Portion of 1885 Francis La Baron Map of IRL/SLR. Courtesy of Todd Thurlow, Sandra Thurlow, and Rick Langdon correspondence, 2015.)
On Friday, I like to post something of beauty or interest regarding the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. Old maps are about as cool as things get for me. They take my mind off my idea that things “are permanent.” For instance, the “mouth of the Indian River Lagoon” or its inlet/s, vary in “time and place,” as we can see from this hand drawn map of our area in the 1885 map above where the “inlet” is north of Ft Pierce and there is none in Stuart.
The St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon is dynamic, and we too, although we may not realize it, are a huge part of that constant flux.
I wonder what people will think of our old satellite maps when they look at them in the next 130 years? Where will the IRL’s “mouth” be? Will some “mouths” have closed? Will there be others we have never even thought of?
My historian mother, Sandra Thurlow, shared this map with me and referred to it as the “Francis La Baron Map.” This portion posted above is just a section of it.
Francis La Baron, among other things, was the head of the Army Corp of Engineers.
La Baron’s map is incredible to study. How wonderful that our area was documented and that this documentation has been saved in Washington DC’s Library of Congress! Thank you to my brother Todd and my mother for bringing it to my attention. I think Todd will be using it in another one of his magic carpet videos in the future like the previous one he did of Peck’s Lake: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO650JyADwQ)
In closing, one of the historian friends my mother corresponds with is Mr Rick Langdon of Indian River Drive. I am including some of his thoughts on the map below that my mother shared with me. Very interesting! Hope you’ll share your thoughts too.
—–This “historically shoaling natural inlet” location is a bit further north… (of Ft Pierce); it’s almost a mile and a half North of the Ft. Capron location at the junction of (perhaps) 4 man-made “cuts” – the Bluehole Cut, the Garfield Cut, the Negro Cut, and the Ft. Pierce Cut.
It’s interesting too that this map shows only one natural outlet from the Savannas and that’s the one which leads to the Creek at the Beacon 21 Condo’s in Rio – (Warner Creek) …Rick Langdon
Same as above for viewing purposes. A Portion of 1885 Francis LaBaron Map. (Click to enlarge.)
Satellite image of south Florida. From top to bottom, one can see the Kissimmee chain of lakes, Kissimmee River/canal; Lake Okeechobee; the Everglades Agricultural Area (in red) ; the Water Conservation areas below that; and finally Everglades National Park and Florida Bay. (Public photo NASA, 1980.(http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/environment/wetland_freeze.html)
The number one thing I learned as a teacher was that I had to do my best, at all times, and with all students, to be “fair.” This required calling students out when they did something inappropriate, as well as praising them when they did something great.
Two days ago, our friend, Dr Gary Goforth, (http://garygoforth.net),”architect of the STAs,” reported that so far, the SFWMD has sent more water south from Lake Okeechobee, through the Storm Water Treatment Areas, (STAs) than even in 2014, which itself was a “record year.”
This will help save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon….
You may recall prior to 2014, comparatively “little” water had been “sent south,” for a long, long time…meaning more of it went into our estuaries.
Let’s learn:
Below, are summary notes from Dr Goforth that I have edited for simplicity of communication:
Attached is a snapshot of the current flows into and out of Lake Okeechobee for WATER YEARS 2015 (May 1 – January 2015).
Current flows into and out of Lake Okeechobee for Water Year 2015 (May 1 – January 2015). (Chart, Dr Gary Goforth.)
Highlights:
Water years chart showing Lake O water sent to STAs 1995-2105. (Chart Dr Gary Goforth, 2015.)
The District continues to send large volumes of Lake water to the STAs and WCAs: over 416,000 acre feet (136 billion gallons)! which coincidently is the volume of the Lake releases made to the St. Lucie River/Estuary in 2013. During the 3 months of the current dry season (November-January) they have sent over 207,000 AF to the STAs. They are on pace to greatly exceed my target of 250,000 acre feet during the dry season! And they said it couldn’t be done. On a side note – STA performance continues to improve in association with the additional flows.
“Water Year” 2015 now is in the record books for the most Lake water ever sent to the STAs
Also, “Water Year 2015” now is in the record books for the most Lake water ever sent to the Everglades since 1994.
The obvious bad news is that Lake discharges continue to the St. Lucie River/Estuary – at a rate that has practically no effect on reducing the stage of lake Okeechobee (less than 0.1 of an inch per day – less than evaporation).
*Jacqui-please feel free to share this information, with the caveat: “Estimates are preliminary and subject to revision.”
Thank you Dr Goforth for sharing the above good news and kudos to the SFWMD!
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Now as a side bar—I don’t want to confuse anybody, but I do want to share, in case you have noticed too, that sometimes these charts are reported in WATER YEARS and sometimes in ANNUAL YEARS.
For instance, the chart below that I shared in a blog reporting 2014 flows last year shows the report in CALENDAR YEARS. Dr Goforth’s chart above is in WATER YEARS and that is why 2014 in his above chart does not look as high as one would expect it to–as 2014 was also a “record year,” (above 250,000 acre feet sent south.)
Water Sent South report Dr Goforth, 2014 in ANNUAL YEARS. This shows 2014’s water south above 250,000 acre feet reported in CALENDAR YEARS whereas the chart above shows in WATER YEARS.
So what’s the difference? A WATER YEAR is May through April over a two-year period; whereas a CALENDAR YEAR is just that, a calendar year….
I guess the scientists people usually use WATER YEARS…
But sometimes it gets reported in CALENDAR YEARS. Sometimes they don’t specify….Ag!
So anyway, it can be is confusing interpreting these charts. I wanted to make sure that everybody knew both: that in 2014 the SFWMD district sent over 270,000 acre feet south; and in 2015 they have already sent 416,000 acres south! Two great record years after the public outcry following the “lost summer” of 2013.
Although all this water going south is fantastic news, it must be noted as Dr Goforth did, that this is not enough water to “save” the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. This is why the river movement is advocating for the state legislature to purchase option lands south of Lake Okeechobee in order to create an eventual reservoir to store, clean, and convey –closer to the 150,000 acre feet that is necessary to go south so as not to destroy the estuaries…..
But today we focusing on praising good work….
Thank you to all of the hard-working members of the SFWMD who try to balance politics with science, a very difficult classroom! We recognize your good work; we commend you, we thank you. Please keep raising that bar!
“Bridges to the Sea,” Stuart, to Sewall’s Point, to Hutchinson Island and the Atlantic Ocean, 1965. Rhunke Collection, Thurlow Archives.
Since the 1960s, I have seen many bridges destroyed and rebuilt, right here in Martin County. They are symbolic of our history, our accomplishments, and our struggles.
I may be making this up in my memory, but I think I recall my parents driving me over the Palm City bridge when I was a kid and it was made of wood. The clunk of slow-moving, heavy car, over the uneven planks was somehow comforting, like the rhythm of a familiar horse. But times change, and bigger and “better” bridges are built…
The “bridges to the sea,” from Stuart, to Sewall’s Point, to Hutchinson Island–over the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon were built in 1958. Sandra Henderson Thurlow, in her book, Sewall’s Point, The History of a Peninsular Community of Florida’s Treasure Coast, discusses how the relative isolation of Sewall’s Point ended in 1958 when, two “bridges to the sea opened.” For 10 cents, one could come to Sewall’s Point, and for 25 cents, one could go all the way to the ocean. The tolls were removed in 1961 and the bridges formally named in 1965: “Evans Crary Sr,” and “Ernst F. Lyons”– going west to east.
I am almost sure, I also remember, my mother, or some history person, telling me “they” did not name the bridges right away as it was a political “hot potato.” Perhaps in the beginning there had been controversy regarding building the bridges and certain people did not want their names associated with them until the political fumes dissipated and settled upon something else? Perhaps I am making this up? Like my fuzzy romanticized memory of wooden bridge in Palm City?
I don’t know. But what I do know, is that bridges allow us to cross over, to get to the other side.
I am trying to build bridges to send water south to the Everglades and save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. This means working with the sugar industry; the South Florida Water Management District; the Governor; the state and federal Legislature; the Army Corp of Engineers; the County; and most of all the people who live along the Treasure Coast.
I must admit, jokingly, sometimes I feel like “jumping off the bridge.” But I won’t. With your help, I will rebuild it; make it higher, more beautiful, and less damaging to the environment. And hopefully, in the end, we will all be inspired!
Today, I am going to try to simplify and share the idea of an “EAA reservoir.” You probably have been hearing a lot about this, but you may not know how it fits into a an option lands purchase and the “sending more water south” concept that will help save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, and the Everglades.
This is not fully understood by me either, so I contacted Dr Thomas Van Lent of the Everglades Foundation; he sent me some information that today will share with you.
For me all of this is part of a “flow way concept,” though some may disagree.
Dr Tom Van Lent, Everglades Foundation, (EF). (Photo 2015.)
LAND PURCHASE: In order to do anything that will actually take a significant amount of water off of Lake Okeechobee, so the ACOE doesn’t have to discharge to the SLR/IRL and Caloosahatchee, there needs to be land to “store, clean and convey that water south.”
Because over the past 95 years, the EAA took up all the southerly land to create their Everglades Agricultural Area, 700,000 acres of land south of Lake Okeechobee, we are “forced” to purchase lands in the EAA to move any water south. Thankfully, land is for sale; although US Sugar rather not sell it. (Long drama….let’s just leave it at that–the land is for sale; I believe the state should buy it with Amendment 1 monies and /or “bond it.”) This Option 1, the brown lands below, runs out in October of 2015.
Option Lands Map SFWMD River of Grass, Option 1 is 46,800 acres and shown in brown. (SFWMD map, 2010)
So after getting the land purchase necessity out-of-the-way, let’s look at Dr Van Lent’s write-up and slides:
Jacqui, I’ve attached a graphic that I hope will help explain.
I think everyone can agree that the best solution to the estuaries’ problems is to send more water south. But the major limitation to doing that today is (1) the water is polluted and would irreparably damage the Everglades and (2) the dams in the Everglades prevent you from getting the water out, so adding more water would drown tree islands and other habitats. So, the bottleneck to flow is actually further south, in the Everglades, and not in the EAA.
The solution is to clean the water and then remove the dams. But if you just pull out the dams so water flows when it’s wet, then the Everglades will dry up and burn when it’s dry. So an essential step to pulling out the dams is to add water supply reservoir so that you can keep the Everglades wet during droughts.
The Central Everglades Plan started to open up the dams in the Everglades, but was limited because it did not build any storage. With storage, you can open up the Everglades even more, sending more water south.—–Dr Van Lent
—-I have to say I don’t know much about the dams in the Everglades, but that’s OK, let’s move on….
Slide 1. (EF, 2015.)
(Refer to above slide.) Discharges to the Everglades are limited because the STA’s (Storm Water Treatment Areas) (1.) are too small and cannot clean enough water. Also, dams in the Everglades (2) limit the flow through the Everglades. This leaves the St Lucie/S IRL and Caloosahatchee (3) as the primary outlets for Lake Okeechobee.
Slide 2. (EF, 2015.)
(Refer to above slide.) The “*Restoration Strategies” expansions to STAs (1) and water quality features in *CEPP (2) expanded the ability to treat Lake water going to the Everglades. Moreover, CEPP and Tamiami Trail (3) bridging opened up the Everglades to take more flow, improving conditions in the national park and Florida Bay. The means that significantly less water could be discharged to the St Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries (4). The EAA Reservoir (5) supplies water during dry periods so the Everglades remains set seven when the dams are removed. That is why a reservoir is critical to sending water south; it allows the dams in the Everglades to be breached.
Thank you Dr Van Lent!
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In case you are wondering, I have added the following below, to explain Dr Van Lent’s slide explanation.
*Restoration Strategies is basically making the STAs larger due to a long going law suit of the federal government against Florida that was finalized in the past few years under Gov, Scott. The lawsuit occurred because of the dirty water from Lake O polluting the Everglades: This IS happening and the state has to pay for it, 880 million.(http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xrepository/sfwmd_repository_pdf/rs_waterquality_plan_042712_final.pdf)
*CEPP the Central Everglades Planning Project of part of CERP (the Central Everglades Restoration Project.)(http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Portals/44/docs/FactSheets/CEPP_FS_September2013_508.pdf) This is a project that was “fast tracked,” by the ACOE and SFWMD. Congressman Patrick Murphy helped a lot with this. It was not taken on as part of WRDA the Water Resources Development Act that funds projects so it is still on the burner really and will have to be approved the next time a WRDA bill is passed by the US Congress. So right now it is NOT happening but hopefully will in the future…
In closing, I hope these slides, and the explanation from Dr Van Lent helped you in your journey of understand all this. I believe all these things are part of a greater whole. I am very appreciative to Dr Van Lent for sending the slides. What an honor to correspond with him.
When one looks at such, one certainly realizes we are planning for a far off future…and nothing is guaranteed. This can be discouraging, but don’t let it be!
It is our responsibility to the children of the future.
Please write a short email to the Florida Senate in support of purchasing Option Lands this 2015 Legislative Session: (http://www.flsenate.gov/media/topics/wlc) Thank you!
Burning sugarcane fields in the Everglades Agricultural Area near Palm Beach County. This area south of Lake O used to be the Everglades and today is the EAA. This area is a constraint to moving water south. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, 2014.)
The St Lucie and the Caloosahatechee estuaries are part of the Everglades as was the Everglades Agricultural Area….
A sugar refinery in the Everglades Agricultural Area, (EAA). Refineries are a constraint to moving water south. (Public photo.)Black Gold; the muck soils south of Lake Okeechobee that make the sugar industry wealthy. These soils are a constraint to moving water south. (Photo JTL, 2014.)Refinery near Clewiston– a historical town built of the sugar industry located south of Lake Okeechobee. This city and others are a constraint to moving water south but could benefit from ecotourism economy along with agricultulre. (Photo JTL, 2014.)
Gail M. Hollender, begins her book, “Raising Cane in the ‘Glades, The Global Sugar Trade and the Transformation of Florida,” by stating in Chapter 1:
“…at a point in time usually unspecified, the Everglades made the transition from “worthless swamp” to “cherished wetland.”
Nothing has affected to flow of water south to the Everglades more than the creation of the EAA south of Lake O. The EAA is a constraint. (Map SFWMD.)This satellite photo shows water on lands in 2005. One can see the lands in the EAA are devoid of water. This water has been pumped off the lands into the Water Conservation Areas, sometimes back pumped into the lake, and also stored in other canals. Nonetheless, there are ways to move more water south through these canals and by creating a reservoir to store, clean and convey water south (Captiva Conservation 2005.)Option Lands Map SFWMD River of Grass, Option 1 is 46,800 acres and shown in brown. Option lands could be purchased to help move water south of the lake to the Everglades. (SFWMD map, 2010)
In the 1970s there was a “cultural shift” regarding the importance of “environmental protection.” America recognized the destruction it has promoted in building the country, especially in terms of agriculture and development.
“Cultural shifts” are powerful, and drive the evolution of our world. I believe the “Everglades shift” will eventually drive the restoration of the Everglades as well as the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. It is what the people want…often the broad knowledge of history becomes an enemy to itself. So is it with sugar and the Everglades Agricultural Area. Just look at the photos above.
Nonetheless, sometime the “powers that be,” and their most important stake holders prefer to concentrate on why history should remain as it is, and has been, even if destructive, focusing on “constraints” rather than “possibilities” of the system.
This happened this past Thursday.
I was unable to attend the South Florida Water Management District’s (SFWMD) Water Resources Advisory Commission, (WRAC), (http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xweb%20about%20us/wrac) because I had a board commitment to attend FAU/Harbor Branch’s Indian River Lagoon Symposium.
I was somewhat taken aback when I returned from a long day at the symposium, looked at my computer, and saw an email from the SFWMD addressed to me, and all members of the WRAC entitled:
“System Constraints Follow-up Details – January and February WRAC”–“…a follow-up to your request to provide specific details associated with the constraints to moving water south through the system– with a professionally created 19 slide power point presentation.
“My request?”
NOT.
Slide 1 of the SFWMD power point presentation “Constraints to Sending Water South,” 2015.
Let me explain..
At the January WRAC meeting, (http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xweb%20about%20us/gb%20application) I sat in as an alternate for Mr Joe Capra, and in the course of that meeting, a few members of the agriculture industry, as well as a couple of others who often support the agriculture industry, I will not state names but they are important, big players. I like and respect these people, but still— I must call them on this.
They asked the SFWMD to create a presentation showing the “constraints” for sending water south so that people would understand (why it can’t be done…) In other words, why those people along the estuaries should “shut-up.” Why we should preserve a destructive history.
I got my nerve up saying: “Where I come from, we don’t want to talk about constraints; we want to talk about possibilities; we want to talk about change….” implying the District should “show that too.”
Upon seeing the email, I realized the SFWMD did not honor my request, but did show the “constraints” asked to be shown by the agriculture industry. Oh well…usually when government suppresses people, their motivation actually increases.
So is it with me, and I imagine it is so with you…
Dear, SFWMD district, please remember: your core mission is to “manage and protect the water resources of the region by balancing and improving water quality, flood control, natural systems, and water supply.” I don’t see anywhere in here where it says we must keep things the same and focus on constraints.
Sugar Cane historic postcard, ca. 1906 glorifying and “romanticizing”the sugar industry. (Thurlow Collection.)Cartoon postcard showing a modern-day perspective–the cultural shift apparent–mocking the sugar industry and its effects on environmental protection of the SLR/IRL/Everglades. (Public, D. Goldstein, 2014.)
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE:
“It is time we stopped viewing our environment through prisms of profit, politics, geography, or local and personal pride. It is time for us to work together—to accept the truth about our problems in south Florida, and to set about solving them. It is time for us to do all of these things—because you know as well as I that the alternative will be disastrous to our economy as well as to our environment.”
——Florida Gov. Rubin Askew, (served 1971-1979) Rubin included, by law, the mission of Florida’s water districts to envelop “environmental protection.”
Mark Perry (middle) with his father, Clifton Perry, (right) and another Gentleman, (left). Clifton Perry was on the original board with James H. Rand, for FOS that Mark took over and has led to greatness. (Photo from “Tides of Time,” Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Florida Oceanographic Society, 1964-2014, publication, FOS.)Brothers, Chris and Mark Perry sit on the bench along Hutchinson Island that is in honor of their father, Clifton Perry. (Photo Sandra Thurlow, ca. 2000.)1970 Martin County High School, funeral for the SLR/IRL. Mark was one of the students who participated in this iconic Earth Day event. This event had a huge impact on me as a kid…(Thurlow Archives.)A budding Florida Oceanographic Society, ca. 1970s (Tides of Time, FOS.)A young Mark Perry, ca. 1970s/1980s. (Tides of Time, FOS.)Mark Perry today, always teaching, always leading. Photo by photographer, Thomas Winter from Tom’s blog about Lake O. releases 2012: (http://thomaswinter.com/blog/?p=432)
One of the great things about living in the town you grew up in is watching people you know “grow-up,” and be recognized for their contributions to the Treasure Coast community.
One of these people, for me, is Mark Perry, who I have known since my earliest memories. Today, Mark is the Executive Director for Florida Oceanographic Society, (http://www.floridaocean.org), the epicenter in Martin County for education, protection, and advocacy for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. He has been leading the organization for 35 years…
Mark is older than me. I was born in 1964, and I believe Mark is about ten years my senior. When you’re a kid, that’s “a lot.” But it’s just enough to for constant admiration “from younger to older.” I have been admiring Mark Perry my entire life…
Mark, his brother Chris, and his parents Clifton and Mimi Perry attended St Mary’s Church as my family did and does today. I first met Mark at St Mary’s…I was probably 3 or 4 years old.
Me as a kid, with my cat, Misty, ca. 1968,. This is about how old I was when I met Mark Perry… 🙂 (Photo from Thurlow Family album.)
As I grew up, I remember my parents talking about the “older kids” in the youth group getting to go on a canoe trip down the Peace River, chaperones, sleeping bags, marshmallows, etc….It was the 1970s….I wanted so badly to be older and get to do the “cool” things the older kids did, but I was just a “kid,” and had to stay home…
Over the years, my parents kept me abreast of the Perry family and what was always most interesting to me was Mark’s journey with Florida Oceanographic, an organization his father helped found in 1964 that was originally located in my childhood neighborhood of St Lucie Estates, along Kruegar Creek, in Stuart. I often visited there on my bicycle.
Early FOS, Kruegar Creek, ca. 1970s. (Tides of Time)
Over the years I grew up, moved away, attended University of Florida, lived and worked in California, Germany, and Pensacola, and when I came home in 1997 to Stuart, to continue my teaching career, Florida Oceanographic had expanded from that neat place I saw on my bicycle to become the showcase institution it is today–-An organization that symbolizes the love and fight for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon-and the life of Mark Perry.
Mark Perry today, photo, FOS, 2015.)
Tonight at FAU/Harbor Branchs’, “Love Your Lagoon” gala, (http://www.indianriverlagoon.org/Love-Your-Lagoon-Dinner-.html) Mark Perry will be honored for his St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon work. It is the foundations’ fourth annual, and those who preceded Mark in being honored are: 2012, Nathaniel Reed; 2013, Bud Adams; 2014, Alma Lee Loy.
Mark follows in big footsteps, and he has filled them, “completely.” Thank you Mark Perry for a lifetime of admiration, respect, and guidance in our love and fight to save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!
LYL 2015, honoring Mark Perry, invitation.FAU Harbor Branch, Love Your Lagoon, 2015 honing Mark Perry.(STD Cover)Mark and his wife, Nancy at FOS’ 50th anniversary. (Photo from event.)LYL 20014. With Mark Perry and others. (L to R to L: Comr. Doug Smith, Mark Perry, Joe Duke, JTL, Sen. Joe Negron, Sherri Plymale.) (Photo HBOIF, Brian S.)
This symposium consist of one full day of presentations, and poster displays, and is then followed by a day including “public meeting and interaction” going forward. The symposium is a collaboration of many, but is led by beloved, Dr Dennis Hannisak of Harbor Branch, who specializes in seagrasses and has written many valuable publications on the subject. (http://www.fau.edu/hboi/meh/mb.php)
Dr Dennis Hannisak, HBOI.
I would be remiss if I called the HBOI Symposium, the “4th annual,” as Harbor Branch (http://www.fau.edu/hboi/) has a very long history of ocean, and thus estuarine research, here on the Treasure Coast, and has had a number of important symposiums over the past 40 plus years. (http://www.hboifoundation.org/p/28/history)
Nonetheless, the past four have been consistent and coincide with the recent crisis and super-bloom “crash” of the Indian River Lagoon’s northern and central seagrass health, and the 2013 “lost summer,” from devastating polluted releases from Lake Okeechobee on top of canals C-23, C-24 , C-44 and C-25 in the southern lagoon.
Since that time, there has been a public outcry for research, funding, and understanding. These symposiums provide an incredible opportunity for the scientific community, government agencies, youth, budding scientists, and the public to collaborate sharing knowledge and questions regarding our treasured and ailing Indian River Lagoon. Harbor Branch, founded by Steward Johnson and Edwin Link in 1971 is the perfect place.
Sunset , Indian River Lagoon. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow Lippisch, 2014.)
The overview for the symposium states:
“The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) Symposium is the result of a multi-institutional, multi-agency effort to provide a forum for discussing IRL science and its application to management of the lagoon. The symposium is open to scientists, decision makers, students, education and outreach professionals, and the interested public. The intent is to help facilitate better communication among these groups so that the gaps between research and its application can be narrowed.”
Kudos to the Harbor Branch and to the steering committee and to the public. Together, may we inspire each other, and our government to “Save our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!”
•Jeff Beal – Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission
•Patti Gorman – South Florida Water Management District
•Dennis Hanisak – Florida Atlantic University
•Chuck Jacoby – IRL National Estuary Program/St. Johns River Water Management District
•Sea McKeon – Smithsonian Institution
•Mark Perry – Florida Oceanographic Society
•Chris Wilson – University of Florida
•John Windsor – Florida Institute of Technology
River Kidz member, Veronica Dalton, 10, speaks at the protest for SLR/IRL, St Lucie Locks, and Dam, 2013. At this event she spoke before more than 5000 people. She wrote her own speech with no help from any adult. (Photo Sevin Bullwinkle.)
“Keep Martin Beautiful,” will be recognizing environmental “heroes” tonight, and one of them is longtime River Kidz member, Veronica Dalton. Veronica was nominated and is therefore being recognized at the “Environmental Stewardship Awards” for her public speaking work on behalf of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
You may or may not know, that “Keep Martin Beautiful” is affiliated with “Keep America Beautiful.”
Keep America Beautiful was founded in 1969, inspiring such things as the famous “crying Indian commercial,” and Earth Day. Keep Martin Beautiful was founded in Martin County in 1994. (http://www.keepmartinbeautiful.org/history.html)
Veronica Dalton with Leon Abood, Chair, Rivers Coalition, 2013. (Photo Sevin Bullwinkle.)it is estimated that over 5000 people were there at the locks that day. (Sevin Bullwinkle.)
Veronica’s journey for beauty and the river started in 2011/2012 when she was 9/10, with the founding of River Kidz. She was always a leader and the organization gave her an opportunity to showcase her speaking and writing skills. She enjoys writing and speaking about something she cares about: the river.
Even before the “lost summer” of 2013, at a River Kidz and Martin County welcoming of state paddle boarder icon, Justin Riney, under the bridge in Sewall’ Point, little Veronica politely pushed her way up to the front of the group, looked up at me and the other River Momz asking: “May I speak? I wrote something and I have it with me….”
Before Senator, Joe Negron’s Senate Committee on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin, 2013. (Photo JTL)
I knew at this moment, Veronica had a future and would utilize the River Kidz’ mission: “to speak out, get involved, and raise awareness, because we believe kids should have a voice in the future of our rivers.”
Her speech was heartfelt. And the crowd responded with cheers and a standing ovation. Justin smiled his handsome smile and never forgot the kids!
Shortly thereafter, with her parents, Tammy and John Dalton, Veronica sat in through Senator Joe Negron’s Senate Hearing on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin, taking her turn to speak, showing the committee pictures she took of fighting conchs that had died at the sandbar due to the polluted freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee as well as C-24, C-23, C-25 and C-44. I’ll never forget the secret service type gentleman at the podium holding up Veronica’s sign for the Senate Committee to see!
Dead conchs. (Photo Veronica Dalton, 2013.)Dead Fighting Conchs, 2013.(Photo Veronica Dalton.)Clean Water Rally, 2014.
I believe Veronica’s words had a tremendous effect on the Senate Committee and many of the “out of town” Senators expressed that they were amazed by our active and eloquent youth. I smiled saying, “Welcome to Martin County.”
Veronica has spoken most recently at the Clean Water Rally in 2014 at Phipps Park, and this year in 2015, has already shown me some of her speeches she wrote at Anderson Middle School, in Stuart. She is regular speaker and writer of St Lucie/Indian River Lagoon issues at her school. She is now 12 years old.
The legacy of environmental stewardship continues; let’s all give Veronica a big hand for keeping Martin beautiful and for keeping America beautiful…
High school student and fire rescue volunteer, Chase Franco, Ed, and I sponge sea water onto the whale to keep its skin moist in the hot sun. (Photo used with permission from Ginny Beagan, Scripps Newspapers, 2015.)
Thank you to Scripps Newspaper, reporter and Facebook friend, Ginny Beagan, who contacted me encouraging me to write about this experience in my blog—giving me permission to use her photos.
Last Sunday, I had wanted to go to church, but there was a different lesson in store for me that day…
At 8:01, Steve Burton, the head of FAU’s Harbor Branch Marine Mammal Rescue Team, sent out a call to its trained volunteers: “A kogia (pygmy sperm whale) had beached itself at Stuart Beach, less than five minutes from where I live in Sewall’s Point. I texted that I would be there, and the morning took on that surreal experience that goes along with meeting on land, our deep water friends from the sea.
Ginny Beagan, 2015.
“Ed, let’s go!” I called to my husband down the stairwell. We put on warm clothes, grabbed every bucket in the house, and in silence, drove the jeep over the bridge on the other side of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
Ed and I had been through whale stranding before, most memorably, in 2012. (I have been a trained volunteer with Harbor Branch since 2011.) (http://www.fau.edu/hboi/marine_mammals/)
In 2012, a call like the one this morning came in. Not one, but twenty-two pilot whales had beached themselves along Avalon Beach in north Ft Pierce. Like a war scene, their bodies flailing in the breaking waves, Harbor Branch, NOAA, St Lucie County Fire Rescue and police, the Florida Wildlife Commission, and concerned members of the public, did all they could to save these protected marine mammals. Five calves were saved; the rest did not make it off the beach being humanly euthanized, moved, and studied for disease giving clues to their stranding.
Apparently these creatures have such strong social bonds, they will follow their sick family leader to shore, even to their deaths. A bond that serves them in nature most of the time…..
The whale this day was a pygmy sperm whale, not a pilot whale, but both are deep divers and rare to see.
Within minutes Ed and I arrived: it was very windy, and the surf was kicked up. Florida Wildlife Commission officers, and Martin County fire rescue and lifeguards were at the scene waiting for Harbor Branch, NOAA and a veterinarian to arrive. (People come as far as Vero and Boca to assist in such rescues.)
On the beach, I nodded at the officers—–they saw my Harbor Branch shirt.
I immediately filled a bucket with ocean water and slowly poured it over the whale to keep its skin moist in the hot sun. The whale was about 10 or 12 feet long; female: a thousand or so pounds; with a pink belly, and grey-black “smooth as plastic” skin; her head was blunt and beautifully shaped—I remembered how I’d read that the US Government studied deep-sea whales to derive the shapes of World War II submarines….Her blow-hole was off centered on the top of her head, an adapted nostril; her eyes were low on her body and small; barely open…Originally, she was on her side, breathing heavily. These whales can dive more than 1000 feet.
I leaned down, slowly…
Ginny Beagan, 2015.
Looking in the eye of a whale is something that is a lesson in and of itself. They are intelligent, and look back at you, like a dog, or a person. They know you are there. I sensed no fear in this whale, only total exhaustion.
She had scrapes and abrasions all over her body from coming in the harsh surf. Usually these whales are seen alone or in groups of five or six in the deep ocean. Scientists don’t know for certain, but it is believed they dive over a thousand feet to catch squid and they even sequester the ink in their own bodies using it too as a way to escape and confuse predators…sometimes they just float like logs in the ocean, and as a boat approaches, they submerge. A lot is not known about them.
Over the next few minutes, Ed and I met some of the others already there. The press arrived. Throngs of people gathered.
The couple that had found the whale at 7AM, while walking the beach, the Sopkos, were visiting from Cleveland. He, a steelworker; she a caretaker. They were so interested and wanted to do all they could to help. Making a 911 call to save a whale was not what they had expected that morning…They stayed the entire time, helping in any way they could.
Once all of the authorities and the veterinarian had arrived, it was decided to take the whale into the Harbor Branch ambulance, but she was too uncomfortable, and would not be carried, so the work up was done right there on the beach. It took hours. The veterinarian was excellent– Dr Kilpatrick, from Vero. His compassion showed as he determined the whales’ vital signs. She was not well and her breathing had become stalled and labored. The vet explained that heart problems are commonly seen in these whales. This is being studied…
He also explained that, pygmy sperm whales do not have a good record of survival once beached. In a majority of instances when they have been put back out to sea, they beach again, and again, and again, sometimes with sharks waiting in the waves.
Their bodies, usually “weightless” in sea water, feel the full force of gravity once on land. Their internal organs are under tremendous pressure. The animals are literally collapsing under their own weight.
Another hour passed……..
Ginny Beagan, 2015.
During the scene, Chase Franco, 14, was next to me, a student at Jensen Beach High School. Chase is affiliated with the fire rescue team. They allowed him to take part.
Over time, all had been done that could be done for the ailing whale. The call was made to euthanize her to put her out of her agony.
On my knees, there next to Chase, whom I know from him being a bag boy at Publix… The tension was thick. Having been through this before in Ft Pierce that awful day, I braced myself.
Others took the position to hold the whale; long time marine mammal volunteer, Jim Moir, held her tail; he encouraged us to softly speak to the whale and warned us they sometimes fight.
Ginny Beagan, 2015.
I looked at Chase. Although he is an avid fisherman, this was different. To see him now faced with the whale’s impeding death was unsettling. We held tight.
“Help me.” I said, to myself….”Help me find something to say to this young person….”
Chase looked at me, his big blue eyes questioning…
I started speaking….
“Chase, as you know the whale is going to be euthanized. It is sick. This is always difficult. This is what I try to do and maybe you can do? Concentrate, give the whale part of your energy, and know you are receiving some of hers…think about all of those wonderful years under the sea, blue light, and friends… Happiness, hunting, and survival. She had a good life; now it’s time to let go….but she will be with you, always….”
Ginny Beagan, 2015.
Chase closed his eyes. He concentrated….
No one spoke….
The whale had not taken a breath for minutes; her eyes were closed in peaceful repose; she did not fight.
Chase finally looked at me, glassy blue eyes reflecting blue ocean and blue sky…He understood.
We carried the whale to the Harbor Branch ambulance. Some people fought back tears. It was another whale of a lesson…a lesson that only our friends from the sea can give…
Whale is taken to ambulance. (Ginny Beagan, 2015.)
National Geographic’s February 2015 issue has an article entitled “Treading Water,” which discusses among other things, sea level rise and the future loss/threat to sugarcane and oranges south and around Lake Okeechobee in Florida. (NG, photo of page 119.)
My husband Ed was out of town on Friday, so I thought I would get some reading done on something other than the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. That evening, with the dogs at my feet, I began reading the February issue of National Geographic magazine, a publication my parents filled our family home with, and I have kept subscribing to as a window to the outside wonders of our world.
After reading articles on the terrible trauma of “blast force” to US soldiers that served in Iraq and Afghanistan; Hawaiian identity and the sea; and the amazing microscopic revelations of mites; —–at the very end of the magazine, there was an article entitled: TREADING WATER about climate change, seal level rise, and South Florida.
The article focused quite a bit on a Dutch company that sees “profit rather than loss” in floating houses in trendy Miami, but also mentioned a few things that had little silver lining such as an insert on page 112, entitled, “Home on the Water.” This insert briefly noted the 2,100 miles of canals, (that we are all so familiar with), that have been built over the past century to drain the Everglades and empty the state’s water mostly into the Atlantic Ocean. (FOS, 1.7 billion gallon a day on average….)
According to the article, if there is two feet of sea level rise, conservatively predicted by 2060, the gates draining the lands around lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, “will no longer work…”
I’ll be 95 in 2060….hope I can get out of the nursing home to see….
National Geographic page 112. “Given two feet of sea level rise, more than 80 % of the gates will no longer work.”
The article also notes “two key” very threatened and very profitable agricultural industries: sugarcane and oranges.
National Geographic magazine’s February 2015 issue article “Treading Water,” shows locations of sugarcane in the Everglades Agricultural Area, and orange groves both north and south Lake Okeechobee. (NG, photo of page 119.)
Food for thought….
Sea level rise is a factor I deal with as a commissioner in the Town of Sewall’s Point and have been exposed to through the Florida League of Cities. The sea has risen before and it is rising again. Too bad humanity is speeding things up, but we are…
After listening to many state agencies and scientists speak on the issue, I personally do not believe Florida will be abandoned or”sink.” I think it will rise in new form, adapting to change as humanity has done for thousands if not millions of years.
Nonetheless, if I owned sugar groves in the Everglades Agriculture Area, I’d have an exit strategy; if I worked for the Army Corp of Engineers, or South Florida Water Management District, I would reexamine the plumbing; and if I were Florida’s governor, or legislature, I would be talking to scientists about the advantage of fresh water on the land south of lake, pushing back salt water coming up from below and providing drinking water in the future to all those people living on floating houses in Miami…
So much for reading about the “rest of the world”…our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon/ Everglades issues are inescapable!
Town of Sewall’s Point: (http://sewallspoint.org )—FEMA houses being lifted, flood map changes are just a few of the things the town is dealing with in regard to sea level rise.
Sunrise along the Indian River Lagoon. Photograph by John Whiticar, 2015.
“Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset,
Swiftly fly the years,
One season following another,
Laden with happiness and tears…”
1st verse, of song from musical “Fiddler on the Roof,” 1964
The beautiful sunset and sunrise photos of our area’s photographers invoke a deep appreciation of our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, as well as the struggles and successes of our lives.
Sunsets and sunrises seems intrinsically linked to inspiration and reflection in all of us.
Thankfully, here in the Indian River Lagoon region, we can still see our sunrises and sunsets, although the health of our river, and thus our ability to enjoy the river, is “impaired.” This was scientifically determined by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) in 2000. (http://www.dep.state.fl.us/southeast/ecosum/ecosums/SLE_Impairment_Narrative_ver_3.7.pdf)
In Beijing, China, last year, the government erected a televised screen showing sunsets, as the people could not see their sunsets any longer— due to the tremendous smog in their city. What a price to pay for economic “success.”
China starts “televising” the sunset in Beijing, as the city is continually blanketed in smog, 2014. (Source earthfirstjournal.org.)
Oddly enough, on some level, we have experienced the same thing. On a level of world comparison, we have a “thriving economy;” however, somehow, over the past 100 years, we have “lost our river.” Yet in most of the adds one sees, the river still looks beautiful and healthy.
Right now, the Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE) is discharging water from Lake Okeechobee, while the South Florida Water Management District canals C-44, C-24, C-23, and C-25 are also dumping polluted water into our estuary. All of this extra water has been “engineered” to come here so agriculture and development can thrive. Us included…
Sunset, St Lucie River, 2014. Todd Thurlow.
So, right now there is “no other way,” and the ACOE and South Florida Water Management District are locked in a cycle of struggle to send more water south when the entire southern area south of Lake Okeechobee is blocked by the Everglades Agricultural Area— other than a few canals, to “send water south.” Plus the water is too dirty for the Everglades—but not for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon that is already “impaired.”
The “mighty” Kissimmee too has been “engineered for the success of farming and ranches and development in its former watershed. It is being partially restored by the SFWMD; this is wonderful, a testament of the ability of the system to recover if given a chance….
And after all, it’s not so bad here right? We can still see the sun…..AGGGGG!
Let’s continue to turn this ship; let’s continue to fix our own yards, towns, cities, and counties; let’s keep pushing the State for a reservoir/flow way to store, clean and convey water south. As Eric Eichenberg, CEO of the Everglades Foundation said yesterday at the Rivers Coalition meeting, this is the “only way” as the Kissimmee River’s continued restoration is simply not enough to hold all the water.
“Sunrise, sunset….sunrise, sunset….”we are thankful and we are inspired….
The first verse of the River Kidz’ Song, written by River Mom, Nicole Mader, and the River Kidz goes:
“The River Kidz are here; Our mission’s quite clear; We love our river and ALL its critters; Let’s hold it all dear…”
The rest of this wonderful song can be found on page 36 of the new workbook below.
After over a year of creative preparation, and community collaboration, the River Kidz’ 2nd Edition Workbook is here!
After long contemplation this morning, I decided to share the entire booklet in my blog; but as WordPress, does not accept PDF files, I have photographed the entire 39 pages! So, not all pages are perfectly readable, but you can get the idea.
The really cool thing about this workbook is that it was written “by kids for kids,” (Jensen Beach High School students for elementary students). The high school students named the main character of the book after Marty Baum, our Indian Riverkeeper. The students had met Mr Baum in their classroom (of Mrs Crystal Lucas) along with other presenters and field trip guides like the Army Corp of Engineers, South Florida Water Management District, and politicians speaking on the subject…
The books will be going into all second grade public school classrooms and many private school classrooms beginning in February of 2015. Teacher training will be underway this February at the Environmental Studies Center in Jensen: (https://www.facebook.com/escmc?rf=132947903444315)
River Kidz will make the booklet available to everyone. Some will be given away, and some will be used to raise money at five dollars a booklet. To purchase the booklets, please contact Olivia Sala, administrative assistant for the Rivers Coalition at olivia@riverscoalition.org —-Numbers are limited.
In closing, enjoy the workbook and thank you to Martin County, Superintendent, Laurie J. Gaylord for encouraging the workbook and for her beautiful letter in the front of the booklet. Thank you to Martin County School Science Leader, Valerie Gaylord; teacher, Mrs Crystal Lucas; Mom, Mrs Nicole Mader; Sewall’s Point artist, Ms Julia Kelly; Southeastern Printing’s Bluewater Editions’ manager and River Dad, Jason Leonard; to River Kidz founders Evie Flaugh and Naia Mader, now 14/13; years old–they were 10 and 9 when this started,—- to the Knoph Foundation, and the Garden Club of Stuart, and to the hundreds of kids, parents, students, businesses, politicians, state and federal agencies, and especially to Southeastern Printing and the Mader Family who made this concept a reality through education, participation. (Please see page 34 below.)
Thank you to all those who donated money for the workbook campaign and to River Kidz over the years, and to the Stuart News, for Eve Samples’ column, and reporter, Tyler Treadway, for including the River Kidz in their “12 Days of Christmas” for two years in a row. River Kidz is grateful to everyone has helped…this is a community effort!
River Kidz is now in St Lucie County and across the coast in Lee County….
Remember, all kids are “River Kidz,” even you!
—-The workbook is in loving memory of JBHS student, Kyle Conrad.
Lake Okeechobee is tremendous in size. One cannot see across to the other side. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, S. Engebretsen pilot, 2014.)
The first time I ever saw Lake Okeechobee, I was fourteen years old. I was visiting River Ranch, at Yeehaw Junction, with my friend Vicki Whipkey, and her family. Jay Brock, who was by far the smartest of any of us kids there that summer vacation, and my first real “crush,” recommended we go see sunset on the lake. I don’t remember how we got there, but we did.
Once we arrived, the sun was starting to fall. The horizon was miles away, and the water went as far as the eye could see in all directions.
“It looks like the ocean, not a lake.” I said, taken aback.
Jay, spouted off some statistics saying something like: “The lake is about 730 square miles; 35 miles long; and up to 25 miles wide. It is the largest lake entirely within a state in the United States of America; it is half the size of Rhode Island.”
I wondered how he know all this stuff, and we sat there watching the sunset.
I wondered if I would have my first kiss at this beautiful, but almost eerie, “ocean of a lake.” It never happened…
I never really forgot Jay Brock, and we remained friends throughout our lives.
I never, never, ever, forgot Lake Okeechobee.
Years later, an adult, I started going back to Lake Okeechobee in my forties when I started to become concerned about the releases from the lake into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. I wanted and needed to see it through “adult eyes.”
—-I have flown over the lake with my husband and his friends many times; I have entered the lake by boat; and I have driven 30 miles west with my niece Evie, on Highway 76, until arriving at Port Mayaca. No matter how I have gotten there, every time I see the lake, I have the same experience I had at fourteen years old, I am completely “overcome by its size.”
At the edge of Lake Okeechobee, 2015. (Photo by Ed Lippisch.)Lake Okeechobee by plane 2014. (Photo JTL.)Lake Okeechobee by boat. (Photo Ed Lippisch 2009.)
Yesterday, Governor Rick Scott pledged Amendment 1 monies to the Everglades, but not for buying the US Sugar option 1 lands south of Lake Okeechobee,
Option Lands Map SFWMD River of Grass, Option 1 is 46,800 acres and shown in brown. (SFWMD map, 2010.)
Aerial photo of portion of restored Kissimmee River. Note discolored filled in C-38 canal juxtaposed to winding restored oxbows. The Kissimmee is long but in its altered state, cannot hold all the extra water now stored in Lake Okeechobee and then released into the SLR/IRL and Caloosahatchee Estuaries. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, 2014).
I am thankful for this, but disappointed; I am thankful Governor Scott has the Everglades and local projects in his budget recommendation for the 2015 Legislative Session. Nonetheless, I recognize that our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon problems will never be fixed until there is land and eventually a reservoir south of the lake to store, clean, and convey water south— a flow way of sorts to move that water south….
THERE IS TOO MUCH WATER. SOME MUST GO SOUTH. WE NEED A COMBINATION AND THE OPTION 1 LANDS EXPIRE THIS OCTOBER, 2015.
Let’s think a minute. Let’s review, and contemplate about what we can still do to politely convince our governor and legislature. There is still time.
Florida Oceanographic Society quotes 1.5 or so million acres feet coming out the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee in 2013, (not our worst of years), with approximately 300,000 acre feet being released to the St Lucie/IRL and 660,000 acre feet being releases to the Caloosahatchee. The rest going to sustain the Everglades Agriculture Area south of the lake, and a smaller portion yet trickling to the dying Everglades.
So even if the Kissimmee holds more water, it won’t hold enough water. The water is meant to go south….
I wonder if the governor or Adam Putnam have any grandchildren who might be able to explain this? 🙂
Remember that the Governor’s recommendation is just that. It must be approved by the legislature. We still have time to make our voices heard and to ask for one thing to be added. ——one thing that would really help hold the tremendous and over-pouring waters of Lake Okeechobee, —-a lands purchase and a reservoir south of the lake. Then the senate, the house and the governor can duke it out….it’s not over yet!
What did Winston Churchill say? “Never, never, never, —-never give up!” 🙂
EAA below Lake Okeechobee. (Public map.)Historic flow from lake Okeechobee. (Map Everglades Foundation.)Today’s flow from Lake Okeechobee east and west through the estuaries. (Image Everglades Foundation.)My niece Evie stands at the manicured edge of the east side of Lake Okeechobee at Port Mayaca. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch 2013)Lake O. 730 square miles and was once 1000 square miles….
Option Lands Map SFWMD River of Grass, Option 1 is 46,800 acres and shown in brown. These option lands could store some of the water now stored in Lake Okeechobee and released to the estuaries. (SFWMD map, 2010)
The Florida legislature has dubbed 2015 as the “Year of Water.” But how exactly can Amendment 1’s “Water and Land Conservation Initiative” monies be spent, and how can we have a voice? (Water, public image.)
Hello again. Before I start, it is necessary quickly to review…:)
In yesterday’s blog, we discussed that when the South Florida Water Management District and the Army Corp of Engineers write or discuss “approved,” and “authorized,” projects, this does not mean they are “working on those projects” as the federal and state monies for those projects, like CERP and CEPP, may not have been “appropriated.” —Meaning the state and federal government has not given the agencies money to do the projects even though they have been “approved.” (http://www.evergladesplan.org/about/about_cerp_brief.aspx)
That’s a mouthful!
So basically, stakeholders are sitting around fighting about something that may never happen or might happen in 100 years.
Don’t get me wrong, the ACOE and SFWMD are working on projects, but not all of the 60 plus that are part of the Central Everglades Restoration Project/CERP. Rather, the agencies work and stop, work and stop, work and stop, waiting and hoping for more money to be APPROPRIATED for some of the projects, or maybe just one of the projects they are working on, before elections start up again, and the government officials change their minds!
Terrible isn’t it?
This is not the issue with Florida’s Amendment 1 monies. These monies will be here this year in 2015, and although it is not the 12 billion plus needed to accomplish CERP quoted in 2007, it is substantial monies, perhaps 700 million this year after debts, and billions over time? Amounts will depend on the real estate industry as monies come from “doc stamps on the deed:”
According to Scripps Newspapers, “The measure requires the state to set aside 33 percent of the money it raises through real-estate documentary stamp taxes to protect Florida’s environmentally sensitive areas for the next 20 years.”
Money to clean our dirty SLR/IRL water…(Water, public image.)
These state of Florida monies, will be real and will be doled out each year by our hungry, varied, and ever-changing legislature….
It will be great to have the money, but this will be a bloody fight for the Florida legislature.
Picture throwing a steak into a gathering of starved pit bulls. This is about the scenario…
Nonetheless, our elected legislative “pit bulls “have a responsibility to listen to their contingency while they are fighting, and this is why it is absolutely necessary that we all weigh in on issues of the polluted St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and its surrounding canals; Lake Okeechobee; the purchase of US Sugar option lands for a reservoir to store, clean and convey water; and eventual type of “flow-way” south to the Everglades…
Option Lands Map SFWMD River of Grass, Option 1 is 46,800 acres and shown in brown. (SFWMD map, 2010.)
Let’s be good students and quickly review the language of Amendment 1 so we know who our competition is and how to outsmart them; I know it is always kind of boring to read this sort of language, and it is somewhat long, but read it; know it; use it to your benefit!
Amendment 1 added a Section 28 to Article X of the Florida Constitution:[3]
SECTION 28. Land Acquisition Trust Fund. — a) Effective on July 1 of the year following passage of this amendment by the voters, and for a period of 20 years after that effective date, the Land Acquisition Trust Fund shall receive no less than 33 percent of net revenues derived from the existing excise tax on documents, as defined in the statutes in effect on January 1, 2012, as amended from time to time, or any successor or replacement tax, after the Department of Revenue first deducts a service charge to pay the costs of the collection and enforcement of the excise tax on documents. b) Funds in the Land Acquisition Trust Fund shall be expended only for the following purposes: 1) As provided by law, to finance or refinance: the acquisition and improvement of land, water areas, and related property interests, including conservation easements, and resources for conservation lands including wetlands, forests, and fish and wildlife habitat; wildlife management areas; lands that protect water resources and drinking water sources, including lands protecting the water quality and quantity of rivers, lakes, streams, springsheds, and lands providing recharge for groundwater and aquifer systems; lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area and the Everglades Protection Area, as defined in Article II, Section 7(b); beaches and shores; outdoor recreation lands, including recreational trails, parks, and urban open space; rural landscapes; working farms and ranches; historic or geologic sites; together with management, restoration of natural systems, and the enhancement of public access or recreational enjoyment of conservation lands. 2) To pay the debt service on bonds issued pursuant to Article VII, Section 11(e). c) The moneys deposited into the Land Acquisition Trust Fund, as defined by the statutes in effect on January 1, 2012, shall not be or become commingled with the General Revenue Fund of the state.[4]
Did you read it? Did you see it? It says right there in the legal language: lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area and the Everglades Protection Area….
Let’s ask the legislature to support the SLR/IRL so we can have clean water…(Water, public image.)
Pretend you are a legislator: “Fix Lake Okeechobee and the estuaries, or beach re-nourishment?” Get it?
So let’s compete! $$$$ Contact the Florida Senate. They have set up a web site to take our Amendment 1 requests. Just click and fill out below. Thank you for supporting our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!
Approve and Appropriate. What’s the difference? Isn’t the government working on fixing the Everglades? (Public image.)
“approve”
VERB
–officially agree to or accept as satisfactory: “the budget was approved by Congress” synonyms: accept · agree to · consent to
“appropriate”
VERB
—-devote (money or assets) to a special purpose: “Congress finally did appropriate money to the Everglades C-111 project after 15 years…” synonyms: allocate · assign · allot · earmark · set aside · devote
Sometimes, when I finally “get” something, I cannot believe it took me so long to understand. This has certainly been the case over the past six years when it comes to money, and projects, to help save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon as part of the Central Everglades Restoration Project— known as CERP. (http://www.evergladesplan.org/about/about_cerp_brief.aspx)
SAVE THE WATER; SAVE THE SLR/IRL and the EVERGLADES. (Waterfest art, 2nd graders, City of Stuart 2013.)
Although the projects for CERP were “expected” to take 30 years, 15 years has passed, and not one of the projects is fully completed. The kids that made the poster above may be grandparents by the time a couple of the dozens or so projects, that are necessary to fix the Everglades SLR/IRL, are completed.
Today, I thought I’d share this post just in case you are a bit confused by this long time line, like me.
I think another aspect of difficulty in “understanding” all of this is that many projects are written about, and talked about, in the press,and by the state and federal agencies, as if they are “under way,” when they are really not, or its just government officials arguing over projects that may never be.
As all things in life, understanding this “mess,” may help us to overcome it.
Today’s lesson:
So, there are two words you will often hear: 1.”approval” and 2. “appropriate.”
Just because something is “approved,” does not mean it is “appropriated,” because in the world of government, “appropriate” means GETTING THE MONEY TO DO THE WORK, and “approval” just means a bunch of people at one point agreed something is a good idea.
Just like in a small town, a commission may agree the town needs new street lights, and advertise this in their newsletter, but the commission may never, over time, actually do what is necessary for the staff to buy the lights and get them installed–like giving the staff the money. This is complicated by election cycles every two, to four, to six years! New people may not agree with the previous monetary decisions that were “approved.”
Water and money….
Let’s apply this to the US and State Government:
In the year 2000, the US Congress “approved,” the Central Everglades Restoration Project to help fix the messed-up south Florida Everglades system that was created mostly in the 1950s and 60s after a big flood in 1947. Stakeholders celebrated at the time, that the “over drainage,” dying estuaries, and the drying up of the Everglades would be fixed, but this situation is still not fixed enough to make a huge difference….Also, all the people that were in Congress in 2000 are mostly gone, and there are different priorities now.
Nonetheless, today, the Army Corp of Engineers/South Florida Water Management’s shared website on CERP reads:
“The Plan was approved (by Congress) in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2000. It includes more than 60 elements, will take more than 30 years to construct and the current estimate in Oct 2007 dollars is $9.5 billion for projects ($11.9 overall including PLA and AAM).”
OK if you read this, you would think this might mean it was “approved” so it is going to, or is being done. This is not the case because the money needed to construct and complete these projects has not been APPROPRIATED (set aside.)
The streetlights were never purchased and put up!
The scenario becomes even more complex in some instances as the State of Florida may be bound by contract to also give money or “cost share.” And if the US Congress has not given their “approved” part yet, the State can’t really get going and give its part. Sometimes the State moves ahead anyway……
Anyway, so everybody is grumpy, and fighting, and it’s a big mess.
So the bigger question is after 15 years:
Even though we all have our hopes up that the US Congress will APPROPRIATE the money for the CERP project to help fix the Everglades and St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, and people worked very hard to achieve this we must think…
—-If we are true to ourselves, viewing history, we see a situation, like a bad relationship, where someone promises you something, but never gives it to you…you keep hoping but it never happens….
—-Finally, after many years, you start to realize that although you have a “promise,” YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO GET IT!
(Or that it is unlikely anyway, or that you will be dead if you ever get it….)
Not a fun realization, but such is life…so do you stay in the relationship or break it off? Or maybe just become less dependent?
So here we are…..and there is some light now…
In closing…
Although the state of Florida cannot afford to fix the Everglades all by itself; it is too expensive, in the billions and billions of dollars. With the advent of Amendment 1 passing by 75%, there may be some ability for Florida to do this.
But that is another blog, for tomorrow!
River Kidz Naia and Kiele Mader in front of the White House, 2013.)
Option Lands Map SFWMD; Purchasing optional lands would start the process of having enough land south of Lake Okeechobee to store, clean and convey water south. (SFWMD map, 2010)
Map showing SFWMD boundaries overall, as well as Everglades National Park, and Water Conservation Areas. (Map courtesy of Florida Backroads Travel.)
This week, in our attempt to save and be knowledgeable about the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, we have learned about the STAs, Strormwater Treatment Areas, and the WCAs, Water Conservation Areas; today, will we will ask the question, “Where do the WCAs end, and where does Everglades National Park begin?”
After all, “send the water south” means to the Everglades…
On the Army Corp of Engineers’ Periodic Scientist Calls, the South Florida Water Management District is alway reporting how “full” or “not full” the WCAs are, so as to explain how much water “they have been able to send south/or not” through them…. The SFWMD has even created an amazing web site, that if you take the time to navigate, will teach you more than any of my blog posts ever can: (http://sfwmd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapTour/index.html?appid=a9072c94b5c144d8a8af14996ce23bca&webmap=d8e767997b0d494494243ffbc7f6f861)
The point is: in order to save the St Lucie/Indian River Lagoon, we have to keep an eye on the “big picture,” saving the Everglades…or what’s left, as “Everglades National Park.”
We have developed and altered this area so much very little is remaining–the drainage of the land, the redirection of the Lake Okeechobee’s waters through the estuaries, the construction of the Everglades Agricultural Area, as well as development of the coast and inland, is a testament to the impressive determination of humankind and our ability to alter our environment; but it is also an embarrassment of our inability to constrain ourselves or think long term. (See below.)
South Florida’s southern Everglades, 1950 vs. 2003. (Map courtesy of SFWMD.)Redirection of water to the estuaries. Late 1800 and early 1900s.(Map Everglades Foundation.)
So back to the original question, where do the WCA stop and Everglades National Park begin? Well, looking at the map below, we can see that Everglades National Park “proper” pretty much starts right under the Tamiami Trail. And we can tell from the other maps that the WCAs are above this area, as well as above the development on the south-east coast and inland areas of Florida, especially the City of Homestead. (See image 2 down.)
Knowing about the STAs, the WCAs and ENP will help us to save the SRL/IRL!
Map of the 6 Storm Water Treatment Areas south of Lake Okeechobee. (Image courtesy of SFWMD, 2014)
This week, focusing on learning our Everglades-St Lucie/Indian River Lagoon history, we turn our attention to the Storm Water Treatment Areas, better known as “STAs.” These STAs are controversial in two areas that you may have heard about: “Can they hold more Lake Okeechobee water;” and “why does the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) get to put their water through them with priority over straight Lake Okeechobee water?” This short write-up will not explore these questions in depth, but rather give an overview of what the STAs are and why they are there.
The Florida’s Everglades Forever Act of 1994 (http://www.floridadep.com/everglades/efa.htm) is the reason the STAs were constructed; the act mandated and funded construction of treatment areas for cleaning phosphorus from stormwater through “recreated wetlands.” The building of the STAs was basically due to a law suit from “downstream” as phosphorus, mostly coming from the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA), but also from other developed areas, was causing tremendous problem with flora and fauna and wildlife habitat as it flowed into lands south of the lake like the Miccosukee Indian Reservation, as well as Everglades National Park.
Presently, there are six STAs: “STA 1 West and East; STA 2; STA 3/4; and STA 5/6. They are read on a map “backwards” so to speak. You read them right to left, or east to west, like Hebrew. Maybe they built them that way…? This threw me off for a while, but now I’m getting it.
Anyway, let’s learn a little more.
STAs or Storm Water Treatment Areas take up phosphorus through aquatic plants. The dirty storm water from agriculture and development must be cleaned before it reaches the Everglades. (Image SFWMD, 2014)
The building of the STAs has been a huge success story and our own Martin County resident, Dr Gary Goforth, (http://garygoforth.net) worked intimately them when he worked at the SFWMD.
At present, 57,000 acres of land south of Lake Okeechobee, most once in the EAA, have been converted to STAs. In 2014 more water was put through the STAs than in years before as the SFWMD has been apparently afraid putting too much water through them would “hurt” them or they would exceed the phosphorus level allowed to go into the Everglades by a “consent decree.” Dr Goforth had encouraged using the STAs to their full capacity, and so far, from what I hear, the STAs are doing well, maybe even better being fully utilized.
According to the ACOE Periodic Scientist Calls I attend, the only STA that does not seem to get used as much is STA 5/6 in Hendry County. Supposedly this has something to do with how hard it is to get water into the STA.
Hmmmmmmm?
Well that’s enough for today! Lots more to talk about though! 🙂
With “my kids” at Pensacola High School, 1993, 9th grade English Class. (Photo courtesy of photography teacher at PHS.)
History shows that “things can change.” This doesn’t mean it will be easy, or perfect, but things can change.
Today is Martin Luther King Day, and as a former middle and high school English teacher, I have read Dr King’s speech “I Have a Dream,” many times together with my students, and each time, my eyes filled with tears at the prospect that these words could one day come true in spite of the pain and difficulty of “getting there.”
This held especially true when I was teaching in Pensacola, in Escambia County, which at the time was one on the very poorest counties in the state of Florida and may still be… I had two classes of “at risk” kids and my observation was basically that many of my students were “locked in the past” in their thought processes often quoting the Civil War and why things were as they were in their world.
Approaching Martin Luther King Day, we would read aloud Dr King’s speech, and I would tell them that although things are bad, they must remember, that years ago, things were worse, and most of all with the power of collective thinking, THINGS COULD CHANGE. And for that to occur, they had to believe it, live it, and be part of that of change.
I also taught my students some hard facts, noting that if they didn’t know their history, they would not have the tools, fire, or respect to create change in their world.
I believe that this lesson applies to river advocacy for the St Lucie/Indian River Lagoon as well. To make our advocacy work, we must know the history of Florida, the the Army Corp of Engineers, the South Florida Water Management District, agriculture, the EAA, development, and ourselves: then we must believe in change for the river, and we must be a part of that change.
Below are statistics of the history of the St Lucie River and releases from Lake Okeechobee, from 1931 to 2013. In 2014 there were no releases. Right now, in 2015, the ACOE has started again.
Thank you, to Dr Gary Goforth (http://garygoforth.net) for providing these numbers and an explanation of how he achieved them. The two columns are: “Estimated Releases to the River” (SLSR/IRL) and “Estimated Flow from Lake O to C-44 Canal.” Both are in acre feet. I use the first column often to compare and understand how much water has helped destroy our estuary over the years; ; I hope it becomes useful to you as well. And may we have a dream that things will get even better.
1931-2013 numbers for release from Lake Okeechobee to the St Lucie River. (Courtesy of Dr Gary Goforth, 2014.)1931-19601961-19951995-2013. (2014 = 0 to SLR)
Below is history and explanation from Dr Goforth:
History:
A state-authority – the Everglades Drainage District – constructed the St. Lucie Canal (later known as C-44) between May 28, 1915 and 1928. During this time they also built a lock and spillway at the Lake end of the canal and a lock and spillway at the present location of S-80. On June 13, 1923, water from Lake Okeechobee began flowing through the canal into the St. Lucie River.
In the 1930s and in the late 1940s the Corps enlarged the St. Lucie Canal, and it was then known as C-44.
In the 1940s the Corps completed S-80 – the St. Lucie Lock and Spillway – at the site of the original lock on the east end of the Canal. Flow data beginning 10/1/1952 for S-80 are reported by SFWMD.
In the 1970s the Corps constructed S-308 – Port Mayaca Lock and Spillway – west of the site of the original lock on the west end of the Canal.
Flow estimates:
I cannot find flow data for Lake releases to the Canal prior to April 1, 1931.
Between April 1, 1931 and September 30, 1952, Lake releases to the C-44 are reported by U.S. Geological Service.
I cannot find flow data for Lake releases to the C-44 between October 1, 1952 and December 31, 1964. However, flow data is available for S-80 beginning 10/1/1952, so I estimated Lake flows to the Canal for this period based on the S-80 flows and the correlation between concurrent observed flows at S-80 and S-308 (1965-2013).
Beginning January 1, 1965, Lake releases to the C-44 are reported by SFWMD.
I’ve also provided estimates of Lake releases to the St. Lucie River.
Lake releases are currently made to the C-44 Canal for two reasons: 1. Irrigation demand for agriculture in the C-44 Basin. This Lake water enters the Canal at S-308 but does not leave the Canal at S-80. 2. Regulatory releases from the Lake to the St. Lucie River.
Historically, some Lake water was sent to the St. Lucie River for perceived beneficial purposes – however today both Mark Perry and Deb Drum insist that Lake releases provide NO beneficial purpose to the River.
To calculate the Lake releases to the St. Lucie River, you need to compare the flow that enters the Canal at S-308 with the flow that passes through S-80. The minimum of the two flows is estimated to be the Lake flow to the River.
As an example, say 1000 gallons entered the Canal from the Lake on Day 1. The same day, no water passed through S-80. So for Day 1, the estimated Lake flow to the River is the minimum of (1000, 0) or 0 gallons.
As another example, say 1000 gallons entered the Canal from the Lake on Day 2. The same day, 500 gallons passed through S-80. So for Day 2, the estimated Lake flow to the River is the minimum of (1000, 500) or 500 gallons.
Using this method, we can estimate Lake flows to the St. Lucie River (Figure 2 and Table 2). Because flows were not available at both S-308 and S-80 for the period 1931-1964, I estimated these flows based on the correlation between concurrent observed flows at S-80 and S-308 during the period 1965-2013. Other folks (SFWMD or Corps) may estimate the flows differently based on different assumptions. —-Dr Gary Goforth
“Let’s Keep Working” was Gov. Scott’s 2014 reelection campaign slogan. “Clean Water” was part of his promise and for many it is an important piece of creating jobs, building the future and economy of Florida– a number one priority.
I met Governor Rick Scott when he came to Stuart during 2014, in response to the “Lost Summer of 2013,” and then again during his campaign reelection.
One of the most interesting things for me, was that he carried around a blue Sharpie pen. They say little things tell you a lot about a person’s personality….
When I gave him my booklet to sign, the booklet, Let’s Keep Florida Beautiful, dealing with Spring’s protection, his reelection campaign booklet he brought and shared with the area Chambers of Business, I handed him a ball-point pen to autograph my booklet. When he went to sign, it did not work!
He quickly reached inside his suit pocket and pulled out a blue Sharpie pen and proceeded to sign the booklet. (Photo below.)
The inside cover of Rick Scott’s campaign booklet “Let’s Keep Florida Beautiful,” 2014. (Photo JTL.)
As the Treasure Coast sits awaiting the ACOE opening of S-308 and S-80 structures this morning at 7:00AM, to once again pour polluted water from Lake Okeechobee into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, I would like to thank the Governor for his press release in response the releases yesterday, (below) and ask that CLEAN WATER becomes the height of his campaign promise.
I ask him, in this second round of water trouble, that he take out his Sharpie pen and fix the problem.
My personal request too, as is the Rivers Coalition’s, is that he consider the purchase of 46,800 acres of option lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area to create an area for dynamic (moving storage). A place to store, clean, and convey lots of water. Much more water than his present plans allows for.
I appreciate all that has been done by the State, but unfortunately these things are not enough to truly “Save Our River.” (http://riverscoalition.org)
Please leave a legacy of a lifetime, sir.
Option Lands Map SFWMD River of Grass, Option 1 is 46,800 acres and shown in brown. (SFWMD map, 2010.)
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The Governor’s press release statement regarding releases from Lake Okeechobee starting 1-16-15:
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Governor Scott released the following statement today on the news by the US Army Corps of Engineers of upcoming Lake Okeechobee releases to the east and the west, in anticipation of upcoming rainfall levels.
Governor Scott said, “The Corps’ announcement of releases today from Lake Okeechobee proves that we cannot relent in our mission to restore Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. We must stay the course on our current water restoration commitments and complete the projects we have already started. We also need the federal government to step up their commitment to Everglades restoration by immediately requiring the Army Corps of Engineers to repair the Lake Okeechobee dike. “The discharges from Lake Okeechobee in 2013, and the resulting harm to our estuaries, serve as a major signal that we must accelerate work on the restoration projects needed to safeguard South Florida’s waters. Addressing the environmental challenges of South Florida requires the simultaneous investment in projects to store excess water, clean polluted water and send the clean water south – away from our estuaries and into the Everglades.” Over the next four years, Governor Scott is committed to: • Fully fund the state’s share of the restoration of the Kissimmee River (which Governor Scott has already funded at $5 million); and • Fully fund the construction and completion of the C-43 (Governor Scott previously funded at $18 million) and C-44 (Governor Scott previously funded at $60 million). Focusing on completing these initiatives, while not a silver bullet, is essential to quickly increasing water storage space around Lake Okeechobee and restoring the Everglades. Together, these projects will create more than 300,000 acre-feet of new storage to help fight future releases from Lake Okeechobee. The Governor is committed to moving forward with sending water south. This year, the South Florida Water Management District sent more than 69 billion gallons of water south, sparing the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. ###
“Water, water, everywhere,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.”
― Samuel Taylor Coleridge, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
In the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” the winds have died, and the sailors sit surrounded by ocean water and they are thirsty, but no water is drinkable…a Mariner passenger had shot the albatross following the ship, a sign of “good luck.” Now the sailors feel they are cursed—-surrounded by the ocean, having no fresh water….the water of life…The sailors glare at the mariner knowing he is the cause of their situation….They make him wear the dead albatross around his neck as punishment.
One could say, this tale applies to today’s South Florida as well…
The sailors are those living in Florida today wanting clean water.
The mariner, who shot the albatross, would be yesterday/and some of today’s agricultural and development interests; state, local, and national governments; agencies; even some of our ancestors…..ourselves?
Perhaps it is not that simple to casts roles, but I’m sure you get the point. There are questions the tale makes us ask:
Is there someone to blame? Will it help if we change our ways and realize we did something unwise? Will we, indeed, make it to shore?
In any case, today, we all sit here on this grand peninsula of Florida wondering how it could be possible that we are surrounded by water and yet have so many problems because of it….
Could it be possible that one day we will wish “we” did not shoot the albatross by allowing the Army Corp of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District to send so much of our fresh water out to sea?
And then there is the knowledge that one day, truly, we may not have enough water…Desalination plants are an option, but they are tremendously expensive.
Right now, as we know, there is a movement to “send the water south.” To keep more water on the land.
The key for more water on the land is land acquisition. As Mark Perry of Florida of Oceanographic preaches over and over again: “store, treat, and convey…”
Mark Perry, lifetime advocate for the SLR/IRL and Executive Director at Florida Oceanographic.
Recently, I posted stating that according to Robert Johnson, the Director of South Florida Natural Resources Center, at Everglades National Park, 800,000 acre feet of water, goes south to the “southern estuaries.
“I made a mistake. “Southern Estuaries” refers to Biscayne Bay and such. “We” are the “northern estuaries”….So to correct myself, Mr Johnson’s slide below implies that only 67,000 acre feet of water a year goes to the SLR/IRL and 390,000 acre feet goes to the Calooshahatchee.
Slide from Robert Johnson’s presentation, Everglades Coalition 2015.
Mark Perry of Florida Oceanographic (http://www.floridaocean.org) disagrees; he says it is more than that. His research shows that the amount of water coming into, the NORTHERN ESTUARIES, annually, is around 1.4 million acre feet, with 442,000 acre feet going to the St Lucie and 976,000 acre feet going to the Caloosahatchee.
More easily translated, this is 20% to the St Lucie/IRL; 44% to the Calooshahatchee; 23% to Agriculture in the Everglades Agricultural Area; and only 13% to the Everglades. (See slide below.)
Slide showing average annual water dispersed , Mark Perry, 2013.
You know what?
In spite of the numbers, we all know “it” is a ton of water. More water than we can imagine. An ocean of water. Water we need for the Everglades and for the ourselves….
Option Lands Map SFWMD River of Grass
So let’s not end up like the sailors in the “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” with no water to drink, or the Mariner who had to wear the albatross around his neck as punishment for killing “life and luck.”
In fact, let’s change our luck. Let’s keep some of this precious water on the land rather than wasting it to tide.
As Mr Perry states in his slide show 1.7 billion gallons of water is wasted to tide per day through the canals of south Florida, translating into approximately, 5.9 million dollars a day.
Slide, Mark Perry.
Look up! Do you see an another albatross approaching our ship? I do.
Let’s allow it to fly with us this time, as we work for a better water future for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon…
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ONLINE ASK: What does the Albatross symbolize in the rime of the ancient mariner?
The albatross in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is supposed to symbolize a good omen. The ship’s crew thought that it brought good luck. However, the Mariner shot and killed the albatross and so it became a curse. He was made to wear the albatross around his neck.
Structure S-80 releasing water into the C-44 canal which flows into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, 2013.(Photo Dr. Scott Kuhns.)
I believe the awful situation regarding the consistent degradation of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon by the Army Corp of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District could be helped if we would learn to “speak their language.”
Communication is particularly difficult for the public during dumping of polluted Lake Okeechobee water through the C-44 canal into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. (Which may start again any day now…)
Let’s learn some “releasing terminology” in case we don’t speak it that well….
When the ACOE/SFWMD starts dumping, there are two major terms: CFS and ACRE FEET that are good to know.
1. “CFS” means “cubic feet per second.” This is a “RATE of discharge representing a volume of 1 cubic foot passing a given point during 1 second of time.”
2. An ACRE FOOT, the second term, is a VOLUME of water “that covers one acre at a depth of 12 inches.”
Obviously, higher CFS numbers translate into higher ACRE FEET numbers. But what do these numbers mean?
Easily put, for the St Lucie River, none of it, if dumping, is “good.”
For reference, during the “Lost Summer” of 2013, the highest CFS discharge I heard reported was up to 7000 cfs during the very height of the releases. Usually, it was lower,May-October, ranging from about 200 to 4000 cfs.
Now acre feet.
According to Robert Johnson, Director of South Florida Natural Resouces Center at Everglades Nation Park, who presented at the Everglades Coalition last week, —-NOT during 2013, but ON AVERAGE, “800,000 acre feet of water from Lake Okeechobee flows per year towards the southern estuaries.”
Mind you, the larger Caloosahatchee on the west coast takes the majority of that water. I am no expert, but I think I can safely say, they usually take closer to 2/3 the water the water the St Lucie does.
Can you do the math? I need my calculator! AG! Over 200,000 Acre feet for sure going towards the St Lucie and over 500,000 going towards the Caloosahatchee.
In the end, no matter what, the numbers are staggering! Truly mind-blowing. 800,000 acre feet, would need 800,000 acres to hold 800,000 acre feet of water at 12 inches. The EAA is 700,000 acres….
So, let’s learn to speak the language and communicate our wishes! And take a look at the handout below. It’s a good one!
This sheet was shared at the Everglades Coalition Conference’s session “Beauty and the Beast: Lake Okeechobee and the Herbert Hoover Dike.” 2015
“Chronology of Water Management Changes” map. Reconstructed pre-drainage landscapes, source, McVoyet al., 2011. Presentation of Robert Johnson, Director of South Florida Natural Resources Center at Everglades National Park,Everglades Coalition, 2015. (With words added: “Water Started Flowing South 2014, JTL”.)
After the horrendous “Lost Summer of 2013,” and public outcry, more water has been sent south to the Everglades by the Army Corp of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District in 2014/15 than in the past ten years. But we are still drowning…
Hanging over our heads is the fact that Lake Okeechobee is at 15.04 feet today, and chances are that to prepare the lake for a predicted El Nino rainy winter/spring, the ACOE is going to “have to” start releasing water soon. Although it’s being worked on right now, the system is not even close to being able to hold the ocean of overflow-lake water and “send it south….” plus we are handcuffed by 10 parts per billion phosphorus goals.(http://www.sfwmd.gov/portal/page/portal/xrepository/sfwmd_repository_pdf/derivation_wqbel_stas_toc_4-20-10.pdf)
With this in mind, the Everglades Coalition’s 30th Annual Conference (http://evergladescoalition.org) was a whirlwind; its theme “Send it South: Water for America’s Everglades.”
Let’s begin, by looking at some water/land maps and think about the big picture.
The image below is a “simplified chronology of water management changes,” and shows the canals and structures that waste water to the ocean destroying our precious estuaries. This map was shared by Robert Johnson during the coalition meeting. It made a big impression on me, because it gives historical perspective, is simple, and is clear.
Map again from above to review.
The red lines are canals that drain lake Okeechobee. We know them well: the Caloosahatchee (C-43); the Miami: the North New River: the Hillsboro: the West Palm Beach; and our own St Lucie (C-44). The grey shows the Herbert Hoover Dike built around Lake Okeechobee in the 1930s after the terrible hurricanes of the late 1920s; the Eastern Protective Levee is also in grey, on the far right, and basically is like a giant underground wall between the Everglades and eastern coastal development; the Everglades Agricultural Area Levee System, which I think is the grey line depicting a structure built south and almost around the Everglades Agricultural area; the Water Conservation Area Levees (WCAs-areas where water slowly travels south after being cleaned in Storm Water Treatment Areas (STAs) above them) are the grey lines around the WCAs; and last on this chart, the South Dade Conveyance System…
There are other canals as well. Thousands of miles of them….
These canals make our lives a living hell along the Indian River Lagoon, and must be re-plumed, but we must note that they also have allowed South Florida to rise above the poverty of our ancestors, and to develop some of the world’s most “productive” sugar and vegetable farms. Too bad they had to build their riches south of Lake Okeechobee blocking the flow of the lake! Also, much of this drainage system has allowed development of the east coast of south Florida, inside the Everglades’ boundary which is in yellow on the map above and red below.
The red line, shows were development has “crept into the Everglades.” This is obviously a problem for sending water south. Therefore, whatever is created to “send more water south,” must be created so as to avoid destroying lives or property.
West of the red lines shows the edge of what was once the Everglades in South Florida. Development has crept and continues to creep over this edge. (Photo/map courtesy of Chappy Young,/GCY Surveyors, 2014.)
So narrowing this down to “our” needs, how does one build a way to send more water south? And aren’t we already doing that? Let’s look at the projects being built first before we conclude our goals for more storage.
There are many projects on the books to help with sending water south: some include CERP (http://www.evergladesplan.org/about/about_cerp_brief.aspx) and CEPP…(http://www.evergladesplan.org/docs/fs_cepp_jan_2013.pdf), in fact parts of the Tamiami Trail are being raised right now, but according to many experts at the coalition, one thing is missing, enormous amounts of LAND. Land would help these projects come into being. There must be land to hold some of the tremendous amounts of water, and to clean it. Also realistically, the above projects will take generations to complete. Land purchase or no land purchase.
One thing is for sure, more land south of the lake would help the situation tremendously. As even a five year old can see, lack of lands south of the lake is the true disconnect. But where is there that much land and what are our options?
Below is a map of “Option 1,” and “Option 2”, lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area, lands that US Sugar agreed to sell in 2008. These lands remain for sale.
Perhaps US Sugar rather not sell these lands anymore. In 2008 they were going broke, but today, ironically after an infusion of cash from the South Florida Water Management District that was given to buy the paired down 26,800 acres purchased, and since the economy has improved since, US Sugar is thriving again.
But a “contract is a contract,” and thus there remains a contract allowing for the state of Florida to buy the option lands.
General consensus for many at the Everglades Coalition meeting was “buy the lands” with the new Amendment 1 (http://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Water_and_Land_Conservation_Initiative,_Amendment_1_%282014%29) monies starting with Option 1 because it is less expensive than Option 2, and can be traded for other lands, and because the option expires in October of 2015. The secondoption expires around 2020.
Option Lands Map SFWMD River of Grass
Would purchasing these slow everyone down even more, taking moneys and energy away from other projects?
Hmmmm? Maybe, but according to some very seasoned River/Everglades Warriors, it is worth it.
At the Everglades Coalition meeting Nathaniel Reed, Maggie Hurchalla, Mary Barely, former governor Bob Graham, and Mark Perry gave the group a “call to action” to purchase these option lands. It is a lofty goal and one that would change the game forever.
But there is not much time, and the legislature is in committee meetings “now.” (January through Feburary) and convenes (starts) March 3, 2015, and then ends in May! A rabbit race!
There is not a second to spare.
So long story short, there may be options as far a purchasing the sugar lands, but there is no option when it comes to advocating for such. Should this be your goal, you must start today! Start writing and calling below and thank you for being a part of history!
Understanding our Florida state legislature and how to make it work for the Indian River Lagoon.
As usual, I will be talking today about something I certainly don’t totally understand, but have gotten glimpses into, and therefore want to share…
The state legislature and how it works is very confusing. It is a much larger, shrouded, party-oriented, moodier animal– to say the least, and meetings are not as easy to attend as local county or city commission meetings here at home.
So, how can we begin to approach and understand the legislature and all of its moving parts, in order to get what we want for our ailing St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon?
Let’s start out with the very simple…
First, even though the formal legislative session does not start until March 3rd, the state legislature is holding committee meetings now. We must communicate with the legislature now, while they are in committee meetings, and not wait until “session.” Waiting until session is too late. The whole process is fast and furious and during session there is no time to “talk.”
The dates I have from my Florida League of Cities information packet for the 2015 Florida Legislative Committee (and they are subject to change, ) are as follows:
Legislative Interim Committees: January 5-9; 20-23.
Legislative Interim Committees: February 2-5; 9-13; and 16-20.
March 3rd Legislative Session Convenes (begins)
May 1st is the last day of Regular Session.
So politicians are in meetings this week, right now! In order to find out what committees are meeting and where, you have to visit their webistes….we will talk about this in a minute.
Second, who is on what committees, and who are “our” state legislators?
There are many committees and figuring out what bill will be in what committee during session or when they are meeting is not easy, but basically for the “Indian River Lagoon” I try to keep track of two committees: 1. the “Senate’s Natural Resources and Conservation Committee” and 2. the “House’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.” (Gulp, don’t ask me why natural resources is together with agriculture as it seems sometimes the two have competing interest.)
It is important to know that the president of the Senate this year is Andy Gardiner and the speaker of the house is Steve Crisafulli. Both of these gentlemen represent parts of Brevard County which is on the INDIAN RIVER LAGOON! Maybe you could write them a note….?
Now, go to both sites and look up “committees,” finding the two I mentioned above. Next, go to “calendar” and determine the dates and what rooms in which the committees will be meeting.
From what I understand, you can fill out a form on-line to speak in one of these meetings; the problem is you could drive all the way to Tallahassee and then the committee chair may decide to cancel the meeting or not allow you much time to talk. Committee chairs are very powerful positions and are determined at the beginning of each legislative session. Nonetheless, look up the chairs of the two Natural Resource Committees. Do you know them? Do you know somebody who knows them?
OK, now, third, is a good time to talk about “our legislators” also called our “legislative delegation.” Let’s find out what committees our legislators are on this year. Then let’s write and congratulate them! This is a good way to start a relationship. To get anything at all, you have to build a relationship. This can be done! They want to hear from you!
Also, don’t just contact them when you want something. Stay in touch regularly. Tell them what you are doing, send them a summary of what you as an activist or your organization is doing. Start by looking up the assistant of the legislator and contacting this person. Over time, try to get an appointment with the legislator. Be diligent; be positive; be polite; keep going back….Don’t give up! Invite them places; invite them to your rallies!
From my recollection, our Martin/St Lucie/Indian River area legislators are:
Senators: Joe Negron and Denise Grimsley: To learn about them go to (http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators) and search by last name to see their committee appointments and if they are chairing a committee.
This is a lot of work, but if you don’t know anything about your legislators how can you ask anything from them or make a good impression?
Interestingly, you will note many of them, do not serve on the Natural Resource or Agriculture and Natural Resource Committees. (I believe Larry Lee and Debbie Mayfield are the only ones I have seen over the past years….) Nonetheless, as bills move through committees our delegation can give input…if you communicate with them that is. If you don’t, don’t expect your voice to be heard.
The biggest thing that will be affecting the Indian River Lagoon this session besides Senator Negron following through on his Senate Select Committee on the IRL and Lake Okeechobee commitments will be how the legislature decides to deal with the passing of Amendment 1. for lands acquisition.
Just last night, Ted Guy, of the Rivers Coalition, sent out an email stating the Senate was now taking comments on their website from the public on how to utilize Amendment 1, the Water and Land Legacy Amendment, and that a new committee had been formed on its behalf.
So, this is just the tip of the iceberg, but go ahead, stick your feet in the cold, cold water; let’s warm things up, and be the voice of the Indian River Lagoon!
An albino Atlantic bottle nosed dolphin calf with its mother, (not in the IRL) photographed by Flicker’s Natalia Tsoukala, 2014.
Christin Erazo is the producer for TC Palm’s “Indian River Lagoon” segment, and although other reporters have done a good job reporting about our friends in the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, Christin has really excelled with her past year’s dolphin series, teaching us about their families, their struggles in the polluted lagoon, and even their names! (https://twitter.com/TCPalmChristin)
In the past, I have written about black bobcats, and black wolves of the Indian River Lagoon, so it makes sense that today I focus on the recent white (albino) dolphin sighting in the lagoon that Christen brought to my attention through her IRL Dolphin series.
A couple of days ago, Florida Fish and Wildlife posted this video of what really looks like an albino dolphin swimming around, just off shore, in what appears to be the central lagoon area. Of course, FFW will not report where the sighting actually was so people do not overwhelm or accidentally harass the animal. Some say, like my favorite research institute, FAU/Harbor Branch, that it is “unlikely” that the video is really showing an albino dolphin…
I, as the child of the 60s, prefer “to believe.” 🙂
And of course, I am not a scientist!
When I was a kid growing up in Stuart, some of the most fun was had dreaming and talking about the Lock Ness Monster and Sasquatch. But all joking aside, why wouldn’t there be a white dolphin? The wonders of this world are many….
According to popular blogger, Jane Kingswell of the United Kingdom, (https://animalnewsuk.wordpress.com/about-2/), “Animal News,” there is 1/10,000 chance that any animal, including humans, can be albino. Being albino in the animal kingdom is difficult as one “stands out,” and is not camouflaged against predators. Usually albino animals have shorter life spans for this reason and as well as being more prone to health issues.
