Yesterday, on Valentine’s Day, the estuaries did not receive sweet news. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, working to manage water together with their local sponsor, the South Florida Water Management District, announced that they will begin significant discharges (1800+/- cfs) from Lake Okeechobee (16.37 ft.) beginning Saturday, 2-17-24.

The aerials below taken by my husband, Ed Lippisch, on 2-14-24 around noon, 30 minutes before high tide, can serve as a baseline for comparison as our waters decline.

Presently, there is no representation on the South Florida Water Management District governing board as far as a traditional sitting Martin County representative. Appointed in 2019 by Governor DeSantis, I was removed in June 2023, really due to the power of the President of the Senate and those influencing her,  for comments I made at a governing board meeting in February of 2022 in response to Senate Bill 2508, a bill undermining the District, water control,  and the EAA Reservoir.  In the the following months, I was not reappointed, as I could have been, by Governor DeSantis, nor was anyone else. Thus the seat sits open at this critical time. I believe I was removed not just because of my comments, but because of my knowledge and my record for speaking the truth. By a long and cruel silence we are being punished.

I will continue to advocate with the pen and with my voice for the St. Lucie River as I have since 2008 when I first became a Town of Sewall’s Point Commissioner and began to learn the dark history of Florida’s water policy. I want to thank the thousands of people and the many organizations who have helped in this battle. We must continue to “shine the light” and change water policy for the better as we have done and will continue to do. As we know, it’s a long and rocky ride.

~Jacqui

A few of the ACOE Periodic Scientist Call slides 2-14-24 that I screenshot