Endangering Our River
Apparently Clay County residents, and others in Northeast Florida, aren't the only people who see the potential danger in sucking a few hundred million gallons of water out of the St. Johns River. American Rivers thinks so, too. That organization has named our river as one of the 10 Most Endangered Rivers in the United States. Central Florida needs water to accommodate growth. A long-term solution is needed, and one that does not risk the St. Johns as the most convenient stop-gap measure. The St. Johns River Water Management District has the authority to put a halt to the ill-conceived plan to syphon the river at its sources. The Florida Legislature can use its powers to stop this roll of the dice on our river's health and ecosystem. Neither, though, appear inclined to look into the future and say anything other than "Maybe 250 million gallons a day won't damage the river." When you're talking about a natural asset like the St. Johns River, "maybe" should never be good enough. Besides, if Central Florida is allowed to draw a quarter-billion gallons a day now, how many more hundreds of millions of gallons a day will it need to accommodate its future growth? If there isn't the wisdom or courage to stop this terribly risky plan before it gets started, we sure can't count on the Legislature or Water District stepping to the plate later. When the line at the St. Johns spigot starts filling with Central Florida's next development, and the one after that and after that one too, maybe the Water District and Legislature will step in and put a stop to it. But "maybe" isn't good enough for the St. Johns. In a few more years, when the St. Johns River has become the St. Johns Creek and then the St. Johns Lake and eventually the St. Johns puddle, Central Florida (along with the rest of the state) is still going to need water. We will still face the same problem we face today and looking for a reasonable, long-term solution, just like today. We can work toward that solution now, or we can allow our government to watch as the river is raped first, then work toward a real solution. People who oppose the plan to begin withdrawing hundreds of millions of gallons from the St. Johns River have two points of protest - the St. Johns River Water Management District and the Florida Legislature. They will act responsibly in the face of development only when they are forced to. Contact them, and let them know that you are one of the growing numbers ready to force them to protect the our river, so the St. Johns no longer belongs as one of the nation's 10 Most Endangered Rivers. Michael S. Mann Related: OneMann's blog | login or register to post comments | printer friendly version | Tags: St. Johns River | Water Management District
Submitted by USMA72 on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 2:45pm.
Mike: Having spent a number of years living in the Orlando area, the thirst for water due to the high number of residents and tourists was spiraling out of control years ago and their failure to slow down the growth to accomodate all those tourists led to the idea that they could just pull from the St Johns. Unfortunately for us, the Saint Johns Water Management District is the most autocratic, dictatorial agency in the state. They pretty much answer to no one in their decisions. Ask any developer/contractor who has had to comply with their decisions on wetlands mitigation as well as other types of environmentally sensitive areas and they will tell you they do what they please. From reading recent stories about the requests for drawing down the water, it sounds like someone has already greased the skids at SJWMD for a favorable decision, so I wouldnt be surprised if they eventually determine that a little water removal wont hurt the river. The good news is that the subject has come to the attention of a lot of people and I dont think any decision to allow the water withdrawal will come without a fight. I just dont know how you can model the impact of the withdrawal of that much water from a computer with any degree of assurance that it will actually turn out in accordance with the model. Any time you mess with mother nature, you set bad things in motion. It took a lot of years to figure out what a screwed up decision it was to straighten the Kissimmee River and now they are trying to put it back the way mother nature intended it to be. You know who paid for the the straightening and now the unstraightening. I know that the argument that other solutions to the water crisis in Central Florida are expensive, but they put themselves in this situation and it seems they can afford to desalinate their water til the cows come home if keeping the tourist trade is that important. I oversaw the construction of a large Desal plant on tiny Ascension Island several years ago and it works great- it just costs money. With an added hotel tax to the gazillion hotels they already have, they can build a bunch of them. Some ingenious fellow could probably figure out way to incorporate a theme park into the whole thing. Leave our river alone! Kurt Musser Submitted by Angela on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 3:04pm.
It's not just the St Johns they don't care what river it is. All water is a potential source. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed22108mar22,0,6896108.story
Submitted by OneMann on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 3:39pm.
Kurt, you hit the point. They knew years ago that this day was coming, and no real progress toward a solution. The autocracy of the St. Johns River Water Management District certainly isn't secret or new. It isn't just builders and developers who've complained. I've heard the same thing from regular citizens who were unfortunately thrust into the SJRWMD's arena. But there is power in numbers. This time the power will have to be in the number of people making their objections known, and announcing that they are ready for action when the real fight starts. Put enough of us together and we can overcome the power of Central Florida development dollars. Michael S. Mann michaelsmann@comcast.net Submitted by Angela on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 3:54pm.
It will be a big fight and it will take everyone involved to voice objections. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/community/news/lakemary/orl-waterwar0508apr05,0,3103518.story
Submitted by jimmaxie on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 4:15pm.
The State of Florida should look at how many millions of $$$ they are having to spend on restoring the Everglades, which will never be restored to its Original state. Hind site is 20/20. The St John's river needs to be left alone. SJRWMD needs to grow some and keep OUR water in the river... If they were dying of thirst is one thing but they just need it to water the golf courses and amusements...
Submitted by Angela on Thu, 04/17/2008 - 11:51pm.
Despite the problems they have decided to lift water restrictions in lower Fl. These water management districts are the most autocratic, dictatorial agencies in the state. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/features/lifestyle/green/sfl-flpwaterrules0418sbapr18,0,4944269.story http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2008/04/17/0416restrict.html
Submitted by finder on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 5:28am.
These guys sound like the Feds with 'reducing the deficit'. We're still way below average over the last 3 years but this year we are at average so go ahead and start using too much water like we used to do. I notice they don't do any better at headlines than many other papers. It's OK to water twice a day in the headline and twice a week in the story. Mike Heemer http://24.23.126.8/ Petition for choice in Nov. People are talking about ...Here are the recent blog postings with the most comments. |
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OneMann;
Great job on this. I just finished reading the story on the First Coast News site:
http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=107275
Maybe the SJWMD needs to take a lesson from our approved sex education classes. Abstinence is the only sure way to prevent the damage taking 262M gallons of water a day from the river might (will) cause.
Mike Heemer http://24.23.126.8/ Petition for choice in Nov.