TCPalm.com

July 24, 2007

Release with liberally-sprinkled phrases saved for the message

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/jul/24/30release-with-liberally-sprinkled-phrases-saved/

by Geoff Oldfather

Most of the news releases I get each day are about things so trivial they go immediately into the "delete" file or the trash can.

Some are important but even many of those — usually from governmental agencies — are so full of bureaucratic double-speak they're almost indecipherable.

One recent news release is a perfect example.

It's liberally sprinkled with phrases like "bring together a diverse array of interested stakeholders" and "augment ongoing dialogue."

I would have tossed it but for the message it has about a resource we take too much for granted.

Water.

Before you scoff and turn to the comics or obituaries, take note of the fact a growing number of policy makers, politicians and world figures are buying in to something a World Bank vice president for environmental affairs stated bluntly several years ago:

"Wars of the future will be fought over water."

That was Ismail Serageldin and when he made that statement he was ridiculed by scientists and politicians alike.

But it's already happening in many parts of the world. Sudan, where water is scarce and sometimes non-existent, is a good example and it's only one of about half a dozen where people are being killed over water. As if oil wars weren't enough to worry about, remember your history: Egypt has more than once threatened to go to war over diversions of the Nile. (If you graduated from high school any time in the past 10 years you, of course, are excused from having to remember that history. Or any history for that matter.)

Of course, it's a long way from Lake Okeechobee to the Nile and I'm not suggesting we're anywhere near punching our neighbor over how he hooked his hose to our spigot so he could fill his pool. But water is becoming a hotly debated and less readily available resource.

The South Florida Water Management District, a bloated bureaucracy that seems to mismanage south Florida's water as much as it manages it, is doing something right with an upcoming summit on water resources.

I lifted this right from their news release:

The "Water Summit" aims to bring together a diverse array of interested stakeholders representing local, state and federal governments, water utilities, agriculture, environmental organizations, fishing and recreation groups, tourism and the business community."

Translation: when you take a shower or turn on your sprinklers or pour a glass of water at the sink, you're competing with fishermen and farmers and ranchers and dozens of other special interests for a vital resource.

That competition is heating up. In spite of sometimes near-record rainfall we've had, Lake Okeechobee is still at near-record lows and the warnings water tables were getting so low they could suffer from salt-water intrusion are only a few weeks old.

People get upset enough when told they can't wash their Hummers or Cadillac Escalades. What if it got to the point that golfers had to play on brown and patchy grass?

Heaven forbid.

If you have a computer, you can tune in to the district's Web cast.

What comes out of the summit could affect how much water we all get and how it's used for years to come. So pay attention.

After all, can't have a dirty Hummer, can we?

Martin County columnist Geoff Oldfather can be reached at (772) 221-4217 or geoff.oldfather@scripps.com. Catch Geoff Sunday mornings from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on The Coast, 101.3 FM, for the Coast Forum, live call-in talk radio on local issues.

WHEN: Monday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

WHERE: South Florida Water Management District headquarters auditorium

3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach

MORE INFORMATION: For an agenda or Web cast information go to www.sfwmd.gov or call (561) 686-8800