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SWFL ENews: July 20, 2006 SWFL ENews:
July 20, 2006 / go to archive


BIG CYPRESS

Drivers running into more bears
Pat Gillepsie /News Press /Jul 5
It's not a question you're likely to find on a driving test: A 300-pound black bear wanders onto a busy interstate at night. What do you do? But that's the scenario some Southwest Florida drivers have encountered in recent months on Interstate 75. The result has been smashed cars, shaken drivers and more dead bears. Experts believe black bears are wandering on the highway and into neighborhoods looking for food and new habitat while Southwest Florida's booming development encroaches on land where they once roamed free. "They're trying to get away — they want to cross the highway to find new territory," Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman Gary Morse said. "They can't perceive there's that much danger to them." Because much of I-75 isn't lit, it can be difficult to see a black bear — despite its size. "There's not much you can do — it's dark ...

Fast-spreading tree chokes Glades, but control programs working
Georgia Tasker /Miami Herald /Jul 9
MIAMI - It seemed like a good idea at the time. With Floridians clamoring to drain the Everglades, forester JohnGifford had a more modest proposal: plant thirsty trees around the edges to draw off the water near populated areas, but leave the rest of the Everglades intact. This year is the 100th anniversary of his very costly mistake: the wide-scale introduction of the melaleuca, a fast-spreading and hardy tree from Australia that crowds out native trees and plants. "His heart was in the right place, but the melaleuca wasn't the right plant," said Allen Dray of the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Fort Lauderdale. Like the cockroach, they are one of Florida's most tenacious survivors. Burn them and they release seeds, up to 20 million per tree. Fell them and they grow back. Poison them and their seedlings spring up anew. ...

Senate begins debate on legislation funding Picayune Strand project
Amie Parnes /Naples Daily News /Jul 19
WASHINGTON After six years of inaction, the Senate began debating the Water Resources Development Act late Tuesday, bringing a long-awaited federal project a step closer to happening. The legislation, which authorizes hundreds of water projects around the country, includes $1.2 billion for the Indian River Lagoon restoration on the Treasure Coast and $350 million for the Picayune Strand restoration project in eastern Collier County. The measure is part of the $10.5 billion Everglades Restoration plan and would allow the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin work on water quality issues as well as construct projects and make major modifications to existing projects. “Florida has a great number of important priorities in this bill, including the Indian River Lagoon and Picayune Strand projects,” said Ken Lundberg, a spokesman for Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Orlando. †...

Limiting freshwater releases may clean up Naples Bay
Kara Kenney /NBC2 /Jul 13
COLLIER COUNTY: Unfortunately, Naples Bay is clogged with all kinds of pollutants including fertilizers, pesticides and gasoline. South Florida Water Management officials say freshwater releases from the Golden Gate canal are also damaging to the bay but they have a plan to keep the releases at a minimum which could have a huge impact on the bay's health. Naples Bay is a haven for boating, relaxing, and unfortunately - pollution. Collier resident Tom Marvel has been a boat captain on Naples Bay for 27 years and he has seen the negative impacts of the freshwater releases. "It's a difficult problem," said Marvel. "That water is nutrient laden and when it reacts with the saltwater we see huge blooms and they're not necessarily red tide." For the past 40 years, freshwater has been released from the Golden Gate canal into Naples Bay to alleviate flooding. In fact, 200 million gal ...

Environmentalists test Naples Bay sea grass levels
Kara Kenney /NBC2 /Jun 6
COLLIER COUNTY: Naples Bay is one of the most polluted bodies of water in Collier County. But by studying the sea grass levels in the bay, environmentalists took a big step in the fight to clean it up. Naples Bay is a haven for outdoor activity and wildlife watching. Wednesday, environmentalists started a new study of the bay. "It’s important to get under the surface and see what's going on with it. There's only so much you can tell from aerial photographs or looking over the side of the boat," said Katie Fuhr of Collier County Natural Resources. The conservationists went snorkeling above one of the last sea grass beds in the bay. They were attempting to discover how big the grass bed is. "This is so important because it's a major indicator of the health of Naples Bay," said Collier County Natural Resources Manager Mike Bauer.About 90 percent of sea grass beds have disappeared in N ...