But aren’t they magnificent!
To me, even the possibility that there is an albino dolphin, is a miracle, just like everything else in this world. And as we all know, when we look at the miracle of our life every day, we often don’t “see it.”
The chance that an albino dolphin lives in our wonder filled Indian River Lagoon is just a reminder for us to “open our eyes” and see it all, the miracle, the gift, of our Indian River Lagoon.
Generally speaking, during an El Nino, ocean waters are warmer and thus there is more rain. (Public photo)
Last night, my husband, Ed, walks into my office, sneaks behind me, looks at my computer screen with an El Nino water pattern photo on it, and says jokingly: ” What are you now? The weatherman?”
I look at him with a wry smile:”No, I’m not the weatherman; I am going to write about El Nino in my “Indian River Lagoon” blog tomorrow. I think the ACOE could start dumping into the St Lucie River soon. There’s a connection with El Nino, and it’s a terrible way to possibly start the new year.”
Ed leaves the room laughing…”Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch- weatherman!”
Well, Ed did make me laugh for the moment; but today, I am not laughing.
From what I have witnessed over the past few weeks, before I had a wonderful holiday break, as I hope you did, the scientists on ACOE Periodic Scientist Conference for Lake Okeechobee and the Estuaries, were alluding to releasing water from Lake Okeechobee to the estuaries. I have been thinking about this the entire break. This could happen, or not happen. And although the reasons are many and multi-layered, let’s start with a simple question.
“What is an El Nino?”
Apparently the word which literally means “Christ Child” (Little Boy) is derived from Spanish-speaking fishermen who noticed that sometimes, around Christmas, ocean waters get warmer, thus the name. Because the warmer waters are not as nutrient filled as the cool waters, this radically affects fishing, and bird life, as well as weather patterns—causing more rain during the winter season.
So, during the recent ACOE Periodic Scientist calls, that I sit in as an elected official, most recently on December 23, 2014, NOAA reported that there is a 65% chance that there could be an “El Nino” this winter. (http://www.elnino.noaa.gov/) Thus the projections for rain this winter are “high.”
For scientists from the Army Corp of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District tying to manage Lake Okeechobee, (http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/reports.htm), this affects how they will manage the lake. The lake is now at 15.20 feet. This is almost a full foot higher than last year and high in general for this time of year. Usually at this time of year one would hope that the lake is going down so it will be ready to hold the waters of the next rainy season…
All things considered, now the ACOE/SFWMD might dump to “make room.” You’ve got to be kidding me?
Why can’t the ACOE send this lake water south?
According to them and the charts below, they can’t because they already sent so much water south in 2014. Sending water south is good. More water was sent south in 2014 than in many, many years before. Still….
Hmmm…. So am I supposed to feel OK about this? No.
It’s kind of like understanding why you are going to get beaten. You may understand, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less….
Also, one other thing they don’t mention is that the Storm Water Treatment Areas and Water Conservation Areas south of the lake are reserved first for the Everglades Agriculture Area’s (EAA) water….
In my opinion, this is not right….
It is also not right that the estuaries repeatedly get destroyed. We must fight on.
So take a look at these slides and “understand,” but may it give us ammunition to fight harder as part of our new year’s resolution for 2015, and definitely, not to accept our plight.
ACOE/SFWMD summary at last Periodic Scientist Call, 12-23-14.ACOE/SFWMD chart from PSC showing how much water they “could” have sent the SLR…12-23-14. Blue what LORS allowed. Red what they sent this year.(LORS 2008) Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule chart. Although the ACOE’s chart “tells” the ACOE that they can send the SLR 1170 cfs of water, and has for months, the ACOE has been sending 0.
Happy New Year. Happy 2015. 2014 was “progress” because of you. So let’s keep learning, and pushing for a third outlet south of the lake, and lands to hold that water, so one day in the future, we don’t have start the new year with an ax over our heads.
Below is the last message from the ACOE, regarding the next Periodic Scientists Conference Call, so tomorrow, will be an “epiphany.”
12-24-14: “The next periodic scientist call will be 6 January 2015 at 2:00 PM. We anticipate continued discussions regarding Lake Okeechobee levels, weather forecasts to include El Nino conditions, and dry season lake release strategy.” —ACOE
Baron and Bo wish you and your family a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy New Year! (Photo by Cathy Baker, 2014.)
Thank you for reading my blog “Indian River Lagoon,” this past 2014.
I will be taking a holiday blog break, and will return January 5th of 2015. My husband, Ed, my dogs, Bo and Baron, and I, wish you a very happy holiday season! Hopefully we can all get outside and enjoy our St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon.
Bo and Baron also enjoy the water, especially when it’s not too hot to play in a full fur coat!
Bo and Baron enjoying a boat ride along the IRL.Bo and Baron’s favorite spoil-island in the IRL.Baron and Bo at the St Lucie Inlet fetching sticks and playing in the surf.
Indian Riverkeeper, Marty Baum, and River Warrior, Robin Pittman, were wed December 20th, 2014, at Jensen Beach Christian Church, in Jensen, along the Indian River Lagoon. (Photo by Keri West, Keri West Studios, 2014)The Congregational Union Church’s lands were a gift of the Tilton family; the church was built in 1912. (Photo courtesy of historian Sandra Henderson Thurlow’s book , “Jensen and Eden on Florida’s Indian River.”)
Recently, the 1912 Jensen Congregational Union Church was the fabulous setting for a very special day. –A day of marriage, for Indian Riverkeeper, Marty Baum, and his beautiful bride, River Warrior, Robin Pittman.
The quaint, lagoon, pioneer-church, that saw so much happiness this day, has known many names, and many faces throughout its many years: 1912, Congregation Union Church; 1933, Jensen Community Church; and 1969, Jensen Beach Christian Church.
It has been a sanctuary along the Indian River Lagoon for 102 years…
“Love is Spoken Here” hangs above the door of the historic church. The bell is rung to announce the marriage! (Photo Keri West.)
The 2014 ceremony was a real “tear jerker.” The entire River Warrior community came together to make this union happen for Marty and Robin. –The perfect sanctuary; bright, beautiful flowers; fashionable hair styling; sumptuous food; decorations; a classic wedding dress; river invitations; bubbles to blow; a guest book; a river cake; and at the end of the day, pink rose petals on the bed of a romantic river cottage….
Photographer, Keri West and videographer, Kenny Hinkle Jr. documented the entire event; eloquent organizer, and preacher for the occasion, Jo Neeson, led the ceremony with many, many others giving their support.
At one point, the Reverend Guy Calvert looked upon the congregation stating:
“The church welcomes the River Warriors to this house…”
I sat between my parents and my husband, fighting back every tear. Thankfully, Gayle Ryan had knowingly handed me a Kleenex on the way inside.
I sat there thinking about my own marriage, and about how at the end of our life journey, love is really all we have to take with us.
“To find love along the Indian River Lagoon, I thought….this is wonderful…”
At the pulpit with Rev.Guy Calvert. (Photo courtesy of Rebecca Fatzinger.)
As Marty and Robin said their vows, I felt a deep sense of history, and how the Indian River has always brought people together, in fact for hundreds of years.
—The river is in us; it is us, and we are her…
It was a beautiful ceremony and I am thankful to have been there. Through the love of Marty and Robin, may the “living waters” of the Indian River Lagoon flow, renewed, once again for all of us….
The pews of the church were given by Henry Flagler.Congregation welcomes Mr and Mrs Marry Baum!Wedding Song, by Peter, Paul and Mary and sung by the congregation.Historic organ, also from Mr Henry Flagler.A happy day!
Comparison of 1947 USGS map/and Google Earth aerial 2014–Shows natural inlet break 1.1 miles south of St Lucie Inlet in 1947 and how much Jupiter Island has migrated towards the coast since then.
“The only thing that is constant is change…” Heraclitus
In a world that is constantly in flux, it is natural to try to make things permanent. Nonetheless, this is to no avail. Nowhere is this as strikingly apparent as our barrier islands off the U.S. Atlantic coastline, right here at home, along our beautiful Indian River Lagoon.
As you know, over thousands of years, storms, winds and tides, along with other forces, have caused the openings of natural inlets along the Indian River Lagoon. Since the late 1800s, humankind, with the help of the Army Corp of Engineers, has “determined” where “permanent” inlets should be located, and filled in those otherwise forming…
My brother, Todd Thurlow, (http://thurlowpa.com) has finalized his Time Capsule Flight video of “The Inlets of Peck’s Lake and the Jupiter Narrows,” that I first shared with you in “trial version” last week. His result is even more remarkable.
Through the overlay of Google Earth, historic aerial photographs, NOAA, and USGS maps, his work provides a look back in history to see that our coastline south of today’s St Lucie Inlet has broken through at least four times to form four natural inlets since 1947.
They are: 1947 (1.1 mile south); 1952 (0.5 miles south); 1958 (1.1 south again or another in close proximity; and 1962 at Peck’s Lake during the famous Ash Wed storm.
At one point, I tried to pin Todd down about the number of barrier island breakthroughs. This was his reply:
“Jacqui – at least four breaks sounds right, but I am sure there have been an infinite number of breaks over the centuries – Joes point, Herman Bay, the Cove at IRP, Big and Little Mud creeks… “
I also tried to get an answer out of him that I have been wondering about for years: “How much shoreline along Jupiter Island near Peck’s Lake has “disappeared?” Todd was quick to say that it is “not that easy” and that this area has probably been coming and going for a long, long time…
Nonetheless, it is cool to think about. Here is his map. According to Todd, the red polygon in the attached image measures 445 Acres – approximately the amount of land that disappeared between Peck’s Lake and the Inlet since the 1887 NOAA chart. The yellow line measures 1770 feet – a third of a mile.
Yikes! 🙂
Shoreline loss close to Peck’s Lake since 1887 map.
I am excited that Todd is sharing his “evolved” Thurlow map talents, and I am looking forward to a 2015 where he is a regular guest on my blog, taking us all to a high and fluid perspective where we can see change along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon in a way never before.
Home Page for new SFWMD website “Moving Water South,” 2014.
In case you have not seen it, managers at the South Florida Water Management District have created a wonderful new website entitled “Moving Water South.”
This website shows the incredible “work-around” the District performs to send water through the Everglades Agricultural Area, (EAA), to get water to flow south. The EAA, of course, is one of the nation’s richest agricultural areas and completely blocks the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades. Since the 1920s, the EAA has been the primary reason for the Army Corp of Engineers building canals C-43 and C-44 for the “overflow” waters of Lake Okeechobee. These excess waters are then dumped into our precious estuaries of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and Caloosahatchee. This destroys them.
If you go to the link above and view the website you will see a combination of ten different structures, (S); stormwater treatment areas, (STA); and water conservation areas (WC) that either basically send, clean, or hold water in its journey south.
They are as follows: Lake Okeechobee; S-354; S-351; S-352; C10A; WC1; WC2; WC3; STA3/4; and STA 2.
I really think this is a great site and as a former 8th and 9th grade teacher, I appreciate that it is something that can be visually shared with young people so that they can easily understand why our estuaries are periodically destroyed; the value, but difficulty of the EAA’s location; and why our Everglades are being starved of the amount of water they originally received.
My greatest hope with tools like this is that future generations will be able to figure out a way for us all “to have our cake and eat it too–” allowing enough water to go south so as not to destroy our estuaries, and allow the state’s long time best friend, historic “Ag” to do what it does, make money and feed people….
I definitiely commend the SFWMD for the transparency of the web-site; let’s take a look at what they are reporting today.
From Nov. 1, 2013, through Oct. 31, 2014, South Florida Water Management District operations moved approximately 339 billion gallons of water from Lake Okeechobee – that’s the same as 782,367 football fields filled with 1 foot of water or about 2.2 feet of water depth of Lake Okeechobee.
Holy Toledo! 339 billion gallons of water. Hmmm? How much is that?
After the 2013 Lost Summer and looking at the ACOE’s website for so long, I understand acre feet better….so how do we convert gallons to acre feet? (An acre foot is one foot of water standing on one acre of land…)
Thankfully, I have friends who can help me answer this question.
My friend, Dr Goforth, (garygoforth.net), a former long time employee of the SFWMD and designer of the Storm Water Treatment Areas told me:
“To convert from gallons to acre feet, divide by 325,872.”
All joking aside, thank you SFWMD for the website. By the way, it is important to recognize that the ACOE and SFWMD have “moved more water south” in 2014 than at least since 1995. Bravo!
In conclusion, in conferring with Dr Goforth, he thought it was a great site too, but mentioned it would be nice if the site explained how much water “made it to Everglades,” as this is a tremendous part of the overall goal.
Below is Dr Goforth’s chart showing water to Everglades among other complicated transactions. Like I said, thank God there are people who can read this stuff and do the numbers; all I really know is that sometimes there is an ocean of water coming into our estuaries and it needs to go somewhere else!
Dr Gary Goforth’s chart for moving water south to the Everglades, May-Oct. 2014.
*Thank you to Ted Guy for calling the Move Water South site to my attention!
12-20-14: After completing the above post, I am adding the chart below of Dr Goforth’s showing how much water by year comparatively moved south into the STAs from 1995 to 2014. I think it is a helpful visual and now I can reference this photo in Comments of this blog post.
Dr Goforth’s chart showing amount of Lake O. water sent south to the STAs from 1995-2014.
I am also adding this Option Lands Map as it too is referred to in the comments on this blog post as a way to send even more water south and create a type of flow way in the future….
Bessey Creek (winding left into today’s Palm City) along exiting point for C-23 into the St Lucie River. The canal was built between 1959 and 1961. Bessey Creek used to be a flowing, clean beautiful creek–today it is polluted.(Photo Thurlow Archive, 1965)
Press Release for “Hybrid Wetland Technology Treatment Project Groundbreaking:”
Because of my Sewall’s Point commission position, I received an invitation to attend yesterday’s groundbreaking of Martin County’s “Bessey Creek Hybrid Wetland Treatment Technology Project” ceremony located about 2.1 miles north of SW Citrus Boulevard in Palm City. I was honored that they invited me, so I decided to go. I have read about the project for a couple of years now, but of course I am no expert on chemical cleaning of filthy storm water running into our waterways.
On the way there, I was thinking:
“Does Bessey Creek really start all the way out here?”
I always think of the mouth of Bessey Creek, which intersects with the notorious C-23 Canal as the border of Martin and St Lucie Counties, when I think of Bessey Creek.
Driving so far away from the coast, memories came back to me of Martin County High School in the 1980s, and the great parties off of Boat Ramp Road! (I’ll stop there…. 🙂
Years ago, before the draining and canal building of the 1920s and after, these Palm City area lands were mostly “wetlands” but now they are “dry.” When I was young, it was mostly cows “out here,” but now it is thousands of people and agricultue.
Bessey Creek area by groundbreaking off Citrus Blvd. (northern part of photo Google map photo)This photo is more south-easterly showing where Bessey Creek exits into SLR. (Google Earth) Today’s version of 1965 photo at beginning of this blog post.
The groundbreaking was very well done and elegant Vice-Chair of the Martin County commission, Ann Scott, led the ceremony. Commissioner, John Haddox, was there as well. Deb Drum’s team, from the county’s Ecosystem Restoration and Management Division of the Martin County Engineering Department is the lead organizer for the project itself. One of the many things they are working on!
The Florida Legislature, especially Senator Joe Negron, and the Florida Department of Agriculture also very much helped with this 3 million dollar “turn dirt” project. According to Mr Budell from the Department of Agriculture, the Bessey Creek project is one of about 10 in the state and mid-sized in comparison.
Deb Drum, MC (Photo JTL)Senator Joe Negron, Rich Budell, FDACS and MC Administrator, Taryn Kryzda. (Photo JTL)Part of area to be constructed. (Photo JTL)Artist drawing of project to come. (Photo JTL)
I am happy to see the Agriculture Department’s involvement as “Ag.” plays a huge role in the problem in the first place and without them, as powerful as they are, like it or not, we will never get anywhere…
After the ceremony, Tom Debusk from the company “Watershed Technologies” (http://www.watershedtechnologiesllc.com/technology/) gave a presentation explaining how the system operated. The link above is an excellent resource and also has previous articles from TC PALM.
As usual, during the presentation, I had to ask a lot of questions to understand, and Mr Debusk was very patient with me, but basically the remaining pathetic “headwaters” of Bessey Creek start somewhere between Boat Ramp Road and Citrus Blvd, close to where we were all standing. The county is leasing (for almost nothing) this land from the state. It will be up and running in one year.
How does it work?
Well, simply put, a pond like treatment area will be built and take diverted waters from Bessey Creek and treat them with a combination of aluminum sulfate (basically a salt that is non poisonous and has natural properties to clean water (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_sulfate,) and aquatic plants that will “uptake” mostly phosphorus, but also some nitrogen, and other pollutants from the water. So pollutants will be “separated” or “taken in”….leaving the water clean as it meanders to the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
We must keep in mind of course, that phosphorus and nitrogen come from the surrounding lands: equestrian community; decorative plant farms; ranch homes; (fertilizer and animal waste….etc…)
Tom Debusk of Watershed Technologies explains the project. (Photo JTL)Glass files showing how aluminum sulfate separates the P and N and other pollutants causing them to fall to the bottom and form a clay like substance that can be removed and recycled (as a type of fertilizer) or just put in the land fill. (Photo JTL)Concentrated removal of pollutants from water, now as hard as a rock.
