This is a great program - it involves private land owners, low upfront costs and low long term costs...
Eight months after the Everglades Foundation released a poll showing disapproval for Gov. Rick Scott's proposal to cut Everglades restoration money by 66 percent, the Republican governor made an unpublished stop to the advocacy group's two-day meeting in Naples on Wednesday and apparently told attendees that Everglades restoration is now a top priority of his administration.
An upcoming Water Supply Summit hosted by the Everglades Foundation will include a “Legislative Briefing Breakfast” and a “Capital Lobby Day,” according to information released by the group.
Everglades National Park (Pic by Rodney Cammauf, National Park Service; via army.mil)
The summit will kick off in Tallahassee on Tues., Jan. 17, with a luncheon, and will wrap up the next day with “briefings, meetings, and advocacy to save America’s Everglades.” According to a press release, the event will be attended by top government officials and business leaders and will feature a performance by recording artist Gavin DeGraw.
An email sent out to supporters highlighted the recent problems plaguing the Florida Everglades — including one of the worst droughts the state has ever seen.
From the email:
In 2011, Florida witnessed one of the worst droughts in history. It was the third drought in the past ten years. This lack of rain sparked wildfires across the state and set large-scale destructive algal blooms in motion in the Caloosahatchee river. West Palm Beach and other municipalities came within days of running out of water.
The drought highlighted the issues that Florida should have been focusing on from the beginning: storing rainwater, cleaning it and supplying it to the millions of Floridians who need it.
The Everglades ecosystem is a crucial link between water storage and water supply for almost 7 million Floridians. And at less than half its original size, one out of every three Floridians relies on the Everglades as the source of their fresh drinking water.
For over a hundred years, we have built canals and levees to re-direct the natural southerly flow of freshwater from the headwaters of the Everglades in the Kissimmee river basin towards urban areas and coastal cities, disrupting the ecosystem’s delicate natural balance.
Meanwhile, 1.7 billion gallons of freshwater are dumped into saltwater estuaries every day.
Florida’s boating, tourism, real estate, hunting, recreational and commercial fishing industries all depend on a healthy Everglades ecosystem, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and contributing billions to our economy.
The Summit is being touted as “the first of its kind.”
In a hesitant but hopeful voice, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said he was "delighted" with Gov. Rick Scott's recent trip to Washington to unveil the governor's Everglades restoration plan. But as for the plan itself, Salazar questioned its science and how it will take to get the job done.
"It was a thoughtful review but the jury is still out," Salazar said Monday morning, at a meeting with the editorial board of The Palm Beach Post. "If there is a dance going on between the United States of the America and the State of Florida, we hope it's a good dance."
And after meeting with Scott Monday afternoon, Salazar's office issued a terse, three-sentence press release.
"In Florida today, I met with Gov. Rick Scott to continue our dialogue on the restoration efforts in the Everglades. Over the last three years, the United States has invested upwards of $600 million towards Everglades restoration.
http://m.pbpost.com/pbpost/db_/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=50MHfXG2&ful...
The Environmental Protection Agency has come under fire for its decision to allow the state of Florida to write its own water pollution rules (known as “numeric nutrient criteria”). EPA Regional Administrator Gwendolyn Keyes Fleming is now firing back, writing that the Agency commends the state Department of Environmental Protection for its draft of a proposed standard.
Full story: http://floridaindependent.com/57162/epa-numeric-nutrient-criteria#
In MIami Herald Yesterday:
Good start but it doesn’t go far enough, fast enough.
In a nutshell, that sums up the federal government’s initial response to an Everglades pollution cleanup plan personally laid out last month by Gov. Rick Scott during a visit to Washington.
Nevertheless, both sides remain upbeat about resolving the long-running legal and political battle over Florida’s repeatedly delayed plans to reduce the flow of the damaging nutrient, phosphorus, that pours off farms and yards into the Everglades after every rain storm.
In a meeting Monday with the editorial board of The Miami Herald, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he was “cautiously optimistic’’ that the state would address initial concerns sketched out in a Nov. 10 letter to the governor from four federal agencies involved in Everglades restoration. Story here.