Central Florida not suitable for panthers
Jeremy Cox /Naples Daily News /Jul 19
Central Florida could support up to 36 Florida panthers, but the area’s prevalence of highways and towns might hinder efforts to expand the species’meager numbers, according to a new federal report. A symbol of Florida’s wild past, panthers steadily are losing habitat to newdevelopments in South Florida, particularly in eastern Lee and Collier counties, biologists say. Male panthers are spotted sporadically in Central Florida, but the more reclusive females haven’t been documented north of the Caloosahatchee River since 1973. A federal recovery plan released in January proposed relocating some panthers north of the river, which forms a natural barrier between the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Okeechobee.A new study backed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service pinpoints nearly 1,700 square miles of predominately open land, an area almost the size of Delaware, for that ...

SOUTHWEST COAST

Red tide scientist's lonely stance is attracting some supporters
Bill Hutchinson /Herald Tribune /Jul 16
In the alternative universe of Florida red tide research, the devil wears, not Prada, but off-brand jeans and a shirt that recalls '60s madras plaid. He is tall and thin -- another writer once described him as resembling "a lone pine" -- with long, narrow hands that riff through stacks of scientific datalike he's playing jazz. He is called Larry Brand, and what he has done to make his name a curse to some scientists and bureaucrats and policy-makers is use his pianist's fingers topoint at a reason for the increasingly noxious blooms the lower Gulf Coast has lately suffered. Over the past 30 years, what used to be an occasional pest has become a regular menace. Red tide blooms occur more or less annually now, big ones, lasting as long as two years. These blooms produce a toxin that is one of the most lethal substances known to man, as powerful as the South Am ...

Shellfish alert
Editorial /Naples Daily News /Jul 20
A nasty outbreak of shellfish poisoning in Lee County becomes the latest reminder of the importance of water quality. With 11 cases of shellfish poisoning in July, the county has issued an epidemic alert and warned people not to eat shellfish taken from Lee waters. Ten of the cases come from Sanibel Island and one from Fort Myers Beach — six have beenhospitalized, with four landing in intensive care. Authorities note that shellfish at supermarkets and restaurants are not dangerous because they come from areas outside of Southwest Florida. With the shellfish problem linked to red tide and red tide outbreaks possibly linked to discharges of Lake Okeechobee water into the Caloosahatchee River — which dumps into the Gulf of Mexico — we can add up the sum of the parts. We can see how pollution in one place can have an impact on another — and its people. And its tour ...

Scientists work to control red tide
Kevin Lollar /News Press /Jul 30
SARASOTA — People have been trying to control red tide since the 1950s. They've experimented with copper sulfate, copper ore, bacteria, ozone,viruses and acid — in 1952, the mayor of Clearwater suggested that a patch of red tide be fire-bombed with napalm, but that idea never got off the ground. A leading — and controversial — candidate now for red-tide control is clay flocculation, a researcher said Wednesday at a red-tide workshop beingheld at Mote Marine Laboratory. Mario Sengco, a marine ecologist at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, added that controlling red tide is not the same thing as wiping out a whole population of the red-tide organism Karenia brevis, or K. brevis, an alga that produces a powerful toxin. "It's important to alter the mind-set that control means removal of K.brevis," Sengco said. "We're not talking about getting rid of K. brevis. ...

Red tide scientist's lonely stance is attracting some supporters
staff /Herald Tribune /Jul 15
Red-tide timeline 16th century -- A Spanish explorer records stories by Florida Indians of toxic "red water" and the resulting death of birds and fish. 1844 -- The first scientifically documented red-tide episode in U.S. waters occurs in the Gulf along what is called the West Florida Shelf, off the Panhandle near Panama City. 1878 -- Florida's first protracted period of red-tide episodes begins and continues for 10 years. 1880 -- A widespread episode of bird mortality affects the Florida Gulf. It is believed by some to have resulted from red tide. 1884 -- The first incident of human sickness from red-tide-infected shellfish is recorded in Florida.1947 -- After record rains in the Panhandle, a massive red-tide bloom along the Florida Gulf Coast lasts nearly a year, all but destroying the commercial fishing industry and killing the sponge beds near Tarpon Springs. ...

Causes of red tide elusive
Kevin Lollar /News Press /Jul 19
SARASOTA — Despite what has appeared in the media over the past couple of years, a red tide expert said Tuesday that nobody knows exactly what causes massive blooms of the red tide organism. Gabriel Vargo, an associate professor of biological oceanography, alsosaid that trying to wipe out red tide might not be in the Gulf's best interests. Vargo, from the University of South Florida, was speaking at a workshop called "State of the Research on Red Tide in the Gulf of Mexico." The workshop, which concludes Thursday evening, is sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute and Mote Marine Laboratory. Over the past two years, some environmentalists have insisted that blooms of the red tide organism Karenia brevis, or K. brevis, are caused by nutrient-laden runoff from the land. The idea has been picked ...