I was happy to learn that the chemical aluminum sulfate won’t hurt wildlife (or people), but I did wonder about dealing with “source pollution” so we are not just paying to clean water that surrounding landowners are continually making dirty….I was assured that surrounding areas are being educated not to shovel horse poop along the creek and Best Management Practices are continually being refined. (http://solutionsforyourlife.ufl.edu/hot_topics/agriculture/bmps.html)
I drove off thinking feeling good and thinking about how “water/the river” is seeing her day in the sun. I also drove off hoping that with all of our various efforts we can clean up a river whose surrounding wetlands and highlands we have turned into a “drained ant-pile of people.”
….Kudos to Marin County and the State for their efforts!
Stuart News article dated March 12, 1962 about the Ash Wednesday Storm and the breakthrough inlet at Peck’s Lake along the IRL.
In case you have been reading my blog the past week or so, you may have noticed that the date/s of Peck Lake’s Inlet breakthrough/s, into the Indian River Lagoon, along Jupiter Island, have been in question.
I originally wrote in my blog dated 12/12/14, “1948 and 1960” as the dates of the Peck’s Lake breakthroughs, based on my mother’s book Sewall’s Point, A History of a Peninsular Community of Florida’s Treasure Coast.
After I wrote, my mother contacted me saying that she had learned throughout the years that the date of 1948 and 1960 may be incorrect as she had taken the 1948/1960 dates off the back of historic photos from “The Ruhnke Collection” in her and my father’s history photo archives. Also there was the fact, that some old timers had said that date/s seemed a bit “off…” and that the 1940’s break may have been somewhere else…
Nonetheless, no one remembered the right dates. Time and tides fade all good memories, even at Stuart Heritage! (http://www.stuartheritagemuseum.com)
I am proud to say, due to some “history detective work” on the part of my mother, who yesterday actually went to the Blake Library and looked through the old papers on the microfilm machine, and a lead from a group email of friend, and attorney, Ted Guy, the exact and correct date of the 1960s break has been revealed!
The exact date that Peck’s Lake Inlet broke through in the 1960s was Thursday, March 12, 1962 during the famous “ASH WEDNESDAY STORM of 1962….” (Still working on 1940s date.)
Being raised Episcopalian, when I heard this clue, I had to ask my mother….”Mom, when is Ash Wednesday? ”
She looked at me and immediately spurted out : “Maybe 40 days before Easter….”
“The Ash Wednesday Storm of 1962 occurred on March 6–8, 1962 along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. Also known as the Great March Storm of 1962, it was considered by the U.S. Geological Survey to be one of the most destructive storms ever to affect the mid-Atlantic states. One of the ten worst storms in the United States in the 20th century, it lingered through five high tides over a three-day period, killing 40 people, injuring over 1,000, and causing hundreds of millions in property damage in six states.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday_Storm_of_1962)
Close up of date on newspaper
This was my mother’s final message:
“Jacqui, because of your interest, we have finally pinned down the date of the article that had the wrong year on it. Your dad found a piece by the county on hurricane damage and it said Peck’s Lake washed through in 1965 as well…”
MYSTERY SOLVED, AND YET ANOTHER DATE REVEALED!
Thank you to all those who helped uncover this “mystery.” It is important to know as surely Peck’s Lake and other areas of Hutchinson Island and Jupiter Island, our ever changing barrier islands, will break through again.
Here are the photos of the Peck’s Lake 1962 breakthrough originally displayed , in case you did not see them the first time:
Peck’s Lake breakthrough 1962 (Photo Ruhnke Collection)Another angle, Peck’s Lake Inlet 1962 (Ruhnke Collection)Peck’s Lake Inlet open to IRL, ca. 1962Another Peck’s Lake photo after ACOE filled in, (Photo Ruhnke from Thurlow Archives.)Filled in after breakthrough….
Peacock sits in Francis Langford’s Royal Poinciana Tree, Rio. Photo, gift to Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch from worker on Mrs Langford’s Estate, 2005.
My father’s parents, Tom and Jane Thurlow, moved to the warm breezes of Stuart, Florida, along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon in 1952. They were coming from the cold winds and snow of Syracuse, New York. My grandfather was no “spring chicken;” he was 46 years old.
My grandparents have passed now, but I remember multiple conversations with them when in my youth when they would take me to “Francis Langford’s Polynesian Outrigger Resort,” today’s Dolphin Bar, on the north edge of Sewall’s Point in Jensen. During these special outings I would always ask the same question:
How was it that you moved to Stuart?
My grandparents racing their beloved sailboat. (Family photos, 1950s, Thurlow.)
My grandparents would look at each other and smile, and then my grandfather would talk about how he refused to shovel anymore show, and how one day after great thought, he put aside his law practice, hooked the “Lightning” sail boat to the back of the station wagon; put my grandmother and the two young kids in the car…Oh yes, along with the dog, “Tanya,” a great dane; a mother cat with two kittens in box; and “Mary B,” my great grandmother, and drove down to Stuart, an area they had raced sailboats before….their beloved hobby.
About this time my grandmother would chime in that once while in Jensen, they went to “Francis Langford’s Outrigger Resort,” which reminded them of where they had been married, Bermuda, and John Hall, who played “Tarzan,” and Francis Langford, who had sung to the troops in World War II, and was a famous movie star of their era, owned the restaurant back then….. My aging, beautiful, grandmother, with a smile on her face, then told the story of Francis Langford and John Hall’s pink Cadillac, and how one night after a few cocktails, the couple drove them around the few roads of Jensen and Stuart in the 1950s. What fun! According to my grandmother, after the “ride” in the pink Cadillac, they “were hooked,” and moved to Stuart soon after in 1952.
Francis Langford and husband John Hall, who played the role of Tarzan. (Public AP photo.)
After my grandparents passed away, the legend of Francis Langford and the remnants of her Polynesian Outrigger Resort, took on an even greater romanticism in my mind. For me, the essence of this era and my grandparents were symbolized in the Francis Langford’s remaining peacocks I would often see prancing around Jensen—- all of which are descendents of a pair which she brought to Jensen in the 1940s.
You may remember, that in 2001, some people in Rio/Jensen complained about her 100 or so peacocks that roamed freely on her 60 acres and often jumped, flew or walked to neighboring Sewall’s Point. Often, 707 would be backed up as drivers stopped to allow the menagerie to slowly pass…
Peacock dispalying his feathers. Public photo.An afternoon visitor, 2008, Sewall’s Point. (Photo JTL)Peacock in Sewall’s Point at my house on Ed’s car, 2008. Photo JTL.Young peachick. Photo JTL 2008.
The famous actress and philanthropist is quoted as saying in a 2001 Stuart News article:
“You just can’t keep them caged up. They are all around and I love them. They are part of my family….”
I used to see the peacocks all the time, but rarely today. In fact, I used to see them right in here in Sewall’s Point, for years, until the US mailman accidentally ran over the male in the Archipelago and the remaining females and chicks were eaten by bobcats. The peahens even laid eggs in my yard one year.
I wish they would come back….even though they are an invasive bird, they hold a special meaning for me.
Peahen eggs in Sewall’s Point, 2008.Peachicks very much resemble baby chickens…(Photo JTL 2008)
So if you would, if you are passing along 707 in Rio and see the striking indigo blue of some local peafowl or some trailing yellow chicks, please stop, and let them cross the road. And when you have to wait, think about a bygone era of the Indian River Lagoon that included pink Cadillacs, Francis Langford, peacocks, and “Tarzan” as your chauffeur.
(ca.1971) Local Stuart kids swimming on Jupiter Island beaches, near Peck’s Lake. Pictured: (Jenny Thurlow, Mark Postsdam, Lynda Nelson, Jacqui Thurlow, Eric Potsdam, and Chris Williams. (Thurlow Family album)
My post yesterday about erosion at Bathtub Beach brought a lot of discussion and questions about when the inlet at Peck’s Lake broke through to the Indian River Lagoon as well as beach erosion in general.
Later in the day, my mother sent me some old Whiticar family photos of the Aurthur Ruhnke family. Her friend, John Whiticar, had shared these photos awhile back. I had seen them before as well, and in light of the erosion situation, I thought I would share them today. I often share the gorgeous IRL photography of Mr John Whiticar of the famous Whiticar Boatworks family (http://whiticar.com). John’s photos of the Ruhnke family’s photographs are outstanding and quite beautiful, especially in the black and white of the 1960s.
So whether looking at my own family photo on the beach in 1971 above, or the Whiticar/Ruhnke photos of the same era, one thing is for sure: the shorelines and tree lines may change, and the shifting tides of time may change as well; but one thing is constant: people, especially kids, love the beaches and shorelines of our Atlantic Ocean and St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon area….Enjoy!
Peck’s Lake breakthrough inlet at Jupiter Island, early 1960s. (Photo Whiticar/Ruhnke.)Wash through, Peck’s Lake, Jupiter Island, ca. early 1960s. (Whiticar/Ruhnke)Another angle of Peck’s Lake inlet at Jupiter Island, ca. early 1960s. (Whiticar/Ruhnke.)News clip regarding Peck’s Lake Inlet contract date to be closed, “June 6th,” with no year. (Whiticar, ca. early 1960s)Aerial of Peck’s Lake area with new inlet. (Whiticar/Ruhnke, ca. 1960s)Driftwood, old trees, and “forest” of perhaps Australian Pines/erosion in the area of Peck’s Lake’s beaches, Jupiter Island. (Whiticar/Ruhnke, ca 1960s)Boaters, Peck’s Lake area…. (Whiticar/Ruhnke ca. 1960s)Huge old tree..perhaps a black mangrove/erosion. (Whiticar/Ruhnke ca. 1960s)Ancient looking tree and beautiful lady… (Whiticar/Ruhnke ca. 1960s)Shoreline…(Whiticar/Ruhnke ca. 1960s)Old trees…(Whiticar/Ruhnke ca. 1960)Old tree….(Whiticar/Ruhnke ca. 1960s)Thank you to John Whiticar for allowing me to use his family’s Art . Ruhnke photos. The Ruhnke’s had a photo shop in Stuart’s early days.
Looking out to the Atlantic Ocean through and ancient black mangrove that was exposed by erosion off of Bathtub Beach.. (Photo 2009, JTL)
There have been many times over thousands of years that the ocean has broken through Hutchinson Island and flowed into the Indian River Lagoon off of Sewall’s Point. Most recently, in 2004, after hurricanes Jeanne and Francis. Also in the early 1960s, at Peck’s Lake*, on Jupiter Island. But of course we “repair” the areas and “put them back”…for a little while anyway….
Peck’s Lake breakthrough ca. 1960, Jupiter Island. (Ruhnke Collection, Thurlow Archives, from the book “Sewall’s Point,” by Sandra Henderson Thurlow.)
I have been fortunate the past few years in my river photography to see the island by air in my husband’s airplane; it never ceases to amaze me that Hutchinson Island, as all barrier islands, is really just a ribbon of sand….
So, of course Mother Nature comes through….
Sand piled hight at Bathtub Beach. (Photo 12-10-14, JTL)
Bathtub Beach is an area that Nature seems determined to reclaim soon. Yesterday, as many, I drove to see the “State of Emergency” claimed by Martin County at Bathtub Beach.
Looking to the ocean….(Photo 12-10-14, JTL)
There was a young couple that had scaled the piled protective sand and I struck up a conversation with them.
“Hi, I’m Jacqui. This is amazing isn’t it?”
The young man replied: “Yeah we came yesterday, and the waves were 10 to 12 feet!” The water was all the way up to this fake dune. Look, you can see the sand is still wet.”
Former Wentworth house, Bathtub Beach. (Photo 12-10-14, JTL)
“Wow,” I exclaimed. “Yes, I have seen this before. It’s incredible. You just have to wonder if one day the ocean will come through so hard she takes it all. This would be terrible for the people who live here…”
The response from the young man?
“Well, at least the river will be cleaner….”
I was amazed to see how far the river culture has expanded, and perhaps the values of a younger generation…
Rather than get into a political conversation with a nice young couple just here to explore, I said how nice it was to meet them, and ran down the sand pile in my high heels to get to my car before I got a ticket.
Wormrock at Bathtub Beach (Photo 2009, JTL)
At 50 years now, I have known our beaches since I was a kid walking around on the worm reef catching fish with a homemade net, before we knew that was “bad” for it. During my youth, the older generation began to really build on Hutchinson Island, which was not such a good idea either….The same goes for the low areas of the Town of Sewall’s Point, across the Indian River, where I live and sit on the town commission. These areas are very vulnerable. It’s a problem.
So how do we deal with this “realization,” that we have built on Mother Natures’ front line? Do we retreat, as in war, knowing we will never win, or do we harden our areas reinforcing the shoreline and our homes as long as we can? Do we spend millions of dollars putting concrete seawalls and dredged sand on our shorelines that will surely eventually wash away and each time, not to mention it covers and destroys our “protected” off shore reefs and sea grasses?
These are the difficult questions, and if we follow the model of South Florida that has been dealing with these issues of sea level rise, and just the “normality” of living on a shifting sandbar that God wants to roll over on itself like a conveyor belt, every few hundred to a thousand years, we have some big problems ahead of us. We can reinforce our shorelines and raise our houses, but in the end, Nature will win. In our short lifetimes, we may not see the “grand change,” but our children and grandchildren will.
For instance, the photo at the beginning of this blog is an ancient black mangrove with a hole in it looking towards the ocean. These mangroves are exposed during high erosion because Hutchinson Island is rolling over on itself. This is called “transgression.”
To repeat, much of the construction on barrier islands happened before people fully understood that these places are particularly volatile.  The clues have been accumulating for decades: beachfronts are thinning, storms regularly swallow dunes and send sand flowing to the far side of the island… Slowly, geologists and government entities have realized that the very nature of barrier islands truly is to “roll over,” typically toward the mainland, as waves and weather erode one side and build up the other. Barrier island ecology is not fully understood; there are many theories. It is complex, but some things we understand now…
Thus when the erosion is greatest, the remnants of an ancient mangrove swamp on the ocean side of the island can be seen….Kind of bizarre isn’t it?
What do they say? “The only constant is change.”
Yes, times are changing, the climate and the oceans are warming; no matter the reason, this has happened before. Our job, as it always has been, is to adapt. But in the world of money, real estate, and ad-valorum tax values to governments—along the Indian River Lagoon, this may never occur, until the ocean is truly upon us…
Ancient swamp on ocean side…..(Photo 2009, JTL)Northerly view of Bathtub Beach and exposed ancient mangrove swamp….(Photo 2009, JTL)Today even with high erosion the ancient mangrove swamp is under the sand. You can see one sticking up…(Photo 12-10-14, JTL)This photo that I found on water/river activist Nyla Pipes’ Facebook page. The view of ocean action along the Atlantic Coast is very telling….
*Originally, I wrote” 1948: as well as “1960” in this blog post as the years that Peck’s Lake opened. Due to communication with my mother, historian, Sandra H. Thurlow, I have changed my blog to say only “1960s.” She believes there was an error in a photograph used in her book, “Sewall’s Point,” in that the photo she used in her book said 1948 but she now, after seeing old shared photos from John Whiticar, thinks this date is incorrect. Please read below:
Peck’s Lake Inlet
The photograph of a wash over at Peck’s Lake in Sewall Point on page 19 is identified as “1948” because it an 8 x 10 print in the Ruhnke/Conant Collection we purchase had that date written on the back.
Year later I began to suspect this was in error.
The clincher was a group of photos that John Whiticar came across that were obviously from Ruhnke which included the washout I had labeled 1948 with others that were obviously from the 1960s because of a flower farm in the background. There were also photos of the drowned trees and Ruhnke family photos of a visit to Peck’s Lake.
A Nov. 11. 1963 article in the Stuart News about Inlet worked said, “Also in April of this year the Martin County Commission passed a resolution asking the Corps of Engineers to take action to insure the boating public would always have as safe an inlet from the ocean as was available at that time through the storm-opened Peck’s Lake Inlet, closed by the Corps this past summer.
12-30-14 I received the numbers on costs from Martin County for beach re-nourishment over the years; I am adding the list here as a photo so I can share it with comments on this blog:
Beach Renourishment Numbers from Martin County 2014.
“If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Quote attributed to Anglo-Irish philosopher, George Berkley 1685-1753.
The “Quisenberry House” located at 54 S. Sewall’s Point Road, built in late 1800s.Large waterfront lot facing the Indian River Lagoon.View along South Sewall’s Point Road.
To play off the famous quote by philosopher George Berkley: “If a house falls in a neighborhood and no one notices it, did it exist?”
