August   2002 

 

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31-August-02

Editorial- Times Recommends: 'Dr. Andy' for Agriculture
Florida's agriculture commissioner will play a more important role in state government than many residents realize. Not only will the person in that job oversee agriculture and consumer programs, he or she will be one of three Cabinet members in the newly reorganized state government. So voters in the upcoming Democratic primary should look for a candidate with broad interests and a sense of balance. Andy Michaud comes closest to being that candidate. Michaud, 43, an Orlando-area veterinarian, has a strong technical background for the job. He spent part of his youth on a dairy farm and worked with cattle and horses before opening an animal hospital near Orlando. 
Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

Corps to begin 'pulse' release today:
The release of fresh water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River will occur for the next 10 days.
Predictions that Lake Okeechobee's already high water level will continue to rise prompted the Army Corps of Engineers to decide Friday to begin releasing fresh water into the St. Lucie River today.The "pulse," or low-volume, release will be conducted for 10 days at anaverage flow of 730 cubic feet per second into the St. Lucie Canal, according to a statement issued by the corps. The canal flows into the South Fork of the St. Lucie River.The impending lake release and ongoing releases of contaminated water from agricultural canals were debated vigorously during a meeting of the Rivers
Coalition on Friday in Stuart. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  TC Palm  All rights reserved.

Letter to the editor: On Everglades cleanup, stress how people can help
The Post is doing a good job reporting on the Everglades restoration. Now that the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan has been adopted, the hard part of implementation is beginning. The articles and editorials point out the complexities and uncertainties of the plan. Public agencies and governments are important participants, but another important participant is missing from all I have read -- South Florida residents. Although it is easy to blame agriculture and government, we have a direct responsibility for the degradation of the Everglades, since many of the actions that led to the "draining and ditching" were done to enable people to live here. Today, our actions continue to affect the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, the Lake Worth Lagoon and the entire watershed by the way we use water and maintain our landscape. Studies show that 65 percent of non- point pollution of water comes from stormwater runoff. 
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Commentary- Outlook: Florida's Incredible Hulk is an unsustainable development
Islands of Adventure, one of two giant theme parks owned by Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida, contains a ride called The Incredible Hulk. Named after a Marvel comic superhero, the coaster accelerates its cargo of screaming joy riders from 0 to 40mph in two seconds and then throws them into a stomach churning confusion of loop the loops, corkscrews and near vertical drops. In less than 40 seconds, the ride is over, the passengers spill out on to the pavement and stagger off in search of other thrills, their heads still spinning from the G forces they have just been subjected to. The spectacle is both awesome and appaling at the same time. Awesome, because nobody could help but marvel at the degree of human advancement in technology, logistics, mass spending and leisure time that has made such rides possible. Appaling, because there could hardly be a more potent symbol of wasteful, self-indulgent overconsumption than a Florida theme park. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  Guardian UK  All rights reserved.

Water district has new goal: Preserve land
Huge tracts of wilderness and wetlands in Orange County would be purchased under a plan that was proposed with so little fanfare this week that even the would-be participants didn't hear about it.  Henry Dean, director of the South Florida Water Management District, on Tuesday unveiled his idea to fuel Orange County land conservation with $10 million a year from his agency. He urged the neighboring St. Johns Water Management District, which covers most of Central Florida, to kick in some cash.  In an interview Friday, Dean said his proposal grew from an announcement by County Chairman Rich Crotty, who pledged to buy environmental lands with proceeds of a tax on hotel room charges.  Crotty revealed on Friday the amount he has in mind is about $5 million annually, which would bring the total for annual conservation buying to at least $15 million.  Officials at the St. Johns district were surprised by the proposal -- they said they hadn't heard of Dean's proposal -- and they questioned its wisdom.  Copyright  © 2002 Orlando Sentinel  All Rights Reserved.

Eastern North Carolina Faces Water Crisis
The last few years have been tough for eastern North Carolina. Thousands of textile and manufacturing jobs have left. The poor region is still recovering from Hurricane Floyd, which caused an estimated $6 billion in flood damage in September 1999. Now it is facing another water problem: there is not enough. Groundwater is disappearing in 15 counties, and the remedy is likely to cost the hard-pressed communities hundreds of millions of dollars. For decades, the two huge aquifers have been dropping as the demands for water increased. In some places, sea water has been drawn in, tainting the aquifers' fresh water. "Most of our wells drop 5 feet a year, but we had some that dropped 20 feet," said Ralph Clark, city manager in Kinston, N.C., a town of 23,700 in Lenoir County. State regulators announced this summer that some water systems in the area would have to reduce their use of groundwater as much as 75 percent in the next 16 years. A study by the North Carolina Rural Economic Development Center, a nonprofit agency to improve the quality of life in rural areas, estimated that new water sources for the 15-county region would cost $153 million to $247 million. Officials in Lenoir County plan to spend $60 million on a new water system. Other communities are also looking for new water sources. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

Protest for Poor at U.N. Forum in South Africa  

Protesters demonstrated in South Africa's Alexandra township yesterday before a United Nations meeting on development. They came from many countries, but most were South Africans seeking help for the poor.

 From the top of the hill, the protesters today could see the gleaming buildings of stone and steel where world leaders will meet in the coming days to debate a new plan to reduce poverty and preserve the environment. More than 100 presidents and prime ministers are scheduled to discuss ways to save dying lakes and retreating forests and to uplift impoverished nations. But today, surrounded by teetering shacks, mounds of garbage and children in tattered shoes, thousands of people marched through the streets to demonstrate their distrust and disillusionment with promises by governments to help the poor and protect the environment. There were Malawians protesting hunger in Africa, Paraguayans warning about the dangers of dams, Palestinians complaining about Israel's policies and Americans assailing President Bush's decision not to participate in this meeting. But most of the protesters were poor, ordinary South Africans who hoped to deliver a message to the leaders attending the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

Goals Clash at the Summit Meeting on Global Warming   

Critics want President Bush at the U.N. World Summit in Johannesburg, but countries besides the U.S. are also   balking at approving an agreement on the environment

The photograph appears in a full-page advertisement in The International Herald Tribune under the headline "Put a Face on Global Warming and Forest Destruction." It is a picture of President Bush, whose country is accused by protesters and some delegates at an international conference here of derailing any hope of progress at the talks to reduce poverty and protect the environment. "Corporate criminals!" the protesters shout as they assail American officials for opposing targets and deadlines intended to promote development while preserving the environment. But in the private negotiating rooms at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development here, the United States is far from the only country balking at approving a strong, ambitious agreement. Saudi Arabia, Canada, Japan and Australia, for instance, also oppose deadlines for the conversion from oil and gas power to windmills, solar panels and other forms of renewable energy. The European Union objects to eliminating subsidies for activities that threaten natural resources, like commercial fishing. Developing countries have joined the United States in pressing to water down language that would have committed nations to significantly reducing the threat that dangerous chemicals pose to health and the environment. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

U.S. Approves Water Plan in California, but Environmental Opposition Remains
With California facing a year-end federal deadline to reduce its dependence on Colorado River water, the Interior Department has given its go-ahead to a $1 billion, 50-year plan to store and pump water from beneath private land in the Mojave Desert. The Bush administration's decision removes a major obstacle to the project, proposed by a private company, Cadiz Inc., to help the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California make up future water shortfalls. The plan still faces opposition, which has been led by Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California, on environmental grounds. It has not yet been approved by the water district's board. Still, as the state scrambles to line up new water sources before the deadline, the ruling has given new life to the Cadiz project. The project is one of several unconventional options on the table, including a proposal by the City of San Diego to pay tens of millions of dollars to farmers in the Imperial Valley so the Colorado water to which they are entitled can go to urban users instead. The reason for the scramble is a multistate agreement from 1999 that requires California to reduce its overuse of Colorado River water, which now exceeds the state's allocation by 20 percent.  Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

30-August-02

Commentary: Water Management?
About two months ago the Philippe Cousteau Foundation was asked to help school systems in South Florida develop an educational curriculum for over one million 14 through 18 year old students. Our task was to create an educational documentary. I gathered my team together and, in the spirit of my father’s films, we set out on an expedition to explore a very special part of Florida. Little did I know that what initially seemed a straightforward investigation of a national treasure unique to South Florida would eventually lead me to explore issues that are significant to all of us. When most people think of Florida they think of roller coasters, golf courses and Mickey Mouse. Many of them don’t realize that there is something more precious, more beautiful and more incredible than any theme park.
Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  Cousteau Foundation  All rights reserved.

State whittles down its list of polluted waters:
The list determines which waterways may be protected. A critic calls the new list a ruse to overlook dirty water.
The state's top environmental regulator signed off Thursday on an updated list of polluted waterways in need of cleanup that removes some sections of Tampa Bay from consideration. David Struhs, secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, hailed the new "impaired waters" list as "a workable, common- sense environmental plan." Lots of other states have studied Florida's process and may emulate it, he said. That scares Linda Young of the Clean Water Network. "If Florida gets away with what they're doing, a lot of other states are going to do it too," Young said. "Florida is leading the way in undermining the Clean Water Act in this country."
Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

Citrus interests wage war on Barley:
The environmental activist and Democratic agriculture candidate is labeled a threat to the "growers' survival.''
Florida's citrus industry has declared war on environmental activist Mary Barley. Barley is just one of three candidates running in the Democratic primary for commissioner of agriculture and consumer services Sept. 10, hoping to take on Republican incumbent Charles Bronson. But her candidacy has galvanized the $1.3-billion industry. Two industry groups, who say they aren't working together, have launched a double- barrelled attack on her. On Thursday, Florida Citrus Mutual notified its 11,500 members that Barley is such an "alarming political threat" that the grower organization's 21 directors had voted unanimously to tap into an emergency fund to fight her and help Bronson.
Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

Ag interests attack commissioner candidate
Florida's agricultural giants wasted no time this week unleashing a hard-hitting attack ad against environmental activist and Democratic agriculture commissioner candidate Mary Barley. The day after a lawsuit challenging Barley's right to run in the Sept. 10 Democratic primary was dropped, a nonprofit advocacy group called Florida's Working Families, but backed by wealthy citrus, sugar and other
ag interests, began airing statewide a scathing 30-second television spot blasting Barley, a millionaire developer and former Republican, for being a turncoat. Florida's Working Families was formed Aug. 19 and is financed in part by citrus growers Ben Hill Griffin Inc. and Alico; Zipperer Farms, a Fort
Myers flower distributor; and two equipment companies, FMC Corp. of Lakeland and Enerfab of Cincinnati. 
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Waters restoration roadmap taking shape:
Targets identified, prioritized
Florida is one step closer to cleaning up the state's impaired waters with the final approval by the Department of Environmental Protection of a priority list of water bodies that need restoration. Culminating months of public evaluation, DEP Secretary David B. Struhs signed the final order
identifying the first round of targeted water bodies. The list of impaired waters will be forwarded to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for approval by October 1, 2002.Over the next five years, hundreds of water bodies will be evaluated in accordance with federal and state law using the latest science. A plan for restoration will be established for those demonstrated to be impaired. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  Florida Department of Environmental Protection  All rights reserved.

SOUTH FLORIDA WATER MANAGEMENT DISTRICT PROPOSED
MULTI-MILLION-DOLLAR LAND-BUYING PARTNERSHIP IN ORANGE COUNTY
To "leave a meaningful legacy to the people of Florida, particularly Orange County," South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Henry Dean proposed the creation of a land-buying partnership uniting the District, Orange County, St. Johns River Water Management District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. "For the first year, I am prepared to recommend to my board that the South Florida Water Management District earmark $10 million for this effort," Dean said this week while presenting the District's 2003 proposed budget to the Orange County Commission. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  South Florida Water Management District  All rights reserved.

Environmentalists vs. the Poor? 

The following are letters:

To the Editor: Re "The Environmentalists Are Wrong," 

As the majority of countries here at the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development understand, there need not be a contradiction between economic growth and environmental sustainability. Among the crucial questions we're addressing is how to ensure that globalization works to benefit the have-nots as well as the haves, and how to develop economically and protect the earth at the same time. As Mr. Lomborg points out, people in the poorest countries need many things: clean drinking water, basic health care and family planning services. But they also need a healthy environment in which to live and work, just like the rest of us. This won't just magically occur as an inevitable byproduct of unrestrained economic development, but it will if we make it a priority. STEPHEN MILLS Johannesburg, Aug. 27, 2002 The writer is international program director of the Sierra Club.  Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

The Curse of Factory Farms 
Factory farms have become the dominant method of raising meat in America. Agribusiness loves the apparent efficiency that comes with raising thousands of animals in a single large building where they are permanently confined in stalls or pens. Most of the human labor can be automated. It takes less land, because the animals live cheek by jowl their entire lives. And it allows the concentration of enormous stocks of animals in the hands of a few corporations whose goal is usually complete vertical integration - the control of production from birth through butchering and packaging. These plants, called confined animal feeding operations, or CAFO's, now exist in 44 states. The question is how to minimize their harmful environmental effects and prevent them from putting a final squeeze on smaller farmers, especially those who raise animals in more traditional, grass-based ways. Factory farms have taken root mainly where zoning laws were lax or nonexistent, or in states where citizens were prevented from filing suits against agricultural operations. The inevitable byproduct of huge concentrations of animals is huge concentrations of manure, which is stored in open lagoons and eventually sprayed on farmland, though there is usually far more manure than local fields can absorb. In such quantities, manure becomes a toxic substance. Spills are always a risk, as is groundwater contamination. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

U.S. Shows Off Aid Projects at U.N. Development Meeting 
Moving to demonstrate a commitment to the developing world, the United States showcased a series of multimillion-dollar projects today aimed at helping poor countries reduce poverty and protect their natural resources. The United States announced that it planned to spend more than $1 billion over the next four years to improve water efficiency on farms and in factories, to provide electricity to the poor, to help communities combat deforestation and to ease hunger in Africa. The European Union has also promised to expand access to water and energy. American officials hoped the announcement would quiet the relentless storm of criticism that has erupted here at the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development. The United States has refused to agree to firm time frames for reducing agricultural subsidies, for reducing the number of people in need of sanitation and for embracing wind and solar power, among other things. But the Americans' announcement, which was warmly welcomed by the United Nations, was described as inadequate by environmental groups and advocates for the poor. Most of the money for the projects will come from existing programs, and critics condemned the plan as an attempt to divert attention from the reluctance of wealthy nations to reduce trade subsidies, which many economists say hurt farmers in poor countries. Read more....
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

29-August-02

Sprawling South Top U.S. Water Waster, Study Says
The South leads the nation in wasting water through unchecked urban growth, according to environmentalists who blame sprawl for worsening water shortages during droughts. A study released Wednesday by American Rivers, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Smart Growth America found that 11 of the 20 cities with the greatest conversion of open land into development were in the South. In the Tampa Bay area, nearly 200,000 acres were developed between 1982 and 1997. That development - with roads, parking lots, driveways and roofs - blocks between 7.3 million and 17 million gallons of rain water a year from seeping into the aquifer, the report said.

Get the report (You need Adobe Acrobat to open this file.) 
Read the Executive Summary
Read the press release
Questions & Answers sheet  
Photo essay (Reporters -- downloads available)

Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune / Associated Press  All rights reserved.

New-Generation Cousteau Focuses on the Everglades
Cousteau debuted his recently completed film to Palm Beach County science and math teachers. "The Journey Through the Everglades" film will serve as a pilot for a quarterly series of educational programs which will be launched in the next year or so. The Philippe Cousteau Foundation worked with the South Florida Water Management District, Everglades National Park, Newspapers in Education and numerous other groups to produce the educational documentary which examines on-going Everglades restoration projects. The film will eventually be viewed by an estimated 30,000 students in Palm Beach County and will be a template for similar projects across the country. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  South Florida Water Management District  All rights reserved.

Editorial: Swimming advisories should send message
With one fell swoop last week, the health department brought back one of our worst nightmares: "Health warning" it read in bold, capital letters. Higgs, Simonton and South beaches were all posted with signs advising beach-goers to stay out of the water.  It certainly hasn't been as bad as 1999, when Key West public beaches were lined with barricades and fliers warning bathers from going in the water.  Yet, as the water testing has spread through the Keys, we've found out it's not just a Key West problem.  This summer has seen warnings at John Pennekamp State Park in Key Largo, Harry Harris Park in Tavernier and Coco Plum city beach in Marathon.  So let's don't stick our collective heads in the sand, as we lounge on Keys beaches.  We've still got serious problems. In Key West, especially, we know that every time it rains, we are likely to see water-quality test results showing unhealthy levels of fecal-linked bacteria.  
Copyright  © 2002  Keys news  All rights reserved.

Judicial circuit official fighting manatee rules in court
Twentieth Judicial Circuit Court Administrator Doug Wilkinson is on trial - along with two lawyers and seven others - who are battling manatee protection rules.  Wilkinson, 48, intentionally violated state restrictions on Feb. 19, 2000, as an enforcement officer watched so he could fight the rules that went into effect in Lee County in November 1999.  Like many other boaters and fishermen, Wilkinson believes the rules do little to protect manatees and endanger boaters by forcing too many of them - in big boats and small boats - into the same crowded channels.  "I felt it was dangerous to do that," Wilkinson said. "I thought, 'It's insane to put all these people together.' "  State officials expanded Lee County's manatee protections areas on Nov. 30, 1999, adding 40 square miles of waters in which boaters must either travel at idle speed or go no faster than 25 mph in channels. 
Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Lack of Basics Threatens World's Poor 
Delegates at the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development today emphasized the importance of bringing water and sanitation to the millions around the world who struggle without those essential services. The United Nations says that 1.1 billion people lack clean drinking water and that 2.4 billion need access to sanitation. More than 2.2 million people in poor countries die each year from illnesses associated with dirty water and poor sanitation. Officials here have agreed to try to halve the number of people without access to clean water by 2015. But as the officials gathered for today's plenary discussion, it became clear that meeting that target would not be easy. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

Water for a Thirsty World  
Water is a vital resource for sustaining human life, growing crops and running many industrial activities. It is disturbing that in many areas of the world the demand for fresh water is rising faster than the supply, leaving about a billion people without access to clean drinking water. Regional water shortages have raised the specter of armed conflict, forced relatively affluent societies to finance huge water projects and left some of the world's most impoverished nations in deepening misery. A four-part series in The Times this week illuminated some of the causes and effects of dwindling water supplies just as the United Nations conference on sustainable development in Johannesburg is beginning to grapple with how to mitigate the problems. Only a little more than half the world's available fresh water is used each year. But by 2015, according to U.N. estimates, at least 40 percent of the world's population will live in countries where it is difficult or impossible to get enough water to satisfy basic needs. It is imperative to accelerate programs that can remedy the shortfall. The potential for conflict over water shows up forcefully in the Euphrates River Valley, where Turkey, with the advantage of an upstream position and a sturdy army, has commandeered much of the river's water through a $30 billion program for building dams and irrigating fields. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

At Development Talks, U.S. and Its Allies Clash Over Issues of Energy and Pollution 
For days now, the battle between rich and poor nations has dominated the United Nations talks here on the environment and development, with marches and fiery debates over how to reduce poverty. But one of the fiercest struggles has been raging behind the scenes as the United States and the European Union clash over strategies to preserve the planet. The allies are battling over the question of targets and time frames for the conversion from oil and gas to windmills and solar panels, for the cleanup of garbage and hazardous pollutants and for the preservation of endangered plants and animals. The European Union says these talks must produce a strong plan with firm deadlines so the world's leaders can be held accountable for their actions. The United States opposes targets and deadlines, saying it would rather finance specific projects than support goals that might ultimately prove meaningless. The negotiators on both sides are still cordial. But everyone agrees that the dispute has aggravated tensions that have been simmering since President Bush angered his European colleagues last year by refusing to ratify an international treaty aimed at preventing global warming. Nowhere is that rift more visible than in the debate over renewable energy. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

South's Fast-Growing Areas Find Water Supply Shrinking

At High Rock Lake, south of Winston-Salem, N.C., the water level at a dock was so low last month that grass had grown where water used to be.

A regional drought that is the worst on record is taking a heavy toll in the Carolinas, where some of the country's fastest-growing cities and suburbs are proving unexpectedly vulnerable to water shortages. Over the last four years, North and South Carolina have come up short by the equivalent of a year's supply of rain, and now cities like Charlotte and Raleigh, N.C., as well as dozens of smaller towns, are paying the price in the form of mandatory restrictions intended to reduce water use by as much as 20 percent. The water shortages, so severe that one parched North Carolina town has had to borrow water by fire hose, have been driven most directly by abnormalities in the climate, among the most severe in a drought that is now affecting more than a third of the United States, water experts and city planners say. But those abnormalities have been compounded by sprawling growth, which has sent water use spiraling ahead even of population increases and has cut into supplies of water that would have otherwise recharged aquifers, rivers and streams. In Charlotte, for example, the number of water users served by the local utility has increased 36 percent since 1992. But average daily water use has increased 56 percent, shrinking the cushion that planners had expected might prevent water rationing in rain-scarce years. Now, with accumulated rainfall since 1998 running more than 40 inches below normal, water managers in the region say the lesson of the drought is that more must be done sooner to promote conservation, even in normally rain-kissed climates like that of North Carolina, which averages 40 inches a year. "As we grow, we need to manage our water supplies more carefully," said John N. Morris, director of North Carolina's division of water resources. In a study released today, three national environmental organizations called attention to the connection between suburban development and water shortages. Read more....
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

28-August-02

Cabinet accepts sanctuary report
Five years after the state signed on, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary officials heard only good words from the Florida Cabinet. "I did a site visit to the sanctuary last week, and from my perspective, things looked pretty good," said Gov. Jeb Bush, accepting an annual review from sanctuary staff Tuesday in Tallahassee. Five years ago, controversy over sanctuary rules raised the possibility that the Florida Cabinet would not allow state waters – accounting for 65 percent of the existing Keys sanctuary – to be administered by a federal agency. The Cabinet eventually agreed after insisting on state veto powers over most major sanctuary decisions regarding waters near the Keys. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  Keynoter  All rights reserved.

New hydrology model could improve permitting
A new hydrology model may give better answers to water permitting issues in central Florida. "It should revolutionize the way we look at the impact (on water)," said Doug Leonard, executive director of the Central Florida Regional Planning Council. The model, which was developed by the CFRPC, environmental consultant T. Mitchell Gurr and three phosphate mining companies, was unveiled Monday at a meeting in Bartow. Leonard said the triad brought in computer software from Brigham Young University in Utah and adapted it for Florida. The software originally was used to study the systems that impact the Colorado River
basin. Now it's being used on the Peace River.
Copyright  © 2002  News Sun All rights reserved.

Clean Water Workshop To Be Held Thursday
Environmental groups are teaming up to present a workshop Thursday aimed at protecting state waters.  The Ocean Conservancy, Oceana and the Clean Water Network are sponsoring the event at 7 p.m. at Moccasin Lake Nature Park Interpretive Center off Drew Street, between U.S. 19 and McMullen Booth Road.  The Clean Water Act, passed 30 years ago, has still not been fully enacted in Florida, and some environmentalists fear that as the state begins another attempt to evaluate Florida waters, it could lead to weaker protections for Florida rivers and estuaries.  The workshop will focus on a program called Total Maximum Daily Load, designed to protect rivers and estuaries. 
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

         Related Links,

            Florida Department of Environmental Protection
            Water Resource Management Programs
            Total Maximum Daily Loads
            http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/tmdl/index.htm

            City of Clearwater - Parks & Recreation/Moccasin Lake Nature Park
            http://clearwater-fl.com/City_Departments/ parksrec/facilities/mlnp.html

            The Clean Water Network
            http://www.cwn.org/

            Southeast Clean Water Network
            http://www.cwn-se.org/

            Ocean Conservancy
            http://www.oceanconservancy.org/

            Oceana Welcomes You
            http://www.oceana.org/

State Moves to Preserve Polk Land;
Bush, Cabinet vote to spend $16 million to buy key habitat land east of Lake Wales.
Gov. Jeb Bush and members of the Florida Cabinet voted Tuesday to push ahead with ambitious plans to preserve thousands of acres in southeastern Polk County that are habitat for red-cockaded woodpeckers, scrub jays and other wildlife.  Bush and the Cabinet voted to spend $16 million in state money to purchase the Rolling Meadows Ranch while also signaling their strong support to acquire even more land near Lake Kissimmee.  Bush and the Cabinet rebuffed pleas from members of the River Ranch Property Owners Association who wanted the state to drop its plans to seek up to 39,000 acres between Lake Kissimmee State Park and the Avon Park Bombing Range.  The vote to spend the state money to purchase the Rolling Meadows Ranch, owned by Andrew Machata, came quickly with little debate or dissent. The nearly 6,000-acre parcel, which lies south of Lake Hatchineha, is being purchased for $38 million -- with the state putting up nearly half of the money and the rest coming from the South Florida Water Management District.  
Copyright  © 2002  The Ledger All rights reserved.

Agency Keeps Public Hearing Barely Visible
A public hearing isn't much of a public hearing when hardly anyone knows about it.  That's what happened when the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission scheduled a public hearing on the management plan for Hilochee Wildlife Management Area in Polk and Lake counties.  To discover that the future of public recreation on nearly 13,000 acres in the Four Corners area was on the table, you had to look for legal ads in odd places and be prepared for a two-hour drive to Tavares in northern Lake County where the Aug. 15 hearing was held.  Another hearing is planned sometime somewhere in Tallahassee, even less convenient. No hearing is planned in Polk County.  In case you've never heard of Hilochee, it consists of two sites.  The Polk County section, which is not open to the public, is a 6,175-acre tract, the bulk of which is south of Interstate 4 between County Road 557 and U.S. 27.  The Lake County section, which is open to the public, for a $3 day-use fee, is a 6,755-acre site on both sides of County Road 474 west of U.S. 27 in southern Lake County.  
Copyright  © 2002  The Ledger All rights reserved.

Army Corps of Engineers reveals Golden Gate flood control plans
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled a new proposal Tuesday for how to put natural water flows back through an abandoned subdivision in rural Collier County, but everyone is not sold on the idea.  The big question is whether the plan for Southern Golden Gate Estates does too much flood control and not enough environmental restoration.  "We should be moving closer together," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Kim Dryden, a member of the state and federal team planning the project. "It sounds like we're going further away."  For months, project planners have been tweaking proposals for the restoration of the 60,000-acre stretch of old roads and canals that runs between U.S. 41 East and Interstate 75. The state Department of Environmental Protection has nearly completed buying up the area.  The problem now is how to return the old subdivision to nature without making flooding worse on private property in a chunk of Golden Gate Estates north of I-75 beyond the buyout boundary.  
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

Tortugas shining light in Florida's damaged reefs
In this fecund forest, multihued toadstool shapes rise from a bountiful floor where strange things jostle for space, feathery boughs dance on a soft current, and wary eyes glint from a thousand dark crevasses.  The pale light that filters from above reveals scaly plates creeping over a stony plateau and downy fingers reaching skyward. Crimson boulders glow, lit by some internal fire.  Unlike the legendary Nottinghamshire lair of Robin Hood, this fantasy land called Sherwood Forest is not a royal hunting ground and hideout for wily outlaws but a real and rare tract of pristine coral reef under 80 feet of subtropical Florida waters forbidden to maritime hunters.  Some scientists see it as a refuge of hope in a spiraling undersea crisis.  "This is one of the best remaining coral reef habitats in the United States and the best nursery habitat in the United States," said Billy Causey, a marine biologist who as superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is chief guardian of the Dry Tortugas reefs.  Read more . . .  
Copyright  © 2002  Environmental News Network All rights reserved.

FLORIDA KEYS PROTECTION CONTINUES AS GOVERNOR & CABINET ACCEPT MANAGEMENT PLAN
Governor Jeb Bush and Cabinet members concurred that a Five-Year Management Plan for the 2,900-square-mile waters within the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary is providing the protection for which it was designed.  "Good things have been happening in the Sanctuary over the past five years," said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David B. Struhs. "The plan is clearly working. 'No Discharge Zones' along with 'No Take Zones' have improved water quality, protected reefs, and increased the number of reef fish."  In 1990, following the grounding of three large vessels on Florida Keys coral reefs, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act was passed by Congress.  This law created the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, providing federal authority to implement regulations to protect marine resources in the Florida Keys.  
Copyright  © 2002  Florida Keys All rights reserved.

Letter to the Editor: Change in Ag Reserve plan will preserve more farmland
The medial have reported on a proposed amendment to the Palm Beach County comprehensive plan that would add a roadway frontage for a residential development to use when seeking development approval. This amendment would not increase density or the potential for any new development in the Agricultural Reserve Area.  The amendment is consistent with the policy to add new roads to preserve and protect agriculture. If the count commission approves the amendment, an additional 650 acres will be preserved for agriculture, adjacent to county-owned preserve, bringing the total of public and private reserves in the central Ag Reserve east of State Road 7 to 2,082 acres.  If it is approved, GL Homes has committed to provide land for several services identified as needs in the AG Reserve Master Palm, These include a park of 47 acres, sites schools and a civic center.  
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Forecast for Future: Deluge and Drought
It has been a summer of extremes. Rains have deluged Europe and Asia, swamping cities and villages and killing some 2,000 people, while drought and heat have seared the American West and Eastern cities. What is going on? The floods and droughts could simply be flickers in the inherently chaotic weather system, some experts say. But many warn that such extremes will be increasingly common as the world grows warmer. Such a shift could pose big problems in places where water is already a strained resource, they say. "Their water use is already finely balanced, and based on hydrology they think they're going to get, and climate change is telling us they're going to get something different," said Dr. Peter H. Gleick, the director of the Pacific Institute, a private environmental research center in Oakland, