"Water districts respond to former board members who wrote Gov. Scott" @flcurrent

The chairs of the state's five water management districts say their agencies are focused on the "prudent use of taxpayer dollars" rather than on raising taxes.

They wrote a letter on Monday in response to a missive sent to Gov. Rick Scott last week by 20 former board members of the districts . The former board members asked the governor to restore funding for the districts in the wake of cuts last year imposed by legislation.

The Legislature this year lifted the spending caps, but the districts have proposed keeping the same or slightly lower tax rates under reported pressure from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. A DEP spokesman said this month the department "collaborated" with the districts to hold down the cost of living for Florida residents.

The former board members, in their letter last week, described the economic benefits of proper water management and threats to future water supplies from a growing population. They point out that the owner of a $150,000 home in the South Florida Water Management District saved less than $20 in taxes paid because of the cuts last year.

They suggested the option of allowing "some discretion" for each of the five districts to adopt tax rates needed "to accomplish their core mission."

The five chairmen responded Monday that past spending on land acquisition, building expansions and local partnership projects had built good will but also had led to unrealistic growth their agencies' sizes along with salaries and benefits that exceeded those of state employees.

"Today, in a different fiscal climate, the governor and Legislature are focused on prudent use of taxpayer dollars and not increasing the burden of more government and higher taxes on Florida’s citizens," the letter stated.

The chairmen pointed to projects under way this year in each of the districts that when combined provide almost $1 billion towards restoration and water conservation. In addition, the South Florida Water Management District is moving "aggressively" forward on the governor's plan to spend $880 million over 12 years on Everglades restoration, including $87.6 million in this year's budget.

The board chairmen said they were pleased that the Legislature lifted the revenue caps.

"This will allow our budgets to grow as Florida’s economy grows -- rather than increasing the burden on current taxpayers," they wrote.

Eric Buermann, a former South Florida Water Management District board member, said he and some of the others who signed the letter last week were disappointed and taken aback that the governor did not personally respond.

"The districts are driven now right out of Tallahassee," Buermann said. "Anybody who doesn't think that is kidding themselves."

-Bruce Ritchie

"$64 million reservoir pumps approved to deliver overdue water boost" @Sunsentinel

By Andy Reid, Sun Sentinel

Building new $64 million pumps could finally get water flowing as once intended from a Palm Beach County reservoir plagued by controversy.

South Florida taxpayers already sunk $217 million into transforming old rock mines west of Royal Palm Beach into a reservoir intended to boost water supplies and help the environment.

Now, the South Florida Water Management District has approved a deal to design and construct a pumping station that has been on hold since the L-8 Reservoir was finished in 2008.

Budget problems and changes to Everglades efforts contributed to shelving pump plans.

But now the reservoir plays a key role in revamped Everglades restoration plans and more money is pouring in to get the pumps built.

"It's a very, very significant construction project," said Joe Collins, board chairman for the South Florida Water Management District. "It's something that has been a long time coming."

Even with the long-delayed pump plans getting back on track, questions remain about whether the reservoir will ever deliver the expected water supply benefits.

"They are trying to bail out a bad decision," Drew Martin, of the Sierra Club, said about the new plans for the reservoir. "It was just a bad investment."

The 15 billion-gallon reservoir built at Palm Beach Aggregates was once intended to store water that would replenish the Loxahatchee River — which had natural water flows diminished by decades of draining in South Florida.

The reservoir was also meant to supplement community drinking water supplies and provide drought relief for West Palm Beach and other areas.

While the reservoir has helped West Palm Beach during droughts in 2007 and 2011, without the pumps it hasn't delivered the water expected for the Loxahatchee River.

Also, water quality problems blamed on the depth of the reservoir and stagnation from lack of pumps have dogged the project.

Now the state's new $880 million plan for improving Everglades water quality includes sending the bulk of that reservoir water south.

Help for the Loxahatchee River instead would eventually come from plans to store and treat water on Palm Beach County's Mecca Farms property, west of Palm Beach Gardens.

The planned pumping station would include six large pumps capable of drawing water from 40-feet deep. The reservoir's 15 billion gallon capacity is enough water to cover 34,000 football fields one foot deep, according to the water management district.

The district chose Archer Western Contractors, based in Atlanta, to design and build the pumps. Archer was the low bidder among two other competing firms. It's expected to take 2-1/2 years to build the pumping station, with construction expected to start in May.

Controversy has followed the reservoir project.

Palm Beach Aggregates ended up reimbursing the district for a $2.4 million secret "success fee" that federal prosecutors contend was paid to an engineering consultant who pushed the reservoir deal to water managers — without revealing his work as a consultant for Palm Beach Aggregates.

That fee and a Palm Beach Aggregates home development proposal factored into separate federal corruption investigations that led to the resignations and jail time for two Palm Beach County commissioners ousted by scandals.

"Former water board members urge Scott to restore funding" @MiamiHerald

A letter to Gov. Rick Scott asks him to restore pending cuts to the budgets of Florida’s water management districts responsible for the water supply and Everglades restoration.

By CURTIS MORGAN

Twenty former governing board members of Florida’s water management districts are urging Gov. Rick Scott to reverse another round of pending budget cuts.

In a letter sent to Scott Monday, they urged the governor to “restore adequate funding’’ for the five regional agencies responsible for the water supply, flood control and many environmental protection projects, including Everglades restoration.

The Florida Legislature this year removed a year-old revenue cap that had slashed district budgets statewide by 30 percent, a move environmental groups had hoped would restore some of the lost funding. Instead, water district governing boards, who are appointed by the governor, have continued cutting back, rather than holding the line or raising property tax rates to previous levels.

The South Florida Water Management District, for example, which just settled a long-running federal lawsuit by agreeing to $880 million in new projects to reduce the flow of pollution in the Everglades, gave preliminary approval to a $600 million budget that includes another 2 percent cut in its property tax rate. That follows a $100 million cut last year. A final budget hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25.

The former board members, including Miami attorney Eric Buermann, who was the South Florida district’s chairman under former Gov. Charlie Crist, argued the cuts save property owners a small amount at a large cost for important programs like Glades restoration, and alternative water supply projects. A Miami-Dade property owner of a $150,000 home paid $62.40 in district taxes in 2011. This latest proposed roll-back will reduce that to $42.89.

The governor’s office did not respond to a call and an email for comment about the letter, which echoes complaints from environmental groups. But in announcing final state approval last week of the Everglades pollution cleanup plan reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Scott said the plan was to pay for the work with existing state and district revenues “without raising or creating new costs for Floridians.’’

"Reservoir for #Everglades restoration to get pumps to clear out its salty water" @pbpost

Reservoir for Everglades restoration to get pumps to clear out its salty water

By Christine Stapleton

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Water managers approved a contract Thursday for $64 million to install six massive pumps in the controversial L-8 Reservoir — a move that will finally put the 10-year-old water storage system to use and jump-start new Everglades restoration projects.

The reservoir at a rock mine on Southern Boulevard, which figured prominently in two Palm Beach County corruption scandals, has been dormant for lack of a way to get the water out of the 60-foot deep holes. The pits have not been used because the water in them contains unacceptable levels of chlorides. Without the pumps, the district cannot flush the chloride-laden water out of the pits to see if, as expected, the chloride levels drop when the pits refill.

Making the 15 billion gallon reservoir operational is included in a suite of projects in the state’s $880 million plan to improve water quality in the Everglades. The pumps should be operational in May 2013.

"State formally approves Glades clean-up plan" @MiamiHerald

State formally approves Glades clean-up plan

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.’’

By CURTIS MORGAN The Miami Herald

"Flood control costs may be forced on rural Palm Beach County residents" @pbpost

By Jennifer Sorentrue and Christine Stapleton

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Residents of flooded western communities who for decades have refused to pay for public flood control projects may be forced to do so.

County Administrator Bob Weisman has asked the County Attorney to research the legality of a “mandatory assessment” to construct and maintain flood control projects in communities near the Acreage. In an email to County Commissioner Jess Santamaria on Wednesday, Weisman said the neighborhoods “have refused to to participate in an improvement project with Indian Trails Improvement district (ITID) even though they are part of ITID.”

“This means there is no government entity and apparently no property owners association to build and maintain drainage and road infrastructure,” Weisman said. “This means the property owners are also not paying any tax assessment for these benefits in these areas. There is no publicly owned road or drainage infrastructure.”

