BonitaNews.com

July 19, 2007

Lee resident could be deciding vote on lake back-pumping issue

http://www.bonitanews.com/news/2007/jul/19/lee_resident_could_be_deciding_vote_lake_backpumpi/

by Charlie Whitehead

A stalemate on whether to allow back-pumping off farmland into Lake Okeechobee could be broken by Lee County’s new representative on the South Florida Water Management District.

Charles Dauray was in Montana at a meeting of the Izaak Walton League when the water-management board debated whether to seek permits for back-pumping. Three other appointees of Gov. Charlie Crist voted against seeking the permits.

“I may be the tie-breaker,” Dauray said this week. “This is going to give a very clear indication where the board as a whole will be going.”

Dauray wouldn’t say how he’ll vote but did say he’s getting lobbied.

“I continue to get a lot of input,” he said. “After the vote, instead of telling me what to do, they will be telling me where to go.”

Back-pumping carries phosphorous, nitrogen and other pollutants into the lake, where they are flushed down the Caloosahatchee River into coastal estuaries. Lee County has stood on the brink of a lawsuit over coastal pollution local officials and residents blame for algae blooms and other problems for years.

Palm Beach attorney Patrick Rooney, another Crist appointee, voted with two Bush holdovers to create the tie. Bush appointee Malcolm “Bubba” Wade, a U.S. Sugar vice president, had to abstain from the vote. Member Harkley Thornton, president of an Orlando billboard company, also missed the meeting.

More than one board member on both sides of the vote said they were torn.

“This has been a torturous subject for me,” chairman Eric Buermann said.

“I think it’s almost obvious none of us personally likes back-pumping,” said member Nicolas Gutierrez. “I view it as a necessary evil.”

A federal judge ruled in June that the district’s practice of back-pumping without a permit is a violation of the Clean Water Act. The practice has been routine in past years, though environmentalists have claimed it dumps phosphorous and other chemicals into the lake.

“I beg you not to pursue this any further,” said Wayne Nelson, executive director of Fisherman Against the Destruction of the Environment. “It’s an onerous, terrible practice. Don’t force us to go seek an injunction.”

But farm industry representatives said a crisis is looming. If there is no back-pumping, and the lake level remains too low until spring, there will be no water for irrigation, Wade said.

“There are billions of dollars ag is at risk for,” Wade said.

Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah, who’s crossed swords with Wade on lake issues before, said he hopes Dauray recognizes how critical the back-pumping issue is.

“I would hope our representative will understand the continued degradation of water quality if back-pumping were to occur,” he said. “Back-pumping is not an issue where flooding is alleviated. It’s more of an issue for keeping sugar cane fields in optimum growing condition.”

At the very least, Judah said, any back-pumping should be made to comply with the Clean Water Act and the federal decree that caps phosphorous levels at 10 parts per billion.

Dauray is Florida division director for the Izaak Walton League, a national conservation group, as well as vice chairman of its national endowment.

The board of governors did agree to have their staff ask Department of Environmental Protection officials under what conditions back-pumping could be permitted. They also agreed o schedule an emergency meeting for a new vote on whether to seek a permit.

That meeting has not yet been scheduled.