass fully developed by 2070, up from the 19 percent devoted to houses, stores roads and businesses in the report’s 2010 baseline year.
If many residents are already feeling the pressures of crowded roads, neighborhoods and schools, there is certainly more to come in the next half-century, the report shows.
But 1000 Friends argues that by embracing a more compact pattern of development and boosting the state’s protected land holdings, the percentage of Florida under development can be held to 28 percent by 2070.
“We absolutely believe we can do better,” said Peggy Carr, a professor at University of Florida’s GeoPlan Center, which also partnered with the Florida Agriculture Department on the 2070 report.
South Florida, so long home to rapid growth, is projected as seeing slower development in coming years, relative to the rest of the state.
Within South Florida, the most dramatic potential changes by 2070 will be south of Lake Okeechobee, where development could continue its relentless drive across Palm Beach, Hendry and Glades counties, as well as in Lee and Collier counties, analysts said.
Still, land devoted to cities and suburbia in South Florida should top out at 30 percent of the region — below the state’s 34 percent average, the report found.
The broad, protected acreage which includes the Everglades, combined with the expected continued strength of the region’s vegetable and sugar-growing industry, should withstand any serious encroachment by developers, 1000 Friends predicted.
The state’s region of most overwhelming growth in the years ahead? Central Florida.
By 2070, almost half the region from Tampa to Daytona Beach will be devoted to roads, homes, and the other trappings of development, 1,000 Friends forecasts. Marion, Sumter and Lake counties, already home to The Villages retirement mecca, will continue to boom, analysts said.
That’s almost double the Central Florida region’s 26 percent of land now occupied – and even in the best-case scenario, could be restrained to 41 percent developed, still well above the statewide rate.
“More land will be taken up to reflect the population growth,” Carr said.

160915-c
Residents: CEPP helps, but not nearly enough
WFLX.com
September 15, 2016
Thursday, the U.S. Senate approved its water resources bill. Included in that was the Central Everglades Planning Project. The plan includes a series of projects designed to get more water from Lake Okeechobee flowing south towards the Everglades.
While many say the project is a step in the right direction, it will not have a dramatic impact on the Lake O discharges going east and west.
The Corps releases water from the lake to manage the lake levels, concerned that if the lake gets to high the dike around it could be compromised.
However, many families on the Treasure Coast blame the discharges for causing the toxic algae that invaded their waterways this year.
“It was sad,” said Clayton Adams, a Palm City resident. “It was like someone poured green food coloring into the water.”
That is why some see a glimmer of hope now that the Senate passed its water bill and the CEPP.
“We’re hoping CEPP gets through,” said Mike Conner, a Martin County charter fisherman and activist with Bullsugar.org. “Sure, it’s a little bit of a help.”
Conner puts an emphasis on the word "little."
The project is designed to get more Lake Okeechobee water flowing south, but not nearly enough to stop the discharges going east and west.
If you look at the total east and west discharges from November 2015 through early September, there have been more than 615 billions of gallons of Lake O water discharged east and west, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Eventually, CEPP would send an additional 65.5 billions of gallons south.
If you do the math, the project would only send about 10-11 percent of that water toward the Everglades. 
“We need to get storage south of the lake, meaningful storage to stop the discharges,” said Conner. “The goal is to stop the discharges. The St. Lucie River needs not one drop of fresh water from inland.”
CEPP still has to pass in the house. And it still needs funding.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, it’s also at least a decade away.

160915-d
Stand up against environmental degradation
Independent Florida Alligator – Editorial
September 15, 2016
With Gainesville residents protesting oil pipelines Tuesday, we here at the Alligator thought we’d offer some insight into what’s going on in our beautiful state.
Sabal Trail Transmission is ready to start construction on a natural gas pipeline about 500 miles long that would run through Alabama, Georgia and Florida. It would carry more than 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas from Alabama each day ­— about 84 percent more natural gas than can be brought in by Florida’s current pipeline. Sabal Trail will supply gas to Florida Power and Light and Duke Energy of Florida. 
The pipeline is supposed to be up and running by May 2017, and it’s projected to create millions of jobs during its construction, a lot of revenue for the state and maybe lower electrical bills. Sounds wonderful, right? Except there’s one thing that won’t benefit from this extravagant pipeline: the environment.
Consider what’s more crucial to you: paying a few dollars less on your Gainesville Regional Utilities bill or breathing clean air?
Let’s look at just some of the issues the Environmental Protection Agency had with Sabal Trail — issues outlined almost a year ago in a 26-page letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission but ultimately got swept under some corporatist rug:
First, “significant environmental issues related to drinking water supplies.” The Floridan Aquifer, through which Sabal Trail would cut, is one of the highest-producing aquifers in the world. Depending on where you live, you could be one of the nearly 10 million people for whom the Floridan aquifer system is the primary source of drinking water. Now imagine this pipeline bursting, or even just springing a leak, as pipelines notoriously do. (Think British Petroleum. And Royal Dutch Shell. And Exxon.) Are you cool with buying jugs of water from Publix to shower with? Yeah, neither are we.
Second, “wetlands, conservation areas, environmental justice.” In Florida alone, the 3-foot-wide pipeline would cut through conservation areas that feature rivers and springs. Florida’s biodiversity is part of what makes this state like no other place in the world, and about 325 acres of its natural beauty, not to mention the habitats of endangered species and the economic benefit of natural areas, would be compromised if this pipeline didn’t operate perfectly. Even if it did, the installation process will wreak enough havoc for it to be a bad idea.
And if the possibilities of not being able to drink clean water or losing the chance to get drunk at the springs with your friends aren’t enough to convince you, how about forfeiting the right to breathe clean air? The third issue the EPA brought up was “air quality and greenhouse gas emissions.” Global warming, climate change, something Donald Trump doesn’t believe exists — whatever you want to call it — is happening now, so the whole “prevention of global warming” ship has pretty much sailed. The only thing we can do to keep it from literally killing us is to stop encouraging it. If we go through with the Sabal Trail pipeline, even more greenhouse gas emissions, which act as a heat trap, will be released into the atmosphere. If you think Florida is already scorching, wait until the summer of the year 2030.
For the Sunshine State, it may be too late to stop. But if Florida’s a lost cause, the same impacts can still be prevented in other states with proposed pipelines through natural areas, like the Dakota Access Pipeline, which runs from North Dakota to Illinois. Keystone XL pipeline’s permit got denied in June 2015, so we know it’s indeed possible to stop these environmentally damning pipelines in their tracks. Reach out to your own state representatives and those of affected states to let them know you won’t stand for the degradation of our country.

160915-e
U.S. Senate approves Everglades water plan
Associated Press - by WPTV Webteam
September 15, 2016
The Senate approved a $10 billion water projects bill Thursday.
Among other projects, the bill would help to restore Florida's Everglades and combat algae blooms that have fouled the state's beaches and rivers.
Some Florida lawmakers were quick to applaud the vote.
“Getting this Central Everglades Planning Project passed has been many years in the making, but it has taken on added urgency this year because of the toxic algae that is hurting our state. This Everglades project is one piece of the puzzle to dealing with the toxic algae, and we have more work to continue doing on that front,” Sen. Marco Rubio said in a statement.
“This is a big win for Florida,” Sen. Bill Nelson said in a news release. “We’ve seen firsthand the effect these toxic discharges can have on Florida’s waterways and the local communities that depend on them. Getting this project approved is a significant step forward in our ongoing efforts to restore the Everglades and provide folks some much needed relief.”
"While there is no single solution that will solve the crisis in our waterways overnight, we must move forward on the projects that will provide long-term relief and move us towards the ultimate goal of sending more clean water south.  CEPP (Central Everglades Planning Project) and other critical Everglades restoration projects are vital to our ongoing work to do just that," U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy said in a statement. 
Senator Bill Nelson's office said the bill also includes these Florida projects:
●  Port Everglades dredging – the bill authorizes $322.7 million to deepen the main shipping channels at Port Everglades from 42 feet to 48 feet.
●  Flagler County Hurricane and Storm Damage Reduction Project – the bill authorizes a $30.78 million beach renourishment project that will extend an existing dune in central Flagler Beach 2.6 miles to help protect State Road A1A, which is the only north-south hurricane evacuation route for communities along the coast.
●  Picayune Strand Restoration Project – the bill authorizes an additional $113 million for the Picayune Strand Restoration Project to fund new features and improvements to the original design. This amount is on top of the funds originally approved in 2007, bringing the project’s total authorized cost to $618 million.
●  Daytona Beach Flood Protection project – the bill authorizes the Army Corp of Engineers to conduct a feasibility study for the Daytona Beach Flood Protection project.
Senators approved the Bill 95-3. The measure now goes to the House.
Related:           US Senate bill authorizes $2 billion for Everglades   TCPalm
Senate passes Everglades restoration measure to fight toxic algae blooms    The Guardian
$1.9B Everglades Plan Passes Senate Naples Herald
Water bill will restore rivers, coasts, provide safe drinking water      Augusta Free Press, Sep 16, 2016
Residents react to Senate approving Everglades restoration plan      WPTV.com-Sep 15, 2016
Water act passes Senate as U.S. Army Corps ramps up Lake ...        WPBF West Palm Beach-Sep 15, 2016

160914-a
Challenges to new water standards tossed out
Sunshine State News - by Jim Saunders
September 14, 2016
Siding with the Department of Environmental Protection on procedural grounds, an administrative law judge has rejected a series of challenges to controversial new state water-quality standards.
Judge Bram D.E. Canter on Tuesday issued an 11-page ruling that dismissed the challenges filed last month by the Seminole Tribe of Florida, the city of Miami, Martin County and Florida Pulp and Paper Association Environmental Affairs, Inc.
A key focus of the ruling was whether the challengers met a legal deadline for filing their cases in the state Division of Administrative Hearings, which operates under different requirements and guidelines than circuit or county courts. In part, the challengers argued that a "notice of correction" published by the department after a July 26 hearing on the water standards bought them more time to file the petitions.
But Canter's ruling, reflecting the somewhat-arcane system of administrative law, said such a deadline extension could only apply if the department had published a "notice of change" to the standards, not a notice of correction.
"Some petitioners argued that the notice of correction, for the first time, made (a rule that contained the new water standards) comprehensible," Canter wrote. "Even if true, it does not establish that the rule was changed. The rule was not changed. If the notice of correction revealed an effect of the proposed rule that was not previously apparent, that is no different than if this effect was revealed by an oral or written statement from a DEP (Department of Environmental Protection) employee. Such statements do not change the rule that is proposed for adoption."
The standards, which were developed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and approved July 26 by the state Environmental Regulation Commission, have been highly controversial. They involve new and revised limits on chemicals in waterways, with the department saying the plan would allow it to regulate more chemicals while updating standards for others.
But opponents raised a variety of objections, with the Seminole Tribe, for example, saying tribal members would be harmed because the standards don't take into account people who eat fish and other types of wildlife at a "subsistence level." As another example, the city of Miami argued that the plan "loosens restrictions on permissible levels of carcinogens in Florida surface waters with absolutely no justification for the need for the increased levels of the toxins nor the increased health risks to Florida citizens."
Immediately after the Environmental Regulation Commission approved the standards, some Florida Democratic members of Congress called on the federal Environmental Protection Agency to closely scrutinize the plan.
In his ruling Tuesday on the challenges, Canter pointed to a legal timeline that required petitions to be filed by Aug. 5. The Seminole Tribe filed its petition at 5:02 p.m. on Aug. 5, but the Department of Environmental Protection cited a rule that said petitions had to be filed by 5 p.m., Canter wrote. That meant the petition wasn't technically filed until 8 a.m. Aug. 8, after a weekend.
The tribe and other challengers, who filed petitions later, argued that notice of correction published Aug. 4 gave them more time. But Canter disagreed in dismissing the cases.
Related:           Judge dismisses Seminole's petition against new Florida water toxin ...        The News-Press

160914-b
St. Petersburg's 'black cloud' of sewage woes grows by 58 million gallons
Tampa Bay Times – by Charlie Frago, Staff Writer
September 14, 2016
ST. PETERSBURG — Mayor Rick Kriseman has referred to the city's massive sewage dump after Hurricane Hermine as a "black cloud" that overshadows the Sunshine City.
The city on Wednesday reported to the state that an additional 58 million gallons of partly treated sewage was released last week from its Northwest treatment plant at 7500 26th Ave. N.
The latest total estimate of St. Petersburg's spilled sewage now stands at 128 million gallons — and that's not counting the unknown amount of waste that gushed from more than 40 manholes onto city streets.
Most of that waste has been dumped into Tampa Bay. But the latest reported spill took place in west St. Petersburg, and much of it emptied out of stormwater drains into Boca Ciega Bay.
St. Petersburg's latest spill brings the total estimate of waste local utilities released across the bay area to 230 million gallons — an amount that has continued to climb since Hermine's drenching rains. And the city's estimates could continue to rise.
Mayor Rick Kriseman took to YouTube on Wednesday, appearing in a four-minute online video to outline the city's plans to address the crisis. But he cautioned residents that any fix is at least two years away.
Kriseman said a changing climate with heavier rains has created a "perfect storm" that has stressed an aging system. That system was further compromised last year with the closing of one of the city's four sewer plants. The 2011 vote to close the plant was taken more than two years before Kriseman took office.
The mayor, however, did not mention the 58 million gallon spill in his video.
Much of the sewage released from the Northwest plan flowed into Jungle Lake in Walter Fuller Park. Initial water testing by the city after the overflow began in the early morning hours of Sept. 1 showed extremely high levels of fecal coliform bacteria.
Those tests were released Tuesday. The spill ceased on Sept. 7.
Eventually, the wastewater ended up in Boca Ciega Bay, which also recorded high initial levels of bacteria.
Azalea neighborhood residents, who live nearby the plant, said sewage flowed over 22nd Avenue N into their yards. The sewer plant is located next to Azalea Middle School.
The city publicly told residents not to worry — a week after the overflow stopped. Officials said the wastewater was nearly as clean as reclaimed water —fully treated sewage that is sprinkled on lawns across the city.
City officials did not respond to requests for a more detailed explanation about the composition of that sewage spill.
On YouTube, the mayor said St. Petersburg is facing a crisis.
"We are in the middle of a perfect storm," Kriseman said. He mentioned the 2011 decision to close the Albert Whitted wastewater treatment plant, which removed 12.5 million gallons of capacity from the sewer system — nearly 20 percent.
He lamented the three heavy rain events since last August, which saturated the ground, forcing water into aging, leaky pipes which created record-high sewage flows that overwhelmed the city's three remaining sewer plants.
"Climate change has arrived and this is what it looks like," Kriseman said.
The city has budgeted $38 million in a budget about to be approved by the City Council and plans to spend $100 million over the next five years to address spills and dumps that now total at least 160 million gallons since last August.
"The bill has come due and we are paying it," Kriseman said, adding that the city will also seek state and federal help to fix the sewers.
Meanwhile, the state is readying a consent order to ensure that the city solve its sewage problem. Florida Department of Environmental Protection officials said this week that the order will be issued shortly. And a powerful legislator, state Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, called a special meeting of the Pinellas County legislative delegation on Sept. 20 to discuss the issue.
City Council member Karl Nurse said he plans to ask his colleagues later this month to endorse a plan to spend up to $100 million to fix the sewers and stormwater drains. The money would come from Penny for Pinellas dollars if a new round of that tax passes next year. Funds would become available in 2020.
The scale of the sewage crisis is much worse than anyone thought, Nurse said, and the public outcry is becoming deafening.
"People are pretty angry," he said. "Whatever project you want to talk about doing, they want to talk about sewers."
Many elected officials in the city and county tout their environmental passions, Nurse said, but have been in denial about the scale of the problem.
"Some more than others," he said, without naming any individuals. "But what could be more of an environmental issue than dumping poop in the bay?"
Wednesday evening, Kriseman met with sewage protesters outside a Pier meeting at the J.W Cate Recreation Center, a few miles away from the Northwest plant spill.
It was the second day protesters showed up at a Pier meeting. They demanded a town hall be held to discuss the problem and said they're going to keep protesting.
The mayor said he would consider whether the city needs an independent study of the sewage crisis. And he told them:
"This is driving me crazy, too."