As of Wednesday, some yards were still flooded and mail service had not yet resumed since Tropic Storm Isaac’s record rainfall eight days ago. Some of the neighborhoods that do not participate suffered some of the heaviest flooding, including Deer Run and other areas near the L-8 Canal and Lion Country Safari.

The ITID provides drainage and road maintenance for participating neighborhoods within the district’s 110-square-mile footprint. However, participation is not mandatory.

Residents in participating neighborhoods pay an assessment based on the amount of land they own. The district in turn maintains canals, pump stations, flood gates, culverts, roads and pumps. The district releases and retains water depending on the weather.

In neighborhoods that do not participate, maintenance, including grading dirt roads, is left up to the residents. Many of the homes do not have swales to collect stormwater runoff.

“It raises the question of do we need an assessment without the approval of the residents and that is a radical thought,” Weisman said.

“If you are not part of an overall managed system, when excess rainfall events occur there is limited to no relief,” said Lisa Tropepe, ITID’s engineering consultant. “People that pay into the system, we manage to accommodate them through a series of canals, pump stations and flood gates.”

Residents of the Acreage have earned a reputation for being fiercely independent and devoted to maintaining a rural way of life. In 2010, some complained so loudly about bright streetlights that the county installed on a 1.5 mile stretch of road that the county switched to lower wattage bulbs.

“They like limited government,” said Michelle Damone, President of the ITID’s Board of Supervisors. “I feel for them but the district cannot legally spend our assessments to provide them drainage. It’s kind of like car insurance — you pay for it in case something happens.”

John McMillon, who lives on 206th Terrace North, a street not protected by ITID, said people don’t want to pay more taxes and many couldn’t if they were forced to pay.

“If we were forced to, a lot of us wouldn’t make it out here,” McMillon said.

Santamaria said residents approached him several years ago about joining the district. He supported their cause but in the end, residents narrowly voted against joining. As for the cost, Santamaria said the communities would likely be eligible for an advance from the county which residents could pay-back over 20 years with installments on their tax bills. Engineering studies would have to be performed before residents would know their estimated annual assessment.

“My hope is that this time, since the flooding has been worse, they will get more concerned,” Santamaria said. “I would rather not have to force anybody to do anything but sometimes it comes down to a life-or-death situation.”

During the worst of the flooding, there were “a lot of discussions” about which agencies should provide services to these neighborhoods, said Assistant County Administrator Vince Bonvento, who oversees the county’s public safety department.

“Obviously, because of the public safety element, we decided that we needed to provide assistance,” Bonvento said.

Also on Wednesday, Weisman sent an email to other top county officials and Tanya Quickel, the district’s administrator, with an update of flood relief efforts near the J.W. Corbett Wildlife Management Area. Water seeping from the Corbett and the risk of a breach in the berm that prevents water from flooding nearby neighborhoods have prompted the ITID and the South Florida Water Management Area to begin efforts to replace the berm with a new dam.

"Officials capture 11-foot python in Fla. Keys"

Florida Fish and Wildlife Officers Jason Rafter and Kip Hoover with an 11-foot snake found in Key Largo.

( Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Courtesy / September 2, 2012 ) Florida Fish and Wildlife Officers Jason Rafter and Kip Hoover with an 11-foot snake found in Key Largo.

The Associated Press

MARATHON, Fla. -- Officials have captured an 11-foot python after it slithered across a busy highway in the Florida Keys.

Monroe County Sheriff's Deputy Bryan Cross spotted the reptile Friday as it crossed the Overseas Highway. He followed the snake into a heavily wooded lot and called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The Sun Sentinel reports that officers captured the snake without incident.

Officials believe the snake is not an escaped pet but one in a growing population of exotics in the area.

The python was turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard.

"SFWMD, Partners Sponsor Art That Saves Water: Youth-decorated rain barrels will conserve water in Lee County" in #SFWMD 'Ripple Effect'

photo of painted rain barrels Art met water conservation once again in Lee County with the latest youth contest to decorate colorful rain barrels. The 35-gallon containers will be installed in Bonita Springs Regional Park and the Bonita Springs YMCA as a tool to help conserve water at these facilities.