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

St. Lucie River's glow returns, for now
Ed Killer /TCPalm /Jul 8
MARKER 21, NORTH FORK OF THE ST. LUCIE RIVER — A blue crab as big as my hand clung to the top of a broken off, sunken tree limb in five feet of water. That I could even see it was newsworthy.It was a foot below the water's surface, and he and I exchanged a brief beady-eyed stare down. Except his eyes were on stalks. This man-to-crustacean, face-to-face could not have taken place in July of 2005. By this time last year, the North Fork of the St. Lucie River in the heart of Port St. Lucie was deemed biohazardous to one's health.The culprit: fecal coliform bacteria. Counts were so high that health department officials in St. Lucie and Martin counties were forced to take action. The river was closed upstream of the Roosevelt Bridge for the majority of the summer. On the positive side, it was one of the few times officials in the twoneighboring counties agreed on som ...

Lake O's water quality not improving
Jeremy Cox /Naples Daily News /Jul 9
Despite early successes in reviving the Everglades, the vast ecosystem’s liquid heart — Lake Okeechobee — continues to waste away, a new federal report suggests. Water managers have largely failed to improve the lake’s water quality, leaving behind a mess that threatens the health of a national wildlife refuge and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers’ estuaries, according to the report. “The lake’s woes have been with us for a while and, if history is a guide, they are not going away anytime soon,” wrote Miami lawyer John Barkett, who was appointed in 2003 by a federal judge to oversee Everglades restoration efforts. Two reservoir projects led by the South Florida Water Management District are under construction on both rivers. The nearly 70 billion gallons of storage capacity is scheduled to be ready by 2010, but that might not be soon enough, Barkett argu ...

West Palm Beach water may taste funny; but it's still safe to drink
Andy Reid /Sun Sentinel /Jul 9
Cranking up chlorine treatments could leave West Palm Beach tap water tasting and smelling funnier than usual during the next two weeks, but it remains safe to drink, utility officials said. The city on Monday begins its biannual "super chlorinating" process, in which increased amounts of chlorine help kill off any algae or harmful bacteria that could accumulate in city pipes. "It cleans out the system," said Marjorie Craig, city utilities director. "It is a preventative measure. It is just part of maintaining a healthy water supply." The taste and odor might change, but the water remains safe to drink, cook and bathe with, said Tim O'Connor, spokesman for the Palm Beach County Health Department. However, hospitals and customers who use city water for fish tanks and poolsneed to closely monitor their chlorine levels during the treatment period.The increased chlo ...

Public invited to Lake Okeechobee workshops
staff /Naples Daily News /Jul 10
The public is invited to three workshops this week where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will present a plan to revise its policy concerning Lake Okeechobee releases. The Corps said the public will be able to ask questions and make comments about the tentative plan. The workshops are intended to build on a series of similar meetings last fall. “The communities that are most affected by regulations governing water levels in Lake Okeechobee are an integral part of this process,” Col. Robert M. Carpenter, commander of the Corps’ Jacksonville district, said in a prepared statement.The first meeting will be Tuesday at John Boy Auditorium in Clewiston. The second will be Wednesday at the Lee County Commission chambers, 2120 Main St., in Fort Myers. The third will be Thursday in Stuart.All of the meetings begin at 7 p.m. A final series of meetings is scheduled for the fa ...

Lake Okeechobee workshop tonight in Fort Myers
staff /Naples Daily News /Jul 12
The public is invited to attend a workshop tonight in Fort Myers where the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will present a plan to revise its policy concerning Lake Okeechobee releases. The Corps said the public will be able to ask questions and make comments about the tentative plan. The workshop is intended to build on a series of similarmeetings last fall. The first of three meetings was Tuesday in Clewiston. Tonight’s meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the Lee County Commission chambers, 2120 Main St., in Fort Myers. The third will be Thursday in Stuart. A final series of meetings is scheduled for the fall to present and receive public comment on an environmental report, the Corps said.The current water release schedule, which tells the Army Corps when to dump lake water or when to send it to farms for irrigation, doesn't allow enough water to flow to the Caloosahatchee in th ...

