140630-b
Funding to help Indian River Lagoon included in budget taking effect Tuesday
WFSU.org
June 30, 2014
About 160 bills are expected to take effect Tuesday, including this year’s budget. One research institute is hailing it as a victory, after the Governor signed the budget into law containing a provision that helps fund projects to help the Indian River Lagoon.
Last year, Governor Rick Scott vetoed $2 million in the budget to study the polluted water in the Indian River Lagoon—where thousands of acres of sea grass were destroyed and the source of a mysterious mass animal die-off that left manatees, pelicans, and dolphins dead.
“I think he understands this is a much more serious problem perhaps than he did last year. He saw, I think, the pushback from that announcement when that veto was announced. And, of course, the serious situation with the manatees…that’s not going away anytime soon,” said Dr. Brian Lapointe.
Lapointe is a lead researcher at the Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce. He’s speaking about the $2 million in the budget Scott approved this year for the institute aimed at helping both the St. Lucie Estuary and the surrounding Indian River Lagoon, a Central Florida 156-mile estuary.
It will go toward further measuring water quality in real-time using what’s called Land Ocean Biogeochemical Observatory or LOBO units, and help determine the state’s next steps in helping the troubled areas.
“…to really take a retrospective look at how we got here, what the major sources of nutrients are, as we urbanized these watersheds…the relative importance, for example, of residential fertilizers vs. septic tanks,” added Lapointe.
Lapointe says by doing that, researchers will better understand how the lagoon is responding to influxes of water and nutrients, which scientists believe is causing the water pollution.

140629-a
Population growth heats up in Florida
TheLedger.com - by Lloyd Dunkelberger
June 29, 2014
Growth — the great engine of Florida's economy — is back, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Through July 2013, Florida's population moved past the 19.5 million mark, a gain of 232,111 from 2012, representing an increase of 1.2 percent. The increase means Florida added a population just under the size of Orlando or St. Petersburg, each about 250,000 residents.
But the growth figure has to be put into context.
It's certainly better than the Great Recession years. Florida's population growth at one point came to a virtual standstill and averaged just 135,463 annually from 2007 to last year, shows data from the Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
The new gain of 232,111 residents is well below the 361,942 residents added annually in the boom years between 2000 and 2006 — which was nearly 1,000 new residents per day.
The 232,111 gain translates to a daily increase of 636 residents, with a projection from state economists that it could rise by another hundred residents — 769 per day — between 2015 and 2020.
But the new Census data also reveals that Florida's renewed growth will be coupled with a significant challenge — an aging population.
Through 2013, Florida is already the state with largest percentage of residents 65 years or older — at 18.2 percent. It has a median age, which is rising, at 41.5 years. It compares to a national population with 13.7 percent of the residents 65 and older and median age of 37.6.
Florida has the oldest county in the country with Sumter County — the hub of sprawling Villages retirement community — having 65.5 percent of its residents 65 or older. Sumter also has the lowest percentage county population in the country of residents 5 or younger — at 2.1 percent.
As the baby boomer generation continues to retire, Florida will only grow older, aided by more retirees moving to the state, a lower birth rate and greater longevity for its residents.
The challenges of the aging population will be added on top of the challenges that have always faced a fast-growing Florida — the need for more services, limited resources like water supplies and the need for more roads and other infrastructure.
State economists predict the expanding older population — which is likely to mean one out of every four Floridians will be 65 or older by 2030 — could impact the workforce.
In 2000, working-age Floridians — between 25 years old and 54 years old — represented 41.5 percent of the population. It had dropped to 39 percent by last year and is projected to drop to 36 percent by 2030.
Looked at another way, Florida has about three workers for every retiree. It is expected to be two workers for every retiree by 2030.
The shrinking workforce means there may be fewer Floridians to fill jobs and indirectly provide revenue at the same time there will be more older Floridians relying on services, such as health care, that are funded by that revenue.
So growth may be back. And that may be good. But Florida is going to have to adapt to a different type of growth that will bring unique challenges.
WINNER OF THE WEEK
State lawmakers. House and Senate members passed 255 bills in the 2014 session and Gov. Rick Scott vetoed only one of the bills — a remarkably low veto total for any governor. The only bill that was rejected would have allowed speed limits to rise to 75 mph on some interstate highways, a measure that was opposed by law enforcement and safety advocates.
LOSER OF THE WEEK
Jobless workers. A whistleblower who successfully sued the state Department of Economic Opportunity alleged that as many as 19,000 jobless workers had their cases wrongfully turned over to collection agencies. The DEO called the allegation "meritless."
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"It's a shameful new low in the history of Florida politics for a candidate to run TV ads attacking the wife of a candidate. ... Spouses and children are off limits," former Gov. Charlie Crist said about a Rick Scott ad that criticized the former governor for not releasing the tax returns of his wife.

140629-c
Wood storks removed from endangered species list
BrevardTimes.com
June 29, 2014
MERRITT ISLAND, Florida -- The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service down-listed the wood stork from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The agency touted the change in status as reflecting a highly successful conservation and recovery effort spanning three decades. 
 “The down-listing of the wood stork from endangered to threatened demonstrates how the Endangered Species Act can be an effective tool to protect and recover imperiled wildlife from the brink of extinction, especially when we work in partnership with states, tribes, conservation groups, private landowners, and other stakeholders to restore vital habitat,” U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said last Thursday.
Twenty-seven species have been delisted under the ESA since 1973 due to recovery, including the bald eagle, American alligator, and peregrine falcon.  Meanwhile, 30 species have been down-listed from endangered to threatened.  Under the ESA, a species is considered endangered when it is at risk of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. It is considered threatened when it is at risk of becoming endangered throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
When wood storks were listed as endangered in 1984, their population was dropping at 5 percent a year. Since then, the U.S. breeding population has shown substantial improvement in the numbers of nesting pairs as a whole and an expansion of its breeding range.
Since 2004, the three-year averages (2003 to 2012) for nesting pairs ranged from 7,086 to 10,147, all above the 6,000 three-year average identified in the 1997 recovery plan as the threshold to consider reclassifying the species to threatened status. However, the five-year average of 10,000 nesting pairs, identified in the current recovery plan as the threshold for delisting, has not yet been reached.
When the Service originally listed the U.S. breeding population, the wood stork’s range included Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. Breeding was primarily in Central and South Florida.  Historically, the Florida Everglades and the Big Cypress ecosystems supported large breeding colonies. Since listing, its range has expanded north and west, and now includes portions of North Carolina and Mississippi, with significant nesting in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. 
Related:           After one being listed for extinction by 2000, wood storks now ...   The Tand D.com

140628-
Report: Everglades restoration is lagging
SummitCountyVoice.com - Staff Report, Posted by Bob Berwyn
June 28, 2014
More money, less red tape would help, experts say
FRISCO — Critical restoration work in the Florida Everglades is lagging well behind where it should be, with government red tape chronic funding shortages blocking the implementation of plans that are already on the books.
A new report says that local, state and federal entities working on long-term restoration of the Everglades ecosystem timely green lights for projects, enough money and some creative policy making to make it all happen. The impacts of climate change — especially sea-level rise — provide a stimulus to accelerate restoration efforts, the report adds.
The report is a congressionally mandated update to the 2011  Central Everglades Planning Project, which outlines ways to renew needed flows in the central Everglades.
Sea-level rise has already increased saltwater intrusion into Everglades freshwater habitats and urban water supplies, and potential future changes in temperature and precipitation may affect the timing, volume, and quality of freshwater and the distribution of species, as well as increase agricultural water demands.
Although they pose a challenge to restoration efforts, climate change and sea-level rise are reasons to accelerate restoration to enhance the ecosystem’s ability to adapt to future changes. For example, improvements in water depths could promote the accumulation of peat in Everglades wetlands, reducing coastal wetland loss caused by sea-level rise.
The report recommends that climate change be incorporated into adaptive management planning at both the project scale and in systemwide goals, and that planners build flexibility into the design so new knowledge and improved climate change projections can be incorporated as they become available and future restoration efforts can be adjusted appropriately.
The report also states that planners should consider the implications of restoration activities on nonnative species. Invasive plants and animals displace native species and disrupt ecosystem structure and function, and some projects may affect the extent and abundance of nonnative species. The committee found that although there has been good coordination of invasive species management at the project level, strategic coordination over management and research priorities is lacking.
The study was sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of the Interior, and South Florida Water Management District. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to NAS in 1863. The National Research Council is the principal operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org

140627-a
Everglades restoration project has had modest impact, report shows
Reuters - Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Bill Trott
June 27, 2014
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A $13.5 billion project to restore the Florida Everglades has had limited impact even as the embattled ecosystem faces threats from climate change and invasive species, a progress report said on Friday.
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), started in 1999 to restore Florida's "river of grass" over 30 to 40 years, has been hindered by intermittent federal funding, the biennial report on the project by the National Research Council said.
Since the council's last update two years ago, CERP has had "modest restoration progress focused on the edges of the Everglades (and) considerable state effort to improve water quality," the report said.
The Everglades, an ecosystem of marshes, lakes, wetlands and tree islands stretching 200 miles (320 km) from Orlando to Florida Bay, is about half its original size. Water now moves through a maze of levees, canals and pump stations.
Much of the water is diverted for industry and for millions of people in South Florida. The water that remains is heavily polluted.
The CERP has seen modest improvements at Picayune Strand in southwest Florida, coastal wetlands at Biscayne Bay and at the C-111 Spreader Canal in southern Miami-Dade County, the report said.
The CERP is not adequately considering the threat from climate change, with the Everglades facing rising sea levels caused by higher temperatures, it said.
Climate change is expected to increase demands for water from agriculture, straining supplies as population increases.
CERP lacks overall coordination to deal with non-native species, with a shortage of research on them and their impact.
Such invasive plant species as melaleuca and Australian pine are infesting hundreds of thousands of acres (hectares) and fuel brushfires that destroy native plants.
Burmese pythons have become the Everglades' top carnivore, eating alligators and virtually wiping out vertebrates, the report said.
The CERP involves 68 component projects overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District. The goal is to reinstate the original water flow as much as possible, mainly by restoring undeveloped wetlands.
In a statement, the Corps of Engineers said: "We recognize that as much progress as we've made in our restoration efforts to date, there's still more work to be done." A spokesman for the South Florida water district had no immediate response.
The National Research Council is part of the National Academies, which advise the U.S. government on scientific and technical issues.

140627-b
Everglades work needs to include rising seas, report says
Miami Herald - by Jenny Staletovich
June 27, 2014
Restoration work to repair Florida’s ailing Everglades does not adequately address risks from climate change and rising seas, a comprehensive update by a panel of scientists said Friday.
The assessment by the National Resource Council, mandated by Congress, is issued every two years to track progress on the landmark $13.5 billion deal cut by state water managers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2000. While scientists in the past harshly criticized slow work on the 68 projects spread across the vast 200-mile ecosystem that is expected to take 40 years, in their 2012 report they applauded efforts made despite paralyzing bureaucracy and complicated science.
But a better understanding of climate change now makes the need to speed up work more urgent, Virginia Tech biologist and panel chair Jeffrey R. Walters wrote.
“Climate change and sea-level rise pose enormous challenges to a rainfall driven system,” he wrote.
The low wetland sits atop porous limestone, making it especially sensitive. Saltwater intrusion from rising seas already threatens Everglades freshwater habitats and urban water supplies, the scientists wrote, noting that about 20 canal gates are considered highly vulnerable.
While risks magnify the urgency for progress, planners also need to take a step back and ensure that work incorporates projections from new climate models, the report said.
Existing projects rely on historic data that paints an “incomplete picture,” they wrote. Goals are based on information from the past 50 years and don’t account for new projections that may make some work impossible. In fact, the Everglades may need to hold and store even more water than now anticipated. A changing climate may also alter urban and agricultural demands from nearly six million users, particularly farmers who may require more fresh water.
The scientists also evaluated progress made on the central Everglades, a critical area that for too long was neglected because of contentious water quality issues. Two years ago, state and federal water managers agreed to speed up a suite of projects that would restore a massive flow of water to avert further decline. The plan would allow Congress to authorize money for work before the project was completely designed. The plan was completed this year, but narrowly missed being included in a congressional waterworks bill.
The panel took particular aim at Congress’ failure to stick to its schedule for authorizing projects, saying it had impeded progress.
State budget cuts also slowed work, creating a domino effect that led the federal government to reduce its spending, the panel said. The Everglades restoration deal calls for a 50-50 share in costs. At one time, the state had outspent the federal government by about $7 billion. By September, the gap had narrowed to just $98 million, prompting the feds to significantly reduce their budget to keep from outspending the state.
Environmentalists, who have long complained about slow progress and lack of money, praised the research council’s assessment, calling it key to understanding how budgets, planning and changing science affect the ecosystem.
“Decision-makers must expedite restoration projects . . . to prevent further damage to the ecosystem,” Julie Hill-Gabriel, Audubon Florida’s director of Everglades policy, said in a statement. “Sea-level rise and invasive exotic species compound the urgent need for restoration.”

140627-c
New report evaluates progress of comprehensive everglades restoration plan
Phys.org
Jun 27, 2014
Although planning for Everglades restoration projects has advanced considerably over the past two years, financial, procedural, and policy constraints have impeded project implementation, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. Timely authorization, adequate funding levels, and creative policy and implementation strategies are needed to achieve restoration benefits and to expedite implementation of the Central Everglades Planning Project. Climate change and the invasion of nonnative plant and animal species further challenge the Everglades system. The impacts of climate change—especially sea-level rise—provide a stimulus to accelerate restoration efforts, the report adds.
The report is the fifth in a series of biennial evaluations of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), a multibillion dollar project launched in 2000 with the goal of reversing the ecosystem's decline and creating a water system that simultaneously serves the natural, urban, and agricultural needs of southern Florida.
According to the report, restoration progress to date has been modest and focused along the edges of the ecosystem. The Central Everglades Planning Project, initiated in October 2011, recommends a suite of projects that would provide substantial new water flow to the central Everglades, equivalent to approximately two-thirds of the new water envisioned in CERP. The committee that wrote the report urged CERP planners and policymakers to find solutions to expedite the project's implementation in order to avert further degradation of the ecosystem's core. Without such solutions, water redistribution may not be feasible until 2035 or later, and with the envisioned funding level of $100 million per year, construction would not be completed for approximately four decades.
The report found that the infrequency of Water Resources Development Acts (the congressional mechanism for authorizing CERP projects exceeding $25 million), the availability of funding, and cost-sharing challenges have impeded CERP progress over the past two years. The Water Resources and Reform Development Act of 2014 – the first authorization in seven years—enabled four additional CERP projects to proceed with federal funding, although the Central Everglades Planning Project was not completed in time to be included in the legislation.
The Integrated Delivery Schedule, which lays out construction plans for the next decade, needs to be revisited to incorporate the newly authorized projects and the Central Everglades Planning Project with existing restoration efforts, the report says. Given limited funding, all projects cannot be advanced equally, and planners should consider factors such as possible climate change and sea-level rise to determine which projects have the greatest potential for restoration benefits.
Sea-level rise has already increased saltwater intrusion into Everglades freshwater habitats and urban water supplies, and potential future changes in temperature and precipitation may affect the timing, volume, and quality of freshwater and the distribution of species, as well as increase agricultural water demands. Although they pose a challenge to restoration efforts, climate change and sea-level rise are reasons to accelerate restoration to enhance the ecosystem's ability to adapt to future changes. For example, improvements in water depths could promote the accumulation of peat in Everglades wetlands, reducing coastal wetland loss caused by sea-level rise.
The report recommends that climate change be incorporated into adaptive management planning at both the project scale and in systemwide goals, and that planners build flexibility into the design so new knowledge and improved climate change projections can be incorporated as they become available and future restoration efforts can be adjusted appropriately.
The report also states that planners should consider the implications of restoration activities on nonnative species. Invasive plants and animals displace native species and disrupt ecosystem structure and function, and some projects may affect the extent and abundance of nonnative species. The committee found that although there has been good coordination of invasive species management at the project level, strategic coordination over management and research priorities is lacking.
Setting effective priorities for managing invasive species requires a comprehensive understanding of all nonnative species present in the Everglades and their impacts and threats, as well as those of impending or possible new arrivals. Research is needed to determine which species could reasonably be predicted to have considerable ecological impacts. A strategic early detection and rapid response system that addresses all areas, habitats, and species is needed, the report states.
Scientific research provides the knowledge and tools that can help decision makers ensure that the resources invested in Everglades restoration are used wisely. Long-term monitoring collects useful information for understanding how projects are changing ecosystem conditions. A comprehensive re-evaluation of restoration-related monitoring is needed to determine its adequacy considering budget pressures, extended implementation time frames, and potential impacts of climate change and sea-level rise. In addition, renewed attention to science coordination and communication is needed, which includes adequate funding, staff, and a clear charge to address scientific priorities for restoration.
The study was sponsored by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of the Interior, and South Florida Water Management District. The National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine, and National Research Council make up the National Academies. They are private, independent nonprofit institutions that provide science, technology, and health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to NAS in 1863. The National Research Council is the principal operating arm of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering. For more information, visit http://national-academies.org.
Explore further:          As sea level rises, Everglades' freshwater plants perish

140626-a
Big Sugar should pay cleanup costs
Sun Sentinel - by Eric Draper, executive director, Audubon Florida
June 26, 2014
Leaders of Florida's sugar companies, responding to Andy Reid's recent story about taxpayers shouldering the costs of cleaning up the Everglades, objected to my description of the "ugly" legislative process that led to Gov. Rick Scott's signing of HB 7065 last year. Lawmaking has been compared to sausage making, and the 2013 Everglades bill was no exception.
Audubon and other conservation groups pushed for the sugar companies to pay more and do more to clean up the water discharged from their fields to the Everglades. We signed off on a compromise that fell well short of our original goal. The bill did extend the modest tax paid by farmers to cover some of the costs of meeting water quality standards. But there is still an imbalance between what taxpayers and farmers pay, and sugar farmers can do more with reduced fertilizer use and on-farm treatment.
Audubon and others supported HB 7065 and applauded a key feature of the bill, which authorized additional water treatment projects.
The sugar industry makes much of that rare moment of Everglades compromise, and Audubon agrees that we need to work together to clean up Lake Okeechobee and the coastal estuaries and to move more clean water to the Everglades, rather than dumping dirty water to the coasts.
It is going to take a lot of money to deal with South Florida's water problems — more money than is currently being budgeted. I challenge the sugar industry to step up and be partners on funding solutions. If the industry does not want to give more, then help get more.

140626-b
U.S. Secretary of Interior visits Townsend, praises recovery milestone
WJCL News - by Alicia Patterson
June 26, 2014,
TOWNSEND, Ga. (WJCL) – Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell visited Townsend, Ga. today to announce the recovery of a species that is quickly rebounding after nearly going extinct.
Jewell, Thursday, announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is down-listing the wood stork from endangered to threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), reflecting a highly successful conservation and recovery effort spanning three decades. Jewell made the announcement at the Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge, home to the largest wood stork rookery in Georgia.
“The down-listing of the wood stork from endangered to threatened demonstrates how the Endangered Species Act can be an effective tool to protect and recover imperiled wildlife from the brink of extinction, especially when we work in partnership with states, tribes, conservation groups, private landowners, and other stakeholders to restore vital habitat,” Secretary Jewell said. “From the Cyprus swamps of Georgia, to the inland waterways of Florida, wetlands and their wildlife are emblematic of the American Southeast. Through important conservation partnerships, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to rebuild a healthy wetland ecosystem, which, in turn, is helping restore the wood stork’s habitat, double its population since its original listing and keep the bird moving in the right direction toward recovery.”
“We are thankful for the great efforts of our conservation partners who are helping us shepherd this remarkable species toward recovery,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe. “Reclassification of the wood stork to threatened status does not diminish protection measures for the bird under the ESA, and we will continue to work with our partners to fully recover the bird, including with our counterparts in Florida, South Carolina and Georgia, and great organizations like Ducks Unlimited and the Corps of Engineers.”
The ESA has been enormously successful in conserving imperiled wildlife, preventing the extinction of more than 99 percent of the species listed as threatened or endangered since 1973. In addition, 27 species have been delisted due to recovery, including the bald eagle, American alligator, and peregrine falcon. Others, such as the whooping crane and the California condor, have been pulled back from the edge of extinction. Meanwhile, 30 species have been down-listed from endangered to threatened.  Under the ESA, a species is considered endangered when it is at risk of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. It is considered threatened when it is at risk of becoming endangered throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
When wood storks were listed as endangered in 1984, their population was dropping a precipitous 5 percent a year. Since then, the U.S. breeding population has shown substantial improvement in the numbers of nesting pairs as a whole and an expansion of its breeding range.
Since 2004, the three-year averages (2003 to 2012) for nesting pairs ranged from 7,086 to 10,147, all above the 6,000 three-year average identified in the 1997 recovery plan as the threshold to consider reclassifying the species to threatened status. However, the five-year average of 10,000 nesting pairs, identified in the current recovery plan as the threshold for delisting, has not yet been reached.
When the Service originally listed the U.S. breeding population, the wood stork’s range included Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama. Breeding was primarily in Central and South Florida.  Historically, the Florida Everglades and the Big Cypress ecosystems supported large breeding colonies. Since listing, its range has expanded north and west, and now includes portions of North Carolina and Mississippi, with significant nesting in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The down-listing of the wood stork to threatened status follows a comprehensive review by Service biologists of the best available scientific and commercial information about the wood stork’s status as required by the ESA, and after peer and public reviews, that shows conservation efforts under the Act have helped increase populations and reduce threats.
The down-listing recognizes the wood stork’s ongoing recovery and the positive impact that collaborative conservation efforts over the last two decades are having on the status of the breeding population. With continued population growth, breeding range expansion and the minimization or removal of threats, the species could approach the biological milestones where it could be considered for delisting.
The Service continues to work with conservation partners such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service through its Wetlands Reserve Program, to protect natural wetlands and manage public lands to continue the recovery of the wood stork. For example, the Wetlands Reserve Program has restored more than 200,000 acres of wetlands in Florida and more than 115,000 acres in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina.
Addressing the threats associated with habitat loss, protecting natural wetlands through partnerships, managing public lands and restoring the Everglades, all remain high priorities for the Service and the Department. In addition, as new information emerges, climate change adaptation measures will be considered to address changes that may be projected in the location of suitable habitat.
As part of the reclassification decision, the Service also determined that the stork’s U.S. breeding population is a “Distinct Population Segment” under the ESA, separate from wood storks that breed in Central and South America.  The U.S. Distinct Population Segment is protected by the ESA and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA).  Populations breeding in Central and South America are not listed under the ESA, although wood storks in Mexico are protected by that country’s domestic equivalent to the MBTA, pursuant to Mexico’s migratory bird treaty with the United States.
For more information about the wood stork’s status reclassification, including statements from conservation partners and links to images of wood storks and their habitat, please visit http://www.fws.gov/southeast/.
Related:           Wood Stork Protection Status Downgraded: Audubon of Florida ...           WGCU News
Wood Stork Protection Status Downgraded: Audubon of Florida ...           WGCU News
Reaction mixed to U.S. declaring wood storks no longer endangered          Palm Beach Post
Feds downlist wood storks despite objections           Naples Daily News

140624-a
Farmers to be honored for resource conservation efforts
Tallahassee Democrat – by Dave Hodges
June 24, 2014
Tamos Sapp of Suwannee County describes his livelihood in agriculture as "conservation farming."
He and Jamie Driggers, his brother-in-law, have a farm near Live Oak where they grow cotton, peanuts, grain sorghum, wheat, rye and soybeans. The water-saving practices they follow, in addition to other procedures, qualify them for a 2014 CARES award for their care of the environment.
The County Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship was created by the Florida Farm Bureau Federation and the Suwannee River Partnership more than a decade ago. It is an agricultural program that combines the efforts of more than 60 state and federal agencies, county commissions, water management districts, businesses, organizations and individuals – all striving to promote the preservation of land and water resources in their agricultural areas.
"We have been doing this now about five years," Sapp said of the sustainable practices. "We started out with 30 acres and now we are at about 500 acres."
"We do conservation farming. We grow rye in the winter and roll it down," Sapp explained. That layer of flattened vegetation forms a natural cover that minimizes the loss of topsoil from erosion and simplifies the cultivation of the next crop because there's no plowing required.
The practice saves him time as well as fuel. "It helps me maintain soil moisture." Sapp said. "It also shades out the weeds from growing."
In fact, he says if it weren't for this approach to their farming practices, Sapp and Driggers wouldn't be able to handle 500 acres of production without more help.
They are one of 13 CARES honorees who will receive their awards Thursday evening at a ceremony at the UF/IFAS Suwannee Valley Agricultural Extension Center in Live Oak.
CARES award recipients have implemented modern systems for natural resource management, and outside experts have verified the effectiveness of their efforts, the Farm Bureau says.
According to Suwannee River Water Management District officials, agricultural producers within the agency's service region conserve more than one billion gallons of water each year by employing such farming methods.
Nearly 600 farm families in Florida have been designated as CARES award winners over the years, including ranches, dairies, and farms producing a variety of food crops.
Joel Love, environmental specialist in the Office of Agricultural Water Policy at the Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, says the farming approach is a deliberate one. "It takes more management and more thought process in order to do it," he added.
Conservative tilling practices, for example, let more rain soak into the soil and retain that moisture, reducing the need to run irrigation equipment.
"That's one of the things they have been working on. Why not improve soil health to the point that we are not as dependent on that irrigation system?" Love said.
Also on the increase is the total acres devoted to growing sesame, which can thrive on marginal land because it doesn't require much water or nitrogen. Love said there is about 6,000 acres of that crop – desired for its seeds and oil – under contract in the region. "That's a pretty significant jump from last summer."
Stanley Cribbs has a farm located between Live Oak and Lake City where he grows hay. His owned and leased farmland totals 500 acres. He has instituted a spraying system that incorporates GPS technology to guide him in the application of pesticides and fertilizer.
A display screen mounted in the cab of his tractor shows exactly what he's covered with each pass across the field.
"It just allows you to be more precise in what you're doing," Cribbs said. "It's cost effective because you are managing your product better and it's better for the environment because you are now able to avoid applying it where you don't need to."
CARES honoree Adam McCook, who lives in McAlpin, has 300 acres devoted to a sesame crop. He figures he uses no-till farming methods on about 90 percent of his land, thereby reducing the need for irrigation and the expense of running pumps and other machinery.
Another best management practice is variable-rate spreading of fertilizer, which requires taking soil samples every 2.5 acres to determine the precise amount of material needed. The spraying systems can then be adjusted to deliver just enough.
"There are all kinds of things that have come about in the last 10 years to help us save money and be better stewards of the land," McCook said.
2014 CARES HONOREES
Johnny and Margie Stephenson – Dixie; Adam and Jenny McCook – Suwannee; Tamos and Rebecca Sapp and James and Kelly Driggers – Suwannee; Ronald and Stanley Cribbs – Suwannee; Gregg and Dale Watson – Levy; Kate Boulos – Levy; Steven and Amanda Borek – Gilchrist; Adam and Jack Cook – Gilchrist; Joshua and Amanda Moore – Gilchrist; Huey and Gwen Hawkins – Columbia; Gene and Jessica Bertine – Bradford; Doyle and Karl Williams – Union; Harrell and Patricia Tyree – Hamilton

140624-b
Scott evasive on land and water amendment
Miami Herald – by Steve Bousquet, Tallahassee Bureau chief for the Tampa Bay Times.
June 24, 2014
It was a simple question, but as is often the case with Gov. Rick Scott, there was no simple answer.
Three times in recent days, Scott has been asked about Amendment 1 on the November ballot. Three times, Scott danced around it in an abdication of leadership.
Amendment 1 would set aside one-third of an existing tax source for 20 years to protect land and water. The money, about $600 million next year and up to $10 billion over 20 years, would come from doc stamp taxes on property sales. State economists say it won’t raise taxes.
Supporters include the Audubon Society, Sierra Club, Trust for Public Lands and 1000 Friends of Florida (their website is voteyeson1fl.org ).
Opponents include Senate President Don Gaetz, House Speaker Will Weatherford, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and the Florida Chamber of Commerce, who say it’s bad policy to remove budgeting authority from lawmakers and to lock programs into the state Constitution.
If you think Florida should do more to protect land and water, you'll vote yes on Amendment 1. (Passage requires a 60 percent majority.)
Scott is up for re-election, and long ago he came out against Amendment 2 to legalize medical marijuana, saying he'll vote no out of concern that drug use can hurt families. Whether or not you agree with Scott, at least he’s taking a stand — as a governor should.
But when it comes to setting aside money for land and water, Scott is his bobbing and weaving self.
“Everything on the ballot is going to go to all the voters in the state, just like me,” Scott said in Tampa. “We'll see how they vote.”
At another Tampa event, we tried again to pin Scott down. His finger-in-the-wind reply: “Our citizens have the right to look at what they want to do with it and so I look forward to seeing what they want to do.”
In Tallahassee the next day, Scott said: “The public has an opportunity to vote, just like I do, so we’ll see how it comes out.” He wouldn’t give his personal opinion.
Scott’s leading Democratic challenger, Charlie Crist, initially hedged on Amendment 1, but asked a second time, he called the amendment “great” and said of environmentalists: “These are people who love Florida. I’m with them.”
Scott is proud of his environmental record, but some independent, environment-friendly voters may be skeptical. Given a chance to reassure them, Scott punted three times.
The governor obviously doesn’t want to alienate supporters of Amendment 1. Nor does he want to get sideways with the business community.
Amendment 1’s chairman, Allison DeFoor, is a lawyer, former judge and sheriff, and a Republican. In an op-ed in the Miami Herald, he noted that money for Florida Forever land preservation has steadily eroded in recent years.
“Unless we take steps toward conservation ourselves, we cannot count on others â including lawmakers â to do it for us,” DeFoor wrote. “We act now, or we act never.”
“Hey, I'll take neutral,” DeFoor said of Scott’s stand. “But we’re hoping to get his support.”

140624-c
Time to address climate change is now
Tallahassee Democrat – by Gerald Ensley, Senior Writer
June 24, 2014
I'm not a fan of revenge.
If I someone keyed my car, I wouldn't want to key their car. If my wife left me, I wouldn't want to beat up her new boyfriend. If a family member was killed by a crazy gunman, I would not change my stance against the death penalty.
But I confess it irks the heck out of me that these idiots who don't believe in global warming are never going to get their comeuppance. We're never going to hear them say, "I'm sorry," for holding back progress.
A century from now, as the Atlantic Ocean is lapping at the steps of hotels on South Beach, the Everglades are on fire and daily tornadoes are ripping through Tallahassee, all the climate naysayers will be dead. And their great-grandchildren will be working for the Environmental Protection Agency, appearing at news conferences to say, "If only we had started taking measures back in the 2000s, we could have prevented this."
This is the sad truth since time immemorial. By the time an idea is proven absolutely, positively, "who could have ever believed otherwise," all the halfwit naysayers are dead.
All the Greeks hooting at Pythagoras for saying the Earth was round had been dead for 2,000 years before Columbus proved them wrong.
The inquisitor who sentenced Galileo for saying the Earth revolves around the sun had been forgotten for five centuries by the time Italians started celebrating the summer solstice.
Heck, Hippocrates' great-great-grandchildren were selling needlepoint cushions, inscribed, "First Do No Harm," before physicians realized leeches and blood-letting don't cure a thing.
But folks back in the Dark Ages didn't have a high-school education, books and the Discovery Channel. You would think once mankind was flying in space, all people would realize, "Hey, these scientists know what they're talking about." But nooooo.
A recent Time magazine poll found only 40 percent of Americans "strongly believe" the Earth is heating up — despite undeniable scientific evidence the Earth is heating up.
The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is one and a half times what it was 200 years ago. The world mean temperature has gone up more than a degree in the past century. The ranges of trees and plants that cannot tolerate extreme heat are moving north. Ice shelves are collapsing in the Antarctic and Greenland. Sea levels are rising as much as three millimeters a year since 1993. Storms are more extreme, wildfires more frequent.
This is not a coincidence! This is evidence of man's depredations on the environment!
There were no gasoline-burning cars on Earth until about 100 years ago. There were no electric power plants. We hadn't dumped chemicals into the rivers or fracked the ground for oil. We hadn't set off nuclear bombs.
Yet after a century of such full-out burn, pillage, loot and manipulate the environment, how can any halfway educated human being not believe mankind has damaged the environment? You can argue the degree of damage. But you can't argue there hasn't been damage.
People do not fight science in most areas of their lives. Sunday's Doonesbury comic strip satirized that perfectly: A man with cancer is told 99 out of 100 doctors would urge him to get treatment for his cancer. He asks what does the 100th doctor say? He's told that doctor says wait and see what happens. The man chooses to go with the lone doctor who does not believe in treating cancer — just as the global warming naysayers side with the 1 percent of scientists who don't support global warming. Fine, buddy, your funeral.
Except that's the problem with doubting global warming: It consigns everyone to an early grave, even if they are people who haven't been born yet.
Because, yes, global warming is not an immediate threat. At the present rate of glacier melt, it will be the end of the century before rising ocean levels begin to threaten the Florida coast. But by then, we'll have begun the cycle of worldwide crop failures, endless natural disasters and threats to human health. It will be too late to prevent the damage. We need to start fixing things today.
It's never been clear why some people deny climate change — until now. Republicans in Congress are threatening to block President Obama's new regulation to limit pollution from coal-fired power plants. They are threatening — and stop me if you've heard this before — to enforce a partial government shutdown this fall rather than approve an appropriations bill with EPA enforcement funding.
So now global warming naysayers have a flag to brandish: "I oppose science because it will drive up my taxes!"
It's stupid, it's short-sighted, it keeps us from making the changes now that will take decades to be effective. And if we don't make those changes, there will be no planet to live on in a century or two.
Climate change doubters have got to come off it. They've got to realize that fighting science is flat-earth stupid.
And I hate that when everyone finally realizes that, today's naysayers won't be around to say, "Whoops, my bad."

140623-a
Governor appoints Melanie Peterson to water district board
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
June 23, 2014
Gov. Rick Scott has appointed a horse trainer and agricultural advocate from Wellington as the newest member of the South Florida Water Management District board.
Melanie Peterson, 37, joins a nine-member board that oversees the far-reaching agency that is responsible for protecting South Florida water supplies, guarding against flooding and leading Everglades restoration.
In addition to training horses, Peterson is a real estate agent with Sotheby’s International Realty and she launched the horse marketing website HorseMLS.com.
Peterson has served as an elected supervisor of the Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation District. Also, she is a member of the Loxahatchee River Management Coordinating Council and serves on the Florida Farm Bureau’s Statewide Equine Industry Advisory Board.
Peterson, a Republican, in 2012 lost an election to represent Wellington in the Florida Senate.

140623-b
MWH Global awarded key piece of $880M Everglades Restoration Plan
WaterWorld.com
June 23, 2014
Broomfield, CO, -- MWH, the global wet infrastructure sector leader and provider of environmental engineering, construction and strategic consulting services has been awarded a master services agreement contract by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD). With this agreement, MWH will provide construction management and engineering services to help implement the $880 million Restoration Strategies Regional Water Quality Plan, part of the state's ongoing commitment to Everglades restoration.
Planned projects include the design and construction management of various restoration activities such as stormwater treatment areas, flow equalization basins, reservoirs, canal bank stabilization, stormwater pump stations, control structures, spillways and related components that all work to stabilize and improve the Everglades ecosystem throughout southern Florida. Of major concern are the area's high levels of phosphorus and other nutrients, which can negatively impact the region and its water supply.
"Protection of the Everglades and its water quality are an important task as Florida looks toward the future of its prized wetlands and wildlife habitats," said Marshall Davert, president for government and infrastructure for MWH in the Americas and Asia Pacific. "MWH is pleased to be a partner in this work and we look forward to developing and implementing innovative solutions alongside the leadership at the South Florida Water Management District."
SFWMD's mission is to manage water resources for the benefit of the region, balancing the needs of the present generations with those of future generations. Equally important elements of this stewardship are the conservation and development of water supply, the protection and improvement of water quality, the mitigation of impacts from flood and drought and the restoration and preservation of natural resources.
In 2012, the State of Florida and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached a consensus on new strategies for improving water quality in the Everglades. Based on months of scientific and technical discussions, the SFWMD created a plan and strategies that will expand water quality improvement projects to achieve the phosphorus water quality standard established for the Everglades.
The first work order between MWH and SFWMD is now underway and calls for preliminary design of the expansion to Stormwater Treatment Area (STA) 1 West. Located immediately northwest of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, STA-1 West removes excess phosphorus and other nutrients from water flowing into the refuge and other parts of the greater Everglades. This expansion plan doubles the site's effective treatment area to further reduce phosphorus concentrations and increase the volume of treated water from the facility. The expansion will take place in two phases, with approximately 6,500 total acres of new treatment area available upon completion.
Previously, SFWMD and MWH have partnered on several environmental restoration projects including the design and completion of one of the world's largest stormwater treatment areas (STA 3/4).
About MWH
MWH Global is a strategic consulting, technical engineering, environmental and construction services firm leading the wet infrastructure sector. Offering a full range of services and innovative, award-winning solutions beginning in the initial planning phases through construction and asset management, we partner with our clients in multiple industries to implement projects and programs that focus on water, energy, natural resources and infrastructure. Our nearly 8,000 employees in 35 countries spanning six continents are dedicated to fulfilling our purpose of Building a Better World, which reflects our commitment to sustainable development. MWH is a private, employee-owned firm with a rich legacy beginning in 1820. For more information, visit our website at www.mwhglobal.com or connect with us on Twitter and Facebook.

140623-c
Southern waters imperiled by toxic pollution
SouthernStudies.org
June 23, 2014
As summer heats up, many people's thoughts turn to jumping in the closest river or stream to cool off -- but industrial pollution in the water could endanger their health.
Pollution from industrial facilities is contaminating more than 17,000 miles of rivers nationwide, with the greatest toxic threat posed to watersheds in the South. The chemicals being dumped into the nation's waterways have been linked to health problems including cancer and reproductive and developmental disorders.
The water pollution health threat is detailed in a new report from Environment America titled "Wasting Our Waterways." It calls for stepping up Clean Water Act protections and requiring polluters to reduce their use of toxic chemicals.
"America's waterways should be clean -- for swimming, drinking, and supporting wildlife," said Ally Fields, clean water advocate with Environment America Research and Policy Center. "But too often, our waters have become a dumping ground for polluters."
Overall, industrial facilities reported dumping 206 million pounds of toxic chemicals into U.S. waterways in 2012, according to the facilities' filings with the Environmental Protection Agency's Toxics Release Inventory. However, the TRI excludes non-industrial facilities such as publicly owned wastewater treatment plants and runoff from industrial cropland. And some industrial activities such as oil and gas drilling are not required to report toxic releases, so the actual amount of pollution dumped in the nation's waters is greater than the TRI indicates.
But what we know from available TRI data is alarming:
* The state where the greatest amounts of toxic chemicals were released to waterways in 2012 was Indiana, at over 17.7 million pounds. But states in the South account for six of the 10 states with the greatest toxic releases, with Texas in second place at over 16.4 million pounds, followed by Louisiana at 12.6 million pounds, Alabama at 12.2 million pounds, and Virginia at 11.8 million pounds. Georgia came in eighth at 10.1 million pounds, followed by North Carolina at almost 8.9 million pounds.
* The local watershed receiving the greatest amount of toxic releases is the Lower Ohio-Little Pigeon Rivers, which includes part of Kentucky, at over 14.7 million pounds. That's followed by the Upper New River in North Carolina and Virginia at over 7.3 million pounds, and the Middle Savannah River in Georgia and South Carolina at over 5 million pounds.
* When releases are weighted in terms of toxicity, the state with the most toxic releases in 2012 was Texas by far, at over 34.4 million toxicity-weighted pounds. In second place was Louisiana at over 3.1 million toxicity-weighted pounds, followed by Alabama at over 1.4 million and Mississippi at over 1.3 million toxicity-weighted pounds. Also landing in the top 10 for most toxic releases are North Carolina in seventh place at over 697,000 toxicity-weighted pounds, followed by Georgia, Kentucky, and Florida.
* The watershed region that receives the most toxic releases is the Texas-Gulf, at over 33.9 million toxicity-weighted pounds. That's followed by the South Atlantic-Gulf region and the Lower Mississippi River, at over 4.4 million and 3.4 million toxicity-weighted pounds, respectively.
* The local watershed receiving the most toxic pollution is the Lower Brazos River in Texas, where facilities reported releasing over 33.4 million toxicity-weighted pounds of chemicals in 2012 alone. That's followed by the Lower Grand River in Louisiana, at over 1.9 million toxicity-weighted pounds. Also in the top 10 are the Noxubee River in Alabama and Mississippi, the Lower Cape Fear River in North Carolina, the Lower Sulphur River in Arkansas and Texas, the Lower Tennessee River in Kentucky, Bayou Sara-Thompson Creek in Louisiana, and the Middle Pearl-Silver River in Mississippi.
To address the problem, Environment America is calling on the Obama administration to finalize its proposed rule clarifying that the Clean Water Act applies to headwater streams, intermittent waterways, and isolated wetlands. It also recommends that state and federal officials require the use of safer alternatives to toxic chemicals where available and phase out the most toxic chemicals.

140623-d
Working to preserve Florida's water supply
Sun Sentinel – Letter to the Editor by James Hale-Florez, South Florida Audubon Society, Fort Lauderdale
June 23, 2014
The Water Resources Reform and Development Act was officially signed into law this month. This law authorizes the Broward County Water Preserve Areas, which is part of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. Those of us who live in Broward County should all celebrate this moment in environmental restoration and conservation history. This important Everglades project will not only restore hundreds of thousands of acres of existing wetlands, it is also one of the few Everglades restoration projects that will actually create new wetlands. Wetland areas are crucial because they are habitats for wading birds and a diversity of other wildlife, including the endangered Florida Panther.
More wetlands and more water going into the Everglades is not just good for wildlife, it's good for people too. Once completed, the Broward County Water Preserve Areas will increase the natural flow of water into the Everglades; thus replenishing the Biscayne Aquifer: The Biscayne Aquifer provides drinking water to seven million Floridians including those of us who live in Broward County.
Now that the project has been authorized, we just need it to be enacted quickly and efficiently. In doing so, we can ensure that we can help to preserve South Florida's natural wonders and our water supply for generations to come.

140622-b
Earth 'Faces mass extinctions by 2100 unless we change'
Internat. Business Times - by Mark Piggott
June 22, 2014
The Earth is hurtling towards disaster and up to half of all species on the planet may be extinct in 100 years' time, a leading biologist has warned.
“If we keep on doing what we are doing, by the end of the century our planet will really be a pretty horrendous place”
Stuart Pimm, a Professor of Conservation Ecology at Duke University, USA, has conducted research into major extinction events throughout history, including the last great extinction 65 million years ago when a huge asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs.
"When you look at the range of unsustainable things that we are doing to the planet," Professor Pimm told Reuters, "changing the atmosphere, global warming, massively depleting fisheries, driving species to extinction, we realise that we have a decade or two. If we keep on doing what we are doing, by the end of the century our planet will really be a pretty horrendous place."
Pimm remains cautiously optimistic that mankind can help solve many of the problems we createDuke University
Pimm's report, co-authored by Clinton Jenkins from the Institute of Ecological Research in Brazil, calculates the "death rate" every year per million species. Previously it was thought the rate before humans emerged was 1 per million, but the study analysed samples from every region of the Earth, both on land and in the seas and found the actual rate before man was just 0.1 per million. It is now between 100 and 1,000 per million per year, up to 10,000 times the natural rate. This could mean the Earth is on the brink of a sixth great extinction. If that happens, the consequences will be almost unimaginable.
"We lost the dinosaurs and a third to a half of all of the species," says Pimm. "If we continue on the present course, that is how much we will lose, how many species we will lose. And we know after the last time that it took 5-10 million years to recover. So if we destroy this beautiful planet that we have it isn't going to come back overnight."
However, Pimm remains cautiously optimistic that mankind can solve many of the problems we create.As we become more aware of our environment and technology improves, there is still time to save the world: "When combined with data on land-use change and the species observations of millions of amateur citizen scientists, technology is increasingly allowing scientists and policymakers to more closely monitor the planet's biodiversity and threats to it. For our success to continue, however, we need to support the expansion of these technologies and the development of even more powerful technologies to come."

140622-c
Hydraulic fracturing is legal, safe and well-regulated
News-Press.com - Sound Off by David Blackmon, Managing Director, Strategic Communications, F T I Consulting, Houston, Texas.
June 22, 2014
The Dan A. Hughes Company appreciates this opportunity to respond to allegations made by Robert Moher, President and CEO of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, in his guest editorial published on June 16.
Early in the piece, Mr. Moher accuses Hughes of undertaking "illegal, fracking-like activities" at its Collier Hogan 20-3H well. The term "fracking" is shorthand for hydraulic fracturing, a very safe and well-regulated well stimulation process that has been employed more than a million times by the oil and gas industry in the United States over the last 65 years, including in the State of Florida.
The first point to make in response to that allegation is that hydraulic fracturing is not only NOT "illegal" in Florida, it is in fact specifically authorized for use as an accepted well stimulation process in the state's regulatory code.
The second point to make is that the company did not perform a hydraulic fracturing operation on the Collier Hogan 20-3H well within the scope of operations being performed in states like Texas, Pennsylvania and North Dakota.
Hughes did perform an acid stimulation treatment on the well. Mr. Moher refers to this as an "extreme extraction technique." In fact, acid stimulation is another authorized process that has been commonly used in Florida on thousands of oil, gas and water wells for more than half a century. The company then followed that by injecting sand mixed with a gel solution into the formation in order to hold open the channels that had been created by the acid treatment.
Midway through this process, the DEP did issue a cease and desist order, which Hughes subsequently appealed.
This disagreement over the cease and desist order was settled via the Consent Order that was recently challenged by the Collier County Board of Commissioners. The alleged "fine" Mr. Moher mentions was actually a civil payment negotiated into the Consent Order settlement. It is critical to note that at no time has Hughes been found to be in violation of Florida's regulations.
Mr. Moher goes on to question the validity of the groundwater testing process agreed to under the Consent Order. If you read the Consent Order, it is very clear how that will work: The water testing and monitoring plan will be approved in advance by the DEP, and the sampling and testing will be conducted by a lab that is fully certified by the State of Florida. The results will be provided to the DEP, and will become publicly available once the process has been completed.
The company is absolutely confident this testing process will demonstrate that its operations did not negatively impact the underground water reservoir. Our well completion process seals off underground water formations with multiple layers of heavy steel casing and cement, impermeable barriers designed to prevent migration of any well fluids.
Dan A. Hughes Company is committed to fully completing the steps it agreed to in the Consent Order, so long as it is not prohibited from doing so by any settlement or court decision that might be reached related to the challenge filed by the Collier County Board of Commissioners.
We continue to work towards that goal. Protection of the environment and human life are our highest priorities, and we view the Consent Order as a commitment not only to the DEP, but to residents of Collier County as well.