160914-c
SWFL Clean Water Movement incorporates to non-profit
Fort Myers Beach Bulletin, Fort Myers Beach Observer – by Jessica Salmond, News Editor
September 14, 2016
The SWFL Clean Water Movement began as one man on a bridge.
Now, the environmental activist group is growing from its grassroots beginning to form a nonprofit organization aimed at educating others about water quality and Fort Myers Beach.
The group is incorporating as a 501(c)4 social welfare nonprofit, which allows it to engage in protests and lobbyist events that relate to its mission.
"It's important for us to be a formal organization," said Linda Ryckman, who will sit on the board as treasurer. She's lived in Fort Myers Beach for two years.
Having a mechanism to raise money via incorporation will give the group the financial backing it needs to advocate for clean water at a higher level, she said.
"It's affecting tourism, that's the most important topic right now," said Ber Stevenson, a 10-year beach resident who serves as a consultant for the group and will likely sit on the board.
Fact Box
Army Corps: Lake O discharges to continue
According to a press release from the Army Corps of Engineers, posted Sept. 8, Lake Okeechobee discharges will not be stopped.
Rains from Hurricane Hermine filled the lake to 15.10 feet last week, increasing it just over a quarter of a foot. The Caloosahatchee river system with continue getting a seven-day average of 2,800 cubic feet per second (cfs); the St. Lucie Estuary will get 650 cfs. Both systems will get "pulsed" releases, which vary the flows during the seven-day period. The release stated that the lake's current level authorizes the Corps to discharge up to 4,000 cfs if necessary into the Caloosahatchee.
As of Monday, Sept. 12, no updates have been released by the Corps.
Fundraising efforts will help founder John Heim on his "Truth Tour," an educational program he's begun delivering to both local and out-of-county organizations about the effect of the Lake Okeechobee discharges into the river systems.
"We're trying to fun a movement to fight against a system of this magnitude, corporations," Heim said. "We have to have financial backing to do so."
The truth tour began as the group reaching out to other environmental organizations, and spread to local and state civic groups.
Heim traveled to Valrico, Fla., to speak with the Hillsborough County Democratic Women's Club; he was scheduled to speak before the Cape Coral Friends of the Wildlife on Tuesday; and has made plans to go to Brevard County later in the month to make a presentation to third-, fourth- and fifth-grade students about environmental issues and how they can help protect their waterways.
Heim has been sitting in on environmental classes at Florida Gulf Coast University; Stevenson helps research the program's information in part by attending South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and Army Corps of Engineers meetings.
One of the group's main focuses now is to get people to sign the Now or Neverglades Declaration, a movement to get the state to fund a project that would redirect Lake O discharges south into the Everglades.
"It's not just brown murky water," Ryckman said. "It's that they've detoured the historic flow down to the Everglades. Sending the clean water south would help our east and west coast problems and ensure the Everglades remain healthy."
Stevenson said the group believes this is the best solution to alleviate the polluted waters in the quickest way.
"We want to keep the pressure on SFWMD and the Corps, because they are controlling the water flows," he said.
*A portion of this story quoting Lee County Commissioner Larry Kiker during his talk at the Sept. 8 Chamber luncheon has been removed due to a quote used in error. Kiker did not speak against the SWFL Clean Water Movement during the luncheon.

160913-
U.S. Senate advances water bill that includes $1.9B for Everglades, algae bloom projects in Florida
Associated Press - by Matthew Daly, Tampa Bay Times
September 13, 2016
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted to move forward Monday on a $10 billion water projects bill that includes about $1.9 billion for projects to restore Florida's Everglades and combat algae blooms that have fouled the state's beaches and rivers.
Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said in a newspaper column last week that fellow Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida had convinced him to back the project after years of opposition.
Rubio's Democratic opponent, Rep. Patrick Murphy, has accused Rubio and Republican Gov. Rick Scott of not doing enough to find a long-term solution for algae blooms caused by polluted water flowing from Lake Okeechobee.
The bill, which also includes $220 million in emergency funding for Flint, Mich., and other communities beset by lead-contaminated water, advanced the bill 90-1 on a procedural vote, with approval expected later this week. If approved by the Senate, the bill would go to the House.
The bipartisan measure would authorize 29 projects in 18 states for dredging, flood control and other projects overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Related:           Water bill includes money for Everglades      TCPalm

160912-a
Ex-EPA director tours St. Lucie River
TCPalm.com – by Tyler Treadway
September 12, 2016
STUART — Memo to Hillary Clinton: More work needs to be done to clean up the St. Lucie River.
After a boat ride on the river's chocolate-brown waters Monday, that's the message Carol Browner, former administrator of the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said she'll send to the Democratic presidential nominee, first in a memo and later in person.
"We need to move forward with the plans already in place," Browner said, "but we have to do more."
Browner didn't specify what "more" might be. She said she doesn't know enough about state Sen. Joe Negron's proposal to buy 60,000 acres south of Lake Okeechobee as part of a system to stop discharges to the river to comment on it.
But Browner, a Miami native who was chief of the state Department of Environmental Protection from 1991-93, countered Gov. Rick Scott's contention that the federal government hasn't paid its fair share for Everglades restoration projects that would help stop the discharges.
"The federal government has been very attentive to the environmental issues facing South Florida," Browner said. "Everyone needs to do their part."
Mary Radabaugh, manager of Central Marine on the river's north shore in Stuart, and Irene Gomes, owner of the Driftwood Motel on the Indian River Lagoon in Jensen Beach, told Browner how algae blooms in the river and lagoon caused by Lake O discharges ruin the recreational fishing and boating industry along the Treasure Coast.
"I've never thought that we have to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment," Browner said, "and Secretary Clinton believes that, too."
Central Marine is a mecca for politicians wanting to show concern for the clean-water cause. Both of Florida's U.S. senators, Democrat Bill Nelsonand Republican Marco Rubio, visited when the algae was thick and noxious.U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy scooped up jars of the algae, taking some to Scott's office and some to a "Lagoon Action Day" he helped sponsor in Washington, D.C.
Radabaugh said Browner "has the background to understand what's going on here. I hope she'll take that back to Hillary Clinton and it will be considered. Of course, it's an election year; and politicians tend to make a lot of promises."
Browner's visit was the result of an invitation from the Martin County Commission to both Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump to see the problems facing the St. Lucie for themselves.
"The county hasn't heard from Trump's campaign," said spokeswoman Gabriella Ferraro, "but the invitation is still offered, and we'd welcome a visit."

160912-b
In Everglades, invasive pythons are only the beginning
The Christian Science Monitor - by Richard Mertens, Contributor
September 12, 2016
The huge Burmese snakes and other invasive species are thriving. A coalition of volunteers, wildlife officials, and scientists are working to slow their spread and destruction of the environment.
Everglades National Park, Fla. — Tom Rahill drives south, following a narrow road deep into the sawgrass marsh. On either side, clumps of trees can be seen dimly in the glow of a half moon. But Mr. Rahill keeps his eyes on the road, peering as far as he can into the tunnel of his headlights.
“You have to have your game on, otherwise you won’t get it,” he says.  “You have to know what you’re doing.”
The air is warm and full of sounds – the whine of insects, and the squawk of birds, the incessant croaking of frogs. Small alligators lie on the road, soaking up the day’s warmth. As Mr. Rahill’s van approaches they raise their heads and scamper away. Coming upon a small, brown native snake slithering across the road, Rahill and his friend Ernesto Eljaiek, a Navy veteran dressed in heavy rubber boots and green fatigues, get out and gently carry it to the grass.
Recommended:5 invasive species now in retreat
Their hunt is for another reptile – the Burmese python, which has become the poster snake for invasive species in the United States. First discovered here in Everglades National Park in the mid-1990s, pythons are thriving in South Florida. inflicting ecological damage on a scale that scientists say could be devastating. They are just one of the more than 50,000 invasive species in the US, plants and animals that came from somewhere else and are inflicting serious ecological and economic harm, according to a 2013 Congressional Research Service report.
There has been some progress in the fight against these invaders. Federal restrictions on ballast water from ocean-going ships seem to have reduced the number of exotic species getting into the Great Lakes. And scientists have developed new analytic tools to help them identify species that could pose an ecological or economical risk to the United States. The US Fish and Wildlife Service and the US Department of Agriculture are using these tools to prohibit the importation of some potentially harmful plants and animals.
But these efforts are not enough to keep many invasive species from finding a home and spreading. Along with Hawaii, the greater Everglades region is considered one of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the US to invaders.
“These reptiles in the Everglades are another example of how reacting is usually far less effective and more expensive than preventing species from being introduced and established in the first place,” says David Lodge, a professor at Cornell University and a leading expert on invasive species. “We know better. And government agencies and policymakers have begun to absorb the lesson.” But, he adds, “the rate at which policy has changed in reaction to invasions is much slower than the introduction of new species.
Gators by day, pythons by night
During the day, tourists at Shark Valley ride trams and bicycles along a 15-mile loop to see the sawgrass marsh and admire the alligators basking along the road. At night, it’s almost empty – except for the animals and, on this night, Rahill and Mr. Eljaiek. They are members of the Swamp Apes, a Miami-area group that Rahill started to help veterans help the Everglades. They hope to come upon a python slithering out of the marsh to cross the road.
If they do, they’ll stuff it in one of the king-sized pillow cases they carry in the back of their Honda Odyssey, stick it in an oversized cooler, and take it to a drop off point. From there a park employee will take it to park service lab, where it will be euthanized (using a stun gun like those used in slaughter houses) and dissected.
They make three circles of the loop road and see plenty of animals, but no pythons. It’s close to midnight. They’re weary. But Rahill is determined.
“You’ve got to just persevere, man,” he says. “You got to keep going.” The air has cooled, he notes. “This would be a good time for pythons to come out.”  They go around once more.
Scientists believe the pythons got their start in the Everglades when local owners, alarmed at how big their pet snakes were growing, let them go in the wild. Native to southeast Asia, the snakes are big – the biggest found in the Everglades was 16 feet long and weighed more than 100 pounds. They are also very hard to find. But by 2000, it was clear the pythons were reproducing in the park. In 2012, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service placed the Burmese python on its list of injurious species, effectively prohibiting anyone from importing them into the US or transporting across state lines. But by then it was years too late.
“We’ve missed our chance,” says Tylan Dean, chief biologist at Everglades National Park. “We have pythons and very few people hold out strong hope that we can significantly reduce the python population in the future.”
The snakes have spread quickly across south Florida, expanding west to the Gulf of Mexico and north to where the sawgrass marshes and cypress swamps give way to tomato farms, citrus groves, and sugar cane fields. No one knows for sure how far they might spread.
“Maybe they’re not going to reach Washington, D.C., but they’re surely not going to stay in South Florida,” says Frank Mazzotti, a biologist and invasive species expert at the University of Florida in Fort Lauderdale. “Their range is going to expand.”
Their eating habits pose the biggest threat to the Everglades ecosystem. Pythons are constrictors: They kill their prey by squeezing it. And they hunt a wide variety of animals: birds, mammals, and even alligators. A study by Michael Dorcas, a biologist at Davidson College in Davidson, N.C., found that in some some places pythons had devoured nearly all the mammals, including raccoons, marsh rabbits and even deer.
“We were amazed,” he says. Today in the Everglades, animals like the marsh rabbit, once abundant along the park’s roads, are almost never seen.Quicker on the draw
But Mr. Dorcas’s findings raise still more questions. If pythons devour all the small mammals, will they turn to eating more birds?  What happens to animals further down the food chain? And what will the consequences be for the Everglades’ other major predators – alligators, panthers, and bobcats – that eat many of the same animals as the pythons?
“It really becomes chaotic,” Mr. Dean says. “It’s very hard to predict.”
One consequence of the python invasion has been that local scientists and land managers are much more alert to new threats. Indeed, they say the pythons may not even be the biggest problem for the Everglades. Attention has recently shifted to Argentine black and white tegus, lizards that grow as long as five feet and eat just about anything. The tegus, which are known as  as intelligent and affectionate pets, are also are in the wild and have adapted remarkably well to the swamps and marshes of south Florida. They haven’t colonized the Everglades, but they are very close, and officials are trying to stop them.
On the same day that the Swamp Apes hunt pythons at Shark Valley, Michelle Collier and Katie Sykes of the US Geological Survey drive along the Parkline Canal, just outside Everglades National Park, checking a line of tegu traps. The canal cuts a straight line across the sawgrass marsh and is part of a vast system of canals that drain much of the water that feeds the Everglades. The traps – metal Havahart traps that a homeowner might use to catch a raccoon – lie hidden in the brush just off the Parkline and other canals. Each is baited with a boiled chicken egg and shaded with a palm frond.
The two researchers say they often catch one or two tegus a day. They take the animals back to their lab to dissect. On this day their traps catch a box turtle, but no tegus. Despite the trapping, they say, they haven’t seen a drop in numbers. In fact, they say, there seem to be more tegus than ever.
“Once they’re here, it’s really hard to get them out,” says Ms. Collier.
That’s especially true in South Florida, where the subtropical warmth makes it hospitable to many plants and animals that can’t survive winter freezes farther north. Miami, which sits at the edge of the Everglades, is a convenient entryway for exotic plants and animals, with a busy international airport and a thriving trade in exotic pets and tropical plants. Along with Hawaii, the greater Everglades region is considered one of the most vulnerable ecosystems in the US to invaders.
Scientists haven’t given up on the pythons. Although they believe the snakes are in Florida to stay, they hope to limit the damage they inflict. Researchers are exploring a range of weapons used against invasive species, such as attractive pheromones, genetic manipulation, and parasites. They are also working to better understand the snake’s habits.
“We need to learn more about these animals, to find a weakness in their armor, some vulnerability that we might be able to exploit,” says Ian Bartoszek, a biologist with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, who captures pythons on Florida’s west coast and dissects them at his lab in Naples.
In the meantime, ordinary citizens like Rahill and the Swamp Apes continue to fight what Mr. Mazzotti calls “the ground war” against the pythons--removing whatever snakes can be found. It’s not very effective--the number of snakes caught this way make little dent in their numbers--and it’s certainly not easy. On this night no python crosses their path.
But Rahill is loathe to give up. He lingers, and before heading home he hears something. He shines his flashlight into a bush,  reaches in, and snatches up a small frog. The frog’s eyes shine in the light. It’s a Cuban treefrog, he explains, a small unassuming amphibian that was introduced to Florida in the 1920s and that has quietly spread across the state. In some places it’s completely displaced native tree frogs.
“We’re not ever going to run out of things to do,” he says--“even if we get the pythons under control.”

