10:00 a.m.
Butler Oaks Dairy Farm
172 Shady Oaks Lane Lorida
Click here
for the agenda
Thursday, May 15th
Southwest Florida Watershed Council Meeting
2:00 p.m.
Lee County Visitor & Convention Bureau (Suite
300)
12800 University Drive, Fort Myers
We'll discuss the possibility of forming a
single water resource advocacy organization in
Southwest Florida. Several organizations
such as River Watch and PURE have expressed
interest along with the Watershed Council in
discussing possibilities.
Thursday, May 15th
South
Florida Water Management District Governing
Board Meeting
9:00 a.m.
District Headquarters
3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach
Click here
for the agenda
Wednesday, May 28th
South Florida Water Management District Water
Lake Okeechobee Commitee Meeting
9:00 a.m.
District Headquarters
3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach
Click here for the agenda
Thursday, June 5th and Friday, June 6th
Florida Department of Environmental
Protection Kickoff Meeting to Discuss
Development of Numeric Nutrient Criteria for
Estuaries and Near Coastal Ecosystems
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Thursday) and 8:00 a.m.
to Noon (Friday)
Watershed Council Priorities
Fort Myers - April 2
The Southwest Florida Watershed
Council hosted a Summit attended by 14
Non-Governmental Organizations on March 20th to
facilitate effective communication regarding
water resource issues amongst the groups.
Participants also prioritized the issues as
follows:
Score
Issue:
16
Fertilizer ordinance (local and regional) and
associated state legislation, effective public
outreach on the issue
12
Florida Forever successor program
8
State preemption of local decision making
8
Lake Okeechobee and associated regional CERP
projects
7
Support for DRGR studies and legislation /rules
to implement conclusions
6
The Harper Report and its influence on state
stormwater rules and its affect on future
permitting
Watershed Council Opposes the
Removal of the Ceitus Boat Lift in Cape Coral
Fort Myers - April 2
The Southwest Florida Watershed
Council has become a petitioner with several
other civic and NGO groups to oppose the removal
of the Ceitus Boat Lift that is part of the
spreader swale stormwater treatment system for
Cape Coral. Our basic position is that the boat
lift should not be removed until there is
funding and a specific plan in place to restore
the function of the stormwater treatment system.
Click here for "Protecting the Pass"
Click here
for "Action Request for the Proposed
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Action Related to the Removal of the Ceitus Boat
Lift"
EPA Kisses Off Florida's Wetlands
Developer Sway in
EPA Breeds Algal Blooms and Aquifer
Contamination
WASHINGTON, DC - February 20
Overruling its
own specialists, the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency is opening the door to a new
wave of mega-developments that will sharply
erode Florida's already declining water quality,
according to agency documents released today by
Public Employees for Environmental
Responsibility (PEER). In the arrangement, EPA
has agreed to overlook warnings of more toxic
algae outbreaks, growing saltwater intrusion and
spreading contamination of the state's fragile
groundwater.
In a key concession, EPA has accepted a
development model that has been criticized for
assuming that wetlands are a source of pollution
– pollution that can be cured by development.
Final approval was delayed in 2003 by the public
resignation of EPA scientist Bruce Boler in
protest. This led to further review of the
model, called the Harper model, after its author
Harvey Harper.
Although EPA specialists continue to have grave
reservations, EPA Southeast Regional
Administrator Jimmy Palmer ordered them to stand
aside. EPA's final evaluation was "sanitized" in
the words of one staff member but even the
final, censored technical evaluation raises
large red flags:
"EPA Region 4
cannot verify the conclusions of the new
statewide model….The approach leaves wide
room for user interpretation with minimal
references for such interpretation. This
could result in inaccurate analyses, poor
project designs that do not achieve
pollutant removal targets and ultimately,
degraded water quality."
"If this is an endorsement what does EPA's
disapproval look like?" asked PEER Executive
Director Jeff Ruch, noting that in a slew of
cases EPA has dropped objections to destruction
of large tracts of shrinking wetlands, which are
protected by law. "EPA has lost the ability to
say no, no matter how smelly the deal."
Central to Florida's approach for green-lighting
development is using larger and deeper
artificial ponds to contain polluted storm-water
runoff from paved areas. Both state and federal
research, however, indicate this method falls
well short of meeting minimal water quality
standards. In addition, experts predict the
holding ponds will be prime breeding grounds for
toxic algal blooms that increasingly plague
state waters.
Proliferation of the ponds also raises risks of
saltwater intrusion, a growing threat aggravated
by Florida's recent drought. Moreover, deep
ponds which require perpetual maintenance may
taint fresh water aquifers that, in many parts
of the state, are very near the surface.
At the same time, Palmer has closed EPA's
Southwest Florida office, removed its top expert
from Everglades restoration work and repeatedly
intervened for developers. He even testified
against EPA for a developer in a criminal case.
In one controversial case, for example, Palmer
e-mailed his staff that the lawyer/lobbyist for
the project "is a friend of mine who is
connected into some VERY high places."
"For all intents and purposes, EPA has ceased to
exist in Florida," Ruch added.
NICK PENNIMAN
DIRECTOR, AMERICAN NEWS PROJECT
1050 17TH STREET, NW, SUITE 550
WASHINGTON, DC 20036
OFFICE: 202-955-6460 X222
CELL: 202-747-4272
Read the EPA technical evaluation sign-off
Look at origin of the Harper model and the
resignation of the EPA reviewer
See how Florida's failure to meet water quality
standards is jeopardizing Everglades restoration
View the state research on algal blooms (Volume
II)
Examine e-mails from EPA Regional Administrator
warning staff about impeding developers
Revisit Palmer testimony against his own agency
for a convicted Mississippi developer
Revised Schedule for the LORSS
Process
Click here
for more information
Florida Seeks Input on
Northern Everglades Restoration
Click here for more information
Watershed Council Comments on
the C43 Reservoir Plans
Click here to read the letter sent on October
22, 2007 to the US Army Corps of Engineers
Troubled Waters: An
Analysis of 2005 Clean Water Act Compliance
Christy Leavitt, Clean Water
Advocate
Environment Florida Research &
Policy Center
Click here to access the report
EPA Watershed News
http://www.epa.gov/watershed/news.html
EROC Ordinance
Regulation
of professional landscape management practices
including the application of fertilizers
containing nitrogen and/or phosphorus in Lee
County. Draft for county ordinance
available and county guidelines available.
Click here for ordinance draft
Click here
ordinance evaluation guidelines
Caloosahatchee River Basin New
EPA Established TMDLs:
http://www.epa.gov/region4/water/tmdl/florida/index.htm#caloos
South Florida Water Management
District Weekly Update on Water Conditions
The South Florida Water
Management District issues a weekly update on
water conditions and operational protocols
during the rainy season in an effort to keep
elected officials, county partners and others
informed. Click here
for the reports.