Robert Coker has a tough job. As a vice president of US Sugar Corporation he has taken on the task of portraying the ruthless and politically connected sugar industry as victims in the water woes of south Florida.

If you can stay on a bull for 8 seconds in a rodeo, you win. Ray Judah has successfully ridden Mr. Coker for two years with the end result that all Coker can turn out now is bull by-product, as evidenced by his recent contribution to the News-Press Mailbag.

Commissioner Judah has demanded, as have many of us, that the infrastructure be developed to have the EAA share excess water in rainy times. Said water is currently pushed down the Caloosahatchee and St.Lucie Rivers, and has brought our coastal areas to the very edge of extinction. It has had a measurably negative impact on our industries, and has posed grave health hazards to our citizens. Any efforts to get the agriculture industry to share this water is met by squeals from Coker, and others, that we want to flood their fields and communities.

It is hyperbole of Pulitzer quality.

Let me, granted a bit simplistically, overview the issue for you. In Florida we typically have two seasons: too much rain, and too little rain. To create the farmland south of Lake O, the two rivers were connected to the lake, and excess water routed east and west. Not a big problem during dry or typical years…big problem during wet ones.

Because Mr. Coker and his sugar industry was the most politically powerful game in town, a system was developed that benefits them exclusively. Water was contained in Lake Okeechobee in case insufficient rain fell for their crops, and if too much rain came, it was simply pumped back into the lake. The end results of this system have been horrific. Lake O is deadly polluted, the dike has been stressed due to holding back more water than was ever intended, our rivers and estuaries are at death’s door, the Everglades are parched and desperate for water, and Robert Coker and the sugar industry continue to portray themselves as victims.

I’ve got one thing to say, stay on him, Ray Judah, the prize is in sight.

Thanks for listening,

Paul Reynolds

Sanibel