wehle with replies

— Carol Ann Wehle is the executive director of the South Florida Water Management District.

Everglades restoration takes big steps forward
• Cooperation between local, state and national government this year is making restoration goals possible. One outcome will be to limit releases of Lake Okeechobee into other bodies of water.

Originally posted on August 09, 2006

2006 is proving to be a very good year for Everglades restoration.

From the halls of Congress to the chambers of county commissions, Everglades projects continue to get the green light. Last month's Senate passage of the Water Resources Development Act is, for me, icing on the cake of a very productive year.

Here in South Florida, we have already started digging, literally. Four groundbreakings in the past six months launched construction on critical reservoirs and treatment wetlands that will improve the Everglades ecosystem, our coastal estuaries and Lake Okeechobee.

These projects are part of the state's Acceler8 initiative, an action-oriented plan for stepping up the pace on eight key restoration projects.

The groundbreaking of the Acceler8 project was on Aug. 2. We turned dirt on a giant water storage reservoir in the Everglades Agricultural Area, south of Lake Okeechobee.

At 25 square miles, it will be the size of the city of Boca Raton and the largest constructed water body in the state.

Fittingly called Acceler8's flagship, the EAA Reservoir A-1 will hold 62 billion gallons of water — the volume of 100,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools — capturing regulatory releases from Lake Okeechobee as well as stormwater runoff in the region.

However, the reservoir's full impact will be felt throughout South Florida, reducing freshwater flows to the coastal estuaries, lowering water levels in Lake Okeechobee and improving the timing and flow of water into the Everglades.

That may sound like a tall order, but that's what a 16,000-acre reservoir can do.

Mutual effort

This kind of progress, on this scale, is never possible by a single agency working alone.

Local support at the city and county level has been unprecedented for Everglades Restoration.

Martin County, for example, contributed $27.4 million to help buy land for an Acceler8 reservoir and treatment wetland now being built near the east coast.

Hendry County is partnering in work-force development for construction of an Acceler8 reservoir near the west coast, ensuring that people and local businesses thrive at the same time we invest in the environment.

In Tallahassee, Governor Jeb Bush guided the efforts to accelerate these key Everglades projects with specialized funding, ensuring that our momentum would not be slowed.

Under his vision and leadership, Florida has committed $3.2 billion through the end of the decade to clean up and restore the famed River of Grass.

State legislators have supported these initiatives, this year alone budgeting more than $160 million for continued restoration of the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee.

In the U.S. Congress, the long-awaited Water Resources Development Act was approved by the Senate last month, underscoring the commitment of our federal partners.

WRDA's passage moves construction of the $1.2 billion Indian River Lagoon South restoration project and Acceler8's $342 million Picayune Strand restoration project an important step closer to implementation.

Of course, there is still much work to do. Appropriation of federal funds is still needed; land for projects must still be purchased; engineering designs need public input and approval for construction.

All of this is a big order, but "thinking big" is what Everglades Restoration is all about.

No single effort alone will achieve restoration goals, but people and agencies and projects working together will.

The year 2006 is demonstrating what a powerful formula that is for success.

Ray Judah

Paul Reynolds

I don't know the motive of the News-Press to put Carol Wehle's (Executive Director of SFWMD) press release on the opinion page but it's certainly accurate to put it there. Ms. Wehle's submission is not news; it is propaganda. It is a collection of exaggeration, misdirection, and flagrant untruths from an organization (SFWMD) dominated by special interests, and NONE of them being us, the citizens of SW Florida trying to protect our environment, our property values, and our way of life.

Anytime you analyze a plan from SFWMD, you must begin with the conclusion that they do. The ABSOLUTE, #1 consideration in any activity is that we MUST provide a guaranteed sufficient supply of irrigation water for the agriculture industry south of the former Lake Okeechobee. Down the list of considerations lie public safety, keeping the Lake navigable, cleaning up the Lake, and over on page 4 or so is preserving the health of the estuaries and rivers in the system. Never has SFWMD made it to page 4 when considering priorities.

Ms. Wehle announces that the creation of several massive bodies of polluted water will "improve the Everglades ecosystem, our coastal estuaries, and Lake Okeechobee." Did you hear what I said? The creation of SEVERAL, massive bodies of POLLUTED water are going to do all that. There are only a couple of reasons why anyone might believe a silly premise like that: (1) they are nuts, or (2) they have an agenda and are acting in someone's best interest.

She calls reservoir A-1 their "flagship". It should be their "ship of fools". This 16,000 acre (3 times the size of Ding Darling Refuge) will be utilized just as the STA's(storm water treatment areas) are now, for the sugar farms to dump excess, and polluted, rain water when it falls on them at inconvenient times. To suggest that it has anything to do with improving the health of the Lake, rivers, or estuaries is a disgraceful insult to our intelligence.

Unfortunately Ms. Wehle, and the powers that be, have a couple of things going for them. They have the palatable apathy of our community and our elected representatives. They have sugar industry representation on their policy board, and they have a subsidized industry (sugar) with pockets deep enough to defeat any who might choose to confront them. Little wonder the harder we struggle, the worse it gets for us.

The solutions are somewhat simple: water flow to the South, elect NOT appoint SFWMD Directors, elect County and local officials who are motivated to represent us, and who attend meetings advancing our positions. We should start right now by analyzing the platforms of everyone currently running for public office and noting who will be the most forceful standing up for us and our way of life.