For retirees on a fixed income and struggling families scraping by in this economy the thought of having to pay more for their water and sewer bill will seem like another thoughtless government assault on their pocketbook.

The needed upgrades to the county’s system could exceed $12 billion over 15 years, according to Water and Sewer Director John Renfrow.

As it is, the immediate need is likely to be $1.4 billion to update three water-treatment plants in Goulds, North Miami and Virginia Key and replace brittle water lines that are in some cases 50 years old throughout the county — all to meet federal and state regulators’ demands that the county stop violating the Clean Water Act and the terms of the discharge permit.

That’s Step. 1. There is no alternative but to pay up and get going after decades of neglect and a county penchant for taking money out of the sewer fund to balance the county’s overall budget.

Step. 2: The county needs a long-range plan that is continuously updating water and sewer lines.

Right now, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez has projected a 9-percent rate hike in the water bill for the 2013-14 fiscal year, followed by 6 percent increases for three years after that. But for this year, no increase, which should be reconsidered. As Commissioner Lynda Bell suggested at a recent meeting, increasing water rates gradually, starting now, would be best.

A mix of bonds and higher water bills will have to cover the costs of this long-term project, and build reserves so that in another 20 years the county isn’t scrambling again to catch up and creating a potential public health crisis in the process.

Mr. Renfrow said the first bond issue of $300 million, which commissioners would have to approve, would be needed by this coming spring. That money would be used to start work on the most critical portions in disrepair, those now in federal regulators’ crosshairs.

Mr. Gimenez, a fiscal conservative, has to lead on this issue if he wants to attract new industries to the county that offer better paying jobs. Sunshine and surf only go so far. The mayor and county commissioners would be wise to have a consistent get-the-word-out campaign to constituents about why the upgrades are needed and what’s at stake if we delay.

Tourism, for one, would be a bust if pipes keep failing. Imagine what a major break in sewer lines would do to Miami Beach, which already has experienced several sewer breakdowns in the past few years. Imagine that it would happen during the winter months when international tourists come for arts festivals and shows. About 100 miles of substandard piping laid out by a now-defunct company, including the sewer main running under Government Cut to Virginia Key, are a catastrophe in the making for this area’s tourism.

There’s no time to waste, and the cities that run their own systems must work with the county in a coordinated way to get it done.

Just in the past two years alone, the county’s antiquated system of 7,500 miles of sewer lines has ruptured more than 65 times, with 47 million gallons of untreated human waste seeping onto streets and into waterways from far South Dade to the Broward County line, according to environmental regulators. The health of Biscayne Bay, a recreational draw for locals and tourists alike, is imperiled, too.

Upgrading the entire system — and keeping up with repairs as needed into the future — is a public health issue and an economic imperative. Get going.

With Lake Okeechobee now topping 15 feet and still rising from Tropical Storm Isaac, federal engineers decided Tuesday to begin slowly draining the lake, opening gates that will send polluted waters down rivers on both coasts but ease pressure on its aging dike.

The move, which in the past has triggered foul fish-killing algae blooms in the sensitive estuaries of the Caloosahatchee River on the West Coast and the St. Lucie River on the East Coast, will begin on both sides of the lake at 7 a.m. Wednesday.

Lt. Col. Thomas Greco of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the agency would try to minimize environmental impacts by starting with small volumes rather than the torrents of runoff laced with agricultural chemicals and nutrients that devastated both rivers after the hectic 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. The dumping also can raise salinity levels in estuaries, which can harm sea grass, oysters and other marine life.

“We’re actually releasing much less than what is authorized under the Lake Okeechobee regulation schedule,’’ said Greco, the Corps’ deputy commander for South Florida.

Under the Corps plan, the lake level is supposed to stay between 12.5 feet and 15.5 feet above sea level, rising and falling with rainfall. The goal is to balance the big lake’s often conflicting uses as a flood control basin, regional water reservoir and world-renowned fishing destination.

In the dry winter, it serves as a major source of water for surrounding sugar, citrus, sod and vegetable growers. In the wet summer, it handles runoff from hurricanes and storms like Isaac, which quickly filled a lake that had previously been running below normal. The lake has risen nearly three feet in the last month.

Greco said the lake’s massive dike, which is being beefed up with construction projects, is in good shape. Though the aging earthen levee has leaked during past storms, Greco said Isaac caused no problems and Corps studies suggest it would be safe with water levels up to 18 feet.

But because the lake is so near the 15.5-foot ceiling, there is little room left if another tropical system hits. The lake can rise much faster than the Corps can lower it. A foot of rain over the Kissimmee River basin to the north can boost lake levels as much as four feet in weeks, Greco said. It can take the Corps 75 days to drop it to that level again, barring other storms.

“Really what we’re looking at is preparing ourselves and make sure the conditions are right through the hurricane season,” he said.

Florida formally signed off on an $880-million slate of Everglades cleanup projects on Tuesday.

Gov. Rick Scott announced the state had signed water quality permits and a consent order negotiated with the federal government to expand efforts to stem the flow of polluted farm, ranch and yard runoff into the Everglades.

Scott, in a news release, called the plan he had championed during nine months of negotiations with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “a historic step for Everglades restoration.’’

The plan commits the state to $880 million in new projects that will expand on an existing network of manmade marshes designed to reduce the flow of the damaging nutrient phosphorus into the Everglades. The state, under pressure from federal judges to speed up the pace of cleanup, has already spent some $1.8 billion to construct 45,000 acres of treatment marshes. The new plan calls for adding another 6,500 acres of marshes, along with large shallow water storage basins and other improvements.

Though most environmental groups have applauded the plan, the Miccosukee Tribe and Friends of the Everglades have been critical, arguing it will push back cleanup deadlines to 2025 — almost two decades beyond an original 2006 target — and questioning whether the state has a firm plan to pay for the work.

Scott, in the release, said the deal would be paid for with a combination of revenues from the state and South Florida Water Management District “without raising or creating new costs for Floridians.’’

MIAMI -- In an aggressive effort to keep an invasive snail species from making a permanent home in Florida, 78,000 giant African land snails have been captured in the past year, state agriculture officials said Wednesday.

The infestation was discovered in September 2011. Officials hoped they could keep the snail from joining other exotic plant, fish and animal species that have found havens in the state.

"After one year of battling the giant African land snail with every tool currently available to us, we are still confident we can win this fight," said Richard Gaskalla, director of the Department of Agriculture's Division of Plant Industry. "However, we need the continued help of the public if we are to successfully eradicate this dangerous pest."

The snail has been found only in Miami-Dade County, but it poses significant risks to Florida's landscape.

The giant African land snail is considered one of the most damaging snails in the world because it eats at least 500 types of plants and can cause structural damage. It also can carry a parasite that can lead to meningitis in humans.

A program aimed at wiping out the snail's population has cost $2.6 million in state and federal funds so far, said Denise Feiber, spokeswoman for the Division of Plant Industry.

The last reported outbreak in Florida was in 1966 when a Miami boy smuggled three snails as pets. His grandmother released them into her garden and they multiplied. It took a decade and cost more than $1 million to eradicate more than 18,000 snails.

It's not known how the snail arrived in Florida this time, and there's no estimate for how many remain.

"We know they lay eggs, up to 1,200 a year, and they live for nine years. We're just one year into this," Feiber said.

Officials credited homeowners for identifying and reporting most of the main infestation sites. The snails were collected from 350 properties, mostly in urban areas, Feiber said.

Hundreds of the snails, which can grow up to seven inches in length or more, are collected each week, officials said.

Giant African land snails originally come from eastern Africa. They are illegal to import into the U.S. without a permit. No permits have been issued.

The snails also have established a population in Hawaii over the last 40 years, but eradication efforts are focused on Florida to keep the infestation from spreading across the mainland, said Andrea Simao of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

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Online:

Florida's giant African land snail information page: http://www.freshfromflorida.com/pi/gals/