160912-c
Pass this bill to help restore the Everglades
Miami Herald - Editorial
September 12, 2016
The Senate is tantalizingly close to approving legislation that energizes the decades-long effort to restore the well-being of the Florida Everglades. This is an opportunity that must not be missed, as it was two years ago when the region’s ecosystem failed to win inclusion in a similar bill to approve water resources development programs around the country.
At that time, a last-minute snafu led the Corps of Engineers to withhold approval for the Central Everglades Project, prompting a circular firing squad by all the parties involved to point blame at everyone else for the inexcusable failure. This time, everyone seems to be on board. As this is written, the Senate has started debate on the issue and may vote on the package this week.
It’s no secret that despite all the lip service that virtually every important institution in South Florida pays to keeping the Everglades healthy, the sprawling ecosystem is riddled with chronic problems. They are largely — but not entirely — confined to the question of how to clear a path for the river of grass to flow naturally through the broad flatlands and marshes that extend virtually from coast to coast, between the narrow ribbon of urban development on the east and west.
What this legislation (the Water Resources Development Act of 2016, or WRDA) does, essentially, is to clear that path. According to the Everglades Foundation, the plan green lights an engineering blueprint designed to convey water from the lake southward, clean water from Lake Okeechobee before it reaches the Everglades, and remove obstacles in the way.
The bill does establishes the essential prerequisite for federal funding by authorizing $10.6 billion in water resources improvements around the country. It covers navigation, flood control and environmental restoration projects from Alaska to Florida. It includes a plan to address the water crisis in Flint, Mich., and restore the water quality of the Great Lakes.
And, importantly, a harbor deepening project in Port Everglades, as well as another in Jacksonville.
Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla, who chairs the relevant committee in the Senate, is a late, albeit heartily welcome convert to the issue of restoring the Everglades. “I generally don’t like Everglades projects,” he said in a recent floor speech. “In fact, I can remember — it wasn’t that many years ago — when I was the only one voting against the Everglades Restoration Act.”
But as he explained in an Other Views article last week, persistent lobbying by Sen. Marco Rubio helped him to change his mind. In his Senate speech, he cited the recent algae blooms in Port St. Lucie as symptoms of Everglades degradation that the legislation before the Senate is designed to address. Welcome to the cause, Sen. Inhofe.
This measure is not the final salvation for the Everglades, the cure-all that overcomes all the obstacles. It does not specifically address the aging dike around Lake Okeechobee, for example.
But it represents a good start in efforts to restore one of the country’s greatest life-supporting ecosystems. It goes a long way toward ensuring that South Florida will have a healthy, dependable and safe source of fresh water for the foreseeable future.
It should win approval by the Senate without reservations or disabling amendments and be sent to the House for speedy action in the relatively few days remaining before the 114th Congress adjourns for good.

160911-
Millions of gallons of raw sewage dumped into Tampa Bay since Hermine
AOL.com
September 11, 2016
In the wake of Hurricane Hermine, many Floridians are having to put up with an unpleasant stench in the air.
According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection via WTSP, tens of millions of gallons of sewage has been released into the waters of Tampa Bay and into watersheds all over Pinellas, Hillsborough, Pasco and Hernando counties.
After heavy rain from Hermine backed up aging sewer systems unable to handle big storms throughout the region, partially treated water along with raw sewage spewed from manholes, forcing cities to dump partially treated water to handle the backup at wastewater treatment plants.
At least 30 million gallons of partially treated water and raw sewage were released into Tampa Bay alone, reports the Tampa Bay Times.
While it is unclear just how much sewage was released from plants in cities across the region, engineers are reportedly performing complex calculations to figure out how much sewage flowed out of manholes or from sewer plants overwhelmed by rain, said Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Shannon Herbon told the Times.
More from The Weather Channel: St. Petersburg Pumping Sewage into Bay as Tropical Storm Colin Flooding Continues
Even before the storm arrived several cities, including the city of St. Petersburg, performed what is called a "controlled wastewater discharge into Tampa Bay," WMNF reports.
In a report filed with the state Monday, an initial estimate of 20 million gallons was released in St. Petersburg. However, the sewage dump continued Tuesday and Wednesday.
Officials in Clearwater said they would announce Friday how many gallons of sewage overflowed into the streets.
A similar scenario took place in June when the aging Tampa Bay area sewage infrastructure was overwhelmed by Tropical Storm Colin.

160910-a
Buying land south of Lake O punishes farming families
Palm Beach Post - Point of View by John S. Hundley, Belle Glades, FL, vice president of Ag Operations at Hundley Farms Inc.
September 10, 2016
As a third-generation Glades-area vegetable and sugarcane farmer, I feel compelled to share my view on the ill-conceived pitch to buy large swaths of land south of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) as the silver-bullet answer to estuary releases. This proposal would take some of the country’s most fertile farmland out of production and provide little in terms of relief to the estuaries to the east and west of the lake. According to a University of Florida Water Institute report, 65 to 80 percent of all the freshwater hitting the estuaries are from their own basin — not Lake Okeechobee.
On our farm, we rotate fresh market vegetables like sweet corn, radishes, celery, cabbage, green beans and rice with our sugarcane production. In addition to the sugar manufacturing facilities in the Glades, there are eight vegetable-packing houses that would also be affected by a “big” land grab. For example, we are currently investing over $10 million to build a brand new state-of-the-art vegetable packing facility to meet the most stringent food safety regulations in the world.
The human toll to the lakeside communities would be devastating. The Glades communities rely on agricultural companies like ours to help support local businesses, main street shops, banks and restaurants, in addition to philanthropic activities that benefit schools, colleges, hospitals and the cultural arts. I take great pride knowing that my family’s business has helped put employees’ children and grandchildren through college.
Scooping up 60,000 acres of land in the EAA does not stop Lake Okeechobee discharges to the coastal estuaries. In a wet year like 2016, a 60,000-acre reservoir would only reduce Lake O discharges 12 percent and discharges to the estuaries by 6 percent. Using the modeling developed to analyze various south-of-the-lake storage proposals in the Central Everglades Planning Project, the reservoir would cost over $4 billion, not including the cost of acquiring an on-going business. That’s hardly the big-fix solution many are seeking. One must consider that this year’s discharges were brought on by record rainfalls this past winter. Under normal conditions, we wouldn’t be having this debate.
Already, some Florida lawmakers have questioned the cost and justification of buying additional land south of the lake, a plan that has been rejected at least four times over the last 15 years by the engineering experts at the South Florida Water Management District and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Florida needs to protect all its waters statewide, rather than focus on one single area.
Buying land shouldn’t be a knee-jerk reaction to a complicated situation with no simple fixes. It needs the backing of scientists and the will of a diverse set of interests.

160910-b
Hendry County sugar land headed for Everglades restoration or development ?
TheRealDeal.com – by Mike Seemuth
September 10, 2016
With development approvals, the value of the 67 square miles in Hendry County may rise
U.S. Sugar plans to develop land in Hendry County that the state has an option to buy to help restore the Everglades.
The leading grower and processor of Florida sugar cane owns 67 square miles of cane production land southwest of Lake Okeechobee in Hendry County.
U.S. Sugar and Hilliard Brothers of Florida, another sugar grower with adjacent land in Hendry County, have partnered on a venture to develop 18,000 homes and 25 million square feet of commercial buildings on their land.
If their development plan is approved, the value of the land may soar, and so may the price the state would have to pay U.S. Sugar for its 67-square-mile property in Hendry County.
David Crawford of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council told the Tampa Bay Times, “It’s good for business but bad for taxpayers.”
The South Florida Water Management District has an option to acquire all of U.S. Sugar’s land in Hendry County by October 2020.
Randy Smith, a spokesman for the water district, told the Tampa Bay Times that the district’s option to buy the Hendry County land from U.S. Sugar is unaffected by the company’s planned development of the same land.
Asked if the price of exercising the option could increase, Smith told the Times the district doesn’t speculate on the value of real estate.

160910-c
New voice on water management board
Miami Herald – Letter by Federico E. Fernandez, Esq., Governing Board Member, SFWMD
September 10, 2016
Miami is like no place else. As a family man, outdoorsman and attorney, I am proud to be among the more than 2.6 million residents in this world-famous city and the surrounding county.
I am also incredibly thankful to Gov. Rick Scott for affording me the tremendous opportunity to serve as this community’s voice on the Governing Board of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD).
The SFWMD’s dedication to managing and protecting water resources throughout South Florida makes it possible for families to live and earn a living between the ocean and the Everglades.
In my appointment, I will do my utmost to continue to educate my community about how the SFWMD helps residents, visitors and businesses here, and ensure their concerns are
As a business lawyer and small business owner, I have dealt with the challenges of creating and balancing a budget and I seek to draw from these past experiences to ensure that the SFWMD’s future expenditures are based on sound budgetary considerations and that taxpayer money is wisely spent on the right projects.
I will be encouraging public discourse on key issues such as taxes and infrastructure related to SFWMD operations.
What I bring to this debate is experience developing a legal practice to serve the creation of local enterprise, a fundamental component of any successful community.
My goal is to help set policy that ensures our environment continues to be a place where my wife and two daughters can join me in my love of the outdoors and desire to protect our ecosystems.
Once again, I envision more public awareness of what the SFWMD is accomplishing as managers of the region’s water resources, and I am honored to serve on this prestigious governing board.

160910-d
Sen. Negron’s plan would devastate farming and farming communities
TCPalm.com – Letter by Keith Wedgworth, Belle Glade, FL
September 10, 2016
Residents living in the Glades community need to stand together and oppose the plan proposed by Sen. Joe Negron. Sen. Negron is jeopardizing the livelihood of farmers and farming communities as he proposes the use of government action to acquire sugar-cane land in the Everglades Agricultural Area.
On the surface, Negron's plan may sound good, but it costs way too much for very little benefit to coastal estuaries. Acquiring the sugar-cane land would take $2.4 billion from taxpayers and result in a massive job loss in surrounding communities.
It is very clear here that Negron has caved to the radical environmentalists calling for the destruction of Florida's farming industry. It's a shame that groups like the Everglades Foundation and the Audubon Society of Florida — who have amassed a large slush fund — are trying to influence candidates with a vindictive anti-farming message. It's funny how environmentally focused groups such as these are putting so much effort into supporting politicians and slamming "Big Sugar" rather than striving for actual environmental conservation.
Calls to purchase farmland south of Lake Okeechobee go against the science and reality of Lake Okeechobee's water issues. There is available data from the South Florida Water Management District showing that large communities at the headwaters of the Kissimmee River are responsible for 95 percent of the water and nutrients.
Despite these facts, some special interest groups still blame our farming industry for water problems far north of where our farms are located. Nonetheless, we as Glades residents need to rally together and show Negron that he is taking the wrong course of action, and we need to let him know that farming jobs and farming communities matter!

160909-a
Lobbyists asked to target water quality issues
Okeechobee News - by Katrina Elsken
September 9, 2016
OKEECHOBEE — The state’s plans for dealing with water flowing in and out of Lake Okeechobee top the list of issues county commissioners want their lobbyists to target.
At the Sept. 8 meeting of the Okeechobee County Commission, the commissioners approved the contract with CAS Governmental Services, LLC, Legislative Services, for one year; term to expire Sept. 30, 2017. The total price of the contract is $28,000 per year and will be paid in quarterly installments of $7,000 each.
The CAS team working with Okeechobee County will include Dale Milita, president; James Spratt, vice president/legislative director, Connie Vanassche, vice president, and Alexis Aupperlee, grants assistance.
Topping the list of items the county commissioners asked the lobbyists to work on in Tallahassee is the use of Amendment 1 funds to address the issues with nutrient loads and the amount of water going into and out of Lake Okeechobee.
“One of the things I would suggest, is to put in the goals and objectives of what we expect relative to various things in the course of that year,” said Terry Burroughs.
He asked the lobbyists to stay on top of funding to address the septic tank issues.
“Our friends on either side of the coast seem to point the finger at us,” said Commissioner Burroughs.
“We should be able to get our share of the Amendment 1 money.”
“It’s not going to be one coast or the other coast getting all the money,” said Mr. Spratt. They are going to look north of the lake as well as the coastal communities.
“That is squarely on the radar,” he said.
Some of the discussion in the land acquisitions, recognition to this point has been made that if land is taken off the tax rolls, the county should be compensated for the lost taxes, he continued.
“You can’t just come in and buy land, and not account for the tax revenue lost,” he said.
“I hope they will use the land they currently own, rather than go out and buy more land,” said Commissioner Burroughs.
“The solution from the coast is buy more land,” said Chairman Frank Irby.
“The taxpayer doesn’t understand why the government is buying up land at two or three times the appraised value,” said Commissioner Bryant Culpepper.
He said the coastal communities created a lot of the problem by allowing so many homes to be built without a municipal sewer system.
“This is what has created this monster for everybody,” he said.
“There is a finite amount of money, even with Amendment 1,” said Mr. Spratt.
“At the end of the day, the common theme is that we have to do things that will give us the most bang for our buck, the most impact, because we do not have a limitless checkbook to do things,” he said.
Commissioner Culpepper said he hopes the state will look for a solution, “not to just move the problem into somebody else’s back yard.”
Chairman Irby said any septic tank cost share plan should include some help for the utility authority. He said a 50/50 grant to a homeowner will do them no good when there is not already a wastewater treatment line in front of their house.
“When the water management district came out with their plan, it was homeowner focused,” said Mr. Spratt.
“If they don’t have a wastewater system, there is no pipe to hook up to,” he agreed.
Chairman Irby also asked about the 2.6 mile bridge proposed to allow water to flow to the Everglades.
“That is a problem, there is not enough raised structure that will allow water to flow to the Everglades,” he said.
“I think it is valuable for people to keep talking about. No matter what you do south of the lake, you can’t move the water unless you do that.”
Another issue the commissioners brought up is the county’s request for a traffic light on U.S. 441 North at Cemetery Road.
“On Cemetery Road and U.S. 441 N., FDOT is going to study this one more time,” said Commissioner Burroughs.
He said there are a lot of accidents at that intersection.
“We put a red light at U.S. 98 and 36th in the area of a school,” said Mr. Burroughs. “I don’t see any difference between U.S. 441 and Cemetery Road and U.S. 98 and 36th.”
“When FDOT looks at accidents, they only look at reports from Florida Highway Patrol. They don’t look at all of the accidents the sheriff’s department handles,” said Commissioner Culpepper.
“Look at Ninth Street and U.S. 441 N.,” said Commissioner Burroughs. “We have trucks pulling out there constantly.”
The truck drivers don’t wait for the traffic because they know the traffic will have to stop for them, he said.
Administrator Robbie Chartier said FDOT is focused on how fast traffic moves and because of that, they don’t want to put in traffic signals. But the movement of traffic must also be balanced with safety, she said.
“A critical thing would be to improve the city’s utilization of their industrial park,” said Chairman Irby.
Mr. Spratt said he can make sure FDOT has the accident records from the sheriff’s office, and argue for additional traffic signals.
In other business, the county commission approved renewal of the contract with Cassels & McCall for legal services. The annual expense is $121,682 per year. This contract is the same as the amount in the current budget. The rate was the same for the 2013/2014. 2014/2015 and 2015/2016 fiscal years.

