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Water releases: be careful
what you wish for

June 21, 2011


The current condition of the Caloosahatchee upstream of the Franklin lock and dam has been the topic of many articles and TV reports lately. Nearly choked with toxic blue-green algae and slime, the river is a sorry sight to see.

Normally at this time of year, those of us downstream from that lock are calling for the gates to be opened and enough water to be released to balance the salinity level in the estuary. As chairman of the PURRE Water Coalition, I have this to say: Be careful what you wish for. While the need for clean fresh water in the dry months is obvious, if the South Florida Water Management District releases water now, it will be that extremely polluted water laced with all kinds of algae and toxins. Is that what we want? We all remember the red drift algae disaster of 2006 when tourists left in droves and both human and wildlife residents suffered harm.

I believe all the locks along the Caloosahatchee should either be closed permanently or opened permanently, putting the river back under Mother Nature’s control. Before man channelized Florida’s rivers, turning them into canals for Lake Okeechobee, there was no water flow from lake to river. The river would have gotten only tributary water, no lake water. Why do we need lake water now?  The river, which is moving water, by definition cannot stagnate and therefore will not grow nearly the amount of algae we are seeing now.

Meanwhile, the arguments for water releases are not always what they seem. It is not just for the benefit of the environment or the health of the estuary that Lee County is demanding a release from the lake. In fact, the county needs fresh water for its Alva Water Treatment Plant. They cannot desalinate sea water and if sea water gets to the plant, it will have to be shut down. Lee County should upgrade the plant to handle the salt during the dry months, or alternatively dig a deep well for drinking water and stop insisting that the district and corps release highly polluted water into our river.

Some municipalities and organizations are urging citizens to contact the South Florida Water Management District stressing the need for the water releases for the sake of tape grass, crabs and the like. When the tributary water is under the natural control of the watershed, these grasses and sea life will naturally evolve with the seasonal changing conditions.  Could anyone possibly want the district to release all of the standing toxic algae into the river and estuary?  I think not.

The South Florida Water Management District and its partner, the Army Corps of Engineers, have made it very clear that agriculture is more important than the environment and more important that the huge tourism sector of the economy in their decision-making process. When is it going to change? It hasn’t changed in the eight years the PURRE Water Coalition has been fighting on behalf of our water quality and it seems that this year is going to be the same.

As you may know, PURRE's original intent was to be a heavily activist organization for about five years -- and we were. We believe that would be enough time to get southwest Florida's leaders on the right path to good water quality. Then PURRE could take a watchdog role for another five years to make sure we didn't lose ground. Now, because of our new governor's bad policies and bad appointments -- to the DEP, the SFWMD, the killing of the U.S. Sugar land deal, and more -- PURRE has to resume its more activist role. As I said above, in spite of eight years of hard work and despite sometimes having great hope for change, we are at least back where we started. We face a long and difficult battle.

 

 

think about this...

"We must build a peace in South Florida - a peace between the people and their place, between the natural environment and man-made settlement, between the works of man and the life of mankind itself. "
~ Florida Gov. Reubin Askew ~