"This art contest proves to be a creative way of educating young people about the importance of water conservation," said Dan DeLisi, a South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board member. "The painted rain barrels will not only save water, they'll serve as colorful reminders that Bonita Springs youth are becoming good stewards of South Florida's natural resources."

For the event, 150 students, ages 6 to 13, painted South Florida nature scenes on nearly a dozen barrels donated by the University of Florida IFAS Florida Yards & Neighborhoods Program. Partners also included the City of Bonita Springs Parks and Recreation Youth Camp and the Bonita Springs YMCA.

Rain barrels are the modern version of cisterns that Florida pioneers used to collect rainwater. Cisterns were once relied on for drinking water, washing, bathing and crop irrigation.

Today, on a smaller scale, rain barrels help conserve water supplies by collecting rainwater that falls on roofs for later use, primarily in landscape irrigation. The water-saving containers reduce the amount of potable (drinking) water used for landscape irrigation, which accounts for up to 50 percent of the water used per person per day in South Florida. In addition, rain barrels help reduce stormwater runoff from residential lawns and driveways, which can affect water quality in rivers, creeks, estuaries and other waterways.

Encouraging the use of rain barrels is just one strategy in the District's Comprehensive Water Conservation Program. The SFWMD Governing Board approved the program in September 2008 to encourage more responsible use of water resources throughout South Florida. Numerous stakeholders worked with the District to define specific regulatory, voluntary and incentive-based programs and in-depth education and marketing plans that will help foster a year-round conservation ethic.

For more information on rain barrels, see Quick Facts on Rain Harvesting. For comprehensive information on water conservation, visit the District's conservation website at www.savewaterfl.com.

Back by popular demand..."Monster #python caught in the Florida #Everglades breaks egg record" in @miamiherald

Posted on Mon, Aug. 13, 2012

By Kristen Grace/Florida Museum of Natural History / University of Florida. Researchers at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus prepare to examine the internal anatomy of the largest Burmese python found in Florida. It carried a state record 87 eggs in its oviducts. The Burmese python is an invasive species in Florida. Pictured are Claudia Grant (from left), Leroy Nunez and Nicholas Coutu.

By CURTIS MORGAN
Cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com

Researchers examining a record-length Burmese python captured in Everglades National Park have uncovered an equally unsettling record hidden in its carcass.

The 17-foot, 7-inch snake, the largest ever caught in the wild in Florida, also was laden with 87 eggs.

The discovery, announced Monday by the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, is the latest confirmation that the giant exotic constrictors have rebounded since a brutal freeze two years ago that experts estimated may have killed off more than half of the population at the time.

“This thing is monstrous — it’s about a foot wide,” said Kenneth Krysko, manager of the museum’s herpetology collection, in a release. “It means these snakes are surviving a long time in the wild, there’s nothing stopping them and the native wildlife are in trouble.”

Park biologist Skip Snow said the findings underline the challenge of slowing the spread of a giant snake that feeds on native prey.

“I think one of the important facts about this animal is its reproductive capability,’’ Snow said in the release. “This shows they’re a really reproductive animal, which aids in their invasiveness.”

The necropsy at the museum, part of on-going research into developing techniques to control the snakes, showed the snake to be in excellent health with feathers in its stomach, Krysko said. Researchers have found that snakes will eat just about everything that walks, crawls or flies in the Everglades, from egrets to alligators. A study published early this year linked the boom of pythons in the Everglades to a crash in populations of many bite-sized mammals like raccoons, opossums and marsh rabbits.

“A 17.5-foot snake could eat anything it wants,” Krysko said. “By learning what this animal has been eating and its reproductive status, it will hopefully give us insight into how to potentially manage other wild Burmese pythons in the future.’’

Scientists can only guess at the population of Burmese pythons in the vast expanse of the Everglades, estimating the number in the tens of thousands, even after the record freeze in 2010. A month after the cold snap, biologists captured a 16-foot, 8-inch female in a nest with 85 eggs, which was the previous record for Florida.

The big female was first captured on March 6 when a male “Judas snake’’ lead a team to her not far from the park’s research center, said Kristen Hart, a research ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey. The “Judas snake’’ project fits pythons with tiny radio transmitters and GPS devices, then releases them into the wild, with the hope they will lead scientists to primary breeding spots.