Grow bumper crop of clean water
Sally Swartz /Palm Beach Post /Jul 12
Bordered on one side by an orange grove and on others by miles of flat, empty Martin County farmland, the odd construction site near Indiantown doesn't look as if it could help save the St. Lucie River. The pale, sandy earth is barren, except for patches of unnaturally bright green that mark where a mixture of green dye, fertilizer and grass seed has been sprayed in a process called hydroseeding. The garish dye shows workers where they've spread the seed. Party tents are atop a plateau on one side of a rectangular ridge that surrounds a water-filled reservoir. On this day, groups of people are gathered to tour the tiny (4-acre) test reservoirs and filter marshes that the South Florida Water Management District has spent $9 million to build. The district is spending money up front to find the best ways to store and treat dirty water discharged from Lake Okeechobee before releasing ...

Lake O release schedule draws ire
Julio Ochoa /Naples Daily News /Jul 13
Local leaders and residents weren’t satisfied with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ explanation that a new plan for the release of Lake Okeechobee water will be less detrimental to the Caloosahatchee estuary. In a workshop to reveal the new plan, which calls for keeping the lake at lower levels, more than 100 residents got to have their say, although some believed it would do little to slow the flow of polluted water west. “I realize this is probably a charade for you,” said Carla Johnston, mayor of Sanibel. “You’re probably planning tomorrow’s golf game ... but, hopefully, you will listen.” Johnston and others laid out what they believed were several problems with the Army Corps’ selected plan, known as the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule. After a public hearing process, the Army Corps will implement the new schedule in January and use it to regulate releases ...

Feds OK building huge water storage area as part of Everglades restoration proj ect
Luis Perez /Sun Sentinel /Jul 13
The federal government gave local water managers the go ahead Wednesday to build a massive reservoir -- about 26 square miles in size, or just a bit smaller than the city of Boca Raton -- in western Palm Beach County. Its walls, up to 30 feet tall, could hold 62 billion gallons of water. The $400 million project is just one step in the enormous Everglades restoration project.Officials from the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection touted the permit granted by the U.S.Army Corps of Engineers as an "important milestone" to build the "flagship project" in the state's accelerated restoration efforts. Construction could begin next month. "By acquiring this permit and beginning construction, Florida is keeping itspromise to restore the famed River of Grass and protect Florida's estuaries," DEP Secretary Colleen Castille sai ...

Lake O management rules given mixed reception
Rachel Simmonsen /Palm Beach Post /Jul 14
It's an improvement — just not enough.That was a common reaction among activists for the St. Lucie River and Lake Okeechobee who turned out Thursday for a workshop near Stuart to learn more about proposed new rules for managing the lake. Audio:New Lake O rules imposed Activists applauded water managers' efforts to keep the lake between 13 and 15 feet above sea level, aiming to never let the lake swell to more than 17.25 feet, as it did after the 2004 hurricanes. But they complained that the new rules won't decrease the amount of water discharged overall from the lake to the St. Lucie River. The releases might be more infrequent, but they might also be larger, particularly after hurricanes. "None of us want the water," said Kevin Henderson of the St. Lucie River Initiative, one of about 60 people who showed up for the workshop at the Chastain Campus of Indian River Community Colleg ...

The Lake O dike: 20 years of warnings
Robert King /Palm Beach Post /Jul 16
Two months ago, the Army Corps of Engineers reacted with anger when state consultants called the Herbert Hoover Dike "a grave and imminent danger" to human life. The consultants likened the leak-prone dike around Lake Okeechobee to the levees that failed in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, saying only heroic repairs had staved off similar disasters in the Glades. The corps' leader in Florida, Col. Robert Carpenter, denounced those words as "sensationalism," "cavalier," even "downright irresponsible." But the corps' own files are filled with more than 20 years of reports outlining the dike's dangers — at times in words nearly as dire as the state's. The documents warned of "a very serious risk of catastrophic failure," declared much of the dike "hazardous" at high lake levels and spoke of "the real potential for human suffering and loss of life" if the dike collapsed. For cities ...