Today, I am writing about the demolition of the “Quisenberry House,” in Sewall’s Point, along the Indian River Lagoon. The demolition of the house is quietly taking place. The house is over 125 years old, and certainly has a story to tell of its long existence…
Of course, the only reason I know really anything at all about the house is because of my mother, historian Sandra Henderson Thurlow. She has told me about the house since it was a bus stop for the kids going to Jensen Beach Elementary in the 1970s. Every day, sitting on the bus on the way to Highpoint, I would see that old-looking house, and every day, my imagination was set ablaze by its sight…
Mr and Mrs Harmer, 1907. (Photo, Agnes T. Parlin, courtesy of Thurlow Archives.)
“Who lived there?”
“What did they do back then?”
“Why do people say gangsters lived there?”
According to Sandra’s book, Sewall’s Point, The History of a Peninsular Community on Florida’s Treasure Coast, the house was built by Edgar and Katherine Harmer around the late 1800s. Mr Harmer died in a car accident at the Crossroads on Indian River Drive in 1920. His wife’s sister married Mr Jensen, (of today’s Jensen Beach), so the two families were very interconnected and helped with attracting other pioneer families to the remote Indian River area. The Harmers were prominent citizens of their day.
Later, in the 1920s the house was stuccoed, and became the home of Frank Quisenberry , a Detroit banker who worked for the well-known Knowles family for whom Knowles subdivision in north Sewall’s Point is named.
Mr Roger Quisenberry, who now own the home, tells stories of the house being used by Al Capone during prohibition. These stories have circulated for years, and when I was a kid in middle school, along that same bus route, I used to picture dark-suited gangsters in that house, laughing, smoking cigars, and counting their riches, with a giant bottle of rum or moonshine, and some shot glasses, sitting along a hard wooden table….
“It certainly seems like more fun than we are having today,” I thought, dressed in my cheerleading uniform, books in my lap, on the way to school…
Who really knows the truth, but certainly there is truth, that if the walls of that house could talk, there would have been stories to tell of a beautiful, fish and wildlife filled river, of gentle breezes and harsh storms, and of dreams broken and built, along the Indian River Lagoon….
The wrecking ball takes the old house down…12-7-14. (Photo JTL.)
Due to a code enforcement infraction and law suit dating back almost a decade, the entire duration of my “commissionship” in Sewall’s Point, after much money spent, and lots of lawyers racking in the dough, the conflict has finally been resolved, and the house is being demolished. Built in the late 1800s, it is certainly one of Sewall’s Point’s and Martin County’s oldest homes. One of the few historic homes saved, the Captain Sewall’s Home/Post Office that used to sit at the tip of south Sewall’s Point was built in 1889; the House of Refuge was built in 1876; the Stuart Feed Store was built in 1901.
Primarily due to the stucco over the frame, the old wood house held moisture and had become extremely deteriorated. No one has lived in the home for many years. Any salvageable pieces of wood will be collected; and concrete, steel and other valuable materials will be salvaged.
Good bye to the old house upon the Indian River, and to the stories, known and unknown, that you held…
1905, House can be seen in background as Mr Harmer and northern guests stand along a cold and windy Indian River Lagoon. (Photo, Agnes T. Parlin, courtesy of Thurlow Archives.)
Cowboys at work at the Adams Ranch, St Lucie County, FL. Photo courtesy of Adams Family and “Port St Lucie at 50, a City for All People,”by Nina Baranski for the Historical Society of St Lucie County.
Yesterday, I received a copy of the FLORIDA RANCHES 2015 Calendar, 10th Anniversary. I have been lucky enough to have received this calendar for many years from various friends and business associates, and this year it was from, Stacy Ranieri, president of the Firefly Group, a public relations agency.
Stacy states: ” While most calendars focus on being visually appealing, ours also strives to educate the public about the importance of Florida’s ranch lands–and the finite and treasured water that flows through them…”
Hmm…water? I thought.
I casually perused the calendar and one quote I keep thinking about since, is one by Mr Bud Adams, who I consider a local hero. My family has lauded him all my entire life; I saw him speak and receive the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from Harbor Branch’s “Love Your Lagoon,” two years ago; and I was in a commercial this year with Mr Adams for Congressman Patrick Murphy’s reelection.
In the write-up, Carlton Ward, who is the photographer for the calendar, and another amazing person from a local ranch family who focuses also on promoting the Florida Wildlife Corridor, perhaps the coolest thing going right now in the state of Florida…(http://floridawildlifecorridor.org) tells a story.
Carlton Ward is talking to Bud Adams, of course many years his senior, and he ask the well-known ranching environmentalist icon: “Mr Adams, would you consider yourself an environmentalist?”
And Mr Bud Adams with a quiet smile replies,” Well son, We’re careful about that word around theses parts. You see, to us, an environmentalist is a Yankee just out of college who comes out here in their air-conditioned car from their air conditioned office and tells us what to do with our land…”
Of course the Adam’s Ranch in known far and wide as being perhaps the most environmentally sensitive ranch in Florida and, as Mr Adams explains in the calendar:
“Most of the water that falls on Adams Ranch does not reach coastal estuaries. All of the water storage and distribution is privately done by Adams Ranch. These waterways never go dry and support fish that control the mosquito larvae. This eliminates the need for mass pesticides and allows for a healthy bee and insect population. …our heat tolerant cattle do not stand in the water and their waste replenishes soil organic matter…” (http://www.adamsranch.com)
Wildlife, from the smallest bunny, to predators at the top of the food chain, like bobcats and some coyotes, are allowed on Adams Ranch. Water is held on the land and the animals are attracted to this water. The water nourishes the land, the cows, and wildlife…with out running off onto dirty roads or carrying what is on the land into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
It is an amazing place, and I have visited with my family many times for tours. Mr Adams is a wildlife photographer himself, like Carlton Ward; His photos are often featured on the last page of Indian River Magazine.
So back to his comment I have been thinking so much about. “We’re careful about that word around theses parts…”
It made me think. My mother is a 5th generation Floridan and my Father is a Yankee… 🙂
Hmmm? What am I?
In any case, the message is that if we environmentalist want to be liked, we must be careful with how we approach those who have been on the land for hundreds of years. This includes ranchers, and yes, farmers too….
No too long ago, ranches used to fill St Lucie County. Even when I was a kid growing up in Martin County in the 1960s and 70s… Indiantown and Palm City also had many ranches.
So many are gone…and now filled with houses. We environmentalists must recognize that development is the greatest threat to our rivers. We should do all we can to keep these working ranches “working” in Florida for the sake of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
Early ranches in St Lucie County, courtesy Adams Family and SLHS.
Greg Oravec, Port St Lucie’s new mayor, is a friend to the Indian River Lagoon. Although many of us know him already, as he is the former city manager of PSL, we need to get to know him even better. We need to make him a close ally. He has qualities and desires to help us improve the health of the SLR/ IRL and to work together between Martin, St Lucie and Indian River counties, as well as between the state and federal government.
Mayor Oravec graduated magna cum laude from University of Miami’s honors program in “Marine Environmental Systems.” According to Greg’s bio, as a kid he “grew up fishing and building forts.” Greg loves and appreciates our “good nature….” Today, Greg and his wife are raising three children and want their children to have access to clean water and an healthy outdoor environment too.
Mayor Oravec
So how can Mayor Oravec help us?
Well, in terms of Martin and St Lucie counties, we don’t always think about it, but a tremendous portion of the runoff into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon is from St Lucie County. Thank God they are on sewer and not septic for all but 22,000 of their residential properties… This runoff is primarily because of canals C-23 and C-24. These two canals were built as part of the Central and South Florida Project in the 50s and 60s to drain the lands mostly of St Lucie County for agriculture (citrus) and for development. These two canals release untreated agricultural and urban runoff into the north fork and central area of the St Lucie River. In case you don’t know, C-23 is the dividing line between St Lucie and Martin counties, but of course the river knows no boundaries….
Basin and canal map SLR
For us today, it is important to note that St Lucie County with 250,000 residents is now the 9th largest city in Florida! And it is only going to get bigger with a projected 450,000 plus people by 2050. This is a negative but also a positive, in that St Lucie County and especially the City of Port St Lucie now have significant political power due to this population growth. They are a giant part of the key to getting what we want: more water moving south; no releases from Lake Okeechobee; and the clean up and water storage of excess polluted runoff of canals C-23, C-24 and C-25 into the SLR/IRL.
In fact, the first time I was ever invited to Port St Lucie County to learn about all the city had been doing over the past few years to improve water quality was when I was mayor of Sewall’s Point in 2012 and Greg invited me up to PSL as their city manager. He showed me maps of McCarthy Ranch and the C-23 canal that were part of planning for the city’s water supply, growth, and to clean the polluted water of C-23, along with other impressive local projects.
I have to say, honestly, Greg is one of the most polite yet determined people I have ever met. A true gentleman and a driven man of service. I ask everyone to welcome him and to make him a friend. Email him and congratulate him! Go out of your way to get to know him. Invite him to a Rivers Coalition or River Warrior meeting. Attend a PSL city commission meeting and “speak up!”
It is a rare day, to have such a person as Greg holding the reigns of Port St Lucie.
If you check out his website you will see that he dedicated an entire page to the Indian River Lagoon, stating as part of his goals: “to preserve our natural areas, especially the Indian River Lagoon.”
You can email Mayor Greg Oravec at his new official email : mayor@cityofpsl.com
Believe me, we need him more than ever; there is lots of work to do in PSL, but we sure do look forward working together on regional, state and federal issues to help save our shared resource, quality of life, and economy builder, the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!
Mayor Oravec and Comr. JTL at the TCCLG meeting. We were trying to get the IRL in the background, but there was too much light!
“Give me liberty to know, to utter and to argue freely according to my conscience, above all other liberties.” Milton
This coming Monday, December 8th, 2014, at the City of Stuart commission chamber, located at 121 SW Flagler Avenue, from 9-12, it is our turn to speak up to our Legislative Delegation about the importance of the St Lucie River\Indian River Lagoon.
This is our designated time before the state legislative session formally begins to call attention to our legislators the importance of the SLR/IRL to our local economy and quality of life in Martin County. It is our time to tell them we appreciate what was done last year but we want more. We want to purchase lands in the EAA, Everglades Agricultural Area through the help of Amendment 1 in order for more water to flow south and to restore what we can of the northern and southern Everglades…we also want to complete the Indian River Lagoon South purchases and projects that are part of a greater plan. But before we speak…
What is our “legislative delegation” anyway?
Our legislative delegation is the group of state elected officials from our area. In fact, sometimes I have not been familiar with some of those who are part of the delegation, but I always know for sure that Senator Joe Negron, and representatives Galye Harrell and Mary Lynn Magar will be there, as they are our present Martin County representatives.
Comments were to have been made formally through the offices of the elected officials, but I would imagine if you show up and ask to share a short comment they would allow it; or hand them a written note at the beginning or end of the session.
The whole thing can be rather intimidating, but don’t be afraid, speak up! They are your elected officials and it is their job to listen to you.
The first time I ever went before them, I spoke on not allowing the state to preempt the Town of Sewall’s Points strong fertilizer ordinance. It was uncomfortable for me; I was nervous. Sometimes I felt like some of the delegates were not listening to me or taking me seriously. But I put a smile on my face and I spoke.
I felt better for doing so, and for being a part of the American democratic process, as messed up as it sometimes is…
If you can, go speak up for St Lucie River/ Indian River Lagoon on Monday. It’s easier sometimes not to speak, but how will we change our world if we don’t? 🙂
Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, and Nancy Higgs (former Brevard county commissioner) during a tour to Harbor Branch’s “sponge storage area for cancer research.” Nancy named the area, containing over 3500 specimens, “Spongeville.” Both women serve on the HBOIF board. (Photo by Dr Sheri Pomponi, 11-13-14.)
After a recent tour at FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, along the Indian River Lagoon, in Ft Pierce, I will never look at my kitchen sponge the same again…..
Sponges in my kitchen….
It has been a great pleasure to serve on the FAU, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Foundation Board for just over a year, and at a recent meeting we were able to tour the famous “sponge storage vaults for cancer reasearch” deep within the inner chambers of the university. I had heard about these sponges for decades but had never seen the 3500 specimens that are shared with visiting scientists from all over the world, “face to face.” World scientists visit HBOI because the collection is unique in the world.
Today, I ‘d like to share just a little about what I saw and learned.
From areas as remote as 3000 feet deep in our world oceans come these specimens! And some may just may hold the cure for certain cancers, malaria, tuberculosis neurodegenerative disease, bone density improvement, and inflammation….
One of Harbor Branch’s famous submersibles now on display.
Walking through the many rooms/cooled vaults of the collection was mind-boggling; our guide was Dr Sheri Pomponi who had collected many of the specimens herself. (http://www.fau.edu/hboi/mbbr/).
Other scientists who assisted us on our tour were Dr Amy Wright, Dr. Peter McCarthy, and Dr Esther Guzmán. The entire presentation was way over my head, but basically I learned that sponges and other deep-sea life do not have such easy lives and participate in a type “chemical warfare” down there vying for survival in a very tough environment.
For instance, a sponge or sea fan like creature may produce chemicals that remarkably allow them to adhere to hard corals, “like bone.” Many can also produce other chemicals, for instance to “taste bad” to predators so they are not eaten…. Amazingly, the chemicals these marine creatures produce to survive can be applied to human survival.
Dr Sheri Pomponi collected many of the specimens across our world’s oceans for HBOI.HBOI collection bottles.HBOI collection all labeled by date, contents and location.
According to Harbor Branch:
“Natural products are inherently bioactive, and most researchers feel that the structures have evolved over time to provide exquisite biological activities. Humans and organisms such as sponges, soft corals and bacteria share similar biochemistry and compounds that might have one use in sponges might have totally different use in humans. Researchers at Harbor Branch can take advantage of the similarity in biochemistry to develop medicines useful in the treatment of human diseases.”
While at the tour, Dr Guzman was actually showing through computer technology how certain chemical compounds from sponges were killing (attacking) cancer cells. “Of course the key is not killing too many other “good” cells at the same time,” she said.
This was like an “Ah-Ha” moment for me. “So some sponge cells kill other cells…even human cells? Like trying to adhere to the coral? Hmmm? The applications? Similar biochemistry? A process better than chemotherapy?” I wondered. Fascinating.
Anyway, the whole thing, taking place right here along the Indian River Lagoon, was incredible and actually a lot of fun because my friend Nancy Higgs who sits on the board with me kept joking over and over again:
“Jacqui, It’s Spongeville! You can write a blog! Spongeville! She and I laughed as we walked deep into the vault, but then suddenly we were very quiet. ”
Wow, maybe the cure for cancer is right in here….” we looked at each other in amazement.
Like I said, I will never be able to look at my kitchen sponge the same again…
Just recently, my husband Ed and I had the hardwood floors of our 1977 home redone. During this time, we literally “moved out” into one room of the house for almost four weeks. As much as this turned my world upside-down, it forced me to go through all of the “stuff” I have acquired over the past ten years in my St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon files. I found some cool things I had forgotten about.
The folder I am sharing today is entitled OLD INLET PHOTOS. It includes aerial photos of the Jupiter, Stuart (St Lucie), Ft Pierce, and Sebastian inlets. I borrowed the photos from my mother, historian Sandra Henderson Thurlow, years ago. My photos are copies of the originals. I believe she and my father acquired the photos through Aurthur Ruhnke’s Photography Shop that once was located in Downtown, Stuart.
Written on the back of all photos except the Sebastian Inlet, was the year “1936.” The photographer was R.B. Holt. The Sebastian Inlet however, has “1962” written on the back of the photo along with “Sterling Hawk’s name,” a different photographer.
I love old stuff like this; I hope you do too.
Enjoy and dream of a time long ago…the fishing must have been great, and look how undeveloped the surrounding lands were! The inlets helped promote the development of the Treasure Coast Region.
Of course before man created the inlets permanently along the Indian River Lagoon, Mother Nature’s winds and tides would decide if an inlet was open or closed to the sea. Over thousands of years, inlets opened and closed all along the Indian River Lagoon making the naturally fresh waters brackish for a time and allowing wildlife to flourish in these areas.
Man was attracted to these natural inlets as well. I was just reading last night about how the inlet at Jupiter closed in the 1860s when the US government was building the Jupiter Lighthouse. Nature’s closing of the inlet was a “great inconvenience.” Today we would also consider it a great inconvenience to have any of our inlets closed.
The problem is that they are not meant to be permanently open and erosion problems occur over time. As most things in life, there is a positive and a negative; the tricky part is figuring our just where to draw the line in the sand…
Jupiter Inlet, 1936. (All aerials from the Rhunke Collection, R.B. Holt is believed to be the photographer for all but Sebastian Inlet photo, Thurlow archives.)Jupiter Inlet, March 18, 1936.Stuart (St Lucie) Inlet, 1936.Ft Pierce Inlet, 1936.Ft Pierce Inlet, 1936.Ft Pierce Inlet, 1936.Sebastian Inlet, 1962. Photo by Sterling Hawk.
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All photos courtesy of Sandra Henderson Thurlow, historian. Her books on Sewall’ Point, Stuart, Jensen and the House of Refuge can be purchased at both the Stuart Heritage Museum, (http://www.stuartheritagemuseum.com) and at the Elliott Museum, (http://www.elliottmuseumfl.org).