160909-b
Water district projects impressive from the air, but on the ground problems remain
TCPalm – by Gil Smart
September 9, 2016
High over the waters of the St. Lucie Inlet, as my helicopter ride courtesy of the South Florida Water Management District came to a close, I had this distinct thought:
I'd spent the morning tagging along on an aerial tour of district projects that had been arranged for state Rep. MaryLynn Magar. We'd flown over stormwater treatment areas, canals, river and Everglades restoration projects and more, none of them complete, all of them expected to make a major difference in the quality of our waters.
The cavalry is on the way.
And yet.
For all that's already been done, for the millions — billions — being spent, the discharges from Lake Okeechobee and the resultant algae crisis caused more havoc on the Treasure Coast this year than ever before.
As we're doing more, spending more, things are getting worse.
Small wonder, then, that some have stopped waiting around patiently for the cavalry to show up.
I'd been invited on the tour by Kevin Powers, vice chairman of the district's governing board. The idea was to get a better sense of all the district actually is doing, perhaps to dispel the notion that it isn't doing enough.
The copter departed Witham Field in Stuart in the Tuesday morning mist, heading northwest to Ten Mile Creek, which hasn't exactly been a success story — but may yet be. The joint SFWMD-U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project in northern St. Lucie County, designed to store and treat runoff destined for the north fork of the St. Lucie River, was authorized by Congress in 1996, built by the Corps and completed in 2006, whereupon the reservoir began leaking. It sat around for several years, the whole thing wound up in court ... and then, earlier this year, the water management district approved a $5.8 million contract to fix it, and by June 2017 it should be ready to store and clean about 5.7 billion gallons a year.
From there we flew west to see the Kissimmee River Restoration Project, where the plan is to ditch the C-38 Canal and restore 40 miles worth of the river's meandering flow and some 40 square miles of floodplain. This is another joint SFWMD-Army Corps project; initial phases have been completed and already it's reducing nutrients dumped into Lake O, said Paul Warner, chief scientist for the district, who narrated the tour.
We flew over the Lakeside Ranch Stormwater Treatment Area and the still-under-construction C-44 reservoir — a 3,400-acre spot adjacent to the C-44 Canal designed to store and treat nutrient-laden water headed for the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. We zipped around the eastern edge of Lake O, with Warner identifying work on the Herbert Hoover Dike, which he said could allow the lake to retain more water on a temporary basis.
We saw farm fields in the Everglades Agricultural Area south of the lake, sugar cane to the horizon, with canals carrying nutrient-laden runoff to huge water treatment areas. We flew over water conservation areas, including the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, and got a look at Central Everglades Planning Project sites, including the Tamiami Trail, where portions of the trail are being removed, and bridges built, to send more water to the Everglades.
We ended at the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Projects, where the goal is to send more fresh water through Taylor Slough toward Florida Bay. Then we flew back up the coast, a fantastic journey in itself — the glittering high-rises and azure water gradually giving way to the lower density and grayish-black water of Martin County.
Indeed, as we neared the airport, the tannin-stained plume — discharged from Lake O — was impossible to miss.
All these projects, all these studies, all this money being spent. No one can accuse the water management district of inaction. But is it going to be enough? That is, once it's all complete, can the people of this region have a reasonable expectation the algae crisis that occurred here this summer won't recur, as it has time and again?
I put the question to Powers, who said that more will need to be done, including removal of "legacy phosphorus" residing in the muck at the bottom of the canal, river and lagoon. But if all this had already been completed, he said this year's algae crisis wouldn't have occurred, at least to the extent it did.
"I could say it would have been substantially better this year," he said.
And here's your key. Because after years — decades — of problems, activists have lost faith in the system which promises yet to fix things.
But whether the state winds up buying more land south of Lake O for water storage or not, there will come a time when all the projects I saw from the air are indeed done. And when that day comes, we can ask: Did it work?
The future of our waters — and our politics — all hinge on that answer.

160909-c
Water management district needs to stop smearing critics
TCPalm.com – Editorial
Sepember 9, 2016
The South Florida Water Management District manages some 2,100 miles of canals and 2,000 miles of levees or berms, more than 1,200 water control structures and culverts, dozens of pump stations and thousands of hydrological monitoring stations.
The South Florida Water Management District bears an awesome responsibility. The agency guards against flooding and protects water supplies in a 16-county region stretching from Orlando to Key West. It helms Florida's Everglades restoration efforts. And it manages some 2,100 miles of canals and 2,000 miles of levees or berms, more than 1,200 water control structures and culverts, dozens of pump stations and thousands of hydrological monitoring stations.
Yet with all that, the agency still has plenty of time for politicking.
Since last fall, when Gov. Rick Scott's former general counsel Pete Antonacci was installed as head of the district, the water management district has gone after its critics with a vengeance.
Witness a July 19 news release from the agency decrying "career pessimists" who dislike a district plan to move water south into Florida Bay because it "doesn't fit the critics' government-isn't-doing-enough narrative."
Consider an Aug. 15 release asserting that Audubon Florida "wants to raise your taxes" after the group objected to the district's decision to decrease property taxes rather than fund efforts to control invasive species in the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.
The district has ripped the Caloosahatchee River Watch in Fort Myers as "one-sided detractors in pursuit of an agenda without facts to support it." And a Fort Myers News-Press report that displeased district officials was labeled "an astonishing evasion of the facts."
It's one thing to correct factual inaccuracies. But to do so in attack-dog manner does a tremendous disservice to the public the South Florida Water Management District exists to serve.
Bad as all this was, the district plumbed new lows last month when it responded to a legal and perfectly appropriate request by Lisa Interlandi, a lawyer with the nonprofit Everglades Law Center. Interlandi — curious about these rhetorical broadsides being fired by the district — requested the email addresses of everyone who has been receiving them.
Those 5,000 email addresses are public records, and by law the district must turn them over. But even as it complied, the water management district sent emails to everyone on the list, saying Interlandi — whose contact info the district helpfully provided — might sell the list to outside groups.
"Any concern you may have about a potential invasion of privacy is understandable," the district added.
This is outrageous, and can only be described as an attempt at retaliation — and perhaps intimidation, if the district officials behind this hoped the email addressees would barrage Interlandi with complaints.
As she told the Miami Herald, the district's action "seems very counter to the idea of a government that is responsive to its citizens. Instead, this seems more like a political campaign with an attempt to smear people and discredit those who disagree with their approach."
And that most certainly oversteps the water management district's role — by a nautical mile.
Given the water problems plaguing South Florida, passions are inevitably going to run high. Government agencies like the water management district naturally are going to be in the crosshairs. That's simply the way it works, distasteful as it may be to public servants who are indeed working toward the public good.
It's understandable that district officials may see critics as misinformed. It's certainly appropriate for the district to tell its side of the story and, as noted, where critics' assertions are factually incorrect, to correct the record.
But a public agency like the water management district needs to do so without trying to smear those critics — whose taxes, after all, fund the salaries of those crafting the vitriol.

160908-a
Army Corps of Engineers: No changes to Lake Okeechobee discharges to St. Lucie River
TCPalm.com - by Tyler Treadway of TCPalm
September 8, 2016
Lake Okeechobee is rising, but the Army Corps of Engineers isn't increasing discharges to the St. Lucie River.
The corps announced Thursday discharges will remain at an average of about 420 million gallons a day for the next week.
But heavy rain in the Kissimmee River basin, which drains into Lake O from the north, in the next few days could force a change a week or two from now, said Candida Bronson, the corps' acting operations chief for Florida. Plus, very little water can be sent south of the lake because heavy rain there has filled storage facilities between the lake and Everglades National Park.
Lake O's elevation Thursday morning was 15 feet, 1 1/4 inches, almost 2 1/2 inches higher than a week before, mostly because of rain north of the lake.
"Runoff from rain has also impacted coastal estuaries," Bronson said. Much of the water flowing east to the St. Lucie and west to the Caloosahatchee River is from local runoff rather than from the lake. That's slowed down the corps' effort to lower the lake through discharges.
The corps also will keep releasing water from the lake in "pulses" designed to mimic the natural flow of water through the river after heavy rains: Increasing discharges Saturday and Sunday, decreasing flows Monday and Tuesday and sending no lake water though the St. Lucie Lock and Dam on Wednesday and Thursday.
Additional runoff from rain in western Martin County could occasionally increase
the flow through the St. Lucie Lock and Dam into the river.
Discharges have totaled nearly 180 billion gallons since they began Jan. 30.

160908-b
Conflicting interest
Miami Herald – Letter by Ina Oost Topper, Chair, National Sierra, Broward Chapter, Tamarac
September 8, 2016
The Broward Chapter’s ExCom team for the National Sierra attended the Big Sugar Summit in West Palm Beach on Aug. 20.
As environmentalists, we were all getting updated on the pollution caused by the big sugarcane growing companies — especially runoffs into the Everglades and adjoining waterways.
After reading the Aug. 30 article, “Gov. Scott picks Bacardi attorney to fill Regional Water Management seat,” we learned that Federico Fernandez, a Bacardi Family Foundation Board member, will replace Sandy Batchelor, the lone board member this year who opposed Gov. Rick Scott’s heavily promoted tax cuts, which may significantly reduce the Regional Water Management’s financial budget for Everglades cleanup and restoration.
Bacardi means rum, sugarcane, and Big Sugar companies contributing to the horrendous water pollution in our state.
So we are left wondering how could Fernandez, as a Bacardi attorney and board member, also have been appointed as a Regional Water Management board member to, supposedly, simultaneously monitor Big Sugar's harmful runoffs into the Everglades ?
Gov. Scott, isn’t this appointment a conflict of interest, to say the least ?

160908-c
Despite recovery, Florida facing tight budget
CBS Miami
September 8, 2016
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/NSF) – Lawmakers will face a tight budget during next year’s legislative session and will likely need to take action to head off a shortfall in the near future, a new report suggests.
A draft of the state’s “long-range financial outlook,” set to be considered by a legislative commission next week, raises the prospect that “a structural imbalance” is looming.
For the coming budget year, which begins July 1, the outlook projects a surplus of just $7.5 million — a tiny sliver of the state spending plan, which is now roughly $82 billion. The following year, a budget gap of $1.3 billion could open up, followed by $1.8 billion the year after that.
That could force lawmakers to scale back expected spending or, less likely in a Legislature dominated by Republicans, to boost taxes to pay for budget increases in areas like education and health care. The financial outlook, which is prepared by state economists, is not official until approved by the Joint Legislative Budget Commission, which is made up of House and Senate members.
However, there are conclusions in the report that could change the potential shortfalls, in some cases dramatically. For example, the outlook assumes some increases in spending on areas like education and health care, projecting them to be handled the same as they have been in recent budget years.
It includes a three-year average of tax cuts, which have been popular under Gov. Rick Scott and the GOP legislative leaders, and projects similar decisions in the coming session.
And it accounts for lawmakers setting aside $1 billion each year to deal with unexpected changes in the economy or additional needs that could crop up. No major changes are expected to that policy because lowering the state’s reserves substantially could make it more expensive to issue bonds to pay for construction needs.
Still, legislative leaders admit that the forecast will prompt lawmakers to consider changes to state spending when they begin work on the budget in earnest in March.
“I think it shows that we will have difficult choices to make in the upcoming session, and I think it will force us to make decisions between competing priorities,” incoming Senate President Joe Negron, R-Stuart, said.
He said lawmakers who oversee different areas of the state budget will have to take a deep look at whether to continue spending on items approved by previous legislatures.
“We can’t simply reaffirm the priorities of yesterday,” Negron said.
Meanwhile, legislative leaders and Scott are expected to push new priorities. Negron has proposed increasing spending on higher education by $1 billion over the next two years, as well as a plan to use bonds and federal money to boost Everglades restoration.
Incoming House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’ Lakes, has not outlined much in the way of new spending, though he has spoken in the past of overhauling state health-care programs in a way that could save money. Through a spokesman, Corcoran — who currently serves as the House budget chief — declined to comment before the outlook was finalized.
Scott generally unveils his budget proposals in the weeks before the annual legislative session.
Senate Appropriations Chairman Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said the report didn’t rule out the kind of spending plans proposed by Negron. But doing so would require making offsetting changes elsewhere in the budget.
“I think what that outlook says is that there’s going to have to be some realignment of priorities if additional expenditures of that magnitude are approved,” Lee said.
Related:           Report Points To Tight Budget Times Ahead In Florida       NorthEscambia.com

160908-d
Oklahoma senator: Why I support restoration of the Florida Everglades
Miami Herald – by Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe, the senior senator from Oklahoma chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
September 8, 2016
Many stories have been written anointing me as the “only Senator to oppose the Everglades restoration” due to my vote against the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000. My opposition to this important project has since changed, largely in part to my friend and colleague Sen. Marco Rubio.
Despite the rigor he faced then on the presidential campaign trail earlier this year, he worked with others to reach out to me privately and explain the importance of the Everglades to his state.
On the table was the authorization of another component of this restoration effort — Central Everglades Planning Project, also known as CEPP. This project isn’t simply the restoration of one of America’s greatest natural treasures, it’s for the preservation and protection of south Florida’s communities who depend on clean, managed water to drive tourism and agriculture.
CEPP utilizes updated technical information and incorporates several components of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), authorized in WRDA 2000 and subsequent acts. The project is designed to capture and treat water south of Lake Okeechobee and restore more natural water flows to the Everglades and Florida’s coastline.
Marco was asking for this project because he recognized an opportunity to address a genuine need. At that time, WRDA wasn’t slated for consideration in my committee until after the Florida presidential primary, and Marco wasn’t running for reelection to the U.S. Senate. He simply brought forward a compelling case, and we put CEPP into the base of the WRDA 2016 bill.
In addition to CEPP, WRDA 2016 addresses other critical priorities for the State of Florida, to include authorizing the Port Everglades deepening project and storm damage protection for Flagler County, modernizing cost shares for port deepening projects that haven’t been improved in the past 30 years, and improving the beneficial use of dredged material to restore degraded ecosystems and strengthen coastal resiliency.
The legislation would also require the U.S. Army Corps, in coordination with Gulf States, to develop and implement a plan for oyster bed recovery that were damaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and for the Corps to study improvements for storm water retention and flood protection for Daytona Beach.
As chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, I have held four hearings on this matter, and on April 28, my committee reported WRDA to the Senate for consideration with a strong bipartisan vote.
Marco has joined me in calling for Senate leadership to bring this bill forward. In July, he spoke on the Senate floor about his recent visit to the St. Lucie River area, calling it “an economic disaster in addition to an ecological crisis.” He highlighted to all his colleagues of the urgency for CEPP authorization in WRDA, its importance for clean water as well as tourism and its impact on the livelihood of one in three Floridians.
We are committed to making CEPP and WRDA 2016 a reality. As the Senate returns in September, I will be advocating for its swift consideration during the next work period.
Congress has a chance with WRDA 2016 to show it can put aside party politics and continue working for the American people, for the good of our nation’s economy and for the protection and restoration of important parts of our environment like Florida’s Everglades.