The future of Lake O's marsh
Willy Howard /Palm Beach Post /Jul 20
LAKEPORT - Hurricane Wilma uprooted valuable marsh vegetation last fall and left Lake Okeechobee's water the color of a dark brown stew. But so far, this year has been good for the 730-square-mile lake. Water levels have fallen steadily - to about 12.2 feet above sea level this week. The marsh has new growth, the water is clearing and anglers are catching lots of bass. Lake level Water levels on the big lake have been dropping following a sharp rise after Hurricane Wilma. The lake's water level is approximately 12.2 feet above sea level this week. Boaters who are unfamiliar with the lake should run slowly to avoid running aground at high speed. Professional guides are approaching the grassy edges along the west side of the lake at idle speed. Finding bass Anglers are catching small bass by the dozen along the outside edge of the Kissimmee grass along Observation Shoal and far ...

Report suggests Lake Okeechobee dike failure alert system
AP /Bradenton Times /Jul 20
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - An automatic dike failure alert system along Lake Okeechobee's rim is being considered as one way to protect the public from a catastrophic breach of the second-largest freshwater lake in the continental U.S., according to a draft report.The report by Palm Beach County's Division of Emergency Management also noted that as many as 18,000 residents living near the lakewould likely have to seek shelter if the dike showed signs of failing. A massive evacuation would call for 500 buses to be hastily put into service to take residents to shelters, according to the report released Wednesday. Widespread poverty and large numbers of residents who don't speak English will make it difficult to alert and evacuate communitiesaround the lake, the report said. "We are dealing with a community that is economically disadvantaged, educationally and linguistical ...

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

Water Resources Development Re-authorization Urged
staff /Florida Sportsman /Jul 2006
As of June, the Senate prepared to re-authorize the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which may describe more than $11 billion in projects that would essentially make up the budget of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Included in WRDA are vitally important initiatives, including the largest wetlands restoration project in history, the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). But many other authorizations are boondoggles, environmentally destructive projects planned by the Corps that do not make economic sense, except to the special interests. For centuries, legislators have brought home the bacon through WRDA earmarks. Dredging contractors, barging interests and sundry consultants prosper, thanks to a parasitic, symbiotic relationship with the agency that four presideBut in the aftermath of Katrina Corps, Reform activists are optimistic. Senator Russell Feingold (D, Wisco ...

Everglades restoration moving forward but continued court oversight needed
Brian Skoloff /Bradenton Times /Jul 5
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Everglades restoration is on the right track but must continue expeditiously if the vast wetlands system is to regain its health and thrive in one of the most ecologically sensitive regions of the world, according to a federal report released Wednesday. The state reached a settlement in 1992 after the federal government sued Florida for not abiding by its own clean water standards. The deal produced a consent decree under which a federal judge in Miami oversees Everglades cleanup.U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno appointed a special master to oversee restoration efforts and to report to the court on its progress. The topic has stirred emotion and heated debate as environmentalgroups and the Miccosukee Indians who live in the Everglades press for quicker progress while state water managers balance the needs of a thirsty and growing So ...

River restorations cost money
MaryAnn Morris /News Zap /July 2006
The Everglades, Kissimmee River, Lake Okeechobee and associated rivers’ restorations which are part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) cost money. The federal government, through the Water Resources Development Act, appropriates federals funds annually to provide its 50 percent of the money needed to complete these projects. The remaining 50 percent comes from local sources. L “So you say you’re not a water manager, construction engineer, environmental scientist or decision-making government official and can do little to help our treasured waterways that have lost their luster? Not so. You can help get much-needed restoration projects in the ground faster by supporting and standing behind your local, city, county, state and federal agencies responsible for turning our l Florida’s “Treasure Coast” encompasses some of the state’s and nation’s most productive and ...

2010 deadline for Everglades cleanup urged
Robert King /Palm Beach Post /Jul 6
Water managers should have until 2010 to finish working on their $1 billion-plus Everglades cleanup, a federal court adviser recommended Wednesday in a report that had both the state and its critics claiming victory. The report by Miami lawyer John Barkett also appeared to leave room for a much bigger showdown after Dec. 31 — the deadline state lawmakers originally set 12 years ago for the South Florida Water Management District to deliver clean water to all parts of the Everglades. In sometimes colorful language, Barkett's dense, acronym-laden report dramatizes the enormousness of South Florida's pollution problems, including the glut of manure and fertilizer runoff choking Lake Okeechobee."If the flora and fauna of the Lake could talk, they would be shouting: 'No more delays! Please stop the phosphorus,' " Barkett wrote. He noted that torrents of polluted lake water, followed by the ...