140621-
Hunters on verge of new access in Big Cypress National Preserve
Miami Herald - by Sue Cocking
June 21, 2014
FWC appears likely to approve hunting in ‘addition lands’ when it meets again in September.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has advanced a plan to allow hunting in the 147,000 acres of “addition lands” in the Big Cypress National Preserve.
Commissioners, meeting last week in Fort Myers, said a unanimous yes to a hunting management plan for the area that has already passed muster with the National Park Service and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The three agencies have been working together in conjunction with the hunting community for more than four years.
If the plan gets the final nod at the FWC’s September meeting — which seems all but certain — the addition could be opened for hunting as soon as this fall. The new Big Cypress Wildlife Management Area would then total more than 728,000 acres.
At first, hunting in the new grounds would be walk-in only from I-75 rest areas at mile markers 63 and 51. No off-road vehicles will be allowed pending completion of an ORV trail plan.
Deer and turkey seasons will be conducted by quota permit with only 30 issued. There would be no quotas required for small-game season, and other seasons would fall in line with those in the original preserve.
“It’s a great day for the Big Cypress,” commissioner Ron Bergeron of Weston told the gathering Thursday. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Hunters were elated.
“At long last, we do have some way to put our two feet in the addition lands,” said Lyle McCandless of the Big Cypress Sportsmen’s Alliance.
Commissioners said they hope to increase hunting opportunities in the addition in the future.
In other action, commissioners adopted a resolution calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop an emergency high-water action plan for the 750,000-acre Central Everglades region. Bergeron, the commission’s Everglades point man, has been hammering the Corps since last summer about detrimental effects on wildlife such as deer, bears and panthers from prolonged high water levels in the region north of Tamiami Trail.
Several meetings held among FWC staffers, Corps officials, and other state and federal agencies have failed to produce a plan for lowering water levels when they exceed two feet for more than 60 days. Said FWC section leader Scott Sanders following a June 9 session: “The discussion of the meeting indicated that the [Corps] is not focused on actions to relieve high water for the 2014 wet season.”
Bergeron said he was “very disappointed” with the Corps. He said restoring historic water flows in the Everglades will take another 25 to 30 years and that wildlife resources in the area must be protected while the Glades is being re-plumbed.
Also last week, commissioners voted not to extend hunting to 24 hours on public lands during the annual statewide alligator hunt that begins Aug. 15. Commissioners said they were concerned about spoiled gator meat making its way into the marketplace with more reptiles being harvested during the heat of the day.

140620-a
Sen. Rubio meets his Indian River Lagoon critics
WPBF.com
June 20, 2014
Residents blame local leader for polluted water
STUART, Fla. —After criticizing him for more than a year, Indian River Lagoon activists come face-to-face with Sen. Marco Rubio as he arrives at Stuart City Hall.
"Where have you been for the past 13 months?" called out one protester.
Another held a wanted poster with Rubio’s face on it, calling him “No Show Rubio” and accusing him of “murder of our rivers.”
Last summer, there was an uproar after polluted Lake Okeechobee water was discharged and dumped into local waterways, creating toxic algae.
The toxic algae not only had an ecological impact, but also an economic impact by shutting down charter boat captains and other businesses that rely on the water.
Environmentalists have criticized Rubio for alleged inaction.
“We wish we could have come here a few months earlier but we’ve certainly been engaged and aware of the issue,” Rubio told WPBF 25 News reporter John Dzenitis. “It’s a big state with multiple issues everywhere but this is an important one and I know that we hope to be making some process.”
Rubio sat down with local lawmakers and stakeholders to talk about the discharges Friday evening.
Rubio said he supports diverting the lake water south rather than dumping it into local waterways, taking the pressure off not only the eastern coast but also the western coast of Florida.

140620-b
Senator Marco Rubio to visit Treasure Coast to discuss toxic waters
CBS12.com - story by Thomas Forester, CBS 12 News
June 20, 2014
STUART, Fla.--U.S. Senator Marco Rubio will be in town this afternoon, to take and the harmful effects of that toxic blue green algae that continues to plague The Treasure Coast.
During his visit, Senator Rubio will also sit down and discuss the concerns regarding the harmful water that continues to be flushed from Lake Okeechobee into the Indian River Lagoon. A situation that is  heavily damaging  the treasure coast and surrounding areas, economically, as well as the quality of life of families in this area.

140619-a
FWC to ask feds for emergency plan for high-water events in the Everglades
Naples Daily News – by John Osborn
June 19, 2014
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) wants the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish an emergency-action plan for high-water events in the central Everglades.
High-water events in the Everglades, defined as water levels higher than two feet for more than 60 days, are caused by prolonged rainfall, tropical storms and hurricanes.
FWC officials said such events negatively affect about 750,000 acres of wildlife habitat in the central Everglades, roughly equivalent to the size of the state of Rhode Island or Yosemite National Park.
In an effort to deal with wildlife loss caused by the high water, the FWC unanimously approved a resolution asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to establish an emergency-action plan after a January meeting failed to convince the agency of the need for swift action.
“We found that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not so focused on high-water problems before the 2014 wet season,” said Scott Sanders, a Conservation Commission section leader, on the final day of a three-day meeting at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Fort Myers.
Conservation Commission Executive Director Nick Wiley said the resolution sends a clear message about the need for speed on the issue.
“If a lot of this sounds like governmental process, unfortunately, it is,” he said. “It doesn’t move quickly, so to underscore the urgency to deal with this now we’re encouraging our partner agencies to keep the ball rolling.”
The central Everglades is currently undergoing a $100 million a year planning project to restore a more natural water flow to the region while ensuring optimal water depths for acceptable durations.
But with a 19-year construction schedule, Conservation Commissioner Ron Bergeron said he fears for the wildlife in the central Everglades while the various governmental agencies involved attempt to get on the same page.
“How are we going to keep the Everglades alive in that time frame?” he said. “We need to push the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to put a policy in place that will keep the Everglades alive while the largest restoration project in the history of the world is going on.”
Conservation Commissioner Aliese Priddy of Immokalee, who Gov. Rick Scott appointed to a five-year term in 2012, expressed frustration that the matter is taking so long to resolve.
“I just can’t comprehend that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not willing to do what is necessary to resolve this year’s issues that might arise from high waters,” she said.
Conservation Commission Chairman Gil McRae echoed those sentiments.
“The water levels are absolutely critical to the health of the Everglades,” he said.
Sanders said the FWC has thoroughly studied the negative affects of high-water levels in the Everglades.
“We’ve documented the loss of wildlife when those depths and conditions exist,” he said. “Therefore, we need an emergency-action plan in place to ensure fish and wildlife habitats as part of the overall conservation efforts.”
Related:           FWC drafts resolution to protect Everglades wildlife           TCPalm

140619-b
Florida’s ocean and coastal ecosystems need action today
Palm Beach Post - Commentary by Mark Perry
June 19, 2014
Our ocean and coastal ecosystems are of the utmost importance. The ocean provides 95 percent of the living space here on Earth and holds 98 percent of the water on our planet. It is our life support system. It feeds billions of people around the world, drives our climate, absorbs carbon dioxide and produces 80 percent of the oxygen we breathe. Every breath we take and every drop we drink depends on a healthy ocean. Every life depends on the ocean, and now, the ocean’s life depends on us.
More than 80 percent of people live within 60 miles of the coast and 85 percent of all the pollution in the ocean comes from land-based activities. We are causing global changes to our atmosphere and the ocean. Since 1970, ocean temperatures have increased by 1 degree causing bleaching of coral reefs. The ocean absorbs roughly 80 percent of the climate heating, increasing the volume by thermal expansion, causing a rise in sea level. From 1963 to 2003, sea level rose 3 inches with projections of 5-20 inches by 2050 and 23-60 inches by 2100.
Human-generated CO2 emissions are currently 66 million tons per day and our oceans absorb only 22 million tons daily. Carbon dioxide is saturating the ocean waters forming carbon acid, a process called ocean acidification. The historical pH of the ocean was 8.16 and is now 8.05, that’s a 25 percent increase in acidity. This dissolves the shells of plankton, corals, oysters, clams, shrimp, crabs and lobster.
We must take action for the future of Florida’s ocean and coastal environments. Here are eight things we must do now:
1) Florida must stop all discharges of polluted freshwater from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee river estuaries. These discharges have caused lesions on fish, killed oyster reefs and sea grass habitat, caused diseases on sea turtles and bottlenose dolphin and brought harmful algal blooms.
2) Florida and the U.S. must restore America’s Everglades to natural flows from Kissimmee to Florida Bay. Currently 1.7 billions gallons per day of freshwater that used to flow south to the Everglades now goes to the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, polluting our coastal estuaries and ocean reef ecosystems.
3) Florida and the U.S. must establish and implement strong numeric nutrient water quality standards and criteria essential to preventing pollution and protecting the health of Florida’s waters. An enforceable nitrogen and phosphorus standard should be included to protect downstream coastal estuaries and Florida’s ocean ecosystems and must be enforced at the source of the pollution.
4) Florida must require any wastewater or RO residual water currently injected underground in Class I injection wells (UIC) to be treated to advanced nutrient-stripping levels. The state should require water re-use instead of allowing more Class I injection of water or “water disposal.”
5) Clean energy technologies and industry must be required to prohibit venting mercury, toxics and other gases into the air which pollute Florida’s surface waters and groundwater. Sulfur stimulates methylmercury production which is toxic and accumulates in fish and the bio-food chain to become more toxic.
6) A comprehensive program to treat, regulate and eliminate wastes from ships that use Florida’s ports must be developed and implemented.
7) Florida must require the utilities to discontinue the six ocean outfalls discharging 394 million gallons per day of secondary treated wastewater into the Atlantic Ocean south of Delray Beach, polluting Florida’s near-shore reefs and coastal habitats. This pollution is carried by Gulf Stream currents north along the Southeast Florida coral reef track.
8) Florida and the U.S. must not allow offshore oil drilling in the eastern Gulf of Mexico or off of Florida’s east coast region. The “undiscovered technically recoverable” oil and gas in these two regions totals 4.1 billion barrels or one-tenth of the western and central Gulf reserves and amounts to only a one-year supply of the U.S. oil import. The risk is too high for Florida’s coastal tourist industry which annually contributes more than $56 billion and 900,000 jobs to the economy.

140618-a
Everglades and beach funds moving in Congress
Sun Sentinel – by William E. Gibson
June 18, 2014
The Everglades and beach projects in Florida stand to gain from a money bill moving through the U.S. House.
 The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday unanimously passed a spending bill for the fiscal year that begins in October, including $65.5 million for Everglades restoration projects and $41 million to be divided nationwide for beach re-nourishment.
 Committee member Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, hailed the passage.
 “This funding will advance restoration efforts in the Everglades by funding components of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP), as well as mitigate the impacts of sand erosion on our beaches caused by severe storms and rising sea levels,” she said. “Our beaches are not only important for Florida’s vibrant tourism industry, but also serve as a buffer protecting our communities from the ocean.”
 The $34-billion energy and water appropriations bill will fund agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Energy.
 Broward County hopes to get a piece of the beach money to help pay for a widening project between Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach slated to start this fall.
 The Everglades money, if finally approved by Congress, would help pay for a reservoir to restore the polluted Indian River Lagoon and complete restoration of Picayune Strand.
 “They are critical to South Florida, where there is no separating the health of our unique environment from the health of our robust economy,” Wasserman Schultz said.
 The Everglades money in the House bill fulfills President Obama’s budget request. But Julie Hill-Gabriel, Everglades policy director for Audubon Florida, was ambivalent about the spending level, which she said was limited by the tangled federal budget process.
 “It’s certainly something we would expect members of Congress to approve to keep things going in the Everglades,” she said.

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Florida gets lion's share of water bill for port expansion, Everglades restoration
WLRN - by Rick Stone
June 18, 2014
Florida is the big winner under the new Water Resources Reform and Development Act, which President Obama signed last week. The bill carries $12.3 billion in infrastructure spending for the entire nation and $3 billion of that is coming to the Sunshine State.
There's $2 billion in the bill to expand Florida ports for the new Panamax vessels and another billion to restart four long-stalled Everglades restoration projects. That's 25 percent of the entire appropriation.
"We made out like bandits!" exulted U. S. Rep. Fredericka Wilson at a news conference in Port Everglades.
Maybe. The locals have to front the money to get their projects underway and then wait for U. S. Army Corps of Engineers clearance to ask Congress to remit the funds. They could get stiffed, admits U. S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat who represents Broward and Palm Beach counties, but she doesn't think so.
"I think they're going to calculate on what the reward is," Frankel said. "And the reward will be greater than the risk."
WRRDA's overall purpose is to prepare U. S. waterways for the increased flow of cargo through the widened Panama Canal so a lot of the spending is aimed at Florida ports that need to be expanded and dredged out to accommodate the larger Panamax ships.
Port Everglades already handles Panamax vessels but their cargos are light because the water is still too shallow. WRRDA will pay about $400 million for dredging the navigation channels and turn-around basins so the new ships can bring in enough cargo to be worthwhile.
There's also funding in the bill for dredging and widening the port of Jacksonville, Port Canaveral and the Lake Worth Inlet. And money is being spent elsewhere on canals and other inland waterways so that cargo can easily make its way to markets from their ports of arrival.
WRRDA's work will deliver a $500 million dollar impact to the state economy, according to publicized estimates, after creating several thousand construction jobs and up to 100,000 as the economic benefits take hold.
The politics weren't easy, says Frankel, who helped engineer one of the largest work-arounds in the bill -- the build-now-hope-for-payment-later part. She says Congress' rules against "earmarks" -- funding set-asides for local projects -- made that arrangement necessary.
Wilson's task was to  assemble an ad hoc "ports caucus" of state cargo interests to advocate for their needs from a united front.
It wasn't immediately clear how Everglades restoration made it into a bill that's all about shipping and trade, or how it got to be the state's largest line item in WRRDA. But John Adornato, Sun Coast regional director of the National Parks Conservation Association, was in no mood to quibble.
"Three billion dollars are coming to Florida and one billion are just for Everglades projects," he said. "This water bill is critical for advancing Everglades restoration. There are four projects in this bill that will help to restore America's Everglades."

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Bloodsuckers brooding across Southwest Florida
News-Press.com – by Chad Gillis
June 17, 2014
Lee County becomes 1,000 square miles of proboscis paradise in the summer, when heavy rains and high tides give birth to the next generation of bloodsucking mosquitoes.
"We have the biggest mosquito problem in Florida," said Shelly Redovan with Lee County Mosquito Control. "There isn't a single part of the county that can't be impacted by coastal species. (And) we have to treat them because it would be very prohibitive to live here or visit here if we didn't have mosquito control."
In a state known for biting bugs, Lee is king. Some coastal areas — such as Everglades National Park and parts of Florida Bay — have a higher concentration of salt-marsh and freshwater mosquitoes, Redovan said, but treating there is against National Park Service regulations and useless because few people live there.
Biologist Lisa Hunt, of Lee County Mosquito Control, separates varieties of mosquito species while counting and labeling them at the laboratory in Buckingham.(Photo: Jack Hardman/The News-Press)
Paradise bites back
Mosquitoes thrive in Lee County's extensive networks of beaches, bays, salt marshes, rivers, tidal creeks and mangrove forests. The same ecological conditions that draw tourists and provide great fishing, boating and kayaking also make for ideal mosquito breeding grounds.
Collier County has its share of mosquito problems as well, with salt marsh species sometimes flying 35 to 40 miles overnight to reach areas such as Marco Island, Naples and Everglades City.
"Right now we are getting salt-marsh mosquitoes — high numbers in the southeast and southwest regions of the district," said Adrian Salinas with Collier Mosquito Control District. "Typically the first half of summer, May or June, is salt-marsh mosquito season, and then when we get rains and have floodwater around, we start to focus on freshwater mosquitoes, which is the type we have the most of."
Salt-marsh mosquitoes are known for being strong fliers and aggressive feeders. While they can carry dog heartworm, they're feared mostly for their bite and persistence. Larvae hatch mostly near high tides brought by full moon conditions, the most recent of which occurred late last week.
Mosquito larvae swim in a drop of water.(Photo: Jack Hardman/The News-Press)
Concerns spread
Freshwater mosquitoes are the ones health officials typically fear most, as these species are capable of transmitting malaria, dengue fever, St. Louis encephalitis, West Nile virus and, most recently in the Caribbean and Florida, chikungunya fever, a mosquito-borne disease that can cause fever and severe joint pain.
A 71-year-old Lee County man contracted the virus on a recent trip to the Dominican Republic and is now considered free of the virus, according to the state Department of Health. Lee Mosquito Control treated the man's neighborhood in an attempt to keep the virus from spreading.
Salinas said 26 cases of chikungungya have been reported in Florida. All cases are thought to be imported. The virus may have first arrived on Caribbean islands in December.
The virus is transmitted by two freshwater species: Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus. Mosquito managers haven't focused on these species in the past as they flourish more in urban areas, not the swamps and coastal bays. But with a new-to-this-region virus threatening, local districts are studying both species to learn more about their reproduction and feeding habits.
"They are known container breeders," Salinas said. "They don't breed in the swamp, and they're not necessarily going to reproduce in the ditch in front of your house, but they breed in standing water. Anything that holds water — even a soda bottle cap — can be enough for them to breed."
Mosquito spraying season continues through Oct. 31.
Lee County Mosquito Control District
$16 Million in annual operating costs
80 Full-time employees
1,000 Square miles within district boundary
Collier Mosquito Control District
$6 Million in annual operating costs
25 Full-time employees
401 Square miles within district boundary

140616-a
Congress approves some funding to clean up Caloosahatchee, stalls other.
PoliticalNews.me
June 16,2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Final passage of an $82 million measure aimed at battling toxic algae outbreaks choking off life in the Caloosahatchee River and estuary around Fort Myers was blocked by an unknown Republican senator.
The legislation, authored by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, would have funded new research into the causes and control of large algae blooms while also giving affected communities additional resources to respond when outbreaks occur.
Nelson successfully ushered the bill through the Senate Commerce Committee and it passed the full Senate earlier this year. The House then added some amendments to the bill before approving it Monday. A second Senate approval was required for final passage. Under Senate rules, a measure can be approved without a full vote as long as no one objects. Late yesterday, one Republican member, whose identity was not disclosed, blocked the bill.
The move by the GOP to block Nelson’s measure, however, came just days after President Obama signed into law a broader water resources bill that contains some $800 million Nelson sought for Everglades restoration projects on the Caloosahatchee.
Nelson pushed hard to have a number of Florida projects included in the water bill, specifically $626 million for a reservoir near LaBelle and $174 million to modify the Caloosahatchee canal.
“Restoration of the river is essential not only to the health of the ecosystem, but also to the local economy,” Nelson (D-FL) said.
The lawmaker added that he is optimistic about resolving, perhaps as early as next week, any differences that stand in the way of passing the toxic algae bill.
Last summer, millions of gallons of freshwater were released from Lake Okeechobee straight into the Caloosahatchee River, dangerously reducing the amount of salt water in the river’s delicate ecosystem. Then, early this year, the salt levels swung the opposite way, with too little freshwater entering the river.
Such extreme changes in salinity impact the health of sea grass and oysters, which in turn leads to higher mortality rates for manatees who rely on sea grass for sustenance. Lee County reported 276 manatee deaths in 2013, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, 73 of which occurred on the Caloosahatchee.
Related:           Nelson to push Caloosahatchee bill through stalled Senate   Cape Coral Daily Breeze

140616-b
Florida legislators letting Florida sink
RingOfFireRadio - by Chariese Elizabeth
June 16, 2014
There is a strong consensus in the scientific community that climate change is occurring and is intensified by human activities.  Yet republicans remain steadfast in their denial of man-made climate change, even in the face of overwhelming evidence.
Skepticism amongst Florida politicians, one of the most vulnerable states, is especially high.
Recently, Senator Marco Rubio stated, “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it,” he continued, “And I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it. Except it will destroy our economy.”
In a more odd attempt to deny climate change,  Rep. Jeff Miller (R-FL) referenced dinosaur’s extinction as proof climate change could not have been man-made. In an interview, he stated, “But then, why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Were there men that were causing — were there cars running around at that point that were causing global warming? No. The climate has changed since Earth was created.”
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) simply urges us to think of the “here and now” and not to attempt to prevent future problems stating, “…I think people remain fairly skeptical about the causes of global warming, and the solutions are pretty costly. And I think the administration should spend its time and money on very urgent pressing things that impact everyday Americans in the here and now.”
Florida Governor Rick Scott seems to have taken the stance that since he is not a scientist, he cannot speculate whether he believes in the recent scientific reports.
President Obama retorted to Governor Scott and the GOP’s “I am not a scientist” stance during his commencement speech at the University of California, saying “Let me translate,” he said. “What that means is, ‘I accept that manmade climate change is real, but if I admit it, I’ll be run out of town by a radical fringe that thinks climate science is a liberal plot… I’m not a scientist either, but we’ve got some good ones at NASA.”
While Florida legislators deny climate change the people of Florida are feeling the effects now, especially in low lying places like Tampa and Miami.  Sea levels are rising and threatening infrastructure, drinking water, and lives. Possibly when Florida is nearly underwater they will take heed.

140616-c
How did the Legislature do on water issues this session ?
WLRN - by Lisann Ramos
June 16, 2014
According to a panel discussion last Friday, the Florida Legislature did a fair job handling water issues this year. 
Legislators gave millions of dollars for Everglades restoration projects, drinking-water issues and lake clean-ups.
The Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for The Everglades, the League of Women Voters of Palm Beach County and Oxbridge Academy hosted the discussion.
Todd Bonlarron handles legislative affairs for Palm Beach County. He says the one thing the Legislature didn’t pay enough attention to was the more than 900 Florida springs.
"In the area of springs, I think the Legislature took a baby step," Bonlarron said. "While they put $30 million towards some of the spring cleanups that they were looking at doing, I think that they kicked the can to the next legislature to deal with those particular issues."
Listen - Listen to the story here.
There was less certainty about when legislative action would be taken on sea-level rise. Tommy Strowd of the Lake Worth Drainage District said acknowledgement of the problem is just beginning.
"We’re just coming to a point technologically that we’re recognizing [that] risk is there, and we now have to understand what [the] level of risk," he said. "Some of those technologies to do those evaluations are just now coming to light."
Mark Pafford, CEO of the Arthur R. Marshall Foundation for the Everglades, attributes legislative action to the pressure environmental groups and concerned constituents have put on state legislatures. Pafford believes that in the coming decades their influence will continue to play a big part in Florida state sessions.

140616-d
Thanks for state leadership on protecting waterways
Palm Beach Post - Point of View by Sarah Heard, Stuart, FL - Chairwoman of the Martin County Board of County Commissioners
June 16, 2014
The 2014 Florida legislative session was a historic session for our waterways. The Martin County Board of County Commissioners wishes to thank Gov. Rick Scott, Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who chaired the Senate Select Committee on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin, and our legislative delegation — including Sen. Denise Grimsley, Rep. MaryLynn Magar and Rep. Gayle Harrell for their tremendous leadership and dedication addressing issues of the utmost importance to the citizens of Martin County in the 2014 budget. With much appreciation, we recognize and duly note that nothing requested by Martin County was vetoed.
We are pleased with the progress that has been made in less than 12 months. Last year at this time, we again lost our beloved St. Lucie River to damaging freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee and our local basins. Fully 112,000 gallons per minute of polluted lake runoff water were entering our estuary. A plume of murky water was visible outside the St. Lucie Inlet, extending south to Jupiter Island. Unprecedented levels of bacteria in our local waters resulted in posted areas indicating that any contact with our local waters was dangerous. Low salinity levels from the freshwater releases killed oysters and sea grasses. For months, these harmful releases wreaked havoc on our lagoon and estuary, one of the most diverse in North America.
We are just in the start of the rainy season, but we can say we are in a much better position this year. Lake Okeechobee is currently at 12.3 feet, and we have not received significant rainfall. But we all know conditions change quickly as we move through the rainy season.
We thank Gov. Scott and our legislative delegation for recognizing the critical need for solutions to the crisis in our waterways and for showing strong leadership in funding projects that will help improve the environmental and economic health of the St. Lucie estuary and river, and the Indian River Lagoon. In particular, we appreciate support for the C-44 project, which is part of the Indian River Lagoon-South (IRL) Restoration Project, a key component of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) and a top priority of Martin County.
We appreciate the state of Florida’s commitment to our environment and community and look forward to our continued partnership.