160908-e
Water bill includes money for Everglades
TCPalm.com - by Ledyard King, USA TODAY
September 8, 2016
WASHINGTON — The senator shepherding a massive water projects bill through Congress cited Florida's algae crisis on Thursday as an example of why the measure needs to pass quickly.
Republican U.S. Sen. James Inhofe, of Oklahoma, who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee, said the Water Resources Development Act is crucial to a host of communities trying to widen ports, improve drinking water systems or rebuild flood-ravaged neighborhoods.
Among the projects he singled out was Everglades restoration. The bill authorizes $1.95 billion (half from nonfederal sources) to combat freshwater runoff from Lake Okeechobee that's led to polluted discharges along both coasts, including toxic algae blooms along the Indian River Lagoon.
"Not only are these blooms environmentally hazardous, they're also economically debilitating to the communities living along South Florida's working coastline," Inhofe said on the Senate floor, an oversized photo of an algae bloom resting on an easel behind him. "If we don't authorize the Central Everglades Planning projects, those communities will cease to exist."
The blooms, thick carpets of oxygen-choking, noxious, fish-killing nutrients, garnered national attention this summer for their scope and frequency. Presidential candidates weighed in on the crisis and members of Congress joined activists in delivering bottles of the contaminated water to Capitol Hill.
The overall Water Resources Development Act bill contains about $9 billion. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee passed a smaller, $5 billion version in May that also authorizes $1.95 billion for Everglades restoration. House lawmakers hope to pass the bill by the end of the year.
The Senate bill contains other items for Florida, including:
●  Authorization of additional money for a revised plan to restore the Picayune Strand Wildlife Management Area in Collier County. The additional $113 million would bring the total approved amount to $618 million.
●  A provision directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop and  implement a plan to restore the oyster population in the Gulf.
●  A provision authorizing $322.7 million to deepen the port at Port Everglades from 42 feet to 48 feet.
The measure was criticized by Taxpayers for Common Sense as pork-barrel spending that isn't justified.
"The Corps provides a valuable service for the nation, but instead developing a prioritization system for the myriad projects on their plate, the Senate produced a bill with a hodgepodge of costly and parochial provisions," said Steve Ellis, vice president of the watchdog group. "We cannot afford this bill."

160907-a
River of Grass Greenway still has long journey left
News-Press-com – by Craig Handel
September 7, 2016
Report: Bike trail from Naples to Miami will be costly venture
Developing a natural bike path from Naples to Miami will cost nearly $2 million per mile.
A River of Grass Greenway Feasibility Study and Master Plan calculated that the 76½-mile path — running from Naples to Miami and going along U.S. 41 through the Florida Everglades —  would cost approximately $140 million.
The estimate was part of a 408-page report that took approximately four years to complete and included about 90 pages of public input. A grant paid for the $1 million study.
“There was exhaustive community outreach,” said Jaime Doubek-Racine, the Florida projects director for Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program through the National Parks Service. “Nothing has been implemented. If it were to occur, it would be in phases after more exhaustive community engagement because there environmental concerns.”
Doubek-Racine said it could take 10 or more years to complete the project.
Betty Osceola, a Miccosukee Indian, said she has read parts of the report and feels that it hasn’t changed much from before where the path varies in dimensions.
“We keep reiterating that where they put the pathway we consider it land of the (Miccosukee Simanolee) Indigenous Peoples, which we consider sacred land. They don’t understand it’s our burial grounds. U.S. 41 was built on burial grounds. We consider the entire area along U.S. 41 to be sacred and used for traditional, cultural and medicinal purposes.”
Osceola’s other concerns include herbicides being used to kill grass for the paths, where fill dirt will come from and the possibility of wild animals coming on the paths.
“I’ve seen alligators and snakes on 41 all the time,” she said. “I’m used to it. If people are
 there on the Greenway, will they know what to do if they see bears, panthers or water moccasins or pygmy rattlesnakes?”
Doubek-Racine said she finds the protests perplexing because non-motorized, multi-use pathways across the country are so typical.
“They not only help the community with health and wellness but when they do a trip they may not be as likely to jump in their vehicle. That would reduce the carbon footprint. There are a lot of benefits as well as economical. There’s been a lot of negative propaganda for this effort. Nothing is going to be done to impact the wetlands. It can’t be legally done.”
Patty Huff, who helped conceive the idea of  a River of Grass Greenway, said tribal members didn't want to be on the committee but want to be informed. She said she’s also been sensitive to how the various tribal members have been treated over the years and takes her children to the Seminole and Miccosukee Indian Museum so they can learn about history.
The report acknowledged mistakes made by predecessors with the Everglades, using Gov. Lawton Chiles’ 1991 quote that “Floridians have spent most of the 20th Century trying to destroy the Everglades, and much of it trying to save the Everglades, often at the same time.”
However, Huff said there is a delicate balance between respecting the tribal members’ wishes and providing a pathway that could be used by walkers, cyclists, bird-watchers, photographers, fishermen and naturalists “to one of the most unique and well-studied landscapes in the world,” as noted in the report.
The Everglades region has had a human presence for more than 12,000 years, even before the earliest formation of the Everglades system.
Huff compares this project to the Trail of Coeur d’Alenes in Idaho where land went through native areas. “They worked with native Americans who saw the benefits of it,” Huff said.
The project divides the pathway into the east section   (Collier County Line to Krome Avenue - State Road 997), central (State Road 92 to Miami-Dade County Line) and west (County Road 92/San Marco Road to State Road 92)
A big chunk of the expenses would be for building bridges. One bridge in the west section is projected to cost more than $17 million while a 1 ½-mile boardwalk is projected to cost more than $12 million. The central section would need a bridge costing an estimated $15 million and a 1-mile boardwalk for approximately $9 million. A bridge for the east section is predicted to cost more than $11 million.
Funding to build and maintain the bike path will require money from a variety of federal, state, local and private sector sources, the report said.
Money also could come from tourism. Approximately $96 million could come from visitor spending, with $80 million for hotel stays. Approximately $8.6 million is projected to come from state and local sales tax and hotel tax revenue annually, contributing approximately $214 million over a 25-year period.
“Tourism is the No. 1 business in Florida, and this is eco-tourism,” Doubek-Racine said. “The people who are participating tend to be big spenders and are usually environmentally conscious. That’s the type of people you want in your sand box.”
Huff added, “We’ve gone through small towns in Minnesota that were dying until there was a pathway. Now there are food trucks and things are going on all the time. It’s revived bike shops and rental vans.”
Osceola warns that history could repeat itself. Just as building U.S. 41 created a lot of damage to the environment, so could building the River of Grass Greenway.
“They don’t understand our connection with the land,” she said. “It’s hard to get our point across.
“When you build the infrastructure, it encourages more development.”
Timeline of River of Grass Greenway
2006: Naples Pathways Coalition members Maureen Bonness and Patty Huff conceive concept of River of Grass Greenway.
2006-2013: The concept presented to agencies, municipalities, businesses, Native American tribes and national and state parks across South Florida, obtaining letters of support for the project from numerous groups.
2009: Florida Department of Transportation regional transportation gives grants for project development and environment study.
2010: Federal Transit Administration Sarbanes gives a $1 million  grant for feasibility study and master plan.
2013-14: Public workshops and presentations were made in Naples, Everglades City and Miami.
2015: Draft of feasibility study released that would call for a 76-mile path to run along the Tamiami Trail from Naples to Miami. 
2016: Master plan completed after four years.

160907-b
South Florida cities working toward clean water compact
TCPalm.com - by Tyler Treadway
September 7, 2016
STUART — Representatives from 17 cities east, west, north and south of Lake Okeechobee worked together Wednesday to find common ground on ways to cleanse water throughout South Florida.
Their efforts will culminate in late November when the cities form a compact under the Florida League of Cities' Regional Compact Initiative. Between now and that meeting in Okeechobee, staffers at the cities will work out the language of a compact uniting clean-water efforts of the often bickering municipalities.
"Don't sweat the fact that compact they'll sign will be rather vanilla," said state Rep. Kristin Jacobs, D-Coconut Creek, who facilitated the meeting. "The idea is to first build trust. You can't solve giant problems with people you don't trust."
Typically in multicity compacts, Jacobs said, cities start by working together on small projects they can accomplish in a year of two.
"As they see what they can accomplish, the dissent among them goes away," Jacobs said.
"I think we agree more than we disagree," said Okeechobee City Councilman Gary Ritter. "We all want clean water."
The disagreements tend to be about how to get clean water.
Officials along the Treasure Coast, for example, have applauded a proposal by state Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, to buy 60,000 acres south of Lake Okeechobee as part of a system to send excess Lake O water south to the Everglades instead of east to the St. Lucie River and west to the Caloosahatchee River.
Ritter called Negron's plan "premature," saying projects designed to store and clean water are underway, and the ongoing work to strengthen the dike around Lake O needs to be completed first.
"The science and the economics for (Negron's proposal) is not there," he said.
The idea of the compact "is to empower cities so that they have more of a say in how to get clean water in South Florida," Jacobs said. "Cities have to find ways to solve their problems, but they don't usually have the resources to do it. If they come together, they can leverage their assets and get more done."
"There's going to be a lot of pushing and shoving," said Clewiston Mayor Phillip Roland, "but I really, really think a collaborative effort can work. But everybody's got to agree that it's all about Lake Okeechobee, that the lake is the most important entity in South Florida."

160907-c
Toxic algae blooms are on the rise
Scientific American - by Rob Herman
September 7, 2016
The causes include increasing agricultural runoff and rising temperatures due to climate change
Cyanobacteria are one of nature’s great opportunists. Every summer, these primitive organisms erupt in vast blooms in ponds and lakes, soaking up the sun’s energy. Feeding on nitrogen and phosphorus, these bacteria colonies multiply and eventually die, releasing toxic waste products called cyanotoxins that accumulate during their growth.
These events are known as harmful algal blooms, because the pose a threat to public health. Cyanotoxins are unstable and change rapidly, making detection difficult. Some harm the nervous system. Others, known as hepatotoxins, can severely damage the liver and kidney. HABs can occur in marine or freshwater environments, closing fisheries, beaches and even entire lakes.
Evidence is mounting that HABs are increasing in both frequency and intensity. Drought conditions brought on by climate change can depress lake levels, concentrating nutrient-rich agricultural runoff in areas of low turbidity. Torrential rainfall can also trigger a sudden influx of agricultural nutrients, as occurred in Florida’s Lake Okeechobee this year, where a HAB flowed seaward, forcing beaches to close. Blooms containing the most common type of harmful cyanotoxin—microcystin—struck the Mormon Reservoir in Idaho, several lakes in Montgomery County in Maryland and Bonney Lake in Washington. In the latter case, a dozen swimmers became ill after swimming in the HAB.
Freshwater blooms can poison drinking water supplies as well. Ideal HAB conditions in Western Lake Erie cause blooms annually, but microcystin concentrations were particularly severe in the summer of 2014. A treatment plant that supplies drinking water to more than 500,000 residents in and around Toledo reported a microcystin level of 3.191 parts per billion (ppb) in fully treated tap water. This concentration, which is three times the World Health Organization limit of 1 ppb, forced the city to issue an unexpected “do not use the water” warning.
Tested by a Growing Problem
In 2015, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued health advisories for microcystin and another cyanotoxin, cylindrospermopsin, to help guide municipalities’ cyanotoxin test and response procedures. Though several U.S. states, and Canada, have recommended limits, these advisories included the first nationwide acceptable levels for microcystin: 0.3 ppb for children under age six and 1.6 ppb for adolescents and adults.
In addition to these limits, the Centers for Disease Control in June 2016 launched the first national reporting system for HABs and associated illnesses. Growing federal awareness doesn’t mean municipalities are always well equipped to respond to toxic HABs. In Toledo, officials now conduct seasonal microcystin testing daily, instead of weekly. This move improves response time because cyanotoxin reduction requires different treatment methods and equipment.
However, these adjustments cost money. In many states without a significant history of HABs, testing frequency and lack of appropriate equipment may put the public drink water supply at risk. Detection and treatment is tricky. Blooms are unpredictable, and cyanobacteria release toxins as waste products, or when their cells walls rupture. Toledo’s crisis highlighted these shortcomings and shed light on the fact that residents had no option for reducing microcystin in their home water supply.
Municipalities are responsible for notifying residents of a dangerous bloom, but having the additional protection of a carbon filter for the home can be helpful in certain situations. Microcystin levels may rise before officials can adjust their treatment methods, or it may be present below action levels at a treatment plant.
A coalition of organizations are responsible for developing new HABs response practices, including Toledo city officials, the U.S. and Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, and Health Canada. They asked NSF International, a not-for-profit public health organization, to help develop a protocol for home filtration to reduce microcystin below HA levels.
An Added Layer of Protection
A protocol would allow filter manufacturers to verify their product’s ability to reduce microcystin at or below EPA-recommended levels. But microcystin is a challenging contaminant. Laboratory-ready methods to synthesize microcystin do not exist, and until recently no supplies of any quantity were available for sale. The limited amounts that were initially available cost more than $100,000 for about 40 mg, enough to test just a single filter.
In order to build a “challenge water,” which simulates the water conditions with the actual contaminant that might be encountered by a point-of-use (POU) filter installed at the tap in a kitchen sink, more microcystin was needed. After a false start using unpurified water, a new commercial source brought down testing costs significantly. This was important because if filter manufacturers found testing too expensive, they might not be able to bring filters to market. Complicating matters further, microcystin is a controlled substance toxic enough to be considered a biological weapon by the U.S. Department of Defense.10 The testing team needed a permit to obtain it.
With the help of the EPA and Health Canada, scientists identified the appropriate challenge level of microcystin in the test water. This topped out at 4 ppb, which is higher than any level seen in treated water in Toledo. Then the team established an analytical method using high-performance liquid chromatography to test both influent and treated water. In developing the protocol, scientists had to account for the more than 80 different congeners, or variants, of microcystin. Microcystin-LR is the most toxic congener, but in order to be protective of public health, other similar but less toxic congeners were included in the development of challenge water and testing methods.
The new protocol—NSF P477: Drinking Water Treatment Units – Microcystin—verifies several aspects of a filter, including whether the treatment system is structurally sound, the contaminant reduction claim on the label is true and that the system does not add any harmful contaminants. A filter certified to this protocol is capable of reducing microcystin throughout its lifetime.
Water filters are considered supplemental treatment, and are not intended to treat private, untreated water supplies. However, events in Toledo and elsewhere have affected a great many people, illustrating the potential harm of HABs. Filters certified to the new protocol provide a useful additional layer of protection for those who receive their drinking water from municipalities that source from surface water.

160907-d
Why are black South Floridians not part of discussions for plan to buy their land ?
Huffington Post – by Janet Taylor, Hendry County Commissioner and Chairwoman of #GladesLivesMatter
September 7, 2016
Florida’s next Senate President recently announced a plan to buy up 60,000 acres of land in the poor, mostly black communities south of Lake Okeechobee. Should Republican Senator Joe Negron convince legislators to get the state and federal government to spend $2.4 billion on buying the land, he will need to ask for another $2 billion to store dirty water coming from wealthy coastal communities.
This plan in the name of Everglades restoration was announced in 2016, not 1916. Sadly, it’s a plan designed to benefit the wealthy at the expense of another proud African-American community.
My family has called the region south of Lake Okeechobee home for five generations — which is about four generations longer than most of the transplanted residents living along Florida’s coasts.
In recent years, many of these residents, particularly those in Negron’s community of the Treasure Coast, have been attacking the people of the Glades region. By unveiling this plan, it’s now clear that Senator Negron has allowed his agenda to be hijacked by the radical environmental activists that have been calling for the purchase of our land for years.
These activists aren’t interested in following the science, which shows that 95 percent of the water and the nutrients come from the north of Lake Okeechobee, not the south. In their pursuit of our land, they have called for the destruction of the agriculture industry, the flooding of our fields, and even the unthinkable by suggesting on social media that a Herbert Hoover Dike failure might be the best thing. As someone who lost many family members during the 1928 hurricane and flood, this is truly frightening.
Time and time again, these radical activists have made these threats all in the name of environmental preservation. But what about our preservation?
While developing the plan, the Republican Senator held meetings with environmental special interests. But he never stepped foot on the land where he wants to store his dirty water.
If given the opportunity to sit down with him, we would have asked our coastal neighbors to understand that this issue should be viewed from a humanistic viewpoint, so the lives impacted by the activists’ threats will not be drastically torn apart. We would have also told him that our region is so much more than sugarcane farming. It’s also about our hospitals, restaurants, law firms, schools, and community centers, too. It’s about farming citrus, green beans, and sweet corn. And on Friday nights, it’s always about football.
Going forward, we need to look at other solutions that do not involve destroying our communities. To us, “buy the land” means destroying jobs. For every acre of farmland that is lost, our jobs are lost in the fields, in the factories and in the numerous professions that support farming communities. In turn, this takes food out of our children’s mouths and threatens the roofs over their heads.
The attacks on our communities in South Florida are a shame, and taking our land would be a tragedy. Recently, I joined with other black leaders in South Florida in beginning the #GladesLivesMatter movement, because I don’t want my children growing up in a state where our livelihoods are constantly threatened. The future black leaders of our communities deserve better.
In this debate, we are asking that state and federal leaders be guided by the facts and the science, not by hate-filled threats from wealthy, coastal elites. Working together, we can protect the environment and the Glades communities. Florida’s future depends on it.