ENP to be removed from World Heritage in Danger List
Lithuania /World Heritage Commi/July 2006
VILNIUS, Lithuania — The World Heritage Committee today took a major step in addressing the possible future removal of Everglades National Park from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The international conservation committee adopted an approved set of benchmarks, developed in cooperation with the National Park Service and the World Conservation Union (IUCN). The benchmarks establish specific ac “We are delighted at this recognition and affirmation of the U.S. Government’s on-going efforts and commitment to the comprehensive restoration of the Everglades ecosystem,” said Louise Oliver, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). “This should boost the morale of those involved in this multi-decade, multi-billion-dollar restoration proje “The Committee has been very impressed with the U.S. commitment to restore the Everglades ec ...

Lawsuit tackles discharge rule
Cathy Zollo /Herald Tribune /Jul 14
Federal environmental regulators OK'd a loophole in Florida law that allows sewer plants, pulp mills and other major polluters to dump more waste into the state's waters, environmentalists claim in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent approval grants special permits that allow more pollution into Florida water bodies than had previously been permitted. The lawsuit seeks to kill the new rule, and EPA officials have said legal action would stop such special permits until the matter is decided in court. The lawsuit is spurred by a discharge permit for the Lower St. Johns River, more than 100 miles of waterway lined by sewage plants, a pulp mill and the suburban sprawl of Jacksonville. Environmentalists had won a lawsuit that forced the EPA to limit the amount of pollution that could be discharged into the Lower St. Jo ...

Miners, growers to fight ban
Andy Reid /Sun Sentinel /Jul 14
Mining companies and sugar cane growers are teaming up to try to stop a proposed two-year ban on digging deep pits on agricultural land that buffers the Everglades. Palm Beach County proposed the temporary moratorium to study ways to protectunderground water supplies from contamination before allowing new mines in the Everglades Agricultural Area -- which includes hundreds of thousands of acres of sugar cane, rice and sod fields stretching west to Lake Okeechobee. But representatives for rock mining companies and U.S. Sugar Corp. lobbied county officials in one-on-one meetings this week to reject the two-year moratorium. The opponents argue it could cut off the county from rock needed for road construction. The moratorium proposal goes before the county's Land Use Advisory Board today and the County Commission on Wednesday. Commissioner Karen Marcus in May helped ...

Everglades restoration gets boost
Luis Perez /Orlando Sentinel /Jul 14
WEST PALM BEACH -- The federal government has approved construction of a $400 million reservoir as part of the project to restore the Everglades. The massive reservoir in western Palm Beach County will have walls 30 feet high, hold 62 billion gallons of water and cover about 26 square miles. Officials from the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection touted the permit granted Wednesday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as an "important milestone" in the state's restoration efforts. Construction could begin next month. "By acquiring this permit and beginning construction, Florida is keeping itspromise to restore the famed River of Grass and protect Florida's estuaries," Florida DEP Secretary Colleen Castille said.The planned 16,700-acre reservoir in the Everglades Agriculture Area just west of U.S. Highway 27 i ...

Lagoon cleanup could receive $1.2 billion boost
Amie Parnes /TCPalm /Jul 15
WASHINGTON — A long-awaited federal project to clean up the Indian River Lagoon might be closer to coming true. After years of anticipation, months of calls and letter-writing and visits to members of Congress by concerned residents and local officials, theWater Resources Development Act is scheduled to be brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate for debate Tuesday, Majority Leader Bill Frist said Friday. The legislation authorizes $1.2 billion for the Indian River Lagoon restoration and is considered a major part of the 30-year, $10.5 billion Everglades Restoration plan.The Indian River Lagoon project aims to remove deposits of muck and phosphorous in lakes and canals that have polluted the lagoon for years. The legislation allows the Army Corps of Engineers to begin work on water resource problems, modify current projects and start new initiatives. The last time Co ...

Corps overhaul is good for Florida
Editorial /Miami Herald /Jul 17
A bipartisan Senate proposal to overhaul the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deserves approval to eliminate some of Congress' most nefarious pork-barrel spending and improve the process that determines which projects are worthwhile. The Corps builds and maintains the nation's navigable waterways, flood-control programs and environmental restoration projects like the monumentalEverglades replumbing.The overhaul, cosponsored by Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., and John McCain, R-Ariz., is an amendment to the Water Resources Planning and Modernization Act. The act includes authorization of two Everglades projects, which are anything but pork. The $1.2 billion Indian River Lagoon and $300million Picayune Strand projects will push forward the joint state-federal Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. The state has agreed to pay for the lagoon project while the strand plan, ...

