http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/may/06/bill_will_help_restore_caloosahatchee/
Local
leaders are ecstatic about the Legislature’s passage last week of a bill that
will provide millions to help restore the Caloosahatchee Estuary, which has
been plagued by a variety of water-quality problems fro years.
The
The bill provides
state money but places much of the responsibility for carrying out the
restoration on the shoulders of local governments and the South Florida Water
Management District.
The district is up
to the challenge, said Phil Flood, director of the district’s
The bill sets
aside $30 million for projects to benefit the hydrology, water quality and
aquatic habitat of the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie watersheds. The funding can
be used to plan and design a water treatment facility for the C-43 reservoir
being built in
Every year, $5
million will be earmarked for projects within the Caloosahatchee watershed.
That money can go even further if it is matched by the water management
district and local governments, Flood said.
The bill creates a
Caloosahatchee protection program, which is designed to reduce pollution that
flows into the river, restore the natural hydrology of the river and ensure
that the water body complies with future water quality standards. The plan
calls for federal and local governments to develop cost-sharing programs and
partnerships with the private sector.
The plan should
include goals for how much salt water is ideal for different parts of the
estuary and increase the frequency of those conditions.
It comes with a
construction project plan that calls on leaders to design and build initial
water quality improvements by 2012. The bill also develops a pollution-control
program and creates a water-quality program.
“We don’t have
nearly as much monitoring going on as they do on the St. Lucie River,” Hall
said.
The bill received
unanimous support from both the House and Senate. Not bad for an initiative
that almost never reached the Legislature.
The initiative
started as a line item placed in last year’s appropriations bill by Rep. Trudi Williams, R-Fort Myers. The line item set aside
funding for an exploratory task force, charged with finding ways to improve water
quality in the estuaries. The task force was made up of representatives from
businesses, agriculture and governments on the east and west coasts.
Former Gov. Jeb Bush, though, vetoed the line item, and the initiative
nearly failed until the South Florida Water Management District stepped up to
fund it.
The task force
recommended expanding
“Red tide issues
and red algae issues will all be impacted by this,” said Sen. Burt Saunders,
R-Naples. “We’re going to clean the water that goes into the lake, plus reduce
the pulses that come out by slowing the flow of water that goes in.”
After two
devastating hurricane years that elevated public awareness of water-quality
issues, the stage was set for the groundbreaking legislation, Hall said.
“A lot of times in
life, you have to be at the right place at the right time,” she said. “But if
you don’t take advantage of it, it doesn’t get done.”
The fact that so
many people could come together to make the bill a success speaks to its
importance.
“It’s taken a lot
of people and a lot of energy and everyone worked really hard on it,” Hall
said. “It’s a testament to what we can do when we bring all the factions
together.”