160906-a
Toxic algae blooms threaten people and waterways in more than 20 states
EcoWatch.com – by Jax Jacobsen
September 6, 2016
More than 20 states have seen occurrences of toxic algae blooms this summer, which have had far-reaching environmental and human health impacts across the country. The algae blooms can also be found around the world, in all climates from Greenland to Oman.
Utah swimmers have been sickened by the toxins, while beaches in Florida have been closed to protect beachgoers. In California, complete ecosystems are under threat due to the toxic blooms, NPR reported.
Some beaches in South Florida have been covered by a toxic algae sludge for months prompting Florida Gov. Rick Scott to declare local states of emergency in St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach and Lee counties in June.
California has reported the blooms in at least 30 lakes and reservoirs, California Water Resources Control Board scientist Bev Anderson told NPR.
"There's no question that we are seeing more harmful blooms in more places, that they are lasting longer and we're seeing new species in different areas," University of Maryland researcher Pat Glibert told the National Geographic earlier this month. "These trends are real."
A similar trend happened last year, when algae blooms practically covered the West Coast. In summer 2014, an outbreak in Lake Erie forced Toledo, Ohio to cut off city water to almost half a million residents.
The levels of toxins in the toxic blooms are what's most concerning, Anderson said. Twenty micrograms per liter would cause concern, but these blooms are reporting readings as high as 15,000 micrograms per liter.
Though the quality of drinking water is unlikely to be impacted due to screening in water plants, bathers and boaters can be sickened by the toxins.
One boater in California has noticed the change this summer.
"We've been here since 2002," kayaker Dave Holmes said. "It is by far the worst we've ever seen."
Local resident Wade Hensley had to be hospitalized because of the toxins, after his body became numb from the waist down after he dove into Discovery Bay in the middle of July. He still hasn't recovered feeling in half his body.
"It was about three days of swimming," he said. "Not constant, but in and out. And they can't pinpoint exactly what it is," Hensley said.
The increase in algae and the change in its composition is likely due to warming temperatures, Anderson said.
"We're getting higher temperatures than we've seen ever in the past," she said. "California had an unprecedented drought for the last five years which [has left] the water levels very low in a lot of areas."
Toxins are unusual in algae blooms, she noted.
"Some areas have been monitoring and seeing blooms for decades, but they've never had toxins," she said.
Blooms are also appearing in places that are unusual­, including streams and mountain lakes.
Scientists are grappling with how to understand the impact of the blooms on local ecospheres.
"What emerged from last year's event is just how little we know about what these things can do," University of California-Santa Cruz toxic algae expert Raphael Kudela said.
Algae can have a variety of effects on nearby organisms, National Geographic noted. Some algae can alter the color of the waters around it and cause local air to be dangerous for humans to inhale. Other algae forms can cause fish and shellfish to die, and with them the humans that consume these fish and shellfish.
Other blooms can be so large that they deplete the local area of oxygen and force the death of other organisms.
"We expect to see conditions that are conducive for harmful algal blooms to happen more and more often," University of Maine's Mark Wells said. "We've got some pretty good ideas about what will happen, but there will be surprises, and those surprises can be quite radical."
Joaquim Goes, a researcher at Columbia University's Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, thinks an increased use of fertilizers and substantial population growth are creating the conditions for these toxic algae blooms. But rapid glacial melt in the Himalayas, and the ensuing changes to monsoon patterns, are also causing problems.
It's also unclear how long toxic algal blooms have been a problem, especially in sparsely populated regions such as the Arctic, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Northwest Fisheries Science Center scientist Kathi Lefebvre said.
"It's a weird thing," she said. "We saw domoic acid in every species we looked at, so they are all being exposed to it. It's pretty clear that if you change temperature, light availability and nutrients, that can absolutely damage an ecosystem. But is it just starting ? Is it getting worse ? Is it the same as always ? I have no idea."

160906-b
Water district wields heavy hand against Audubon
Palm Beach Post - Editorial
September 6, 2016
There appears to be a new atmosphere at the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), and not a good one. The agency charged with environmental restoration, water supply and flood protection in 16 counties is taking a jarringly adversarial tone that smacks of a political war room.
Recently, the agency lashed out at the head of Audubon of Florida, who had the gall to suggest that the district use its own, ample reserves rather than insist that the federal government pay for the removal of invasive plant species that are seriously eroding the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, the only remnant of the northern Everglades in Palm Beach County.
When Eric Draper, Audubon’s executive director, urged the water management district board at an August meeting to dip into its own funds, even if it meant abandoning a planned rollback of the property tax millage rate, the agency responded with a full-throated email blast: “Audubon wants to raise your taxes to pay for the federal government’s failure to control invasive plants …”
Oh, please. Holding taxes at the same rate is not the same as raising taxes. And the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which manages the state-owned refuge, is not primarily responsible for a condition that is overtaking the tree islands; no more than a tenant is responsible for fixing the apartment building roof after a hurricane.
And why, above all, demonize Audubon, classic do-gooders whose only interest is in an environment healthy enough to sustain a plenitude of bird species?
This heavy-handed behavior is symptomatic of SFWMD now that Gov. Rick Scott has eviscerated the agency of many of its scientists and technicians, and packed the board with appointees who share his Tea Party-ish views on lowering taxes and shrinking government. Last year, his administration’s former attorney, Pete Antonacci, was named executive director.
After the district released the “Audubon wants to raise your taxes” mass email, Lisa Interlandi, attorney for the Everglades Law Center, made a Sunshine Law request for that email’s recipients, looking to respond. The water management district took the unusual step of sending another email to those 5,000 people on its electronic email list. This time, it warned of a “potential invasion of privacy” from Interlandi.
District spokesman Randy Smith told the Post Editorial Board that the agency was merely offering a consumer caution to those on the list. But to Interlandi — and to us — it looks like an attempt to isolate critics and chill dissenting opinion. That’s not the way a taxpayer-funded agency should operate.
“In 18 years, I’ve never seen an agency act like this,” says Interlandi. “In the past several months, this agency has sunk to new lows, publicly attacking scientists, individuals, environmental groups and government agencies involved in restoration efforts.”
As the recent toxic algae bloom crisis shows, there is nothing easy about fixing the water problems so vexing, and so crucial, to this state. To do it properly will take gobs of money, and the cooperation of all sorts of competing interests.
That task gets infinitely harder if the state agency in charge makes enemies of stakeholders who are clearly devoted to the public interest.
There appears to be a jarringly adversarial tone that smacks of a political war room.

160905-a
Conservancy opens its doors to interns
Naples Daily News – by Laura Layden
September 5, 2016
At the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, interns aren't fetching coffee, making copies and running errands.
They're getting real-world experience, and what they do runs the gamut, from holding up harmless snakes during educational talks to cutting up harmful ones for research. (Note: the harmful snakes, in this case pythons, are hunted in rural parts of Collier County, captured and then killed humanely for closer examination.)
Depending on the time of year, the Conservancy has anywhere from 20 to 26 interns. They come from all over the U.S.
Most are recent college graduates looking for professional experience. Some are taking a break before they head off to graduate school.
"Most interns leave here with a job offer or another internship lined up. In the past few months, two Conservancy interns were hired by two local organizations, the Naples Zoo and Project Blue Zone," said Kelly Rhoades, a volunteer and intern services manager for the Conservancy.
Many internships lead to full-time jobs at the Conservancy, a nonprofit whose mission is to to protect Southwest Florida's water, land and wildlife. All of the employees working for the Conservancy's von Arx Wildlife Hospital, except the veterinarian, are former interns. The hospital's director, Joanna Fitzgerald, started as an intern more than 20 years ago.
Before interning at the Conservancy, Fitzgerald thought she wanted to be a zookeeper. She later did an internship at a zoo and realized she liked the work at the Conservancy better.
"I really enjoyed the aspect of getting the animals back in the wild, and there's also a huge education component," she said. "Combined it had everything I was looking for."
Interns work 40 hours a week and get a bi-weekly stipend. The Conservancy also provides dorms , which can house up to 28 interns at a time at no cost.
The Conservancy receives as many as 300 applications a year for its internships.
Kira Krall, 23, is one of many interns who worked for the conservancy this summer. She landed another internship at a marine education center in Georgia, thanks to the experience she gained at the Conservancy.
"I do want to keep education in my job prospects," Krall said. "I really like it."
A University of Florida graduate, she studied marine biology and natural resource conservation and ecology.
On a recent Thursday at the Conservancy, Krall, of St. Petersburg, looked like a pro as she led a reptile talk that kept the audience's attention — and made them chuckle a few times with her wit. She started the talk by asking questions to gauge how much the audience knew about reptiles so she'd know how deep to go into the subject.
She asked her audience what made reptiles different from other animals. After a few wrong answers, she touched her head. The answer became clear: Reptiles don't have hair.
Krall showed off a live baby alligator and a yellow rat snake, giving her audience the opportunity to interact with the reptiles. While the snake squirmed about, Krall wasn't fazed.
Holding animals, especially the baby alligator, was one of Krall's favorite parts of working at the Conservancy. During her internship, she also rode on a boat with researchers who were tagging sharks and led educational kayak tours.
"This is not your everyday internship. That's for sure," Krall said.
Ian Easterling, an intern in the science department, agrees. He's working on the python project. He's gone on late-night hunts for hatchlings and has brought the snakes back to the Conservancy's lab for research.
In the lab recently, Easterling performed necropsies on young snakes he'd caught on back roads with Ian Bartoszek, a wildlife biologist and science coordinator at the Conservancy. As Easterling cut into a dead snake with ease, he examined it closely.
"It's a gut," he announced, later adding, "This one is full, dude" when he found remnants of what he thought was a mouse and then squeezed them out of the tail, along with some python poo. The snake was so young, the mouse could have been one of its first real meals.
The ground-breaking python research will help determine precisely what young snakes are eating in Southwest Florida, including what species of mice.
"Our interns jump right in," Bartoszek said.
In the lab, Easterling also takes measurements and collects DNA samples to determine if hatchlings have the same parents. He looks the snakes over for parasites and studies their organs.
"It's not for the faint of heart," he said of his job. "If you don't like guts, this internship is probably not for you."
Easterling is on his second internship after working in the Conservancy's education department for six months. Interns can work up to a year in one department.
The python project is a joint effort between the Conservancy, Denison University, the U.S. Geological Survey, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Southwest Florida Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area.
Hunters are using radio and GPS tags to track wild pythons, which lead them to other snakes and their nests.
Understanding movement patterns will make catching the nuisance snakes, which are eating their way through the Everglades, easier.
Easterling, 24, moved to Florida from North Carolina, where he graduated from Elon University with a bachelor's degree in integrative biology.
He wants to stay in Southwest Florida and recently started an ecotourism company, offering private jeep tours in the Everglades.

160904-
Save Florida's natural beauty
TheLedger.com – Letter by Penny J. DiVito, Winter Haven, FL
September 4, 2016
If you care about Florida's environmental future, you had better move to another state. Otherwise, you'll be crying yourself to sleep at night.
Florida is slowly but surely turning into a wasteland of dying fish, dangerous algae, polluted lakes and rivers and shrinking Everglades.
And Florida is for sale – to developers. The pristine beachland that is left is being snapped up to build condos and mansions that are used by people who are passing through, most from other states and countries. Do you think that they have a vested interest in Florida's environmental future?
The decision-makers in our Legislature and the business community appear content with the status quo and don't rock the boat. Just say no to any suggestion of environmental regulation, especially with development. Don't use any tax money that was voted to be used for environmental improvements.
Don't aggravate the agribusiness community, even if they're responsible for pollution from assorted chemicals used in the production process. Besides, big business funds campaigns and provides other assorted goodies to legislators.
Remember Rick Scott's "secret" hunting trip in Texas? These are the same legislators who are charged with representing the best interest of all Floridians and their communities.
When the existing culture in the Florida statehouse won't even allow the use of the term "global warming" and the modus operandi is damage control, people and organizations who care about the environment have an uphill battle.
Please support them any way that you can. It's a matter of saving Florida's natural beauty and resources to view in person – not in a picture of what it used to look like.

160903-a
New plan for fixing Lake Okeechobee's troubled dike takes until 2025
Sun Sentinel – by Andy Reid
September 3, 2016
After four years of delays, federal officials have finally finished a plan to fix Lake Okeechobee's faulty dike and protect South Florida from flooding.
Yet the new $830 million rehab proposed Aug. 30 for the lake's leaky dike — considered one of the country's most at risk of failing — sticks with a slow-moving time frame that takes until 2025 to finish. And Congress still has to agree to pay for it.
Earlier this year, Gov. Rick Scott and the South Florida Water Management District called for the federal government to spend more to speed up help for the 30-foot-tall mound of rock, shell and sand holding back the lake's waters.
Palm Beach County officials say waiting nearly another decade to finish fixing the lake's dike is unacceptable. They are calling on the Army Corps of Engineers and Congress to strengthen the dike faster.
"This is (about) public safety," said County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay, who represents lakeside communities including Pahokee, South Bay and Belle Glade, which are at particular risk of flooding. "The Army Corps continues to put the health, safety and welfare of the residents south of the lake in jeopardy."
The lake's earthen dike is vulnerable to erosion, which can lead to a breach that poses a flooding risk.
Army Corps officials say they have been making progress through the years, spending $500 million since 2007 on improvements to help guard against flooding.
The new plan focuses on building more reinforcing walls through the middle of the dike to combat erosion.
"We now have a definitive plan for completing rehabilitation of the dike," said Col. Jason Kirk, commander for the Army Corps in Florida. "Our report shows dike rehabilitation is about half complete. Now we must continue pressing forward to finish the job."
Massive flooding from hurricanes in 1926 and 1928 that killed more than 3,000 people prompted the federal government to build Lake Okeechobee's dike.
The hulking, 143-mile-long structure holds back waters that once naturally flowed south and replenished the Everglades.
Now, that water gets stored in the lake to avoid flooding South Florida's rampant development as well as the sugar cane fields that have spread south of the lake.
While some lake water still moves south, much of the water instead gets drained out to sea to avoid flooding.
This year, increased Lake Okeechobee draining to the east and west coasts has caused pollution problems in delicate estuaries — scaring away game fish and tourists alike by darkening the water and fueling toxic algae blooms that kill marine life and can make people sick.
Work to repair the dike has been slowed through the years by design problems and construction delays.
Between 2007 and 2013, the Army Corps built 21 miles of a reinforcing wall through the middle of the dike to prevent erosion on the southeastern portion of the lake. The wall, reaching as far as 70 feet deep and costing $10 million a mile to build, extends from Port Mayaca, on the east side of the lake, to Belle Glade, on the southern end.
The next phase of construction would extend that wall another 6.5 miles on the southern end of the dike, between Belle Glade and John Stretch Park in Lake Harbor. That's expected to cost $75 million, with work potentially starting in 2017, according to the Army Corps.
Also, the Army Corps plans to spend about $10 million linking portions of the existing wall.
The new rehab plan picks up from there. It calls for building another 35 miles of wall through the middle of the dike. It would reach from the southern to western portions of the dike, extending from west of Belle Glade, through Clewiston to Lakeport, on the west side of the lake.
Boulders and other reinforcing materials would be added to embankments along the Harney Pond Canal, on the northwest side of the lake.
Walls to guard against flooding would be added to water control structures on the northern portion of lake.
Also work would continue to replace the dike's 32 culverts.
"We certainly understand (the) interest in seeing this done as quickly as possible," Army Corps spokesman John Campbell said. "Our challenge is, this is a very large structure. ... It is going to take a little bit of time."