Posted by Mary Ellen Klas on November 15, 2011 in Florida Environment , Florida Governor , Rick Scott | Permalink
@SFWMD, though short on cash, renews farmer leases without competitive bidding
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 8:03 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2011
For five years the Pearce family of Okeechobee waited for the lease to expire on 4,700 acres of public ranchland, so they could bid on the lease and return their cattle to land that, until 2006, was in the family for five generations.
But about 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 13, Patricia Pearce learned that, later that morning, the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District would be asked to renew the 5-year lease of the current tenants, the Old River Cattle Company. The renewal was scheduled even though the lease was not up until March 2012, no notice of the land's availability was published in a local newspaper and the Pearces were willing to pay more.
"We have been waiting patiently for five years," Patricia Pearce told the board after making the 85-mile drive to the district headquarters in West Palm Beach. "We were told it would be put up for public bid. I'd like to know what the policy is."
So would many others, including members of the governing board and ranchers and farmers who lease more than 129,000 acres of public land controlled by the district, which spans 16 counties.
"What is the thinking, that we didn't want to give the Pearce family an opportunity to compete for this land?" asked board member Glenn Waldman during the Oct. 13 meeting. "Is it just because it's easier to re-lease?
Last year the district collected more than $4.2 million in rent and saved countless more in taxes and land management costs by leasing land for agricultural uses, from grazing to farming. But at a time when the district's budget has been slashed, more than 300 workers cut and Everglades restoration projects delayed for want of money, the board's renewal of the Old River Cattle Company lease and eight others without seeking competitive bids to ensure top dollar has sparked a review and proposed overhaul of the district's controversial and confusing lease policies.
Bob Brown, the district's recently appointed assistant executive director, acknowledged that "some legitimate points have been raised." Brown will unveil the proposed changes at a meeting of the Projects and Lands Committee meeting today.
This is not the first time the district's lease policy has come under fire. A critical, internal audit in 2002 uncovered a lease for as little as $1 per acre -- far below the market value of a lease for pasture land. Other leases were renewed without competitive bids which appeared to "bypass the tenets of fair and open competition," according to the audit.
The auditor strongly recommended that the district adopt a policy of public notice and open bidding for all leases: "Competition will determine market value and therefore the leases should be competed."
That did not happen. Although the district did adopt its first agricultural lease policy in November 2003, revisions made in 2005, 2006, 2010 and earlier this year diluted oversight and eventually gave the executive director the authority to approve lease renewals.
As the policy evolved, the leases of ranchers and farmers who leased back the land that they had sold to the district were routinely renewed without allowing others the opportunity to bid. And despite a Florida law that requires the district to publish notice -- weekly for three weeks -- of its intention to lease any land, the district enacted its own policy that "allows the district to renew existing leases without competition if, among other things, the lessee is in good standing," the district said Tuesday in response to questions from The Palm Beach Post.
In defense of those policies, Ruth Clements, the district's chief real estate specialist, explained that renewing the leases of good tenants -- those who paid their rent on time, paid taxes, maintained fences and were good stewards of the land -- made good sense. That was the case of the nine lease renewals presented to the board last month.
All nine of the tenants needed lease renewals to qualify for a federal agricultural matching grant that would allow them to make environmental improvements to the land, according to a spokesman for the grant program. Unless they could prove they would be on the land for at least another five years, their applications would be denied, he said. The application deadline for the grant was Oct. 31.
"Here's my thought on this," said Ric Hartman, a partner in the Old River Cattle Company. "I'm a businessman and I have a tenant who is paying his rent on time, paying his taxes and done everything I have asked him to do, why would I want to go look for someone else?"
Even though the board approved his lease renewal last month, the documents have not been signed, Hartman said. Now he is concerned that the board may reconsider its vote.
"We played the game the way we were supposed to," Hartman said. "I'm not threatening and I'm not going to sue but I would be really disappointed if they did that.
Partnerships help reduce South Florida’s reliance on limited traditional sources
West Palm Beach, FL — To help sustain the region’s water resources, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board approved an investment of funding for three alternative water supply projects in Broward, Palm Beach and Hendry counties.