140615-a








Pam BONDI
FL Attorney General

140615-a
Bondi's "logic" on marriage is a sham
Sun Sentinel – by Mark Ferrulo
June 15, 2014
Defending the voters ?
Attorney General Pam Bondi's attempt to explain her preposterous claim that recognizing same-sex couples would "impose significant public harm" doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Not close.
In explaining her actions, Bondi claimed to be "defending the voters" who passed the 2008 constitutional amendment defining marriage in Florida as between a man and a woman. She stated that "anything less than the best defense of our voters' policy preferences would disenfranchise the electorate, undermine the judicial process, and cast aside the professional responsibility that guides me every day as Attorney General."
Sounds very noble until you take even a cursory look at her record. Then it's clear her rationale is bogus.
Why isn't Bondi "defending the voters" who passed the 1976 Sunshine Amendment that mandates open and transparent state government? Gov. Rick Scott's administration has a terrible track record when it comes to open records laws and respecting government in the sunshine, but Bondi has been silent.
In fact, her own office has been sued for open records violations. At least twice. Moreover, Bondi sought to shut down a legal challenge to Scott's blind trust arrangement due to possible violations of public records laws — wouldn't that constitute "less than the best defense of our voters' policy preferences"?
Article IX of Florida's Constitution was amended by voters in 1998 to make it a "paramount duty" of the state to require a "uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality system of free public schools," so why hasn't Bondi "defended voters" there ?
Florida ranked 48th in state funding for our public schools as of 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. State lawmakers attempt to siphon tax dollars away from public schools and move them to unaccountable for-profit private schools year after year, yet Bondi has said nothing. Then again, voucher proponents helped fund her winning campaign for office.
Everglades pollution
And why is Bondi mute about violations of the Polluter Pays amendment passed in 1996? She has been silent on making polluters pay for the damage they do to the Everglades. In fact, rather than holding polluters accountable, Bondi has sided with large corporate polluters in legal opposition to a clean-up plan for Chesapeake Bay.
Why hasn't Bondi "defended the voters" who passed the 2002 class size amendment and want to see it implemented and fully funded ? Where was Bondi when lawmakers tried to water down the class size amendment in 2011 by changing the definition of "core" classes?
Did she ride to the rescue in 2013 when House Bill 189 was added to another bill to allow class sizes to be calculated using school-wide averages ? Nowhere to be seen.
Redistricting
On top of all of this, Bondi has remained silent for the past several weeks as a trial on how Florida legislators drew new political maps (redistricting) has uncovered overwhelming evidence that state leaders violated the voter-enacted FairDistricts constitutional amendments and conspired to draw maps that would allow them to cling to power by picking the voters instead of allowing the voters to pick their elected representatives.
Bondi's rationale that she's an impartial public servant "defending the voters" is ludicrous. This attorney general owes Floridians real answers for her opposition to equality for all Floridians, for the blatant political use of her office and for ignoring the harm done to our open records laws, our public schools, our Everglades and fair elections — all on her watch.

140615-b
Gov. Scott's stake in oil company questioned
Associated Press
June 15, 2014
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Environmentalists are targeting Gov. Rick Scott for his investment in a French energy company that is involved in oil drilling near the Everglades.
Scott invested his millions in a blind trust three years ago. Scott's campaign spokesman said the investment was not made by Scott but by an external brokerage that manages the governor's portfolio.
The Tampa Bay Times reports that in 2011, the original blind trust showed a $135,000 investment in Schlumberger Ltd., the world's largest oil services company. The blind trust prevents the public from knowing whether Scott still has a share in the company.
Scott and his Cabinet oversee the Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates oil drilling in Florida and potentially businesses like Schlumberger.
Asked if he supports drilling near his $9.2 million home, Scott said: "You'll have to talk to DEP."
Related:           Environmentalists ask why Gov. Rick Scott invested millions in ...  WPEC

140615-c
Sugar industry accused of dodging Everglades clean-up costs
Sun Sentinel - by Andy Reid
June 15, 2014
Florida taxpayers have been left shouldering most of the $2 billion Everglades water pollution cleanup cost, despite a constitutional amendment passed by nearly 70 percent of voters that calls for the sugar industry to pick up its share of the tab.
While South Florida sugar-cane growers excel at providing the sweet ingredient for everything from cakes to candy bars, polluted phosphorus-laden runoff from sugar-cane fields has damaging consequences on the Everglades.
About 62 percent of the polluting phosphorus that flows toward the Everglades comes from water draining off farmland dominated by sugar cane, according to state environmental records.
But just 12 percent of the $2 billion cleanup expense has been paid by special taxes on those sugar-cane growers and other farmers south of Lake Okeechobee. That means other property taxpayers have had to dig deeper into their wallets to pay to tackle the unnaturally high phosphorus infusion that is a prime focus of Everglades restoration.
A "Polluter Pays" amendment to the Florida Constitution that voters approved in 1996 was supposed to force the sugar industry to at least cover its share of cleaning up damage to the Everglades. But some say state leaders have failed to fully enforce the measure.
That means "it shifts the burden of cleaning up the Everglades to taxpayers," said Dave Cullen, Sierra Club lobbyist. "Everybody else's [share] gets bigger."
The taxpayers' share of the Everglades cleanup gets even bigger under Gov. Rick Scott's $880 million water pollution cleanup plan. Last year, state lawmakers agreed to keep charging Everglades restoration fees paid by sugar-cane growers and other farmers south of Lake Okeechobee at existing levels for 10 years longer than once planned. But lawmakers haven't been willing to increase those fees, even as the public cleanup costs increase.
Environmental advocates contend that the sugar industry's political muscle continues to allow it to avoid having to pay a share of Everglades restoration proportionate to its responsibility for pollution problems.
"You have a major industry that is saying, 'We are so powerful we don't want to pay for our pollution treatment. … Taxpayers, you are going to pay for it. Tough luck,'" said Albert Slap, board member for the Friends of the Everglades environmental group. "It stood Polluter Pays on its head."
Sugar industry advocates, as well as top state leaders, maintain that sugar-cane growers are paying enough for Everglades restoration.
They point to those special fees that sugar growers pay, improved farming practices that reduce pollution as well as the industry's economic impact on the state as evidence of the benefits that the sugar industry delivers. Sugar producers also pay property taxes, in addition to those special fees, that help fund Everglades restoration.
"In the environmentalists' eyes, no one is ever paying their fair share," said Barbara Miedema, vice president of the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida. "And however much money they are throwing at Everglades restoration is never enough."
Natural flow of water disrupted
Draining parts of South Florida to make way for farming and development shrunk the Everglades to half its size, siphoning away water that once naturally flowed from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay. Worsening the problem, polluted stormwater washing off farmland and urban areas threatens what remains of Everglades habitat.
That stormwater brings high levels of phosphorus, found in fertilizer, animal waste and the natural decay of soil.
Unnaturally high levels of phosphorus that come from polluted stormwater runoff fuel the growth of cattails, which forces out sawgrass and other natural habitat vital to the survival of the Everglades.
"It chokes out native plant communities," said Melissa Martin, ecologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who works in the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, the northern reaches of the Everglades. "It's not as good habitat for wildlife such as wading birds and alligators. … They can't move through it as well and hunt in it as well."
The state and federal government are in the midst of a multibillion-dollar effort to clean up Everglades water pollution and get more water flowing in Florida's famed River of Grass.
That work has included turning thousands of acres of former sugar-cane fields into stormwater treatment areas aimed at removing phosphorus. Reservoirs also are planned to hold onto more stormwater to replenish the Everglades. Long term, the goal is get more Lake Okeechobee water flowing south like it did before South Florida farming and development got in the way.
The public costs of those restoration efforts grew in 2013 when the Florida Legislature approved the $880 million plan, without increasing the "Agricultural Privilege" tax, the special fees levied on sugar-cane and other growers south of Lake Okeechobee to help pay for it.
Growers in the vast Everglades Agricultural Area, reaching from Lake Okeechobee to what remains of the Everglades, pay about $25 per acre per year to help fund restoration efforts.
Those special taxes since 1995 have raised enough to equate to about 12 percent of the nearly $2 billion spent building 57,000 acres of stormwater treatment areas, which filter polluting phosphorus from stormwater runoff.
Instead of increasing the $25-per-acre charge on sugar-cane and other growers as environmental groups had long sought, lawmakers last year opted to maintain the current charges through 2026 — 10 years beyond when the tax was set to start declining.
After 2026, the tax begins to decline, eventually dropping to $10 per acre.
Lawmakers last year also tacked on a measure to the legislation saying that those agricultural fees, plus sugar-cane growers' pollution reduction efforts, meet the requirements of the Polluter Pays law.
Environmental groups complain
While environmental groups such as Audubon Florida and the Everglades Foundation supported the Everglades legislation last year because of its $880 million in restoration plans, other environmental groups including the Sierra Club and Friends of the Everglades opposed the measure because of the provision saying that it "fulfills the obligations" of the Polluter Pays amendment.
"That was the ugly compromise," said Eric Draper of Audubon Florida. "It is a minimal extension of the existing tax. It was a minimal contribution from the sugar industry."
The "sweetheart deal" in last year's legislation shouldn't be allowed to trump a constitutional amendment, approved by nearly 70 percent of voters, according to Cullen, of the Sierra Club.
State lawmakers still could change last year's deal and require the sugar industry to pay more. But don't count on it amid the current political climate and given the sugar industry's army of lobbyists, according to David Guest, an environmental law attorney for Earthjustice in Tallahassee.
"I think it's the end of the line," Guest said, referring to Polluter Pays. "They are the Teflon industry. … They skate."
Sugar producers counter that agriculture gets unfairly singled out for the polluting consequences of the state-sponsored South Florida drainage system, which long ago allowed farming and development to move onto land that used to be part of the Everglades.
They point out that Florida welcomed sugar-cane fields, processing mills and rail lines that spread across former wetlands as well as the economic benefits of the jobs, taxes and income the sugar industry created.
According to U.S. Sugar Corp., deciding a fair share of Everglades restoration costs isn't as simple as looking at the percentages of phosphorus in water flows because the South Florida flood-control system was designed to move much of the region's water through the Everglades Agricultural Area.
Also, Lake Okeechobee water that sugar-cane growers and other farmers tap for irrigation already is laden with phosphorus and other pollutants that flow in from north of the lake.
Sugar producers contend that to truly follow Polluter Pays could mean levying a special fee, like the one they pay, on other sources of Everglades water pollution. That could create a political "hornets' nest" for state leaders to try to determine what other Everglades polluters should be paying special cleanup taxes and how much, said Judy Sanchez, U.S. Sugar's senior director of corporate communications.
South Florida sugar-cane growers have adopted more environmentally friendly farming practices, and the Everglades Agricultural Area has been meeting state requirements to reduce the amount of phosphorus washing off its fields.
Sugar industry representatives point to the environmental strains caused by South Florida's rampant development as evidence that they aren't the only ones to blame for the Everglades' problems.
"We have a manufactured flood-control system now that everybody benefits from," said U.S. Sugar Senior Vice President Malcolm "Bubba" Wade Jr., a former board member for the South Florida Water Management District. "It's patently unfair to pull out one group and say, 'This group is different and they are going to pay every dime.'"
Sugar industry gets help
Yet the sugar industry also benefits from public help that enables sugar production to flourish on land that was once part of the Everglades.
The federal government uses price supports, domestic market allotments and import quotas and tariffs to prop up the value of U.S.-produced sugar.
Also, Florida leases publicly owned land at reduced rates to sugar producers, adding to the hundreds of thousands of acres they already own. The South Florida Water Management District leases about 26,000 acres of publicly owned land — an area larger than the island of Manhattan — to cane growers, including U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals, according to the district's property database.
The Polluter Pays effort wasn't aimed at getting the sugar industry to pay every dime of Everglades restoration, just its fair share, according to Slap, of Friends of the Everglades.
Instead, he contends that the Legislature "has protected Big Sugar and put the cost of the cleanup of Big Sugar's pollution onto taxpayers."
Nearly 70 percent of Florida voters in 1996 approved the Polluter Pays amendment to the state Constitution.
The amendment says: "Those in the Everglades Agricultural Area who cause water pollution within the Everglades Protection Area or the Everglades Agricultural Area shall be primarily responsible for paying the costs of the abatement of that pollution."
The same year that voters approved the Polluter Pays amendment they rejected a proposed penny-per-pound tax on sugar produced in South Florida.
The penny-per-pound proposal pitted environmental groups against sugar producers, with both sides spending millions on advertising that at the time turned into the most expensive referendum fight in state history.

140614-a
Is Indian River Lagoon OK for play ?
Florida Today – by Jim Waymer, Brevard
June 14, 2014
The Indian River Lagoon seems inviting. Seagrass is growing back. Fish are jumping. The water looks clear.
But how safe is it to wade or swim in the lagoon's brackish waters, or to eat the fish, shellfish and crabs pulled from it ? After all, some 140 manatees, 80 dolphins, 300 pelicans and 47,000 acres of seagrass have died for mysterious reasons since mid-2012.
With summer here, Florida health officials urge caution before taking the plunge into the lagoon or its seafood. The water is generally safe for swimming, officials assure.
But, as always, that depends.
RELATED: Real-time monitors gauge lagoon health
Inlets to flush out a balmy, stagnant lagoon are few-and-far-between. Bacteria can spike after heavy rains, with no water tests to warn the public, as on the county's ocean beaches. Some lagoon fish harbor a poison 1,000 more lethal than cyanide. And one tiny cut can let in horrific microscopic killers.
"Anytime you're in the lagoon or any type of open body of water, it's swimming at your own risk," said Cyndy Leckey, environmental manager for Florida Department of Health in Brevard County.
RELATED: Indian River Lagoon: What went wrong?
"It's more of a concern if they have an open wound and they're immunosuppresant," she said. "Just someone with a scratch is not going to necessarily get sick."
But last year, two Brevard County men did contract a potentially deadly bacteria in the lagoon, Vibrio vulnificus, prompting health warnings. Officials urged residents to avoid exposure of open wounds or broken skin to warm, salty outdoor waters, and to abstain from raw shellfish harvested in the lagoon.
Both men were infected after fishing in the lagoon. Each recovered.
RELATED: Oysters are key to a plan that might save Indian River Lagoon
Mike Weldon, 62, of Melbourne, says he caught Vibrio last August while netting fish at a local fishing pier. He'd cut his hand on the pier while throwing his net, then dipping his hand into a bait bucket filled with lagoon water, he says. Within a few hours, his hand was burning with swelling red ulcers that rapidly spread.
"I started seeing lines go up my arm," Weldon said Thursday, from Eau Gallie fishing pier. They cut his arm to drain it.
His doctor told him there was a 50 percent chance he'd die. There was talk of a living will, and his arm was marked around his bicep — the point at which they would amputate, if the infection spread that far.
"I was critical after 48 (hours)," he said. "I was going into shock. I basically couldn't eat anything, couldn't get up. It was miserable, totally miserable."
But Weldon still fishes the lagoon he loves, although now he protect himself with long gloves. Recovery was slow.
"Nerve damage in my hand, it took me almost six months to make a fist," he said.
He was among 41 reported cases of infections from the deadly bacteria last year in Florida, which killed 11 people, including a 59-year old man infected while crabbingin the Halifax River near Ormond Beach.
Now is the most dangerous time of year for the bacteria. Vibrio infections tend to occur between May and October, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Warm water and moderate salinity can increase the number of V. vulnificus organisms in shellfish.
Vibrio vulnificus bacteria naturally live in the lagoon. Every year Brevard has a few cases due to water exposure.
"The warmer water always tends to bring more issues, and it's also when there are more users," Leckey said. "There's no routine sampling (for bacteria)."
Boating and other sporting activities in the lagoon are generally safe, and infections are very rare. But health officials recommend people avoid eating rawseafood or exposing themselves to the lagoon water if they have an open wound, especially if they have liver or immune system problems.
Vibrio infections in people with those types of conditions have a 50 percent fatality rate.
When it infects the skin via open wounds, Vibrio vulnificus can cause skin breakdown and ulcers.
Ingestion of the bacteria can trigger vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain.
Eating a single contaminated oyster can kill.
Or even an ant bite or any tiny wound can allow an entry point for the bacteria.
Vibrio dies at salt levels typical seen in the ocean but thrives at lower to moderate salt concentrations, such as those found in the lagoon.
Vibrio isn't the only poisonous threat from raw shellfish. Oysters and clams filter feed, sometimes building up dangerous toxins during algae blooms. People who want to eat lagoon oysters or clams should first heed local shellfish advisories posted by the state division of agriculture.
No specific seafood advisories have been associated with the lagoon's current condition.
But puffer fish has been off-limits to harvest since 2002, after some people almost died after eating the fish. At least 28 people got sick in 2002 and 2003 after they ate pufferfish caught in the Titusville area, leading to a permanent state ban on harvesting the fish.
The toxin in the fish was linked to a dangerous algae known to bloom in the lagoon, Pyrodinium bahamense. The reddish algae, which has haunted the estuary over the past decade, creates a deadly poison in pufferfish, called saxitoxin – a poison 1,000 more lethal than cyanide.
Saxitoxin is thought to build up in puffers through the mollusks, clams, mussels and scallops they eat.
While saxitoxin and Vibrio are acute threats,mercury poses a chronic concern. A key sentinel of the mercury risk and other environmental stress to humans is the bottlenose dolphin. They eat the same seafood we do. And lagoon dolphin have the highest mercury levels ever measured in a wild dolphin, according to researchers at the Georgia Aquarium and FAU-Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution in Fort Pierce.
A year ago, after more than 50 lagoon dolphins had died, a federal panel declared the deaths an Unusual Mortality Event, triggering an formal federal investigation.
Some marine biologists suspect high levels of mercury might be playing a role.
People who eat lots of lagoon fish may have higher mercury levels than the national average. Harbor Branch researchers recently studied 135 coastal residents who eat lagoon fish. They found those lagoon region residents have higher mean levels of mercury in hair samples (1.5 parts per million) than similar studies of fishermen in Louisiana (1.1 ppm), Montreal (.82 ppm) and Wisconsin (.86 ppm) and higher than the national average. Most people have less than 1 ppm mercury in their hair.
While high mercury in hair doesn't necessarily mean toxic levels in the blood, epidemiologists say neurological effects in adults can begin to appear at 5 parts per million.
Symptoms of mercury poisoning range from stomach discomfort to brain damage, birth defects and death. The symptoms intensify if the body accumulates mercury faster than it can be shed.
Florida health advisories say pregnant women and children under age 8 should limit eating fish from the lagoon and other coastal waters to one or two per week or per month, depending on the species.
In general, top predator fish are the most dangerous to eat because they accumulate mercury from the smaller fish they eat. Sharks caught in the lagoon region have been found to have mercury levels up to six times higher than what's considered safe to eat.
Seafood typically lower in mercury includes shrimp, pollock, salmon, tilapia, catfish and cod.
While the lagoon has its hazards, health officials warn that freshwater can be even more dangerous. In 2011, a 16-year-old Mims girl died from a rare brain-eating amoeba infection she contracted after swimming in the St. Johns River in Volusia County, near the Brevard County line.
And another significant summertime safety risk is children drowning in residential swimming pools.
"It's not the open bodies of waters, it's the single family pools," Leckey said.
Contact Waymer at 321-242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com. Follow him on Twitter @JWayEnviro
Tips for preventing Vibrio vulnificus infections include:
• Do not eat raw oysters or other raw shellfish.
• Cook shellfish (oysters, clams, mussels) thoroughly.
• For shellfish in the shell, either a) boil until the shells open and continue boiling for 5 more minutes, or b) steam until the shells open and then continue cooking for 9 more minutes. Do not eat those shellfish that do not open during cooking. Boil shucked oysters at least 3 minutes, or fry them in oil at least 10 minutes at 375°F.
• Avoid cross-contamination of cooked seafood and other foods with raw seafood and juices from raw seafood.
• Eat shellfish promptly after cooking and refrigerate leftovers.
• Avoid exposure of open wounds or broken skin to warm salt or brackish water, or to raw shellfish harvested from such waters.
• Wear protective clothing (e.g., gloves) when handling raw shellfish.
Source: Brevard County Health Department
Seafood and swimming safey
• Florida Health Department fish consumption advisories: www.floridahealth.gov/prevention-safety-and-wellness/healthy-weight/nutrition/seafood-consumption/fish-advisories-page.html
• Vibrio: http://www.cdc.gov/vibrio/vibriov.html
• FDA Seafood Hotline: 800-332-4010.
• Florida Division of Aquaculture (shellfish safety): www.freshfromflorida.com/Divisions-Offices/Aquaculture
• Healthy swimming: www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/index.html
Lagoon Action Assembly's plan for saving the lagoon
www.mrcirl.org/our-programs/2014-action-assembly
New federal advice on seafood
This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued new seafood guidelines, concluding that pregnant and breastfeeding women, those who might become pregnant and young children should eat more fish that is lower in mercury to gain important developmental and health benefits.
Previously, the FDA and the EPA recommended maximum amounts of fish that these population groups should eat, but did not promote a minimum amount. Over the past decade, however, emerging science has underscored the importance of appropriate amounts of fish.
Eating fish with lower levels of mercury provides numerous health and dietary benefits, according to EPA.
The updated draft advice cautions pregnant or breastfeeding women to avoid four types of fish linked with high mercury levels: tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico; shark; swordfish; and king mackerel. The updated draft advice also recommends limiting consumption of white (albacore) tuna to 6 ounces a week.
When eating fish caught from local streams, rivers and lakes, follow fish advisories from local authorities. In general, limit intake to 6 ounces of fish per week and 1-3 ounces for children.
Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Naegleria fowleri meningitis infection
Contact with this Naegleria fowleri amoeba is rare, but the organism lurks in fresh water. Although there are only 34 reported cases in Florida since 1962, infections usually lead to death.
Exposure to the amoeba may also occur when using neti pots to rinse your sinuses of cold/allergy-related congestion or conducting religious rituals with tap water.
As a precaution, health officials recommend:
• Avoid water-related activities in bodies of warm freshwater, hot springs and thermally polluted water such as water around power plants.
• Avoid water-related activities in warm freshwater during periods of high water temperature and low water levels.
• Hold the nose shut or use nose clips when taking part in water-related activities in bodies of lakes, rivers, hot springs and other waters.
• Avoid digging in or stirring up the sediment while taking part in water-related activities in
shallow, warm freshwater areas.
• Use only boiled and cooled, distilled, or sterile water for making sinus rinse solutions for neti pots or performing ritual ablutions.
Symptoms
If you experience any of these symptoms after swimming in any warm body of water, contact your health care provider immediately:
• Headache, fever, nausea, disorientation, vomiting, stiff neck, seizures, loss of balance,
or hallucinations. It is essential to seek medical attention right away, as the infection usually becomes fatal within five days of exposure.
LINKS:
• For the latest information about the amoeba, visit: www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/general.html
• To find out more about the use of neti pots, visit: www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm316375.htm
Source: The Florida Department of Health; FLORIDA TODAY research

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Jamie Jones joins Envirotech Environmental Consulting
CapeGazette.com
June 14, 2014
Envirotech Environmental Consulting Inc., a leader in comprehensive environmental management services, stormwater management and water quality management, welcomes Jamie Jones, environmental engineer, to Envirotech’s Due Diligence staff. Jamie will be providing Wetland Delineations, Phase 1 Environmental Site Assessments, Living Shoreline Designs, Certified Construction Reviews, Regulatory Permitting, and other environmental Due Diligence reporting services.
Jones holds a BS in biology from Washington College and an MS in environmental engineering from the University of Central Florida. She was a Stormwater Management Academy research assistant at the University of Central Florida where her research focused on water quality remediation of stormwater ponds. Her recent projects included work on the maintenance practices for stormwater runoff for the Florida Department of Transportation, and best management practices for aquatic restoration in lakes, streams, and wetlands for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Jones has authored various publications and given presentations on the topics of ecosystem restoration, aquatic restoration projects, ecological modeling, nutrient uptake and assimilation, and biosorption activated media.
Jones' professional certifications include Certified Construction Reviewer (Delaware), Wetland Delineation, and ASTM Phase I Environmental Site Assessment.
Jones was an open water rescue lifeguard with the Sea Colony Beach Patrol for six years.
With a comprehensive approach to all due diligence and project management needs, Envirotech’s professional services can help reduce permit and project turnaround times, and eliminate federal and state liabilities related to abandoned hazardous waste.
Envirotech’s mission is to provide comprehensive environmental management services for achieving environmentally sound and aesthetically pleasing results that meet environmental regulatory policy and ecological needs. Learn more about Envirotech and purchase environmental products at www.envirotechecinc.com. For a complimentary educational presentation or on-site consultation, call 302-684-5201 or contact Todd Fritchman, president/aquatic biologist, at todd@envirotechecinc.com.