160903-b
To save the Everglades, go south
Sun Sentinel – Editorial
September 3, 2016
Joe Negron is the right person at the right time with the right idea to help deal with Florida's water crisis.
Negron is the incoming state Senate president. His district includes Martin County, where discharges from Lake Okeechobee have created toxic algae, fouling waterways and the Atlantic Ocean.
Negron wants the state to buy 60,000 acres of farmland south of the lake for a reservoir, easing the need to dump water into fragile coastal estuaries.
Here is his math:
To protect the dike on the lake's south side, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released 180 billion gallons of water into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers this year because of unusually heavy winter rains. The reservoir Negron envisions could hold 120 billion gallons.
Coupled with changes to allow more movement of water in existing storage areas south of the lake, he believes his plan could prevent similar discharges in another freakish weather year and eliminate them in normal years.
"This is a national issue," Negron told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board. "If Florida is seen as a state with dirty water, the effect on tourism could be catastrophic."
Though the most recent and visible water-quality problem has been on the Treasure Coast, a southern reservoir also would help the Everglades.
"Everglades restoration has always anticipated moving a large amount of water south. Projects to deal with the constraints on moving water south have been designed and are awaiting congressional approval," said Audubon Florida Executive Director Eric Draper.
Though U.S. Sugar owns just a minority share of one parcel Negron has targeted, the Clewiston-based company has been the most vocal opponent of a southern reservoir. In 2015, the company successfully lobbied the South Florida Water Management District not to exercise its option to buy 46,800 acres of company land.
In a recent meeting with the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, U.S. Sugar officials laid out their main objections to Negron's plan:
• The $2.4 billion investment – half from the state, half from Washington – would provide too little relief for too much money. Director of Public Affairs Judy Sanchez called it "a diamond-encrusted bucket."
• Farms on the south side are not the main source of pollution entering Lake Okeechobee. They propose more focus on storing and filtering the water that flows into the lake from the north.
• The state already has taken 100,000 acres of farmland for Everglades restoration. Taking more would hurt farm-dependent rural communities.
• Rather than take farmland, the company argues for the construction of more underground disposal wells. A consultant for U.S. Sugar said such wells could "almost eliminate" lake discharges.
Though we agree more focus is needed north of the lake, and understand the concern of farm communities, we take exception with the company's other arguments. Here's why:
Environmental groups disagree that a new southern reservoir would provide little relief. "The benefits of being able to send water south," Draper said, "are the essential Everglades restoration idea." Until the state drained southern Florida to accommodate suburbs and farms, water naturally flowed south from the lake to nourish the Everglades.
For the state's share, Negron would use money from the Legacy Florida bill he sponsored this year. This is money from the Amendment 1 trust fund voters approved in 2014 to buy environmentally sensitive lands.
Negron acknowledges his plan is "a piece" of the overall water-quality plan. Projects to hold water north of the lake are needed and underway. Phasing out septic tanks, as Gov. Rick Scott has proposed, would help.
Cleaning up Lake Okeechobee, however, will take decades, even if efforts to the north succeed. Without a southern outlet, regular pummeling of the estuaries would be inevitable.
Regarding U.S. Sugar's concern for Clewiston and its neighbors, in 2008 the company was prepared to sell all its land and physical assets to the state for $1.75 billion. The deal collapsed only when the state couldn't finance it. Where was U.S. Sugar's community concern then?
Negron said his goal is to "have storage south of the lake and not hurt legitimate agricultural interests."
And regarding U.S. Sugar's idea of underground disposal storage, the original Everglades restoration plan included about 330 such reservoirs into which water was to have been pumped and recovered. The technology proved unworkable.
In touting disposal wells, the company cites a 2007 feasibility assessment by a consultant and the comment by a water management district staffer that Florida has 225 such deep wells already. No credible research, however, shows these wells would work on a large scale. Also, that water could not go south to help the Everglades.
Finally, Negron said, "I'm not going to stake my reputation on pumping polluted water into the Earth's crust."
U.S. Sugar has contributed about $8.5 million during the last two election cycles to state politicians and political action committees. But Negron has a position of power and is willing to negotiate the details. Most important, he has the right plan.

160902-a
Buying land south of Lake Okeechobee hurts communities
Sun Sentinel – Letter by Chappy Young, Palm City, FL
September 2, 2016
Audubon Florida's Eric Draper and state Sen. Joe Negron suggest the best answer to discharges is to purchase additional land south of Lake Okeechobee. How foolish.
Buying food-producing lands will collapse the communities of Canal Point, Pahokee, Belle Glade, Chosen, South Bay, Lake Harbor and Clewiston and displace thousands of people. That's like bulldozing the cities of Wellington, Parkland, Coral Springs, Margate, Tamarac, Sunrise, Lauderhill, Plantation, Weston, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Hialeah Gardens, Homestead and Florida City because they, too, were considered "in the original Everglades.''
Toxic algae blooms have naturally occurred in Florida throughout history and, no doubt, will continue. My two-acre pond in Martin County, with no fertilized adjacent lawns, had an algae bloom in late July at the same time the Indian River had its bloom. In fact, it is documented that the early Martin County pioneers hand dug the original inlet to drain the Indian River of fresh water because the stench was so bad. Florida is no longer "the way Mother Nature designed it" either.
Moreover, Draper claims that Florida's flood control and irrigation are free for farmers, however the truth is that every land owner in the SFWMD pays for services based on value/acreage, including agriculture. Does he believe that the urban cities do not benefit from its flood protection, too? How about the 2,000+ lives lost around Lake Okeechobee during the 1928 hurricane?
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) has identified thousands of acres for projects that have yet to be funded. Let's finish what has been started before spending billions of dollars on more land purchases and the expensive design and construction of new projects.
Related:           Negron Proposal Punishes Farming Families and Gets Little in Return         Sun Sentinel

160902-b
Negron proposal punishes farming families and gets little in return
Sun Sentinel – Opinion by John S. Hundley, a third-generation vegetable, rice and sugarcane farmer and the Vice President of Ag Operations Hundley Farms Inc.
September 2, 2016
As a third-generation Glades area vegetable and sugarcane farmer, I feel compelled to share my view on the ill-conceived pitch to buy large swaths of land south of Lake Okeechobee in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) as the silver-bullet answer to estuary releases.
This proposal would take some of the country's most fertile farmland out of production and provide little in terms of relief to the estuaries to the east and west of the lake. According to a University of Florida Water Institute report, 65-80 percent of all the freshwater hitting the estuaries are from their own basin—not Lake Okeechobee.
On our farm, we rotate fresh market vegetables like sweet corn, radishes, celery, cabbage, green beans and rice with our sugarcane production. In addition to the sugar manufacturing facilities in the Glades, there are eight vegetable packing houses that would also be affected by a "big" land grab. For example, we are currently investing over $10 million to build a brand new state of the art vegetable packing facility to meet the most stringent food safety regulations in the world so you will have the freshest vegetables brought to your neighborhood retailer and restaurant.
The human toll to the lakeside communities would be devastating. The Glades communities rely on agricultural companies like ours to help support local businesses, main street shops, banks and restaurants, in addition to philanthropic activities that benefit schools, colleges, hospitals and the cultural arts. I take great pride knowing that my family's business has helped put employees' children and grandchildren through college.
We process our sugarcane at the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative, which is made up of 45 small- to medium-sized farms, many like ours that are being run by second- and third-generation Glades pioneering families farming a variety of crops. Taking our land away means the livelihood of the Glades communities disappears.
Scooping up 60,000 acres of land in the EAA does not stop Lake Okeechobee discharges to the coastal estuaries. In a wet year like 2016, a 60,000-acre reservoir would only reduce Lake Okeechobee discharges 12 percent and discharges to the estuaries by 6 percent.
Using the modeling developed to analyze various south-of-the-lake storage proposals in the Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP), the reservoir would cost over $4 billion, not including the cost of acquiring an on-going business. That's hardly the big-fix solution many are seeking. One must consider that this year's discharges were brought on by record rainfalls this past winter. Under normal conditions, we wouldn't be having this debate.
Already, some Florida lawmakers have questioned the cost and justification of buying additional land south of the lake, a plan that has been rejected at least four times over the last 15 years by the engineering experts at the water management district and Corps of Engineers. Florida needs to protect all its waters statewide, rather than focus on one single area.
Buying land shouldn't be a knee-jerk reaction to a complicated situation with no simple fixes. It needs the backing of scientists and the will of a diverse set of interests. We need to maintain our productive farmland to continue to be able to provide safe and affordable food to a growing population.
It's prudent to stay the course and finish the water storage projects we have started—including expediting the rehabilitation of the Herbert Hoover Dike.

160902-c
Tropical Storm Hermine batters Georgia, forecasters warn of ‘life-threatening floods’ along the East Coast
Washington Post - by Kevin Begos, Brian Murphy and Mark Berman
September 2, 2016
APALACHICOLA, Fla. — Hermine slammed into Florida’s Gulf Coast early Friday as a Category 1 hurricane, the strongest storm to hit the state in more than a decade, bringing heavy rain, powerful winds and storm surges that forced some evacuations as the system began its crawl up the Atlantic Coast.
Hundreds of thousands of people lost power, while at least one death was blamed on Hermine, which was downgraded to a tropical storm shortly before 5 a.m., just a few hours after making landfall in Florida
Authorities warned Friday of powerful winds as the storm was expected to move through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina on Friday. A tropical storm warning was issued from North Carolina to Delaware, while tropical storm watches were issued as far north as New Jersey, New York and Rhode Island. 
“The combination of a storm surge and the tide will cause normally dry areas near the coast to be flooded by rising waters moving inland from the shoreline,” the National Hurricane Center said Friday.
The storm was about 80 miles west of Charleston, S.C., by Friday afternoon, the center said, with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph and some higher gusts.
The center also warned of “the possibility of life-threatening inundation” through Sunday morning around the North Carolina-Virginia border and in Bridgeport, Conn. In addition, it said heavy rains across the Southeast as well as along the coast from Georgia to Maryland could “cause life-threatening floods and flash floods.”
As the long holiday weekend got underway for many, authorities said there were widespread power outages and warned of dangers from winds and water alike. The National Hurricane Center said at 8 a.m. that Hermine was “weakening” but that winds were “increasing along the Southeast coast,” adding that “storm surge and flooding rains continue.”
Officials say they expected the storm to move through the Atlantic Seaboard to North Carolina before heading back into the open ocean. According to the Capital Weather Gang, the storm is expected to cross into the Atlantic over the next 24 hours and then ride up the East Coast with excessive rainfall and storm surge.
As the storm moved past Florida on Friday morning, emergency teams assessed the damage from downed trees and utility lines, and a storm surge of up to nine feet, said Gov. Rick Scott (R). The tropical storm warning was discontinued for the Gulf Coast of Florida later Friday morning.
Power outages impacted nearly 300,000 customers, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said just before 3 p.m. Scott said there were near-total blackouts in some areas. At least one storm-linked death was reported in Florida after a man was killed by a falling tree.
Scott also warned that pools of untreated standing water could become “breeding grounds” for mosquitoes, raising risks of greater spread of the Zika virus. Nearly 50 cases of Zika have been recorded in Florida, many from areas to the south near Miami.
By 8 a.m., Hermine was centered about 35 miles northeast of Valdosta, Ga., and was moving north and northeast at about 14 mph, the National Weather Service said. It still packed sustained winds of near 70 mph moving into southern Georgia, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said, and weakened as it drifted inland.
Authorities were also warning of other possible dangers to people across the region. The National Weather Service said Friday morning it was issuing tornado watches for parts of southeastern Georgia, southeastern North Carolina and the South Carolina coastal plain, putting these in place until 4 p.m. Friday.
A few tornadoes were possible with “isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible,” the weather service warned.
Across Florida, there were reports of downed power lines and debris. Even with the storm moving into Georgia, officials warned people to remain home due to the dangers posed on the streets:
The storm’s arrival brought with it closures and warnings for people to stay home. The University of Florida, located just east of the panhandle, canceled classes and shuttered offices on the campus until Saturday morning and instructed people to remain indoors. The University of North Florida in Jacksonville, on the state’s east coast, said it was canceling all classes and activities Friday as well due to the storm.
In Florida’s Pasco County, officials said coastal flooding forced at least 18 people from their homes. Authorities used boats and rescue vehicles to comb people stranded in low-lying areas.
Torrential rain lashed parts of Florida, with more than 22 inches drenching Oldsmar, about 10 miles northwest of Tampa, and more than 15 inches of rain hitting nearby Largo, meteorologist Daniel Noah of the National Weather Service in Tampa told the Associated Press. In Georgia, power was cut to more than 30,000 homes and businesses, officials said.
Hermine was the first hurricane to hit Florida since Wilma in October 2005.
[Hermine breaks Florida’s decade-long streak of no hurricanes]
Projected storm surges of up to 12 feet menaced a wide swath of the coast and an expected drenching of up to 10 inches of rain carried the danger of flooding along the storm’s path over land, including Tallahassee, which hadn’t been hit by a hurricane since Kate in 1985, the AP reported.
More than 70,000 Tallahassee residents were left without power, “which may not be restored for days,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported. Thousands more along Florida’s coast were also without power. Several people took to social media to post photos of downed trees and other storm damage.
Scott added that 6,000 National Guardsmen in Florida were ready to mobilize after the storm passed. The governors of Georgia and North Carolina declared states of emergency as forecasters warned of the potential for drenching rain and deadly flooding.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) signed an executive order declaring an emergency in 56 counties there that will stretch through midnight Saturday, and he said officials were working with “counties in south, central and coastal Georgia” to be ready for the storm.
“On the forecast track, the center of Hermine should move farther inland across the eastern Florida Panhandle into southeastern Georgia later today,” the National Hurricane Center’s website said at 2 a.m. Friday. “The center of Hermine should then move near or over eastern South Carolina tonight and near or over eastern North Carolina on Saturday.”
In Apalachicola, the damage appeared to be mostly from flooding and downed trees after days of emergency preparations. In 1993, the so-called “No Name Storm” hit the north  coast in the middle of the night, taking many people by surprise and causing massive damage. A 12-foot storm surge in Taylor County drowned at least 10 people there, including five from one family. Throughout Florida, 44 people died.
Some owners of waterfront businesses were watching the tides on Thursday evening, wondering how far they would rise. Lynn Martina, owner of Lynn’s Quality Oysters in Eastpoint, said the water there was already about three feet over normal high tide, and only about 20 feet from Highway 98. “We’re just waiting it out,” she said of the storm.
Hundreds of Duke Energy emergency personnel were using Franklin County as a staging area for regional repair efforts, according to local officials.
In Apalachicola, which is normally full of tourists this time of year, streets were empty late Thursday. A few restaurants stayed open to serve locals, emergency crews and TV reporters.