Because of its size, the record-breaking female snake also was briefly employed in the project, fitted with a radio transmitter, GPS and accelerometers that measured its precise body movements every four seconds. Before it could lay any eggs, it was recaptured on April 19, after 38 days in the wild, and euthanized, Hart said.

After scientists are done with the record-setting reptile, it will be mounted for display at the museum on the University of Florida campus for about five years then returned for display at the park.

"Water district considers tapping rock mining money for Everglades restoration" @abreidnews @sunsentinel

By Andy Reid, Sun Sentinel
August 10, 2012

Rock mining money could pay for transforming farmland into wetlands under a new proposal to finally make use of costly land bought for Everglades restoration.

The South Florida Water Management District is working on a new plan to restore more than half of the 26,800 acres that in 2010 cost taxpayers $197 million in a deal with U.S. Sugar Corp.

How to pay for this plan is raising concerns with some environmental advocates, worried that the district's proposal would siphon money away from other restoration commitments.

The district proposes turning almost 15,000 acres of citrus groves north of Everglades National Park into a "mitigation" project. Rock miners would pay to restore the farm land in compensation for the environmental damage they cause by digging and blasting stone two counties away in Miami-Dade County.

That could be worth more than $150 million — recouping taxpayers' investment in that portion of the U.S. Sugar land purchase, paying for restoration of that property and potentially supplementing other district restoration efforts.

"It's a very good use [of the land]," said Ernie Barnett, the district's director of Everglades policy. "Putting it back to the way it was."

While environmental groups support the restoration of the former U.S. Sugar land, some object to using the rock mining money to do it.

Redirecting rock mining mitigation money to restore the former U.S. Sugar land in Hendry County would fail to compensate for the environmental damage from mining dozens of miles away in Miami-Dade, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.

"It seems to fly in the face of keeping mitigation local," John Adornato, regional director for the environmental group, said about the funding proposal. "It seems like a stretch."

On Aug. 29, the proposal goes before a state board that oversees Lake Belt-area rock mining in Miami-Dade. If that board gives its blessing, restoration work could begin on the Hendry County citrus land in 2014, according to the district.

The mitigation project approach would raise "a significant amount of money" for the budget-strained district and deliver real environmental improvements, according to district Executive Director Melissa Meeker.

The restoration work would remove citrus trees, drainage ditches and levees and turn the land back into a mix of wetland prairies and tree islands to become a new extension of the Everglades, according to the proposal.

"Take what is now a citrus grove and turn it into native habitat," Meeker said.

The land comes from a watered-down version of then-Gov. Charlie Crist's $1.75 billion bid in 2008 to buy all of U.S. Sugar's 180,000 acres and use the land to store and treat stormwater needed to replenish the Everglades.

The national economic downturn and other hurdles whittled the deal down to $197 million for 26,800 acres, as well as a 10-year option to buy the rest of U.S. Sugar's land.

The land acquired in 2010 included 8,900 acres in Palm Beach County, east of Lake Okeechobee, and 17,900 acres of citrus land in Hendry County, northeast of Everglades National Park.

So far, that land has yet to be put to use for Everglades restoration, and is being leased back to U.S. Sugar for continued farming.

New Everglades restoration plans call for trying to trade the Palm Beach County portion of the former U.S. Sugar land for property in other areas targeted for Everglades restoration. Those plans also include building a shallow reservoir and other water storage on about 3,000 acres of the citrus land acquired in the U.S. Sugar deal.

Tapping into the rock mining mitigation money would enable the district to pay for its new plan to turn the rest of the Hendry County property back into wetlands and other vital habitat — prime for panthers, black bears and migratory birds.

While the district would get money for restoration, the rock mining industry would earn the mitigation "credits" it needs to keep mining.

Rock mining mitigation money needs to be spent on environmental efforts such as protecting water flows to Biscayne Bay, not cleaning up Everglades pollution problems created by farming, Adornato said.

The Sierra Club was still reviewing the district's new mitigation proposal, but group representative Jon Ullman said that relying on mitigation to compensate for environmental damage typically "is not an equitable solution."

"Mitigation has shown to be a net loss of wetlands," Ullman said.

abreid@tribune.com, 561-228-5504 or Twitter@abreidnews

Environmental Intersection by George Lindemann