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Florida lawmakers split on Water Resources Bill
WMBB.com
Jun 13, 2014
Florida elected officials disagree about whether a major water-resources bill that President Obama signed this week will accomplish much for the Apalachicola Bay, which is still struggling to recover after the collapse of its oyster fishery in 2012.
Members of the state’s congressional delegation praised the Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014 for funneling money to other Florida projects, from restoration of the Everglades to a deepening of the harbors at Jacksonville and Cape Canaveral. 
“The Florida projects we were able to include were important for either the environment or the economy,” said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, who attended the bill-signing at the White House, in a statement afterward. 
But the water bill did not include new money for the Apalachicola Bay, which U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker declared a federal fishery disaster last fall. 
And although U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio voted for the measure when it passed the Senate last month, he said in a statement he was “very disappointed that an important effort to help restore the water flows to Apalachicola Bay was not included.” 
In 2012, a combination of drought and reduced freshwater downstream from the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system, which originates in Georgia, produced the lowest flows since records have been kept. 
The oyster industry was hit hard as a result. The Apalachicola Bay has been a huge economic driver for the Florida Panhandle thanks to its unique blend of saltwater and freshwater, which formerly produced 90 percent of the state’s oysters and 10 percent of oysters nationwide. But without higher freshwater flows downstream from Georgia, the mixture is too salty for oysters to thrive. 
Since 1990, control of the water in the river system shared by Florida, Georgia and Alabama has been the subject of lengthy litigation. Recent rulings have favored Georgia. Last fall, Gov. Rick Scott announced a new lawsuit against Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court, which has asked the U.S. Department of Justice for advice on whether to accept the case; that decision is pending.
Thousands of jobs in the Apalachicola Bay area were affected by the low freshwater flows, and the environmental-advocacy group Apalachicola Riverkeeper tried to get language included in the federal water bill requiring the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to allow more freshwater to flow downstream to the stricken bay --- but to no avail.
The bay's economic situation has become a key issue in the hotly contested race between U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, a Panama City Republican who represents the area, and Gwen Graham, a Leon County Democrat who is trying to unseat him.
Southerland issued a statement May 9 when the U.S. House approved the measure and praised a provision known as a "sense of Congress." That provision urged Florida, Georgia and Alabama to “reach agreement on an interstate water compact as soon as possible. … Absent such action, the committees of jurisdiction should consider appropriate legislation to address these matters.”
"I can’t overstate the significance of this (Water Resources Reform and Development Act) for North Florida’s oystermen and the families who live along the Apalachicola River and Bay," Southerland said in the statement. "While our tireless efforts have yielded a victory that’s been a long time coming, the fight to restore these hardworking communities continues."
Southerland spokesman Matt McCullough added in an email Friday that, "While (the bill) does not force Georgia to compromise, it compels them to come to the negotiating table by threatening congressional intervention if they don’t. This is truly unprecedented."
But former Florida governor and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, father of Southerland’s opponent, dismissed the legislative language as "re-enact(ing) the status quo."
He said the most "potentially constructive thing would have been to negotiate with the Corps of Engineers, particularly the amount of water that will be allocated" to the Apalachicola River basin.
Gwen Graham has made the Apalachicola Bay’s woes a focus of her campaign. Last month she criticized Florida’s most recent lawsuit against Georgia, saying it had exacerbated the crisis.
"Lawsuits don’t generally create positive relationships," she said. "What I would do (if elected) is start working from day one with the Georgia delegation, the Alabama delegation and the Corps of Engineers."
Since 2012, many of the oystermen and other seafood workers who relied on the Apalachicola Bay for their livelihoods are working at other jobs or in other states. The federal fishery disaster declaration has led to $6.3 million being slated for economic recovery efforts, including job training and restoration of the oyster beds.
Related:           Florida Lawmakers Split on Whether Water Bill Helps Struggling Bay        Southeast AgNet

140613-b
Scott's stake in oil company tied to Collier drilling riles environmentalists
Tampa Bay Times – by Steve Bousquet
June 13, 2014
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott's six-figure stake in a French energy company is angering environmentalists because the firm is involved in oil drilling in Collier County, near the Everglades.
Scott and the Cabinet oversee the Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates oil drilling in Florida, and Scott has invested in businesses that could be regulated by DEP and other state agencies.
Asked if he supports drilling in a county where he owns a $9.2 million home, Scott did not directly answer. He said: "You'll have to talk to DEP."
To avoid conflicts, Scott put his wealth in a blind trust three years ago, and an adviser is assigned to manage Scott's money without his knowledge.
"I put everything in a blind trust, so I don't know what's in the blind trust," Scott said last week.
In 2011, the original blind trust showed a $135,000 investment in Schlumberger Ltd., the world's largest oil services company.
Its stock has risen steadily over the past year and trades at $107 a share, but the blind trust prevents the public from knowing whether Scott still has a stake in the company — or whether it has grown.
The leader of a citizens group opposed to drilling is one of numerous people alarmed at Scott's past, and possibly continuing, financial ties to Schlumberger.
"This makes a huge difference to me," said Joe Mulé, president of Preserve Our Paradise.
Learning of the Schlumberger tie, Mulé said he's more suspicious of DEP's layoffs of dozens of employees charged with regulating polluters in 2012.
"It's very two-faced," said Alexis Meyer, who runs a Sierra Club program to protect panther habitats in Southwest Florida. "To have a governor who invests our money for Everglades restoration but also supports a company that wants to drill in the Everglades makes me very uncomfortable."
Schlumberger helped apply for a DEP permit so that a Texas oil company, the Dan A. Hughes Co., can use a drilling technique that uses acid to create cracks in the rock and then a gel mixed with sand to hold the cracks open.
"Schlumberger Water Services has been involved primarily in the permitting of the saltwater injection wells for Dan A. Hughes and has assisted with the oil well permit application," said Stephen Harris, a Schlumberger spokesman.
Harris said Schlumberger also performed groundwater monitoring and a review of abandoned oil wells on behalf of Collier Resources, which holds the mineral rights to the drill site. Schlumberger has no involvement in drilling operations, he said.
Hughes has denied it has used hydraulic fracturing to crack limestone, a process known as fracking. The company agreed to a $25,000 fine for an unauthorized second acid treatment and, in a consent order with DEP, agreed to hire an independent expert to monitor groundwater for possible contamination.
Hughes' operation has drawn opposition from Collier residents because the drilling is near a residential area known as Golden Gate Estates and close to the Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge.
The project also has created a major rift between DEP and the Collier County Commission.
Commissioners have voted to challenge the consent order and claim DEP is not demanding enough oversight of Hughes.
The county and residents accused DEP of excessive secrecy in its dealings with Hughes.
DEP urged the county to drop its challenge, saying it will remove any obligations on Hughes until all lawsuits are settled. But DEP on Friday sent the county a more conciliatory letter, saying it "is committed to working with you to be good stewards of Florida's natural resources."
Scott's campaign spokesman, Matt Moon, said the Schlumberger investment was not made by Scott but by an external brokerage, C.L. King & Associates, that manages part of Scott's portfolio.
Schlumberger was one of more than three dozen securities accounts managed by King that in 2011 had a value of $21.4 million.
Scott's overall net worth last year was $83.8 million.
"In 2011, Governor Scott disclosed his investment in an externally managed brokerage account," Moon said. "He placed those assets in a blind trust so he would have no knowledge if his investments in this brokerage account were bought, sold or changed."
Environmentalists said Scott's investment in an oil services company raises questions.
"It means that Rick Scott is in this business," said David Guest, an attorney for Earthjustice. "It changes how you see him if you know he's an investor in this business."
Jennifer Hecker of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida said she's troubled that a geologist from Schlumberger was hired by Collier Resources to reassure the county that old wells were plugged properly and that no contamination resulted.
"The only consultant who says it's safe is the same consultant who worked on the permitting of the project," Hecker said.
Scott and the three elected Cabinet members jointly oversee DEP.
Scott has frequently praised the performance of DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard.
Scott, who faces re-election in November, has said he is proud of his environmental record and cited ending years of litigation over Everglades protection.
"I'm proud of what we've done for the environment. There's always more to do," Scott said at a DEP event earlier this year.
Scott's blind trust received the approval of the state Commission on Ethics in 2011. Last year the Legislature passed a law that regulated blind trusts, and the ethics agency approved Scott's trust a second time.
The law is under challenge in a state lawsuit by Jim Apthorp, a former top aide to the late Democratic Gov. Reubin Askew, who says that blind trusts violate the state Constitution's requirement that officials provide a "full" disclosure of their finances.

140611-a
Naples area officials, Florida spar over oil drilling enforcement
News-Press.com – by Steve Doane
June 11, 2014
Collier County commissioners challenge Department of Environmental Protection
Collier County will challenge a settlement between the state and a Texas oil company over the penalty for a fracking-like drilling operation.
The county commission opted Tuesday to move forward with a legal challenge to a consent agreement between the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Dan A. Hughes Co. over an "enhanced extraction procedure" used this winter.
The decision came after disagreements with the board and DEP over the level of communication between the two on enforcement action and future drilling-related issues.
"We need to have a dialogue between the agency and the public before coming to a conclusion or not coming to a conclusion," commission Chairman Tom Henning said.
Collier has until June 26 to file in what will most likely become a legal battle between the board, DEP and the company over the enforcement leveled at the oil company for the unauthorized drilling activities.
Following the meeting, the DEP sent a news release criticizing the board's decision, calling it "unfortunate" and it is "jeopardizing the department's enforcement action against the company."
In the consent order handed down April 8, the DEP fined the company $25,000 and required it hire an outside consultant to test for water contamination. That testing is ongoing.
The procedure in question hadn't been used in Florida, and a description provided by DEP resembles hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." The company denies that claim, but it agreed to halt new operations last month.
The DEP has stated that any legal challenge from Collier would require the agency to stop water sampling for the duration of the case and could jeopardize gains made in the consent order.
In its meeting in April, the board instructed County Attorney Jeff Katzlow to draft a formal petition to the state. After that meeting Katzlow was contacted by the DEP's general counsel about arranging private settlement talks with the agency and the company in Tallahassee to mitigate county concerns, according to county documents.
On May 13, Katzlow presented the offer that opted to move forward with a legal challenge.
On May 28, Henning said he met with DEP Deputy Secretary Jeff Littlejohn who agreed to hold a two-hour public hearing regarding oil exploration if the board didn't petition the settlement with the company.
Following that meeting, Henning asked the board to reconsider its vote on the legal challenge. Littlejohn resigned on June 6 and was replaced by Clifford Wilson.
On June 9, Henning spoke with Wilson who said the DEP wasn't willing to hold a public hearing. This spurred the commission to stay with its original decision.
"We simply have not been provided with enough information directly from FDEP to answer any of our concerns or the community's, and I'm extremely disappointed in the leadership at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection," Henning said in a statement.
Other business
Commission approves dredging funds for Clam Pass
The Collier County Board of Commissioners approved funds Tuesday for a re-dredging of Clam Pass in North Naples.
In a 4-1 vote, the board authorized staff to seek a permit from the Army Corps of Engineers to dredge the pass for the second time in two years.
Engineers have estimated the cost at $378,000. This would allow dredgers to remove 13,000 cubic yards of sand from the pass and potentially pile it on nearby beaches, according to county documents.
In March 2013, the pass was dredged on an emergency permit because it had been completely closed off.
Once the permit is granted, the project will be put out to bid.

140611-b
Obama signs off on reservoir, other Everglades projects
News-Press.com – by Chad Gillis
June 11, 2014
President Barack Obama signed a water quality and infrastructure bill Tuesday that is expected to bring hundreds of millions in federal money to Lee Countyfor the Caloosahatchee Reservoir.
Called the Water Resources Reform and Development Act, or WRRDA, the bill is aimed at cleaning up waterways and improving ports, harbors and other shipping infrastructure. Eight projects in Florida are on the list, which must now pass through an appropriations stage before work can begin.
"It's checking the box and moving these forward so we can get these submitted to Congress (for the final funding vote)," said Jenn Miller with the Army Corps of Engineer's Jacksonville office. "It's kind of like conveyor belt, we're all working to move these forward and to get things constructed."
Local politicians and environmental groups have pushed the federal government to fund the reservoir for years, citing algae blooms, closed swimming beaches and massive freshwater plumes as reasons why this area needs the 55-billion gallon reservoir.
"We haven't had a WRRDA bill in seven years, so it's a win for Southwest Florida," said Sanibel Mayor Kevin Ruane. "It's going to help create essential jobs and its going to also continue to deal with the environment and the economy and pair the two together. Everyone seems to understand that correlation."
Ruane said work could begin this year on the reservoir, a water storage compound that water quality experts say will address more than one-third of the stormwater runoff problems within the Caloosahatchee River watershed. The reservoir is expected to cost $630 million, with the Army Corps and the state splitting the cost.
Historically, WRRDA bills were issued every two years, but the federal government has not made this type of allocation in seven years. Ruane said he feels confident that the federal funds will be available again in 2016.
"Everyone I've talked on the appropriations side says we're going to be happy," Ruane said.
South Florida environmental groups lauded Tuesday's signing as well, saying the region has long been in need of federal money to battle growing water quality challenges.
"C-43 will definitely improve conditions in the river, and this is a critical step toward construction," said Jennifer Hecker with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.
The Conservancy and other groups had chided the Army Corps for not moving ahead quickly with a series of Everglades restoration projects called the Central Everglades Planning Project, or CEPP, a suit of water quality and quantity projects that carry a $1.9 billion cost.
"They are intended to be passed every two years because there are important projects all over the country that need to be authorized," Hecker said. "What happens is we accumulate a back-log of projects, and that makes it difficult to find funding because you have an enormous price tag. Having the CEPP in need of authorization will help motivate more timely funding in the future."
Related:           President Obama Signs WRRDA into Law   geosynthetica.net (press release)
In rare move, Obama signs two bills at White House ceremony        Washington Times
Obama signs Water Resources Act, aiding Florida ports, Everglades           SaintPetersBlog (blog)

140611-c
Unmanned aircraft to survey wildlife habitat
Associated Press
June 11, 2014 
Idaho — Researchers in eastern Idaho plan to use unmanned robotic aircraft starting Sunday to get high-resolution digital images of sagebrush habitats.
"When we take ground measurements it's over a small area," said Janet Rachlow, an ecology professor at the University of Idaho. "But we are interested in scaling up what we learn about individual plants and animals to a large scale that is useful for land management and management of wildlife populations overall."
The aerial photos will also be used in a large study on pygmy rabbits, as well as to learn how animals react to temperature and predators.
Also participating in the project are Boise State University, Washington State University and the University of Florida, the Post Register reported (http://www.postregister.com/node/56588 ).
The research team plans to be in Lemhi County for about two weeks with the unmanned flights going through June 23.
"The end goal is to understand what makes a good habitat for these animals," Rachlow said. "We have to have a better understanding of what is a good habitat if we are to help restore it after a wildfire or incursions of foreign plants."
The University of Idaho's participation is part of an effort to create a Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aerial Systems at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies in Idaho Falls. The unmanned aerial systems center, should it be created, will work toward finding ways to bring unmanned aircraft systems into the national airspace.
A company called Advanced Aviation Solutions, a consulting company, is working with Idaho researchers to establish the center.
"We want to represent all the (unmanned air) research that is done for Idaho — water, agriculture, wildlife, ranching, reservoirs and more," company CEO Steve Edgar said in a news release.

140611-d
‘Water farming’ project promises big benefits
HighlandsToday.com - by John Buchanan, Central Florida’s Agri-Leader
June 11, 2014
An innovative pilot project launched by South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and aimed at addressing water restoration issues by developing a network of so-called “water farms” on fallow citrus land has received a $1.5 million grant from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. The award is being matched by SFWMD for a total expenditure of $3 million to investigate whether water farming - the storage of rainwater on privately owned lands - can become a viable and cost-effective water management practice. It could become another tool for reducing the amount of polluted storm water discharged into water bodies and coastal estuaries, said Damon Meiers, SFWMD’s principal engineer. The hope is that water farming will prove to be a cost-effective way to retain runoff and reduce the excessive nutrient loads that afflict many of Florida’s watersheds. The new study evolved out of SFWMD’s existing Dispersed Water Management Program, which encourages property owners to retain water on their land rather than drain it. The term “water farming” was actually coined by Indian River Citrus League (IRCL) and the practice is partially intended to give citrus growers wiped out by greening and canker a chance to keep their land in operation while awaiting resolution of those crises. “The idea occurred to me about five years ago in a conversation with former Agriculture Commission Charles Bronson,” said IRCL executive vice president Doug Bournique. “We were talking about a dispersed water storage scenario for cattle ranches. But this was when greening was just rearing its ugly head on the east coast and I realized that we needed a temporary fix for fallow citrus land, because no one really wants to sell out unless they absolutely have to. So we needed to create a holding pattern for people in the hope that [a cure for greening] is found.” Bournique then crafted a regional plan for the state to lease fallow citrus land for 10 to 20 years and ask landowners to build a system for storing water. “Every year, Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties run out of water during our dry season because historically, there hasn’t been any storage,” Bournique said. As a result, billions of gallons of potentially available water are lost each year by being dispersed into Indian River Lagoon, the St. Lucie River estuary, and canal systems. “So I realized that by creating a water farming system, not only could we rehydrate a dried out environment, but we could help save the lagoon and we could carry fallow citrus land into the future for those landowners,” Bournique said. Last year, IRCL conducted a feasibility study funded by SFWMD. As a result of IRCL’s vision and initiative, SFWMD has entered into cooperative agreements with three landowners to conduct pilot projects, which are being undertaken at Bull Hammock Ranch Grove and Caulkins Citrus Company in Martin County, and at Evans Properties Grove in St. Lucie County. SFWMD will work with the three landowners to document and evaluate the implementation costs and environmental benefits of each individual project. After construction is completed, each pilot project will operate for two full years. The water farms are expected to have positive impacts on the St. Lucie Watershed and Indian River Lagoon by reducing excess discharges, DEP said in a statement. The project is also supported by Florida Farm Bureau Federation, Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Its long-term goal, Bournique said, is to store virtually every gallon of rainwater that falls on Martin and St. Lucie counties in a network of water farms. Ultimately, he said, the system could be expanded statewide and provide a huge benefit to Florida’s agriculture industry. “We need to find new, cheap water sources,” he said. “And what could be better than finding a way to hold the rainfall that lands on our properties rather than shipping it east to tide, in an old archaic method that has been abusing the lagoon for more than a hundred years?” The water farming project represents an important innovation, Bournique said. “This project is the proverbial win-win-win situation,” he said. “The lagoon wins. Landowners of fallow citrus farms at least stay in the game. And you create a water supply for a depleted area.

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Collier to continue with oil drilling challenge in court
Naples Daily News - by Greg Stanley
June 10, 2014
Any chance for Collier County officials to talk out-of-court with state regulators about a problem oil well near Immokalee likely ended Tuesday morning.
After attempts to set up a meeting broke down between Collier commissioners and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, commissioners decided to press forward with a legal challenge that demands the state include provisions for more oversight, safeguards and accountability at the Dan A Hughes Co.’s well just south of Lake Trafford.
“I thought we could start a dialogue and resolve this without going through the legal process,” Commissioner Tom Henning said. “Now I don’t see any other choice.”
Officials with the DEP have asked the county twice to hold off filling the legal challenge. Deputy Secretary Jeff Littlejohn wrote a Wednesday letter to commissioners, saying the challenge would cause any of the Hughes Co.’s fines and clean-up obligations to be lifted for the duration of the judicial review.
Littlejohn urged the commissioners to “receive and consider additional information” and start discussions with the DEP and Hughes Co. to clear up any confusion over what happened at the well.
But those discussions would take place in private meetings in Tallahassee and not in front of the public in Collier County, Henning said.
“That doesn’t resolve the concerns of the public,” Henning said. “We need to have a dialogue with agency members where we can come to the conclusion on is the public being protected or not.”
By filing the challenge, the county will be able to question both state regulators and oil company officials before a judge at a public hearing.
The Hughes Co. was caught using a technique that has never before been used in Florida and raised concern among state regulators about potential groundwater contamination and environmental damage.
The procedure involves injecting a dissolving solution at a high pressure to force openings in rock formations, which are then propped open with sand to enhance oil production.
The drillers were caught using the technique over a three-day period in late December and early January.
In a consent order with the DEP – which essentially acts as a settlement agreement -- the Hughes Co. agreed to a $25,000 fine and to hire an independent expert to monitor the area’s groundwater and make sure the procedure caused no environmental damage.
Commissioners, environmental groups and a host of local homeowners have decried the consent order, saying it doesn’t go far enough to ensure that no damage was caused.
EARLIER
Collier County commissioners will hold their regular meeting at 9 a.m. in commission chambers, third floor, Collier County Government Center, 3299 U.S. 41 E. Among other items, commissioners are set to revisit their decision to challenge the Department of Environmental Protection’s consent order with the Dan A. Hughes Co., a Texas-based oil company.

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Everglades brush fire burns 20,000 acres; winds push smoke into Treasure Coast
Associated Press
June 10, 2014
MIAMI — A brush fire in the Everglades burned about 20,000 acres and sent smoke wafting over a large section of South Florida.
Winds today are pushing smoke from the fire over the Treasure Coast, causing haze and tinging the air with the smell of smoke, according to WPTV.
Further, there's a controlled burn going on east of Florida's Turnpike, near mile marker 159 in northern St. Lucie County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol website.
Officials say the fire in western Broward County was sparked by a lightning strike on Sunday afternoon. By Monday morning, smoke and ash was heavy across the western suburbs of Fort Lauderdale and Miami and even made its way east, to Biscayne Bay.
The Miami Herald reports forestry officials say a combination of variable winds and low dispersion — meaning the smoke stays low to the ground — caused the haziness.
Related:           More smoke and haze likely for South Florida           CBS 12 NEWS

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Underground volcanoes responsible for glacier melting in Western Antarctica
InternationaBusinessTimesy
June 10 2014
Ocean water warmed by the effects of climate change is not the only factor responsible for the melting of Antarctic glaciers as hidden, underground volcanoes also contribute to the thawing, according to a new study, which is said to have changed the understanding of conditions underneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.
Researchers at the Institute for Geophysics at The University of Texas, or UTIG, at Austin examined the Thwaites Glacier in Western Antarctica and found that it was being melted from below by geothermal heat released by submerged volcanoes. The Thwaites Glacier recently became the focus of attention after some studies revealed that the glacier was nearing collapse from accelerated melting.
“The geothermal heat contributed significantly to melting of the underside of the glacier, and it might be a key factor in allowing the ice sheet to slide, affecting the ice sheet's stability and its contribution to future sea level rise,” the researchers said, in a statement. “The cause of the variable distribution of heat beneath the glacier is thought to be the movement of magma and associated volcanic activity arising from the rifting of the Earth's crust beneath the West Antarctic Ice Sheet.”
The collapse of the Thwaites Glacier, which is the size of Florida and is “considered a gateway to the majority of West Antarctica's potential sea level contribution,” can increase global sea level by 3.3 feet to 6.5 feet, according to researchers who used radar techniques to map the flow of water under ice sheets. The effort eventually helped them estimate the rate of ice melting and identify key sources of geothermal heat under the 2.5-mile-thick Thwaites Glacier in the Amundsen Sea Embayment.
“It's the most complex thermal environment you might imagine,” Don Blankenship, a senior research scientist at UTIG and the study’s co-author, said in the statement. “And then you plop the most critical dynamically unstable ice sheet on planet Earth in the middle of this thing, and then you try to model it. It's virtually impossible.”
According to the study, geothermal sources beneath the Thwaites Glacier release a minimum average heat of 100 milliwatts per square meter while the most concentrated hotspots emit heat at the rate of more than 200 milliwatts per square meter. A square meter is about ten square feet.
“The combination of variable subglacial geothermal heat flow and the interacting subglacial water system could threaten the stability of Thwaites Glacier in ways that we never before imagined,” Dusty Schroeder of UTIG and the study’s lead author, said.

