I likened it to watching someone step on a roach. It was terrible. With the a motion from Kevin Powers, the South Florida Water Management District just squashed it.
Last Thursday, on May 14th 2015, the SFWMD, with absolutely no mercy at all, killed the option land contract to purchase 46,800 acres from US Sugar Corporation. This option land purchase has been the greatest hope for local environmentalists, the River Warriors, the Everglades Foundation, and many others to lay ground for a future that would not discharge so much fresh, polluted, water from Lake Okeechobee into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
The hope was that a reservoir could be built on this land to then store, clean and convey water south to the Everglades.
Video of SFWMD meeting 5-14-15, Kenny Hinkle (http://youtu.be/_q220dk5I2g)
Well, it’s dead. No use bemoaning the situation. Let’s brush ourselves off and keep going. Even though the SFWMD killed this option, there are still others.
The best thing to do now is to “read up” and get smart about at what is “on the books” because a reservoir in the EAA is on the books as part of the Central Everglades Restoration Plan known as CERP. It may not be as good as the 46,800 acre option, but it would be something… And we must enlist Senator Joe Negron as he is our only Indian guide. ((http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s32)) To include a land purchase for this reservoir, whether it be in the Everglades Agricultural Area or not, through bonding of Amendment 1 monies is our war plan.
Negron’s idea is to crank up talking to scientists and experts on the best property currently available to build a reservoir. We need about 50 to 60,000 acres, as set out in the 2000 CERP…
The dysfunctional 2015 Florida State Legislature is not a great horse to bet on, but we have no other choice. Let’s saddle up and move on.
Park Service easy guide to understanding basics of CERP, the Central Everglades Restoration Project, 2000: (http://www.nps.gov/ever/learn/nature/upload/CERPFSLoResSecure.pdf)
SFWMD EAA Reservoirs in CERP, 2003: (http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xrepository/sfwmd_repository_pdf/alt_formulation_eaa_reservoirs_10-03-2003.pdf)
SFWMD (http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/pg_grp_sfwmd_sfer/portlet_prevreport/volume1/chapters/v1_ch_7a.pdf)
ACOE Central and South Florida Restudy, CERP: “Roadmap or Roadblocks,” (http://www.ucowr.org/files/Achieved_Journal_Issues/V111_A12Central%20&%20Southern%20Florida%20Project%20Comprehensive%20Review%20Study%20Road%20Map%20or%20Roadblock%20for%20the%20Future.pdf)
SFWMD:(http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/sfwmdmain/home%20page)
TC Palm, Tyler Treadway: Negron Won’t Give Up:(http://www.tcpalm.com/franchise/indian-river-lagoon/health/negron-to-pursue-money-for-land-south-of-lake-okeechobee-despite-death-of-us-sugar-option_66776672)
love the foot stepping the cockroach. and your right. we have to move forward! Than you for all you do!
You are so right. There may be an even better solution. Love the crime scene photo on Facebook.
3 days ago I saw about 5or 6 manitees eating ”:my sea grass” in 2 places. They are in hard competition with schools of mullet The more sand you put in the faster the grass grows. A day or 2 after you put the sand in the ground becomes “puffy” . Calcium beach sand does not desolve in water but it does desolve in acid. I believe this puffiness is the calcium reacting with the acid in the underwater sand. As the grass quickly grows the ground becomes hard again. I believe Sea grass cannot use calcium for its plant cells until acid desolves it down to molicules. Then sea grass quickly absorbs it and grows
Fascinating
I also put sand on shore so after Manitees and mullet pee and poop waves churn ammonia and Hydrocloric acid (gastric acid) togather with salt and calcium. This is making the shellfish thrive removeing nitrogen,createing calcium chloride,calcium peroxide and releasing phosphorus in the process.—The way it has for tens of thousands of years—This morning there was white foam all along shore
Calcium chloride is a metallic salt essiential to the health of the lagoon. Aluminum chloride is also a metallic salt and is provin to cause alshimers. These atoms of aluminum can absorb right through the skin and this is why I think it should be illeagle to have it in city water supplys.
Sorry aluminum sulfate
Why would anyone think that Negron, after seving at Big Sugar’s wishes for a decade, would suddenly grandstand about consulting scientists. He’s been Sugar’s favorite puppet.
We have lots of macro algie this year and I am worried that in Augest and September bacteria eating on it will suck all the oxygen out of the water and cause a fish kill. Several people at our lagoon house have said that this information needs to be made public and have I ever thought about writeing a book. It would be so easy to put oxygen in water during critical time but I am only one person and I might have to go back to work soon.—Have you ever considered creating a massive pumping station for city water like we have here in Palm Bay?
Thank goodness someone has been researching other options and working closely with Senator Negron for the last 18 months on these very topics. Certainly the “all your eggs in one basket” crowd are blown away to learn that no one outside of their group do not support that deal. It was a bad deal. If Robert Coker called it a good deal….. daaaa. Why Sugar h8ers suddenly want to way over-pay for toxic land is beyond belief, but they did. Instead, we have been working with Kissimmee Reserves and the Upper Basin revamping to reduce the flow south into the lake. Stopping or reducing any of the 850,000 acre feet that was dumped in 2013 (56%) that came from the upper basin, is way more effective than a $2 billion reservoir on a $500 million piece of Sugar land that will hold about 103,000 acre feet. I find it hard to believe that Maggie posted last week that now, after 5 years, she read the contract. seriously? How can anyone make a reasonable determination without the facts?
The more sugar cane land out of production the better for the Everglades and estuaries. Dispute that, anybody?
“To include a land purchase for this reservoir, whether it be in the Everglades Agricultural Area or not, through bonding of Amendment 1 monies is our war plan.” Words of wisdom, Jacqui. I hope everyone can focus on that, and patiently wait through the next month. I want to see what Joe Negron gets approved in the budget, and how much is for land acquisition south of the lake. Florida Crystals and the sugar co-op can make a lot of money if they play their cards right and we all win.
Thank you Dennis. Me too. I will be following and sharing the best I can.
I must say I wondered about how smart it was to spend taxpayer money on 46,000 acres of land when only 21,000 acres was suitable for Storage South. It seemed we would be paying double for less than half of usable land. It just seemed to me there Must Be Better Options.
Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative, Amendment 1 was represented to the public as being intended to make this very purchase.I did just go back and re-read the amendment and while it does say the funds are intended to make this type of purchase it doesn’t specify what purchase or purchases the fund would be used for.My father has often commented on the mechanism that allows un-elected officials to circumvent results of elections. I feel the majority of persons that voted for Amendment 1 probably thought they were voting to make this purchase.I know I did.
I agree Julian. In south Florida particularly.
Did you know baby ring neck ducks can run on water? It is the funniest thing to see
I bet they are adorable. I would love to see.
I thank everyone for their input. I personally feel it was a loss not to have acted on the option lands as in real estate sometimes you have to purchase something ahead of time when you know there will be great investment pay off in the future. Nonetheless thank you for all comments even those I don’t necessarily agree with…