“These projects help to expand South Florida’s water supplies and ensure a sustainable supply for people, businesses and the environment,” said SFWMD Governing Board Chairman Joe Collins. “Supporting efforts to develop alternative water resources is an investment in Florida’s future.”
The following projects were approved:
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Entity |
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Project |
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Water Made Available (Million Gallons Per Day) |
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Town of Davie |
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Palm Beach County Water Lake Region Water Treatment Plant 1.3 Utilities Floridan Wellfield Improvements |
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City of LaBelle |
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*Part of a multi-year project
Including additional projects approved for the Big Cypress Basin, the SFWMD is investing $2.72 million in Alternative Water Supply projects during Fiscal Year 2012. Since 1997, the Alternative Water Supply Funding Program, in cooperation with the State of Florida, has invested $185.5 million into 468 alternative water supply projects. To date, these projects have created 398 million gallons a day of water supply capacity, reducing reliance on freshwater sources.
Alternative water sources diversify South Florida’s water supply while reducing the region’s dependence on traditional freshwater resources and making communities less susceptible to drought impacts. Examples of alternative water supply include:
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Saltwater and brackish water
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Reclaimed water
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Surface water captured during wet weather
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Sources made available through new storage
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Stormwater (for consumptive use)
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Other nontraditional sources
Development of alternative water supplies is an important component of the District’s four regional water supply plans, which encompass the agency’s jurisdictional area. Updated every five years, each plan creates a framework for future water use decisions and identifies strategies to meet future water demands of urban and agricultural uses, while meeting the needs of the environment.
For more information on alternative water supplies, please visit www.sfwmd.gov/AWS. >
Can't we all just get along....
WASHINGTON — A dispute over what should happen to 150,000 acres of the northern Everglades pitted environmentalists and sports enthusiasts against each other at a House subcommittee hearing Thursday.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service hasn't said which 150,000 acres it wants for the Everglades Headwaters National Wildlife Refuge. The agency says the proposal will improve the quality and quantity of water and protect wildlife. Those opposed to the plan worry about public access to the land.
"These areas need to be open. They need to be open to recreations," Jorge P. Gutierrez, president of the Everglades Coordinating Council, told the House Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs subcommittee.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would purchase easements to protect 100,000 acres from future development. The land would remain privately owned. The agency would buy 50,000 acres to create a refuge open to visitors for recreational activities, including hunting and boating.
Some witnesses worried about not being able to hunt and boat on the 100,000 acres that would remain under private ownership.
"Air boaters are unique individuals, and we don't really appreciate land being locked up," Bishop Wright Jr., president of the Florida Airboat Association, said. "There are no airboats for public use in refuges."
Mark J. Masaus, deputy regional director for Region 4 of the Fish and Wildlife Service, said officials are meeting with hunters to hear their suggestions about the project.
Some committee members questioned how the proposal would be funded. The government plans to use money from offshore oil and gas revenues.
The project would take several years to complete and cost about $450,000 annually to maintain and operate.
Rep. John Fleming, R-La., the subcommittee chairman, said it would cost $700 million to buy the easements and land, a figure others said was merely an estimate.
"What the service fails to tell the American people is how many thousands of new jobs will be lost by locking up this land to no development in the future," Fleming said.
via m.tcpalm.com
Just because its legal to water now doesn't mean we are out of the woods yet nor should we abuse the ability and privilege to water...
Posted on Thursday, 11.10.11
By CURTIS MORGAN
Water managers pronounced the drought officially dead on Thursday, lifting water restrictions for most of South Florida. With torrential rains last month largely erasing most of the lingering deficits from what had been a record-setting dry spell, the South Florida Water Management District’s governing board on Thursday voted to drop irrigation limits placed on homes, farmers and golf courses across much of the region. They will stay in place, however, in Miami-Dade and Broward counties, which have both adopted permanent twice-weekly watering rules.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/10/2496248/watering-limits-lifted.html#ixzz1dQUYaYJx