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Water bill signing boosts Everglades, seaports
Sun Sentinel – by William E. Gibson
June 10, 2014
President Obama’s signing of a big water-projects bill on Tuesday paved the way for federal spending on several Everglades restoration projects as well as dredging of Florida seaports.
 The long-awaited Water Resources Reform and Development Act finally became law.
 “Now for the first time in seven years, federal and state restoration partners can start work on new Everglades projects,” said Julie Hill-Gabriel, Everglades policy director for Audubon Florida.
 “Audubon looks forward to continuing our work with project managers to increase vital wetland habitat, protect our fragile coastal estuaries, and to secure the drinking water for over 7 million Floridians,” she said.
 Port directors are also happy.
 The bill authorizes dredging of harbors at Jacksonville, Port Canaveral and the Port of Palm Beach. And it includes language that will make it easier for Port Everglades to get federal dredging money in a future water bill.

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Water investment is still running low
Ocala.com - Editorial
June 9, 2014
What a difference an election year makes.
Last year, Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $368 million from the state budget. His vetoes included a number of projects intended to improve water quality.
Since that time, Scott has either found religion on the water issue or simply decided the vetoes weren't worth the blowback in an election year.
Last Monday, Scott vetoed a relatively low $69 million from the $77 billion state budget for the upcoming fiscal year. It was Scott's lowest veto total since taking office and included a number of water projects, big and small.
Scott didn't hold a public signing of the budget but issued a news release that touted the environmental funding it contained. The budget “will ensure we are good environmental stewards so future generations can continue to enjoy our natural resources,” he wrote.
The reality is that at a time when the state has a $1.2 billion surplus, the budget hardly makes up for years in which environmental programs were slashed and regulations rolled back.
While the budget included more than $250 million for Everglades restoration, the $30 million slated for springs protection will barely make a dent in the damage caused by decades of excessive pollution and pumping.

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A great day trip: Conservancy of Southwest Florida
News-Press.com – by Tom Hayden, community conversations editor of The News-Press.
June 8, 2014
When the Conservancy of Southwest Florida makes headlines, it is usually because of the organization's position on a critical environmental issue.
Thursday, I learned there is so much more about this nonprofit group and the environmental jewel it calls home in Naples. The facility blew me away. It is an incredible asset for all of Southwest Florida.
The 21-acre nature center across a parking lot from the Naples Zoo and across the street from the Coastland Center mall is an environmental haven of wildlife rehabilitation and preservation, energy conservation, working water quality projects, interactive education and volunteerism. It is the only one of its kind in the state.
The Conservancy, celebrating 50 years, is an environmental classroom for children and adults funded primarily by private donations. It has a $7 million annual budget, recently completed a five-year, $38.5 million capital campaign, a working filter marsh, which is a huge environmental benefit; a gopher tortoise habitat, a state-of-the art wildlife hospital, a dorm for summer interns, a resident scientist, nature trails and educational programs with an emphasis on STEM.
A new, 15,000-square foot administration building, which also will include laboratories and classroom space, is scheduled to open in the next few months.
And this facility is as green as it gets, highlighted by a campus-wide geothermal energy supply that cuts costs by 40 percent, as well as LED lighting. Many of its buildings and walkways were constructed using recycled materials that are stacked with Collier history. The gazebo, which overlooks the filter marsh, was made from wood saved from the conservancy's old wildlife hospital.
The depth at which this place has been thought out and developed is amazing. There are 50 staff, plus summer interns and 600 volunteers who can be seen working throughout the center and in the hospital treating animals.
My tour of the facility:
von Arx wildlife hospital
The full-time staff, volunteers and interns are treating 29 animals, but they will typically care for over 3,000 during the year. That's a dramatic increase from about 400 in the early years of the conservancy. There are several varieties of birds, bunnies, a gopher tortoise that appear to have free run of the hospital when it wants to, snakes and a opossum. People are free to bring injured wildlife to the hospital or call to have someone from the Conservancy pick it up.
The animals' rehabilitation is a several-step process, including surgical and intensive care areas. As the animals rehab progresses, they are moved to larger holding areas, both indoors and outdoors and eventually released into the wild. I was amazed how their care is carefully controlled through temperature, non-see-through glass, as well as insect-free environments. The small cages in the intensive care area, are fitted with small branches or leaves to closely resemble the animal's natural habitat. Many of the bird cages also come with mirrors so the bird can see its reflection and not feel as lonely.
Filter marsh
In my opinion, this is the gem of the facility. It was built by the conservancy to filter out pollutants – mainly nitrogen – from storm water flowing from the mall parking lot. The marsh treats the contaminated water, cleans about 90 percent of it before it reaches the Gordon River, which is part of the greenway that runs through the property. This outdoor lesson book also allows students to measure water quality and see how the marsh works. The marsh also is home to several juvenile snook and is a valuable tool in the conservancy's educational efforts in promoting the engineering component of STEM.
Blair Dorm
It is home for the Conservancy's summer interns who come mainly from Southwest Florida but also from other states and countries. There are about 16 living in the dorm this summer. Many of the interns have come back to work for the Conservancy, including its director of education, David Webb, who is a ninth-generation Floridian.
Gopher tortoise preserve
It is home to approximately 80 tortoises. It also is a great example of attention to detail. The fence around the habitat area goes five feet into the ground, so that the tortoises can't burrow under and escape. The bridge, which is part of the entrance into the facility, is elevated to allow the tortoise access to all of the preserve.
Conservation hall
The building, which opened about a year ago, seats approximately 240 for educational programs. The beautiful cypress wood, which makes up the interior walls is from the original Julian Fleischmann cottage. "It is wood with a story," Conservancy president and CEO Bob Moher said.
Discovery center
Incredibly informative and interactive. When you enter, there is a cleverly produced and eye-opening interactive display showing the shrinkage over time of the Everglades. It's eye-opening because the Everglades was once part of the Lake Okeechobee basin and has been significantly reduced.
The center's tour takes you through the importance of Florida's uplands and its protected species like the panther. It moves further through the ecosystem and the Conservancy's research into the region's system of mangroves. There are live exhibits filled with sea life, plus informative videos. The star attraction swimming in a small tank just might be Betsy the loggerhead sea turtle. She was injured and is going through rehabilitation. The turtle is named for Betsy Sandstrom, who has worked with turtles as a volunteer. She is battling cancer.
Learning lab
The classrooms allow the conservancy to work with students throughout the year and at camps this summer. Approximately 8,000 students from Lee and Collier counties — 4,000 in lab work alone — participated in programs this past school year.
The address is 1495 Smith preserve Way in Naples. Check it out. You will want to go back.

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As seas rise, Fla. GOP leaders balk at climate change
Associated Press
June 7, 2014
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – On a recent afternoon, Scott McKenzie watched torrential rains and a murky tide swallow the street outside his dog-grooming salon. Within minutes, much of this stretch of chic South Beach was flooded ankle-deep in a fetid mix of rain and sea.
 “Welcome to the new Venice,” McKenzie joked as salt water surged from the sewers.
There are few places in the nation more vulnerable to rising sea levels than low-lying South Florida, a tourist and retirement mecca built on drained swampland.
Yet, as other coastal states and the Obama administration take aggressive measures to battle the effects of global warming, Florida’s top Republican politicians are challenging the science and balking at government fixes.
Among the chief skeptics are U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush, both possible presidential candidates in 2016. Gov. Rick Scott, who is running for re-election, worked with the Republican-controlled Legislature to dismantle Florida’s fledgling climate change initiatives. They were put into place by his predecessor and current opponent, Democrat Charlie Crist.
 “I’m not a scientist,” Scott said, after a federal report pinpointed Florida – and Miami in particular – as among the country’s most at-risk areas.
He and other Republicans warn against what they see as alarmist policies that could derail the country’s tenuous economic recovery.
Their positions could affect their political fortunes.
Democrats plan to place climate change, and the GOP’s skepticism, front and center in a state where the issue is no longer an abstraction.
Their hope is to win over independents and siphon some Republicans, who are deeply divided over global warming. Tom Steyer, a billionaire environmental activist, pledged to spend $100 million this year to influence seven critical contests nationwide, including the Florida governor’s race.
The battle in the country’s largest swing state offers a preview of what could be a pivotal fight in the next presidential election.
Crist is running for his old job as a Democrat, criticizing Scott and Florida Republicans for reversing his efforts to curb global warming.
 “They don’t believe in science. That’s ridiculous,” Crist said at a recent campaign rally in Miami. “This is ground zero for climate change in America.”
Nationally, the issue could prove tricky for Democrats.
Polls show a bipartisan majority of Americans favor measures to reduce planet-warming greenhouse gases, such as the new federal rule to limit carbon emissions from power plants. But they routinely rank climate change far behind the economy, the centerpiece of Scott’s campaign, when prioritizing issues.
In Miami Beach, which floods even on sunny days, the concern is palpable. On a recent afternoon, McKenzie pulled out his iPad and flipped through photos from a 2009 storm. In one, two women kayak through knee-high water in the center of town.
 “This is not a future problem. It’s a current problem,” said Leonard Berry, director of the Florida Center for Environmental Studies at Florida Atlantic University and a contributing author of the National Climate Assessment, which found that sea levels have risen about 8 inches in the past century.
Miami Beach is expected to spend $400 million on an elaborate pumping system to cope with routine flooding. To the north, Fort Lauderdale shelled out millions to restore beaches and a section of coastal highway after Hurricane Sandy and other storms breached the city’s concrete sea wall. Hallandale Beach, which lies on the Atlantic Coast between the two cities, has abandoned six of its eight drinking water wells because of encroaching seawater.
By one regional assessment, the waters off South Florida could rise another 2 feet by 2060, a scenario that would overwhelm the region’s aging drainage system and taint its sources of drinking water.
 “It’s getting to the point where some properties being bought today will probably not be able to be sold at the end of a 30-year mortgage,” said Harold Wanless, chairman of the geological sciences department at University of Miami. “You would think responsible leaders and responsible governments would take that as a wake-up call.”
Florida lacks a statewide approach to the effects of climate change, although just a few years ago, it was at the forefront on the issue.
In 2007, Crist, then a Republican, declared global warming “one of the most important issues that we will face this century,” signed executive orders to tighten tailpipe-emission standards for cars and opposed coal-fired power plants.
Bush, his predecessor, pushed the state during his administration to diversify its energy mix and prioritize conservation.
Even Rubio, who was then Florida House speaker and a vocal critic of Crist’s climate plans, supported incentives for renewable energy. With little opposition, the GOP-led Legislature passed a bill that laid the groundwork for a California-style cap-and-trade system to cut carbon emissions and created a special commission to study climate change.
But the efforts sputtered as the economy collapsed and Crist and Rubio faced off in a divisive 2010 Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
Although Rubio voted for Crist’s landmark environmental measure, he soon hammered the governor for what he called a “cap-and-trade scheme.” Seeking support from the growing tea party movement, he distanced himself from the vote.
Rubio also began to voice doubts about whether climate change is man-made, a doubt he shares with Bush. Both have stuck to that position.
Amid meetings with conservative activists and Republican leaders in New Hampshire last month, Rubio said: “I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it.” Proposals to cut carbon emissions, he said, would do little to change current conditions but “destroy our economy.” Rubio later said he supports mitigation measures to protect coastal property from natural disasters.
Scott and Florida Republicans share his current views.
Denouncing “job-killing legislation,” they repealed Crist’s climate law, disbanded the state’s climate commission and eliminated a mandate requiring the state to use ethanol-blended gasoline. Asked about climate change recently, Scott demurred, saying the state spent about $130 million on coastal flooding in his first term, as well as millions on environmental restoration.
Meanwhile, Miami Beach is bracing for another season of punishing tides.
 “We’re suffering while everyone is arguing man-made or natural,” said Christine Florez, president of the West Avenue Corridor Neighborhood Association. “We should be working together to find solutions so people don’t feel like they’ve been left on a log drifting out to sea.”

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Real-time monitors gauge lagoon health
FloridaToday.com – by Jim Waymer, Brevard
A $1 million network of water-quality sensors will for the first time take the real-time pulse of Indian River Lagoon algae blooms and pollution.
Florida provided $746,000 for 15 water-quality sensors, five of which are already in the lagoon. Others will go in springs and other Central Florida waters. And Brevard County plans to install three other real-time monitors, using $380,000 in state money.
"Our economic health is dependent on the health of this lagoon," Douglas Bournique, a governing board member of the St. Johns River Water Management District, told a few dozen dignitaries gathered Friday at the Veterans Memorial Fishing Pier in Titusville to celebrate the new sensors.
The water management district maintains the monitors and provides the data live on the district's web site.
Previously, researchers had to grab water samples by hand, whenever they could. The new monitoring system marks the first time scientists will have available a continuous stream of hourly and daily data about nutrients and other factors impacting the lagoon.
Dolphins frolicked near the center of the lagoon as the featured speakers described the sensors, the lagoon's importance and the work ahead toward a healthy lagoon.
"This is just a piece of the puzzle," said Rep. Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island.
The new sensors will measure nitrate, phosphate, pH, dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll, conductivity, temperature and other parameters.
A cellular modem sends the data to software that feeds the information to the district's website.
Lagoon managers mostly want to know how nutrients enter, move around and build up in the lagoon and lead to algae blooms. That information will help to identify future stormwater and other projects to improve water quality.
Spikes in the data — such as chlorophyll — also might provide early warning of potential harmful algae blooms.
The focus is solutions, not just research, officials said.
"We are not going to study this lagoon problem to death," said DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr.
The probes are at five locations: Mosquito Lagoon, Veterans Memorial Bridge in Titusville, U.S. 192 Causeway in Melbourne, State Road 520 Causeway between Cocoa Beach and Merritt Island and the 17th Street Bridge in Vero Beach.
Widespread algae blooms in 2011, followed by brown tide blooms in 2012 and 2013, clouded out 47,000 acres of seagrasses, a 60 percent reduction.
Although the cause cannot be linked to any one factor, district officials say excess nitrogen and phosphorus in the lagoon likely played a role.
The new water sensors are part of a larger, multi-agency effort to gather more data and identify projects to improve the lagoon's health.
This year, the legislature also allocated $380,000 to Brevard to have a small conservation group in Fort Pierce test for toxic hot spots that could be dredged to improve the lagoon.
The Ocean Research and Conservation Association will develop real-time data to map what's killing lagoon seagrass and wildlife.
The project includes having ORCA test sediment using a technique that tests how bacteria reacts to toxins.
Brevard wants to know more about the exchange of pollutants between Mosquito Lagoon, the northern Indian River Lagoon, the Banana River and the central lagoon.
So they plan to put ORCA's "Kilroy" devices at Haulover Canal, Dragon Point and the U.S. 192 Causeway.
Brevard also received $10 million from the state this year: $9 million to dredge out lagoon muck and $1 million for Florida Institute of Technology to study the impacts.
Bournique highlighted the need to store more fresh water on land, rather than allowing it to flow to the lagoon from large canals dug decades ago to drain the land for farming and development.
"We're water-rich. We're just putting it in the wrong place — this lagoon," Bournique said.
Contact Waymer at 242-3663 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com.
What are the lagoon sensors?
Florida Department of Environmental Protection provided $746,000 for 15 water sensors, five of which are located in the lagoon.
• Suna V2 nitrate probes will measure nitrogen concentration in the form of nitrate.
• Cycle-PO4 in situ meters will measure phosphorus in the form of soluble reaction phosphate.
• Nutrient probes will be paired with multiparameter YSI EXO sondes to collect field parameters (pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), conductivity, temperature).
• The probes will be deployed at five locations: Mosquito Lagoon, Veterans Memorial Bridge in Titusville, U.S. 192 Causeway in Melbourne, SR 520 Causway, 17th Street Bridge in Vero.
• Monitors will be integrated into the District telemetry network and are available live on the District's website: webapub.sjrwmd.com. That takes you to a map. Choose "Indian River Lagoon" and the water quality parameters you want to see, then click on the small red circle that indicates the monitor of interest, then click on "view graph."
Source: St. Johns River Water Management District

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Everglades project is key to Florida Bay health
KetsNet.com - by Dr. Jerry Lorenz, Audubon Florida’s state director of research, Tavernier, FL.
June 6, 2014 
The Central Everglades Planning Project is Audubon’s top Everglades priority and the most ambitious element of restoration to date. 
Known as “CEPP,” this effort seeks to tackle some of the most difficult challenges for the Southern Everglades and Florida Bay. 
At its core, CEPP will aid in getting more water to flow south into Everglades National Park. This is critical to improving habitat in Florida Bay for roseate spoonbills and other wildlife. In combination with other restoration efforts, such as the Tamiami Trail and C-111 projects, the benefits of CEPP are even greater. 
Recent media attention has focused on the failed attempt to make the project eligible for funding. Delays in completing the plan for CEPP need to be resolved as soon as possible so we don’t miss the next opportunity. But residents of the Keys should not lose sight of this project’s immense benefit to Florida Bay.
In April, the Everglades Foundation and Everglades Law Center hosted programs in Key Largo and Key West. I was one of five scientists who gave presentations about the positive impact of CEPP on the Florida Keys. The impetus for these programs was persistent rumors that CEPP will damage the Keys marine environment by injecting polluted water into Florida Bay, similar to what happened in the Indian River Lagoon and the Caloosahatchee Estuary last summer.  
Simply put, those rumors are false. 
The wetlands in this area act as filters, removing phosphorus and nitrogen from the water as it flows south. This means the freshwater that ends up in Florida Bay is clean and of good quality. This is not the same as it is on Florida’s east and west coasts, where polluted water from Lake Okeechobee is directly injected into the estuaries by a canal system.  
In short, decades of diverting freshwater away from Florida Bay has resulted in severe damage to the birds, fish and wildlife of our area. The only way to correct this situation is to restore the proper timing, distribution, quantity and quality of freshwater to Florida Bay. CEPP is designed to do just that. 
Make no mistake about it; more freshwater is good for Florida Bay. CEPP will improve this beautiful estuarine ecosystem and increase biological productivity. This means more fish in the water and more birds in the sky. And more visitors, too. 
Tourists drive our economy by renting our charter boats, dining on our world-class seafood and by spending time viewing our incredible abundance of wildlife.
It is a misconception that Everglades restoration could somehow harm the Keys. Florida Bay absolutely needs water from the Everglades and CEPP is the best way to ensure this water gets here clean. No more delays; CEPP must move forward as soon as possible. 

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Over $1 million committed to restoration projects for St. Lucie River to reduce pollutants in runoff
FDEP- Press Release
June 6, 2014
The State of Florida and St. Lucie County together have committed more than $1 million to stormwater system improvement projects that will help reduce nutrient pollution reaching the St. Lucie River. Specific projects include upgrades to the existing stormwater conveyance system and the construction of a 4-acre detention lake, which will reduce both erosion and nutrient pollutants. Florida will provide $500,000 and St. Lucie County is providing matching grant funds in the amount of $535,000.
Governor Rick Scott said, “We’re committed to protecting and restoring water quality in the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon – and this partnership investment of over $1 million will upgrade water infrastructure to reduce pollutants from impacting the region. We will continue working closely with local leaders to invest in projects that protect our natural treasures.”
“The Board of County Commissioners is thankful to have the support of the DEP and the State in assisting us with protecting the water quality of the North Fork, which is extremely important to all of St. Lucie County, as well as the residents in White City in regards to flooding. We have been working on a number of stormwater-related projects and these funds help us stretch our local tax dollars to accomplish even more,” said St. Lucie County Commission Chair Frannie Hutchinson.
Florida has historically been at the forefront of the nation in addressing stormwater management as one of the first states to implement a statewide stormwater program, and also one of the first states to address agricultural and urban stormwater management through its water quality restoration program.
“DEP would like to thank Governor Scott for his leadership and St. Lucie County for acting as an exemplary steward in addressing stormwater management,” said DEP Secretary Herschel T. Vinyard Jr. “The Department relies on coordination with local governments to accomplish these worthwhile projects and ultimately reduce the pollutants reaching our valuable waterbodies.”
These projects will be implemented in the White City area that was developed prior to the implementation of state water quality regulations. The area has insufficient stormwater conveyance systems and no stormwater treatment system.
Free-flowing stormwater runoff typically contains sediments, fertilizers, pesticides, heavy metals, oils and grease. Runoff from this residential area discharges almost directly into the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. During heavy rains, the ditches become overloaded, the water backs up, and the area floods. The proposed stormwater system improvement projects will help resolve the area’s historical flooding problems, and also provide significant benefits to the St. Lucie River estuary by reducing the pollutant contribution from stormwater. The proposed projects are expected to substantially reduce nutrient pollutant loads for total nitrogen and total phosphorous by 42 percent and 77 percent, respectively.
Upgrades to the existing stormwater system include water treatment technologies such as grass swales, a Pond DoctorTM, and a technology called “floc logs.” Grass swales will convey stormwater from the residential areas to the detention lake. Swales differ from ditches in that there is some water infiltration into the ground, allowing for water treatment through soil, vegetation and microbes. Once water has reached the detention lake, the Pond DoctorTM will reduce excess nutrients by aerating the water, and the floc logs will bind fine soil particles together to reduce turbidity. Altogether these technologies will provide significant pollutant reduction for the previously untreated water reaching the St. Lucie River, which ultimately discharges to the Indian River Lagoon.

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When is a water project justified – or just legislative pork ?
SaintPetersBlog.com – by Bruce Ritchie
June 6, 2014
When he signed the 2014-15 state budget on Monday, Gov. Rick Scott decided not to veto $88.5 million in local water projects.
The governor had vetoed more than $50 million in water projects during his previous three budget signings.
Some supporters of environmental programs say the water projects need to go through a better review. “Pork” generally describes budget items that are meant to please voters in specific districts.
Scott met with reporters in Pensacola only briefly after signing the budget on Monday. He touted $500 million in tax cuts and his office issued a press release with supportive statements from environmental groups.
“I looked at every line to say, ‘Are we getting a return for our taxpayers, is this good for citizens?” Scott said.
Florida TaxWatch, which had recommended vetoes of water projects in 2011 and 2012, held back in 2013 after the House and Senate held public hearings on them. The group labels projects it says should be vetoed as “budget turkeys.”
There were no such hearings this year in the House and Senate on applications for water projects.
During budget debate last month, Senate Democratic leader Chris Smith of Fort Lauderdale thanked senators for being agreeable to local spending projects, adding, “And I dare call them ‘turkeys.’”
“There are a lot of things in the budget that may get some scrutiny later,” Smith said. “But you have people — not bureaucrats — putting them in because the people elected us to come up here and do that.”
TaxWatch Vice President of Tax Research Kurt Wenner says that although his group didn’t recommend vetoes this year, there still should be a better process to determine whether there is enough money to complete projects or ensure they are truly needed.
“Maybe it will take a legislator who can’t get their things funded through the norm now to say, ‘Let’s get it right,’” Wenner said.
Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon Florida, said setting priorities based on political influence rather than environmental criteria is never good.
Former Sen. Paula Dockery, a Lakeland Republican, said the water projects represent needed spending, but she also said there is a need for prioritization.
In 2005, she sponsored a bill that created the Water Protection and Sustainability Program at the Department of Environmental Protection to receive $100 million a year to assist in many water development programs. But the program received $100 million only in 2005-06 and by 2009-10, it received nothing.
Dockery, now a syndicated newspaper columnist, said the program, if it were funded, would provide a way for members to advocate for their local projects while establishing a process for those projects to receive scrutiny. But she says any spending on environmental restoration is good.
“If the choice was no money spent or money (spent) that didn’t go through a process,” she said. “I would take the money spent.”