Water act heading to U.S. Senate for debate
Amie Parnes /Naples Daily News /Jul 17
WASHINGTON — After years of anticipation, months of calls and letter-writing, and visits to members of Congress by concerned residents and local officials, the Water Resources Development Act is expected to be brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate for debate Tuesday, federal lawmakers say.The legislation, which authorizes hundreds of water projects around the country, includes $350 million for the Picayune Strand restoration project in easternCollier County and is considered a major part of the 30-year, $10.5 billion Everglades Restoration plan.The legislation allows the Army Corps of Engineers to begin work on water resource problems as well as construct projects and make major modifications to existing projects. The last time Congress passed the legislation was in 2000 and the reauthorization is three years overdue. As news of the legislation's movement spread ...

Authorize lagoon plan
Editorial /Palm Beach Post /Jul 18
Months of lobbying and hundreds of phone calls and e-mails from Floridians finally paid off last week when Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., agreed to schedule important water legislation for debate and a vote this week. The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), through which Congress authorizes water projects, has passed the House. If the Senate approves, work on the first major feder In April, Martin County asked residents to join in a "Ring for WRDA" campaign, a wonky title that nonetheless spoke to the dedicated residents who have been pushing the $1.2 billion Indian River Lagoon Restoration plan for so many years. The campaign asked for calls, letters and e-mails to Congress in support of the water legislation. Martin County hired a lobbyist. The county's television station The Indian River Lagoon spans nearly 200 miles from the Jupiter Inlet north to Daytona Beach. ...

Sugar dollars pour into pro-Smith group
A Leary & J Liberto /St Pete Times /Jul 19
TALLAHASSEE - Big Sugar has helped Rod Smith's bid for governor in a big way. But the industry's largess may prove to be a headache. A political group formed to promote Smith's candidacy received $295,000 fromU.S. Sugar Corp. of Clewiston and its subsidiaries, according to federal taxrecords. The contributions to Floridians for Responsible Government paid for a statewide direct mail effort touting Smith as a candidate with "experience, vision, guts." Smith, a state senator from Alachua, said he was "enormously comfortable" with the contributions. He noted his service of nine years on the Florida Farm Bureau board before becoming a state attorney. "It shouldn't surprise anybody that I'll be championed by citrus, by sugar, by cattle, and I intend to continue to have that," Smith said. But the money could damage his already shaky standing with some environmentalists, l ...

Engineers to build massive reservoir for Everglades restoration
Brian Skoloff /Bradenton Times /Jul 20
IN THE EVERGLADES, Fla. - Engineers next month will begin building one of the world's largest manmade reservoirs - the size of a small city - as efforts continue to restore natural water flow to the Everglades. The reservoir, roughly 25 square miles in area, is set forcompletion in 2010. It will hold 62 billion gallons of water, equivalent to about 5.1 million residential swimming pools, and will be seven miles across at its widest point. Most reservoirs are built amid mountains and valleys or where a natural water source feeds the pool. In this case, 30 million tons of earth will be dug from flat land and surrounded by a 26-foot high, 21-mile long levee, making it larger than any other reservoir not connected to a natural source, according to state officials."When you stand on one side of this reservoir, you will not see the other side," said Carol Wehle, executive ...

U.S. Senate passes Water Resources Restoration bill
Amie Parnes /Naples Daily News /Jul 20
WASHINGTON — For Florida lawmakers, it took a long time — six years to be exact — but the day finally came. The much-anticipated Water Resources Restoration bill passed the Senate on Wednesday, pleasing the lawmakers who had long pushed for critical Everglades Restoration funding. The legislation, which passed the chamber without objection, authorizes hundreds of water projects around the country, including $1.2 billion for the Indian River Lagoon restoration on the Treasure Coast and $350 million for the Picayune Strand restoration project in eastern Collier County. The bill, commonly referred to as WRDA, is part of the $10.5 billion Everglades restoration plan that would allow the Army Corps of Engineers to begin work on water quality issues, federal drainage projects and make major modifications to existing projects. The measure would help restore more than 160,00 ...



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Florida Gulf Coast University is accredited by the
Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
(1866 Southern lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097; Telephone number 404-679-4501)
to award associate, baccalaureate, and master’s degrees.

Florida Gulf Coast University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.

Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Blvd S., Fort Myers, FL 33965-6565
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