160902-d
With St. Lucie River’s toxic algae, why didn’t Martin County environmental campaigns sway voters ?
TCPalm.com - by Tyler Treadway of TCPalm
September 2, 2016
With the St. Lucie River covered in green slime much of the summer, you'd think this would have been a good year to base a political campaign on a pro-water, pro-environment platform.
But Martin County Commission candidates who did that — particularly Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch in District 1 — lost their bids in Tuesday's primary election.
Incumbent Doug Smith, often pegged as the commission's "pro-growth" member, edged past Thurlow-Lippisch, a Sewall's Point commissioner and ardent supporter of river and Indian River Lagoon issues. Her campaign logo featured a mangrove growing in clean water.
Donna Melzer, a former commissioner who's also been active in river issues,
placed third in a three-candidate race to Ed Ciampi, a commissioner from 2008 to 2012. And newcomer Harold Jenkins trounced commission Chairwoman Anne Scott, a member of the panel's current controlled-growth majority.
"Right now, with all that's going on in the river this year, you'd think that voting in pro-environment candidates would have been a no-brainer," said Darrell Brand, a member of the leadership team at the Rivers Coalition, a consortium of businesses, homeowners associations, fishing clubs and civic groups dedicated to stopping Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie River.
Closed primary
Thurlow-Lippisch blamed her loss on the "closed" primary, meaning only Republicans could vote in District 1. The race wasn't on Democrats' and independents' ballots because Republicans were selecting their nominee to face a write-in candidate in the Nov. 8 general election: Chase Lurgio, an 18-year-old Jensen Beach High School student, whose name won't appear on the ballot.
"I don't think the public really understood the closed primary system," Brand said. "A lot of environmentalists who might have voted for Jacqui didn't get a chance to because they're registered Democrats."
Many Martin County residents register as Republicans solely to vote in the GOP primary. If all registered voters had been able to vote on District 1, would that have changed the outcome?
Let's look at some numbers:
677: The number of votes Thurlow-Lippisch lost by
8,574: The number of Martin County Democrats who voted Tuesday
3,147: The number of "other" voters — independent and minor party — Tuesday in Martin County
Would at least 678 Democrats and "others" have voted for Thulow-Lippisch?
"I guess we'll never know," Brand said.
'Pro-growth'?
Smith said voters didn't see the election as "pro-growth" versus "pro-river."
"I'll match my environmental record with any county commissioner's," he said.
Smith noted that in the first 12 years of his tenure, he supported the county's purchase of 50,000 acres for conservation and spending of $75 million on stormwater treatment areas to clean water before it enters the river.
Opponents say Smith is the Will Rogers of pro-growth: He never met a development he didn't like. He was the only commissioner who supported the controversial mixed-use Pitchford's Landing project in Jensen Beach, for example.
"Doug's going to have a strong majority to take us in a new, pro-growth direction," said Maggy Hurchalla, a former Martin County commissioner and longtime environmentalist. "The voters said they want a more pro-business county commission and fewer environmental restrictions."
Ciampi and Jenkins bristle at the word "pro-growth" as well.
"I'm a moderate," Jenkins said. "I don't want us to Broward-ize Martin County, but I do support reasonable growth that's allowed in the county's Comprehensive Plan."
If he flipped a coin with "pro-growth" on one side and "no growth" on the other, Ciampi said, "it would land on its edge. ... I have no problem with development, but rampant or inappropriate development is a bad thing."
Septic to sewer
All three commissioners-elect said their pro-environment priorities for the next four years include continuing the county's septic-to-sewer effort. But some environmentalists say septic tanks are minor contributors to pollution in the St. Lucie River, and the clean-up effort should be focused on the larger cause: Lake Okeechobee discharges.
"I say that before you point your finger at anyone, you have to ask, 'Is my own house clean?' " Smith said. "If it's not, you'd better get it clean."
Echoing the mantra of the South Florida Water Management District board and Gov. Rick Scott, Smith said his priorities are to "stay focused on the projects already in the hopper, get them funded and get them completed."
He declined to comment on a $2.4 billion proposal by Stuart's state Sen. Joe Negron, the Senate president-elect, to buy 60,000 acres south of Lake Okeechobee as part of a system to send water south rather than to the St. Lucie.
"If Joe can get that pulled off, good for him," Smith said.
Jenkins called Negron's plan "a key part of what needs to be done" to stop discharges and clean up the river. Ciampi said the plan's "concept makes perfect sense to me," but he wants to find out more about specifics: where the project's reservoir would be and how it would operate.
'Be advocates'
Several local candidates "came to my office to sit and talk about the river so they would better understand the issues," said Mark Perry, executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart and an expert on Martin County's water problems.
Smith, Ciampi and Jenkins weren't among them, he added.
At a July 2 rally when thousands of people spelled out "BUY THE LAND" on Stuart Beach, Ciampi said he was in the "E."
"But I have been with Doug (Smith) at river events in Tallahassee and Washington, D.C.," Perry said. "And I remember speaking with Ed (Ciampi) when he was a county commissioner previously. I hope all three of them will understand that the biggest issue facing us all is water. They'd all better be advocates for our water."

160901-a
Ranchers play important role in Florida’s conservation
TCPalm.com – Guest column by David “Lefty” Durando, president of the Durando Family Ranches and an advocate for the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area.
September 1, 2016
Cattle ranchers care about Florida's natural lands and wildlife, and being good stewards is extremely important to us. My family has been in the ranching business in Central and South Florida since the mid-1800s, and we have seen tremendous changes to this beautiful state.
South of Orlando is an area called the Northern Everglades. This 2.6 million-acre area serves as the headwaters of the Everglades ecosystem. It is the heart of Florida's ranching base and has some of the largest cattle ranches in the nation. It is also under intense pressure from development interests.
The working ranches in the region contain much of our critical remaining wildlife habitat. They protect many threatened and endangered species, such as the Florida grasshopper sparrow, which is found nowhere else in the world. Cattle ranches in the Northern Everglades also act as natural water storage systems, where many wetlands maintain watershed functions, including storing and treating storm and floodwaters.
The Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area was formally established in 2012 with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in partnership with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, ranchers, sportsmen and conservation organizations.
These partners have been working together to secure federal and state funding and negotiate conservation solutions that balance continued ranching, water storage and habitat protection.
This refuge is intended to provide protection of wildlife species unique to the dry prairie, wetlands and ranchlands of the region; provide important opportunities to protect and restore the Kissimmee River watershed and provide resource-based recreation.
Since the refuge inception, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has added more than 5,700 acres of critical ranchlands to the Everglades Headwaters using a combination of conservation easements, which leave land in private ownership and on the tax rolls, and land acquisition from willing sellers. The state has been a strong partner in this effort and has protected many more thousands of acres. The Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area stretches from the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes to Avon Park Air Force Range and south toward Lake Okeechobee.
It is important for many reasons: for wildlife conservation and watershed protection, to facilitate the protection of state and regional wildlife corridors, maintaining the agricultural economy providing hunting and fishing access and safeguarding military readiness (by helping to protect the Range from adjacent or nearby development that could conflict with military training activities).
U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney has worked to address the challenges facing the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee. He has strongly supported the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which provides money for conservation easements in the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge and Conservation Area. The Land and Water Conservation Fund has benefited from bipartisan support in its 52 years of existence, resulting in important conservation successes in all 50 states.
Every acre conserved in the Everglades Headwaters area will allow us to hold more water, facilitate restoration of more natural hydrology and improve the quality of water flowing into Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, while also protecting our unique wildlife and providing recreational opportunities.
Land conservation and maintaining ranchlands is a cost-effective way to maintain and increase water storage north of Lake Okeechobee, while reducing floods and water releases into the rivers and coastal estuaries. By conserving these lands in the Everglades Headwaters, we will protect and restore our state's water supply and quality, facilitate wildlife conservation and maintain agriculture that is an important part of our regional and state economy.

160901-b
Seminole tribe draws the first line in the sand files motion to dismiss DEP’s “incomprehensible” rule
Florida Clean Water Network – by Linda Young
September 1, 2016
Events are moving along quickly in the mega-match between the Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection (Don’t Expect Protection) and the four petitioners (Seminole Tribe, City of Miami, Martin County and the Florida Pulp and Paper Assoc.) in this case.  After a telephone conference yesterday that included Judge Canter and all five parties, the cases were all consolidated into one, the final hearing was postponed and oral arguments are now scheduled for next Wednesday, September 7th in Tallahassee at the DOAH bldg.
There are so many motions on the table at this time, there’s no telling how long the hearing will last, but it could also be relatively short if the judge first takes up the Seminole Tribe’s Motion For Summary Final Order.  This excellent piece of legal work does a great job of presenting several legally sound reasons why Judge Canter should tell DEP to take a hike and take their “incomprehensible” rule with them.  I hope he does !!!
As you know from previous updates, the JAPC (Joint Administrative Procedures Committee) sent DEP a letter after the first notice was published. The notice was purportedly to let all of us know that DEP was about to change state laws/rules in a way that would allow industries to dump a lot more cancer causing and/or toxic chemicals into our waters.  The JAPC letter told DEP that their “notice” was “incomprehensible” to the general public and that any reader of that notice would be “seriously handicapped” in trying to figure out what the heck DEP was up to. 
This is the job that JAPC is tasked to do.  It is a joint standing committee of the Legislature created by Rule 4.1 of the Joint Rules of the Florida Legislature. It is composed of six Senators, appointed by the President of the Senate, and six Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House. The primary function of JAPC is to generally review agency action pursuant to the operation of the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 120, Florida Statutes), particularly as these actions relate to the rulemaking process. It is JAPC’s responsibility to ensure that rules adopted by the executive branch agencies do not create new law, but rather stay within the authority specifically delegated by the legislature. Section 120.545, Florida Statutes, provides additional authority for the review of rules and sets out the procedures in the event of a JAPC objection to a rule.
In plain language, it is a relatively small group of legislators who make sure that the Governor’s agencies don’t go nuts and try to make up rules that don’t follow the statutes that authorize them.  Plus they make sure that procedures are followed as outlined in state law, which are largely there to make sure that we, the citizens of Florida, have certain rights and protections.  This is important because someone could get elected Governor who is totally whacked out for some reason (high on power, drugs or some other unreliable motivator) and force his agencies to do things that are totally irresponsible and contrary to the public ‘s best interest. 
WAIT A MINUTE!!!! I THINK THAT MAY BE WHAT’S HAPPENING HERE!!
So the Seminoles also point out in their excellent Motion, that we are supposed to get “fair notice” of the agency’s intended action. The First District Court of Appeals has said that means the public should be able to understand what’s about to happen to them.  Here’s how the Seminole Tribe describes DEP’s failure to do that:
“FDEP’s failure to articulate the specific changes being made and provide a short, plain statement of the effect of those changes is particularly egregious in this case, because the Proposed Rule is a matter of public health and safety, affecting the risk of cancers and disease to the citizens of the State of Florida based on their consumption of aquatic wildlife from Florida’s waters”.
Just a short sentence or two in DEP’s notice would have done the trick.  They could say something like: 
“The State of Florida is planning to change our long-standing policy of allowing toxic chemicals to be dumped into Florida waters in concentrations that will cause no more than one in a million Floridians to die of cancer when exposed to these waters through drinking, swimming, fishing or eating shellfish.  We will now allow an increase in most of these toxic discharges that will increase the risk of death by cancer to as many as one in 70,000 for people who eat no more than six ounces of fish per week.  For people who eat more than that, or drink a lot of water or weigh less than 176 pounds, or accidentally eat fish containing more than one toxic chemical, well . . . . the outcome could be bleak. Just sayin’ . . .  you have a right to know what we are doing here.”
Or something to that effect.  They probably would not ask me to write their public notice. 
The Seminoles make great points in their Motion and I’ll be sitting on the edge of my seat as we wait to see how the judge rules on it.  As reported before, DEP is trying to get all four petitions dismissed.  They don’t think that anyone has standing to challenge their rule.  DEP even went so far as to object to the Seminole Tribe’s discovery requests and filed a motion requesting protection from the Seminole’s efforts to uncover DEP’s inner workings as they developed the rule.  Then three days later DEP withdrew their somewhat strange Motion.
WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?  I WONDER IF OUR CRAZY MARTIAN GOOFBALL GOVERNOR HAS TURNED THIS WHOLE RULE-MAKING FIASCO OVER TO SOME OF HIS FELLOW MARTIAN GOOFBALL FRIENDS? 
As much as I DON’T respect DEP, I have never seen the agency do such incompetent work. Yes they are frequently mean-spirited and will lie and cheat in court, but there’s usually some basic competence bleeding through their desperation to win at any cost.
Stay tuned and if you can be in Tallahassee on Wednesday, September 7th at 9:00 a.m., then I recommend that you be at the Division of Administrative Hearings, Hearing Room 2, The DeSoto Building, 1230 Apalachee Parkway. 
It should be an interesting morning and an opportunity to see our state government at work.

Latest Actions:

• Today, the Army Corps of Engineers announced it would maintain the amount of water flowing from Lake Okeechobee, while recognizing that an uncertain weather forecast may necessitate changes during the next week. The target flow for the Caloosahatchee is 2,800 cubic feet per second (cfs) and the target flow for the St. Lucie is 650 cfs. Click here for more information.
• On July 1, following a directive from Governor Rick Scott, DEP launched a toll-free Bloom Reporting Hotline and established an online reporting form for residents to report algal blooms. Residents are able to call in reports to a new toll-free number at 1-855-305-3903, as well as report information online at www.reportalgalbloom.com.

For more information about the State of Florida's actions on Lake Okeechobee, click here. Lake Conditions - SEPTEMBER 1, 2016: Current Lake Level 14.83 feet Historical Lake Level Average 14.22 feet Total Inflow +3,300 cfs cubic feet per sec. Total Outflow  (by structures operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) -1,130 cfs cubic feet per second Evapotranspiration/Rainfall over the Lake -The Corps has announced that they will no longer be providing this data. Net 2,170 cfs cubic feet per second Lake level variation from a week ago +0.16  feet
Lake Conditions - JUNE 1, 2016: Current Lake Level 14.39 feet Historical Lake Level Average 13.13 feet Total Inflow +6,190 cubic feet per second Total Outflow  (by structures operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) -6,450 cubic feet per second Evapotranspiration/Rainfall over the Lake -1,860 cubic feet per second Net -2,120 cubic feet per second Lake level variation from a week ago +0.03 feet

1609dd-z       

1609dd Title - Source - Author - Date - Text                                                 SEPTEMBER 2016                             

yymmdd-y

1609dd-z

1609dd Title - Source - Author - Date - Text