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Gulf Power sued over pollutant leaks into river
WINKnews.com
June 5, 2014
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Environmental groups say Gulf Power Company is allowing pollutants from aging coal ash pits to leak into the Apalachicola River.
The nonprofit law firm Earthjustice filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Tallahassee federal court on behalf of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Waterkeeper Alliance and Apalachicola Riverkeeper. They say Gulf Power is illegally discharging arsenic, lead and other pollutants from its coal-fired plant near Sneads into the river.
A message left Thursday for a Gulf Power spokesman was not immediately returned. The plant is scheduled to close next year.
The lawsuit says coal ash pits along the river lack linings to keep pollutants from leaking out, violating the Pensacola-based company's Clean Water Act permit. The groups say Gulf Power knows about the problem but hasn't worked to fix it.

140604-a
Everglades restoration plan stuck in Congressional quagmire
DigitalJournal – Op-Ed by Karen Graham
June 4, 2014
It is sometimes difficult to go about undoing something, especially when it involves an area as big as the Florida Everglades. The Central Everglades Planning Project is a good example of just how difficult restoration to a more natural condition can be.
The Central Everglades Project is the latest in a number of projects started by state and federal agencies, all designed to undo a terrible ecological mistake. In May of this year, the Army Corps of Engineers approved a $2 billion restoration plan, a series of projects that would eventually collect water around Lake Okeechobee, channeling it southward to replenish the drying wetlands. They were sure Congress would approve the plan.
Not surprisingly, Congress, as usual, has been marching to the beat of a different drummer, and on May 22, one day before the Corps made their move in approving the plan, the Senate passed and sent to President Barack Obama a nationwide water projects funding bill. The bill did include some money for the Everglades project, but not anywhere near what the Corps had authorized.
No one knows how long it will be before Congress looks at more funding for water projects, it could be years, and the Everglades restoration projects are critical to Florida's revival and protection of this national treasure. Not only will the restoration of the ecological balance of the Everglades affect the flora and fauna that call it home, but just as important, it will create an adequate water supply for South Floridians as well as better flood control.
Lake Okeechobee and the River of Grass
Understanding the history of development in Southern Florida, as well as the negative impact it had on one of out nation's greatest wetlands is nothing less than a horror story. A little more than 100 years ago, waters flowed down the 134 mile long Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee, feeding a floodplain of 3,000 square miles. Imagine if you will, when rainfall was especially hard, and the lake became full, a slow-moving river of water 60 miles wide and six-inches deep, flowing from the southern edge of Lake Okeechobee southwestward, all the way to the Bay of Florida, 100 miles away. That is what it used to be like, before man stepped in.
Lake Okeechobee is a large but shallow lake in the middle of the state. It covers 730 square miles and averages nine feet in depth. It is part of a huge watershed system that begins near Orlando, Florida. When water overflows the lake and starts its long journey toward the gulf, the shallow, wide flow is known as a sheet flow. Because of a slight sloping of the land, the waters move on their own accord, a river in its own right, dubbed the River of Grass
Sawgrass prairies once dominated the landscape, giving the River of Grass its name, along with freshwater ponds, prairies and forested hillocks, all supporting a vast array of flora and fauna, some found only in the Everglades. In addition, the unique mix of freshwater and saltwater made it the only place on earth where crocodiles and alligators could live, side-by-side. Besides being the largest sub-tropical wilderness area in North America, it also has the largest mangrove ecosystem on the Western Hemisphere.
Land Development leads to the damage of a great ecosystem
As early as 1837, settlers in Southern Florida, wanting more agricultural lands, had thought about using canals or dikes to control the River of Grass as well as drain areas for additional farmlands. It wasn't until after the Civil War that interest in draining the Everglades took off. A state agency called the Internal Improvement Fund (IIF), whose objective was to improve roads, rail lines and canals, discovered it was in debt. The IIF collaborated with a wealthy Pennsylvania land broker, one Hamilton Disston, who bought up 4 million acres for $1 million in 1881.
He built a series of canals starting near St. Cloud, and at first they seemed to work fairly well. But the canals weren't of much help during the wet seasons. His venture ended up receiving national attention, and primed real estate development in Florida. Within four years, land prices had doubled and the North began migrating to the Sunny South. Nothing more was really done until 1905, when former Florida Governor Napoleon Bonaparte Broward began working on a plan to drain the Everglades as part of his campaign for governor.
Broward ran his Everglades drainage project with the slogan, "drain that abominable pestilence-ridden swamp." His efforts turned large areas of swamp into agricultural lands. His bold projects led to the creation of cities like Miami and Fort Lauderdale along the coast. By 1910, when Broward died, land in the Everglades was selling for $15 an acre. The population continued to grow in South Florida, as did the need for better flood control. Drainage of the swamp remained a priority throughout this period, with absolutely no one considering the damage they were creating.
In 1947, two things happened. The Everglades National Park was established, and two hurricanes and the wet season caused over 100 inches of rain to fall on Southern Florida. Luckily, no one died. But people were scared, and Congress was concerned enough that in 1948, they approved the Central and Southern Florida Project for Flood Control and Other Purposes (C&SF). A very long title, yes, but the main result of the project was the division of the Everglades into Water Conservation Areas (WCA). It was touted as the most effective water management system in the world.
With the extensive network of canals, levees, drainage systems and pumps, today, 1.7 billion gallons of water are pumped daily from the Everglades into the ocean. From the time the project started, until today, the loss of water has changed the physical characteristics of the area. Loss of water led to the loss of habitats for wading birds, fish and many animals. Changed in the quality of the water killed off many native plants, allowing exotic plants to take root. Water loss also encouraged the growth of algae, adding to habitat loss. The result of this attempt to control the flow of what was once a natural phenomenon has reduced the Everglades to half the size it was 100 years ago.
Outlook for the future
By the 1990s, locals, environmental groups as well as other concerned citizens combined resources to get Congress and the Army Corps of Engineers to do something about restoring the Everglades, wanting it back the way it used to be, or at least close to it. In 2000, Congress passed a 30-year plan meant to save the Everglades. Included in the $12 billion plan were projects to backfill canals, build reservoirs, work on removing invasive species, and improvement of water quantity and quality in an 18,000-square-mile area from Kissimmee to the Keys, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean.
While the huge project was advertised as proof that ecological damage could be reversed, a 2012 study from the U.S. National Research Council argued that the first of the 30-year plan projects, including water-treatment plants and redirecting the Kissimmee River to a more natural path were nothing more than peripheral projects, and weren't really addressing the main problem. The central part of the Everglades needed help, and fast.
This is why the Central Everglades Planning Project was developed by the Corps of Engineers. They used input from local people, including businessmen, fisherman and environmentalists in creating their plan. The main purpose of this vital project is to divert water from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, backfill 19 miles of canals and restore the sheet flow to over one million acres of undeveloped lands. It is a project that is vital, and necessary.

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Grant program awards nearly $625,000
TBNweekly.com
June 4, 2014
ST. PETERSBURG – An innovative public-private grant partnership forged by the
Tampa Bay Estuary Program will provide almost $625,000 to nine agencies or organizations for important restoration, applied research and education projects in the Tampa Bay watershed.
The 2014 Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund grant recipients were recognized in a special ceremony June 3 at Clam Bayou Nature Preserve, 4148 34th Ave. S., St. Petersburg. The event featured speakers such as Steve Kornell, St. Petersburg councilman and estuary program policy board chair; Bo Davis, The Mosaic Company vice president of phosphate operations and The Mosaic Company Foundation board member; and Wendy Griffin of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
The 2014 fund is financed with contributions from SWFWMD, The Mosaic Company Foundation through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Manatee County, Pinellas County, TECO Energy, the Florida Department of Transportation and Port Tampa Bay.
According to a press release, the estuary program and Restore America’s Estuaries, which have pledged to work together to recruit financial donors and achieve measurable conservation outcomes from the funded projects, are managing the grant program jointly.
Nine of the 14 grant proposals were awarded full or partial funding. They include:
• Colonial Waterbird Management in the Tampa Bay Watershed ($36,000) – Audubon’s Florida Coastal Islands Sanctuary staff will manage and track population trends and threats in nationally significant waterbird nesting colonies supporting 50,000 pairs of 31 bird species annually.
• Safety Harbor Waterfront Park Habitat Restoration ($70,000) – The city of Safety Harbor will remove invasive plants from a planned passive-use public park and replant with native species to restore six acres of marsh/mangrove wetlands.
• Mapping of Hard-Bottom Habitat in Tampa Bay ($150,000) – SWFWMD will inventory and assess the quality of hard bottom reefs, oyster beds, and tidal flats in Tampa Bay to determine historic extent and develop restoration/protection targets for these important habitats.
• Coastal Blue Carbon Assessment ($100,000) – RAE will assess the climate mitigation benefits associated with restoring salt marshes, mangroves and seagrass beds in the Tampa Bay ecosystem. These three habitat types are collectively called “coastal blue carbon habitats” for their ability to sequester carbon that contributes to climate change.
• Rock Ponds Coastal Ecosystem Restoration ($60,000) – Tampa Bay Watch will plant marsh grasses utilizing community volunteers to enhance or restore 20 acres of tidal wetland habitat over a two-year period as part of the comprehensive restoration of former shell mining pits on Tampa Bay’s southeast shore.
• Oyster Bar Restoration at Robinson Preserve ($53,000) – Manatee County will install 7,500-square-feet of oyster beds as part of the comprehensive restoration of a 651-acre county preserve.
• Duette Preserve Hydrologic Restoration ($87,260) – Manatee County will restore forested and non-forested freshwater wetlands by removing manmade ditches to recreate natural hydrologic flows in the eastern Manatee River watershed.
• Bay Soundings Environmental Journal ($25,000) – The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council will produce, print and distribute one year (four issues) of this popular environmental journal informing citizens about bay management trends, issues and accomplishments.
• MacDill Air Force Base Living Shoreline ($41,000) – Tampa Bay Watch will place 137 tons of oyster reefs and plant 1,000 linear feet of salt marsh grass utilizing community volunteers as part of a comprehensive restoration along the southeastern shoreline of MacDill AFB.
The funding and administrative partnership was cobbled together by the estuary program as a permanent replacement for the highly successful Pinellas County Environmental Fund. That program provided more than $10 million over a decade for bay restoration projects. When it was phased out, TBEP led the search for new sponsors to keep this important grant opportunity afloat. Last year, SWFWMD, The Mosaic Company Foundation, Hillsborough County and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funded the program as the Tampa Bay Environmental Fund, which provided $950,000 for 10 bay projects.
This year, RAE – a respected national alliance of 11 community-based conservation organizations – agreed to join the partnership in a key management role, and the name of the program was modified to the Tampa Bay Environmental Restoration Fund.
All the 2013 and 2014 grant fund recipients, along with the partners whose generous contributions support the grants, were recognized in a ceremony at Clam Bayou.

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Highlands County escapes Scott’s veto pen
Highlands Today – by Pallavi Agarwal
June 4, 2014
SEBRING — Come Sept. 1, Florida motorists will be paying an average of $25 less a year on their annual vehicle registration fees as part of a rollback the state Legislature approved this year. April 2, Gov. Rick Scott signed SB 156 to reduce auto renewal fees, which were increased in 2009, putting into action one of his top priorities for the legislative session. Auto tag fees are based on vehicles’ weights so it’s not an across-the-board $25 reduction but averages to about that. Currently, renewal costs for the three main weight classes are $46.65 for vehicles up to 2,500 pounds; $57.65 for vehicles from 2,500 to 3,499 pounds; and $71.15 for cars and trucks over 3,500 pounds. Senate Bill 156, which cuts $400 million in annual vehicle registration fees, became the signature campaign of the new $77 billion budget Scott signed into law Monday. The overall budget is roughly 3.5 percent higher than last year’s budget and includes a boost in money for schools, child welfare and projects to battle water pollution. Scott also vetoed nearly $69 million in individual spending items included in the budget, although Highlands County was spared from the veto pen this year. “Nothing was vetoed and I appreciate the governor recognizing the needs of the county and the region,” said State Sen. Denise Grimsley in an email about local budget appropriations. One of those appropriations that finally made it this year is $520,000 for The Advancement Via Individual Determination program, or AVID, which prepares middle and high school students in the “academic middle” for college. The elective program is open to the sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th grades. Highlands County students learn study, leadership and organizational skills, and they’re tutored twice a week by South Florida State College students. Last year, Scott had vetoed the money because it was a local project, although the program was put in place through a combination of federal and school district funds. The school district’s director for AVID John Varady said he will have a better idea later in the month when the details are ironed out. “It would enhance our implementation of AVID in Highlands County middle and high schools,” he said. The money will “maximize our potential to increase access to AVID courses to all students.” Peace River Center will get $675,000 to help mentally ill kids, and the Spring Lake Improvement District will be able to match $416,000 to a Florida Department of Environmental Project grant to store and treat millions of gallons of storm-water runoff from the Sebring Regional Airport and U.S. 98 before pumping it into Arbuckle Creek. William Gardam, chief executive officer of the Peace River Center explained in an earlier Highlands Today report that if the state approved the $675,000 funding, the money would be used to base an 11-member Community Action Team at the Children’s Advocacy Center in Sebring. “It is a mobile team that responds to cases 24/7 to remove the risk from the home instead of the individual,” Gardam said. If a child is in emotional crisis, the team, which includes a psychiatrist and a psychiatric nurse practitioner, goes into the client’s home “to keep the family safe and stable. We try to work with the family so they can stay together.” At Spring Lake, improvement district manager Joe DeCerbo was “delighted” the district’s first state appropriation got the go-ahead. The money will be used to help the district, which borders Arbuckle Creek, meet a government storage and water-quality mandate and keep phosphorus-laden water out of the Everglades. To fulfill the mandate, Spring Lake has bought 100 acres along its levy to construct a stormwater treatment wetland area, where plants and vegetation such as water hyacinths, will suck the phosphorus in the water before it is released into Arbuckle Creek, on its way to Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. “We have spent 3 million (dollars) in unfunded mandates over the last few years,” he said. One of those big expenses was buying the land needed to construct the wetlands. The project is likely going to be put out for bids in about six months. The state money almost did not make it that far. DeCerbo said it was taken out of the House budget at the last minute and put back due to Rep. Cary Pigman’s efforts. The state also has allocated money to help researchers find out why pathogens are causing a disorder among caladium bulbs, causing grassy tubers, which produce too many shoots, inhibit flowering and affect the yield of caladium bulbs. Grassy tubers, discovered in Florida in the 1980s, have reduced caladium production. The disease also stunts the leaves, which are greener and not as colorful.
See more at: http://highlandstoday.com/hi/local-news/highlands-county-escapes-scotts-veto-pen-20140604/#sthash.vDf1PnPy.dpuf

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Why conservatives should support Amendment
Miami Herald - by Allison Defoor
June 4, 2014
I am not a liberal, just a Florida Cracker. That is why I am voting for Amendment 1, the Water and Land Conservation Amendment.
I support Amendment 1 because, without raising new taxes, it will enhance sources of drinking water, manage fish and wildlife habitats, add and restore lands, protect beaches and shores and maintain state and local parks.
Amendment 1 requires that one-third of documentary-stamp revenues, generated from house and land sales, be used exclusively over the next 20 years for these purposes. Think of protecting the St. John’s River from more algae blooms, or our springs from choking further. Down south, think of Indian River Lagoon, or Everglades restoration.
Supporting Amendment 1 falls squarely in line with my belief that conservation is all about conservative values and ideas. Conservation is, by definition conservative. Republicans have a long tradition of it, nationally and in Florida. Teddy Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush were leaders. In Florida, Gov. Bob Martinez created Preservation 2000. Gov. Jeb Bush created a similar effort, Florida Forever. In Jacksonville, Mayor John Delaney led the way in local conservation, creating a legacy that will continue for generations. All Republicans, like me.
Amendment 1 is also about the practical reality that unless we take steps toward conservation ourselves, we cannot count on others — including lawmakers — to do it for us. Funding in this area has fallen off the cliff in recent years. Over the 20 years of the life of this amendment, Florida’s population will grow to 30 million. We act now, or we act never.
Conservatives believe that government spending should be directed first toward the limited number of things that only government can do well. Securing a clean water supply and the conservation of lands falls in the wheelhouse of this definition.
Conservatives also believe that, whenever possible, government funding for these essential functions should not rely on higher taxes to get there.
Finally, conservatives believe that public spending should be tied to measurable returns on investment. In the case of Amendment 1, if clean water and preserved lands for future generations isn’t enough, consider the impact of these assets on Florida’s No. 1 economy: tourism. Fundamentally, only Hawaii and Alaska have their economy and environments as deeply tied together as we do in Florida.
On top of that, it’s important to remember that every segment of Florida’s economy depends on the natural beauty that draws people and businesses to our state. Without pristine waters and unspoiled landscapes, Florida will lose the special appeal that has fueled our growth and prosperity.
Amendment 1 fulfills these principles: It ensures that our state dedicates adequate dollars into the most essential of public goods — protecting our waters and conserving our lands; it “lives within our means” by ensuring that taxes aren’t raised to do so; and it provides an earnest return on investment for generations to come.
Many point to Theodore Roosevelt as the person who established the great American conservation movement.
Indeed, Roosevelt led by example on this front, in part through the signing of the Antiquities Act, which has since been used to proclaim about a quarter of all areas composing the national park system.
Ronald Reagan carried on in this tradition, both as governor of California and our nation’s president.
“In our own time, the nearly universal appreciation of these preserved landscapes, restored waters and cleaner air through outdoor recreation is a modern expression of our freedom and leisure to enjoy the wonderful life that generations past have built for us,” President Reagan said.
If the people of Florida approve Amendment 1, we will together have secured our common interest in the most clear and direct way. And to this old Florida cracker, there’s nothing as conservative as that.

140603-a
EPA gives Florida edict on emissions
News-Press.com – by Ledyard King and Maureen Groppe
June 3, 2014
WASHINGTON – Florida’s power plants would have to significantly reduce carbon emissions from power plants by 2030, under a proposal the Obama administration announced Monday.
The draft environmental rule, a top domestic goal of the administration, is the centerpiece of President Barack Obama’s climate change initiative.
Power plants are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., generating about 38 percent of heat-trapping gases. Florida is considered by some to be among states most at risk from threats posed by climate change, such as increasingly severe hurricanes, worsening floods and scorching summers.
Under the proposal, power plants in Florida would have 16 years to achieve a 38.3-percent reduction in carbon emissions per megawatt hour of electricity. But states would have some flexibility in determining how exactly to reach the target.
Florida officials could require utilities to retrofit coal-fired plants to make them more efficient. They could mandate greater use of cleaner-burning natural gas. They could create a cap-and-trade system that would allow utilities to buy and sell carbon credits among power generators in Florida or with those in other states.
They also could implement a renewable energy requirement that would mandate a certain portion of the state’s energy come from cleaner sources such as solar or wind power. Florida is one of a handful of states without a renewable energy standard.
The Sunshine State ranks second (behind Texas) in carbon dioxide emitted by power plants: 116.3 million tons in 2013, according to the EPA. About 21 percent of the state’s energy production comes from coal, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
EPA officials said Florida’s plants produced 1,200 pounds of carbon pollution per megawatt hour of electricity in 2012. The EPA wants that brought down to 740 pounds by 2030, a reduction of 38 percent.
The Environmental Protection Agency said it took into account each state’s energy mix before setting state-specific goals.
“We don’t have to choose between a healthy economy and a healthy environment,” EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said. “Our action will sharpen America’s competitive edge, spur innovation and create jobs.”
John Tupps, a spokesman for Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, said Scott’s administration is studying the proposal.
“The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will review the EPA’s proposal and will work to continue to protect Florida’s environment,” Tupps said. He noted that Florida’s air emissions “are the lowest on record.”
Some business groups immediately assailed the Obama administration plan. Associated Industries of Florida CEO Tom Feeney said it would hurt the economy.
“These new, onerous regulations will weigh down businesses and make it more difficult for them to expand here in Florida and across our nation,” he said. “Affordability and reliability must continue to guide the evaluation of all potential energy sources. ... AIF believes there are more cost-effective and sustainable solutions to create energy efficiency and conservation.”
AIF, an affiliate of the National Association of Manufacturers, is part of a national coalition of business interests trying to stop the proposed regulations.
Even before the proposed rule came out Monday, Florida officials were wary of what the Obama administration would recommend.
Last fall, Pam Bondi was one of 17 state attorneys general who warned the EPA they will be watching to see if the agency exceeds its legal authority when writing the rules.
A spokesman for Florida Power & Light, the state’s largest utility, said company officials were reviewing the proposed rules. But he said FPL is “positioned well” to meet stricter federal regulations because of the work the company has done converting older plants into much more efficient ones.
The riverside FPL plant on State Road 80 east Fort Myers is one of the plants that converted to natural gas.
“We pride ourselves in having one of the cleanest emission profiles among all US utilities,” spokesman Mark Bubriski said. “For many years, we have been investing billions of dollars to modernize our system, converting oil power plants into high-efficiency energy centers that run on clean U.S.-produced natural gas and increasing our use of emissions-free nuclear and solar energy.
FPL has 4.7 commercial and residential accounts, serving more than 9 million Floridians. About 5 percent of its overall generation comes from coal-fired plants. Another one-tenth of 1 percent comes from plants powered by oil.
Environmental groups in Florida and across the country say the benefits of reducing greenhouse gas emissions outweigh the immediate costs. Frank Jackalone, staff director of the Sierra Club Florida applauded the EPA for its move.
A federal advisory committee said in a report released last month that global warming is already damaging every region of the country and problems will increase.
The report claims Florida will see an increase in the number of category 4 and 5 hurricanes battering its shores, a rise in the number of 95-degree-plus day, a higher risk of wildfires, and rising sea levels that not only will flood coastal communities but jeopardize fresh-water sources and crop production.
The public will have a year to weigh in on the rules and recommend revisions. After that, Florida and other states would have a year — until June 2016 — to develop and submit plans for meeting the targets.
Some mainly conservative skeptics, including GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, doubt that reducing emissions will do much to control the climate, since foreign countries such as China and India continue to pollute without any restrictions.
They also aren’t convinced that human activity, such as power plant emissions, contribute to global warming.
But Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat, said climate change is a major threat to the state and steps should be taken to combat it.
Polls show Americans favor restricting carbon dioxide emissions from power plants, but dealing with global warming has not ranked high on the issues the public wants Washington to address.
By the numbers
38%How much the federal government is proposing Florida cut its carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by the year 2030.
2,828The maximum amount of electric energy at the Fort Myers facility that a power generating unit can produce under specific conditions, as rated by the manufacturer.
30%The amount of carbon emissions nationwide the power sector would cut below 2005 levels.
25%Cut in pollution that leads to the formation of soot and smog by 2030.
power stats
• Florida was second only to Texas in 2013 in net electricity generation from natural gas, which accounted for 62 percent of Florida’s net generation; coal accounted for 21 percent, the state’s nuclear power plants accounted for 12 percent, and other resources, including renewable energy, supplied the remainder.
• Renewable energy accounted for 2.2 percent of Florida’s total net electricity generation in 2013, and the state ranked seventh in the nation in net generation from utility-scale solar energy.
• Due in part to high air-conditioning use during the hot summer months and the widespread use of electricity for home heating during the winter months, Florida’s retail electricity sales to the residential sector were second in the nation after Texas in 2013.
• A Florida facility using a gas fermentation process to produce an estimated 8 million gallons of cellulosic ethanol from citrus fruit, vegetable, and yard wastes began commercial-scale production in 2013.
• Electricity accounts for 90 percent of the site energy consumed by Florida households, and the annual electricity expenditures of $1,900 are 40 percent higher than the U.S. average, according to EIA’s Residential Energy Consumption Survey.
Related:           EPA rule would require lower emissions for Florida plants   Lehigh Acres News Star
Florida headed for showdown with EPA over new emissions standards      Sarasota Herald-Tribune

140603-c
Governor does right thing for this region
News-Press.com - Editorial
June 3, 2014
Monday was significant for Lee County and all of Southwest Florida, as Gov. Rick Scott signed a state budget that includes funding for all major projects impacting Lee County and Southwest Florida.
It is significant because all the projects are important to the economic development and environmental preservation of our area. Scott, through the urging of state and local leaders, mainly the work of state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, made the right choices for our area. Last year, FGCU’s iHub project, now known as the Emergent Technologies Institute, failed for the second time, because Scott wanted a stronger signal from the area that the project was worth it. He got that kind of response, and the $7 million funding is now in place to begin the project, which broadens the area’s ability to expand economic development through renewable energy. It is a way to build on our job base and improve our environmental potential.
Collier also got most of its major projects through, including $2.5 million for business development center.
But it is the smaller Lee projects that Scott moved forward that add to further educational and economic development enhancement. There is $500,000 for the restoration of McCollum Hall, once a hub of social activity, particularly for the black community in Fort Myers, Renovating this storied structure not only improves the city’s ability to create another community gathering place, but also strengthens the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard corridor, a gateway into the city. It also helps other key community destinations there like the Quality Life Center.
The environment and our crucial waterways also were big winners in this budget. The C-43 reservoir, a 52-billion-gallon storage facility to relieve polluted water flows from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee, receives $18 million, but another approximately $600 million will be needed through state and federal funding mandates to complete it. The governor signed off on a total of $127.8 million for Lake Okeechobee drainage and storage projects, also significant to our water recovery efforts. A water partnership between Fort Myers and Cape Coral also got a boost with $700,000 to help fund an engineering study to create an underwater pipeline between the two cites to move about 12-15 million gallons of wastewater now flowing into the Caloosahatchee daily to the Cape after it is treated, to help replenish the city’s irrigation system.
There also is $761,000 for a Alico Road water main project
It’s rare that all key projects in our area received funding, but Benacqusito’s influence as one of the highest ranking members in the Senate, paid off this time. She pushed hard for all the water quality projects and brought the necessary people together to secure the funds for the other projects. The work of other delegation members such as Reps. Matt Caldwell, R-North Fort Myers, and Dane Eagle, R-Cape Coral, also was important in the process.
But the funding granted Monday is just a small portion. It will be important for local and state leaders to continue to push the federal government to complete the funding levels under the Water Quality Restoration Act, like C-43 and the ultimate goal of restoring a natural flow way south to the Everglades. Millions of dollars more in funding will be necessary to build the Fort Myers-Cape Coral pipeline. We can celebrate these wins now, but the bigger picture victories are years away.
We also urge whomever wins the Congressional District 19 seat on June 24 (Republican nominee Curt Clawson, Democratic challenger April Freeman or Libertarian Party contender Ray Netherwood) to champion these environmental causes in Washington. The winner must partner with local leaders to keep the focus on environmental restoration. Our quality of life and economic development depend on it.

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Canadian builder plans 11,000 homes in SW Fla.
Associated Press – by Andrew Murphy
Jun 2, 2014
NORTH PORT, Fla. (AP) - Canada's largest home builder plans to team up with a Sarasota developer and land buyer to construct more than 11,000 homes in southern Sarasota County.   
The Herald-Tribune reports Mattamy Homes paid $86.25 million for Thomas Ranch, a 9,650-acre tract in and around North Port.     
Development is expected to begin in 2016 and span 20 to 25 years, with 700 to 2,000 homes built at a time.       
The property has already been approved for more than 11,000 homes and 3 million square feet of commercial space.           
Thomas Ranch also marks the largest real estate purchase for Mattamy in its 10 years of operating in the United States.

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Environmental policy is partisan. It wasn’t always.
Washington Post - by Jaime Fuller
June 2, 2014
When the Clean Air Act first became law in 1970, the Senate passed it without a single nay vote. Only one representative had voted against the bill.
During the signing ceremony, President Richard Nixon said, "As we sign this bill in this room, we can look back and say, in the Roosevelt Room on the last day of 1970, we signed a historic piece of legislation that put us far down the road toward a goal that Theodore Roosevelt, 70 years ago, spoke eloquently about: a goal of clean air, clean water, and open spaces for the future generations of America."
Six years later, Republican Sen. James Buckley joined four other Republicans in a letter pushing their fellow Party members to strengthen the Act by prohibiting industrial pollution in national parks.
George H. W. Bush ran on the environment in 1988, and his presidency saw an expansive update to the Clean Air Act. The Senate passed the amendment with an 89-11 vote. Twenty-five representatives voted against the measure. Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell voted for the amendment, saying, “I had to choose between cleaner air and the status quo. I chose cleaner air.”
The recession sent that aspect of Bush's platform fleeing. By the 1992 presidential election, he was calling Democratic vice-presidential candidate Al Gore, "Ozone Man." Some environmental advocates never saw Bush on their side. The director of the National Toxics Campaign said in 1988, "Calling George Bush an environmentalist is like calling Ayatollah Khomeini a human rights activist."
Conservatives had been tiptoeing away from environmentalism since President Reagan took office in 1981. Now it seemed like the entire GOP was becoming afraid of the issue as businesses and coal companies' complaints grew louder. In 1989, the soon-to-be-coined "Ozone Man" told the New York Times, ''What looks like a risk-free issue is certainly not.''
Environmentalism still didn't completely toe a partisan line. In 1997, several Northeast Republicans supported the Environmental Protection Agency — also created during Nixon's presidency — and its efforts to strengthen air quality standards. N.Y. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato likened state-line crossing smog to terrorism. "We are sponsoring a form of pollution terrorism by allowing this to take place.''
Although many environmentalists have criticized the environmental legacy of President George W. Bush, he often spoke of the need to address greenhouse gas emissions, and his presidential library won a "Climate Hero" award after he left office.

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Maurice Sterling
(in 1998)

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Field marshal for Indian River
Florida Today – by Matt Reed
June 2, 2014
Cleanup of our dying signature waterway needs clearer leadership and more sponsors. That's why state water officials plan to spin off the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary Program into a new, more prominent, federally sanctioned program.
Now heading that effort is Maurice Sterling, a Florida native who spent most of his career here leading a massive restoration of wetlands that form the headwaters of the St. Johns River. Sterling is a senior manager with the St. Johns River Water Management District, based in Palatka.
I questioned him for Wednesday's edition of "The Matt Reed Show" on WEFS-TV in Brevard.
Question: County Commissioner Chuck Nelson said recently, "There's no general in charge of the effort." Are you the general now?
Sterling:
If I am, I'm not a five-star general. The reason I was asked to serve as interim director at this point in the history of the National Estuary Program was that we saw an opportunity to create an entity that would
act
as that field general. It would be an all-inclusive point of focus, to bring all of the resources to bear and all of the key players, interest groups and stakeholders who are concerned about the health and vitality of the lagoon.
We believe a strengthened National Estuary Program — administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and sponsored jointly by the St. Johns River Water Management District — can be that field general Commissioner Nelson spoke of.
Q: So, you'll be a clearinghouse for funding, an "honest broker" of research that comes in, and moderator of the five counties along the lagoon?
Sterling:
Sure. This could bring singular focus.
Q: How would you size up the pollution problem?
Sterling:
Simply put, it's been fed too much — too many nutrients. It has an unnatural, artificial imbalance of freshwater flows during storm seasons.
That's the result of the drainage basin — the rain hits the ground and flows in a particular direction — being artificially enlarged. Historically, its western drainage basin ran along the coastal ridge, which is why Henry Flagler put the railroad track there. It was the high-and-dry point. That was the dividing line between rains that flowed to the east and rain that flowed to the upper St. Johns River.
Human activities, beginning in the late 1800s and early 1900s, with the advent of the steam shovel ... have tripled or more the size of the drainage basin for the lagoon. From that flows not only an enormous amount of freshwater at all the wrong times, but also the excess nutrients and sediments that flow from arrow-straight canals with no water-quality treatment.
And, of course, cities were developed along the banks of the lagoon that had no storm-water treatment. There were no such things as retention ponds in the 1920s and 1930s.
Florida's history is one of "too much" water. When Florida began to develop, the aim was to get water off the land and open it to "productive use."
Q: Describe your past projects in Brevard — and what's next.
Sterling:
While I've been housed and staffed out of the Palatka headquarters for the St. Johns district, I've spent my entire professional career working on projects in Brevard and Indian River, primarily as project leader of the massive Upper St. Johns River Basin Project — about a $300 million project with the Army Corps of Engineers. So I have experience working with every agency with an acronym.
My perspective is, we've pretty much picked the low-hanging fruit. For the past 25 years, we've done the easy stuff with the funds we had. We've reconnected the mosquito impoundment areas in the Merritt Island area and the northern area of the lagoon. We have addressed some storm-drain issues.
But that's a drop in the bucket compared with what we're facing.
The expensive stuff is left.
We need to stop muck and sediment from entering the lagoon. We're going to have to bite the bullet and do storm-water retrofits in the older cities — old Titusville, old Cocoa, old Melbourne. Then there's the whole issue of septic tanks. The ones that are failing or are marginal are a horrible problem for the lagoon.
The old saying, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," is true.
Questions and comments have been edited for clarity and length. Contact Matt Reed at mreed@floridatoday.com
On TV
Watch the interview with Maurice Sterling Wednesday on WEFS-TV. "The Matt Reed Show" airs Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on:
• Bright House Channel 9 and 1068
• DirecTV and AT&T Uverse channel 68
• Comcast channel 381
• Currently unavailable on Dish Network.

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The Python Invasion: Scientists on the front lines of the python problem
Miami Herald – by Oscar Corral
June 2, 2014
As pythons have spread across the Everglades during the last decade, scientists have struggled to catch up.
Underfunded and facing an invasive species that has the potential to destroy the Everglades, the minds tasked with addressing the problem are nevertheless passionate about their work.
United States Geological Survey Scientist Kristen Hart -- who is featured in the seventh video installment of The Python Invasion -- has traversed alligator infested swamps, captured large pythons by hand, and has somehow scraped together funding to study Burmese pythons and their effects on the Everglades for more than four years.
"I've never been involved in something so complex," Hart said. "There's no easy answer to this. It takes creative tools, a bunch of different expertise, and there's no silver bullet."
Most recently, Hart was part of a study that discovered pythons have advanced navigational abilities, like homing pigeons.
The scientists captured 12 Burmese pythons in the Everglades, implanted radio transmitters in them, then released them miles away from where they were caught. Most of them found their way back to where they were captured. Scientists think that those "map and compass" abilities contribute to their success invading the Everglades.
"Future research is warranted into the dynamics of snake invasions that place and emphasis on understanding sensory and navigational capacity to best inform conservation efforts," the scientists wrote in their study.
But Hart says the study of pythons is poorly funded and so scientists end up doing collaborative studies with other universities and professors, and "nickel and diming" their way to new discoveries.
To compare, the U.S. Government allocated more than $10 million a year from 2006 to 2010 to study and combat a brown tree snake invasion in the Pacific island of Guam, according to allocation reports published by the U.S. House of Representatives. Since 2006, the U.S. government has spent only about $1 million a year on studying and combating Burmese pythons in the Everglades, which is a designated World Heritage site that is endangered, according to Dan Ashe, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In this week’s video snippet -- outtakes of The Python Invasion documentary that will broadcast on WPBT2 later in the year -- Hart walked through the humble USGS facility on the grounds of the University of Florida's satellite campus in Davie. It's a small metal shack with two plug-in freezers to preserve python body parts that need to be analyzed.
"I am trying to understand these animals and their biology so we can design appropriately scaled control strategies," she said. "We have a lot of ideas of what should be done throughout the landscape."
But, she added, "We try to convey how limited our funding is."

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Are we smart enough to combat global warming ?
Sun Sentinel – by Jac VerSteeg:
June 1, 2014
Welcome to the world, Noah.
In 2013, American parents of bouncing baby boys bestowed that name – Noah – more than any other. Laura Wattenberg of Babynamewizard.com speculated to the Associated Press that parents found the softer sound of "Noah" more pleasing than "Jacob," the other Old Testament name it displaced in the top spot. "You compare Jacob with all its hard, punchy consonants versus Noah (and) you can really see where style is heading."
But what if the choice is more than a matter of style ? Maybe the new top name is a hopeful sign that the American psyche is, even if only subconsciously, starting to take serious note of climate change.
Global warming. Floods. Noah.
This is particularly important for Florida, as the new National Climate Assessment shows.
Rising sea levels will not soon wash away coastal cities. Las Olas will not literally fulfill its Spanish name — "The Waves." But the report's respected scientists predict severe consequences for all of Florida. Major flooding, including inland flooding. Saltwater intrusion into well fields that provide drinking water to Palm Beach, Broward and many other counties. Overwhelming stresses on aging flood-control structures. Florida also could see an increase in wildfires. Bridges, overpasses and highways will deteriorate faster from heat and rain. Tourism will wane as the Everglades and the Keys become inhospitable.
Even as the state, nation and world start to see the effects of global warming, the debate in America — or at least the politicized debate — has been about whether global warming even exists. The Sun Sentinel's news story on the climate assessment report noted that most Americans believe climate change is happening now or will have an impact soon. But only a third think the impact will be serious.
The political folderol and the general population's ho-hum reaction help to explain the fitful, inadequate response to global warming's long-term threat. Add in the typical human proclivity for procrastination and denial — far too few Americans, for example, are saving enough for a rainy day. But failure to address climate change is failure to prepare for a rainy day, and week, and month, years and decades.
The sheer complexity of the problem accounts for some of the dithering. In Noah's case, an individual patriarch and his small family could take matters into their own hands. But remember, Noah didn't prevent the flood. The best he could do was cope with it.
Something like that situation is happening today. Planners and officials in several regions — including this region — are working on ways to reduce the impacts of global warming. Even as they take small steps to try to reduce greenhouse gases, at this point they're mainly figuring out how to cope with higher sea levels and more horrific hurricanes.
Getting to the root of the problem in time to avert full catastrophe will take long-term concerted effort and sacrifice. And that cooperation has to be global. All those new baby Noahs — and their parents as well as their eventual children — will have to construct an "Ark" by electing people who, for starters, do not deny that a flood of trouble is coming and that people on the Earth had better change their ways.
Combatting global warming has to be the job of world governments. Such as America. Although President Obama is making a big deal out of climate change (belatedly, many say), he's hampered by know-nothings in Congress. One of those is Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who declared that he does not believe humans are affecting the climate. Sen. Rubio also has declared that he is prepared to be president. Of the Flat Earth Society, perhaps.
A lovely story holds that the rainbow is God's promise never again to destroy the Earth with a flood.
Our demise from global warming would not breach that covenant. Yes, there will be rising sea levels. But it's the famine and blistering heat and monster hurricanes (with here and there a monster blizzard) and all the political and social upheaval accompanying them that will claim so many victims.
Greenhouse gases are the fundamental cause. The Earth won't be flooded; it will be gassed.
So good luck to all those bouncing baby boys.
What about baby girls? The top girl's name for 2013 is another hopeful sign. It was "Sophia," a name that denotes wisdom.
We'll see.

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Critics say Florida's new State budget shorts environment
The Ledger.com – by Lloyd Dunkelberger, Tallahassee Bureau
June 1, 2014
Groups seek more funding for conservation.
TALLAHASSEE | Although Florida lawmakers had more than a $1.2 billion surplus to use in the new state budget, environmental groups say the 2014 Legislature shorted conservation efforts in several critical areas, including the protection and restoration of state springs.
The Everglades, Lake Okeechobee and related waterways were the big winners in the 2014-15 budget (HB 5001) that is awaiting a final review by Gov. Rick Scott.
The Everglades-related projects received more than $165 million in funding along with an additional $90 million over the next three years to revamp the Tamiami Trail across South Florida, improving water flow in the Everglades.
But springs funding was less generous, with lawmakers only agreeing to $30 million, although Scott had asked for $55 million. They also rejected a Senate bill that would have provided nearly $380 million to help protect springs.
Land-buying programs, including the Florida Forever initiative, received only $17.5 million in guaranteed funding, although lawmakers also agreed to provide an additional $40 million if it can be generated through the sale of nonconservation state property. The lack of funding for land conservation and springs protection is already being cited by environmental groups as reasons for supporting Amendment 1 on the November ballot that would require the state to set aside one-third of the real estate transaction tax each year for conservation funding. The amendment, if approved by 60 percent of the voters, is projected to provide more than $10 billion over the next two decades.
Janet Bowman of The Nature Conservancy said it was a "disappointment" that the Legislature did not embrace the Senate's ambitious plan on springs protection and funding. She also said it was surprising that lawmakers did not meet Scott's request for at least $55 million in springs funding.
However, she said the reluctance to support a more expansive move in water resource policy was a result of the declaration by the incoming legislative leaders, Rep. Steve Crisafulli, R-Merritt Island, who will become the next House speaker in November, and Sen. Andy Gardiner, R-Orlando, who will be the next Senate president, that water policy will be a focus of their administrations.
Although Florida Forever funding will not be close to the $300 million a year it once enjoyed, Bowman said she is more optimistic that in the coming budget year the state can generate money through the sale of nonconservation lands. The state has already announced the sale of a former state hospital in Palm Beach County for $15.6 million, as part of the overall effort to generate some $40 million for the land conservation program.
The state Department of Environmental Protection tried a similar scheme this year by trying to sell "surplus" conservation lands. But that effort fell through when objections were raised about selling land previously acquired for environmental reasons.
Another land conservation effort approved by lawmakers that did not get much publicity, Bowman said, was language in the annual budget bill that will also let the state water management districts use some $20 million in unspent money from previous years for land acquisition projects in the coming year, including those aimed at water resource protection.
With the prospect of voter approval of Amendment 1, Bowman said it could mean more money for the Everglades, springs restoration, Florida Forever and other environmental initiatives in the coming years. But she said that will depend on how lawmakers react to a passed amendment.
"It will increase the pot. But with more money comes the issue of how it's allocated," Bowman said. "The devil is in the details and the implementation.
"If the amendment passes, it creates a great opportunity for the Legislature to look at what our resource protection priorities are and to reinvest in protecting land and water resources."

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Fracking problems are real, but solvable
Naples News, The Residents’ Corner - by Dave Trecker
June 1, 2014
Despite the naysayers, the shale revolution is here to stay. And growing.
We're talking about horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), the technology that triggered the revolution, allowing recovery of vast amounts of oil and gas once thought inaccessible.
The benefits are enormous. Writing in "Foreign Affairs," Robert Hefner III lists some of them.
- Unprecedented new investments in chemical, steel and aluminum plants
- Hundreds of thousands of new, high-paying jobs in the U.S.
- Energy cost savings for millions of consumers (Duke Energy Florida just announced plans to build a natural-gas power plant in Citrus County, adding to other gas-fired plants already operating in the state.)
- A huge boost to our foreign trade balance
- Energy independence within years
In Louisiana alone, 66 industrial projects worth some $90 billion will be breaking ground over the next five years. Sasol, a South African company, announced plans to build a unit to convert methane, the main component of natural gas, to ethylene, a widely-used plastics intermediate. Made economically possible by cheap gas, the technology opens the way for alternative manufacture of chemicals used in all facets of American life.
Amazing stuff. But it comes with a price.
Fracking uses huge amounts of water to break open the shale -- millions of gallons for each operation. That water returns to the surface loaded with toxins and must be disposed of. Fracking also produces more methane than we've ever had to deal with before. Leakage during production, which does happen, could lead to massive greenhouse effects.
Unfortunately, some people ignore these problems. A Naples Daily News guest writer recently claimed, "There has never been a death or contamination of drinking water aquifers attributed to hydraulic fracturing in the 75 years it has been used in the United States."
No deaths perhaps, but wide-spread water problems.
In Pennsylvania alone, over 100 cases of drinking-water pollution due to fracking were confirmed over the last five years. A Texas court recently awarded damages for water pollution caused by fracking. And there's more to come. The Government Accountability Office cited lax oversight in monitoring thousands of fracking wells considered high risks for water contamination.
How do you solve the problem? Tighten up regulations for valves, compressors and well casings, the primary sources for methane leakage. And use something other than water for the fracking fluid. Some companies are doing just that.
For example, GasFrac uses liquid propane thickened with a chemical additive to suspend the sand and break open the shale. When production begins, the gel is broken with a different additive and propane flows back to the surface as part of the gas mix. No biocide is needed since water isn't involved.
According to Chemical & Engineering News, GasFrac's technology has been used in 2,600 fracking operations in the U.S. and Canada. It apparently works.
Other approaches are being researched as well, all aimed at dealing with the very real problems associated with fracking

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Lake commission misguided in approving sand mine in Green Swamp
Orlando Sentinel – Commetary by Lauren Ritchie
June 1, 2014
When Gov. Rick Scott came to power, he thoroughly emasculated the now-defunct Department of Community Affairs, which was struggling even then to act as the watchdog of development.
Since 2011, 30,000 land-use changes across the state have been approved without so much as a burp in Tallahassee. We're "business friendly!"
Until now.
Congratulations, Lake County commissioners. You've become statewide leaders in sucking up to developers by approving what was one of goofiest schemes ever perpetrated with a straight face — the notion that a hill has to be flattened so it can be safe for the handicapped.
How bizarre is that ? Are any people in wheelchairs protected from the Colorado mountain menace ?
Three commissioners in January approved this patently imbecilic request from Rubin Groves of Clermont: Leslie Campione, a lawyer who often represents landowners; Tim Sullivan, retired from the Florida National Guard; and worst of all, Sean Parks, who is a certified urban, regional and environmental planner who ought to have had at least a glimmer of the absurdity.
For the first time since 2011, the state agency that is supposed to protect Florida's environmental treasures roused itself to suspend approval of the Rubin Groves plan to transform an old Four Corners orange grove with dead trees into a handicap-friendly development of up to 490 homes.
Apparently, even the state Department of Economic Opportunity didn't buy the notion that the developer needed to lop 40 feet off the top of a hill and excavate the equivalent of 75 acres of sand stacked 25 feet high.
By now, the average reader is probably asking: What's really going on here?
The answer is simple — the developer in this case want a two-fer. Sheldon Rubin of Boca Raton wants to build a subdivision, yes, but what he really wants is to mine the sand and rake in a little fortune for several years before making south Lake safe for the handicapped.
At the time, Commissioner Welton Cadwell called the scheme what is was — a mine. He and Commissioner Jimmy Conner voted against it. The head of Florida Audubon called the plan "slimy." He was being polite.
The property where Rubin Groves is located is part of the Green Swamp, one of only four places in Florida designated an "area of critical concern." The swamp cleans water that drains in the Floridan Aquifer, the source of most of the state's drinking water. Tallahassee officials were astonished by the request to take 27 times the amount of sand allowed, defying basic land-development rules.
So, why would three people elected to represent the best interest of those who live in Lake even consider this project, proposed by yet another out-of-town developer?
Neither Sullivan nor Parks bothered to answer a question asking for an explanation of their vote. For Campione, it was a property-rights issue.
"A private property owner asked to develop their own land in accordance with a proposed site plan that did not negatively affect the site's recharge capabilities or degrade water quality, nor did it have a negative impact on surrounding property owners," Campione wrote in a email.
She said she based her belief that the project wouldn't harm the environment on a report submitted by the developer. Sigh. Apparently the comments of a dozen other respected environmental experts without a financial stake in the project went for naught with her. Surely, no one needs a reminder that the developer's environmental consultant is paid by, well, the developer?
At this point, any Lake resident who cares even a little about the drinking-water supply and the environment should begin keeping a little journal on the refrigerator door, noting which commissioners voted for which hideous project. This time: Campione, Sullivan, Parks. Remember that the latter two still owe the people of this county an explanation for their vote. Shame on them for not having the courage to speak their minds.
This issue isn't settled yet — at the moment, the state is negotiating with the developer to see whether they can reach a reasonable compromise.
But here's the bigger issue: In the next couple months, commissioners will be voting on two more proposed mines. One is a sand mine in south Lake and another is a peat mine in the environmentally sensitive area of Goose Prairie north of Eustis.
These destructive projects don't benefit Lake residents, and no private property owner is "entitled" to create a mine. In a county that wants to tout ecotourism, it's time to put a stop to such projects.

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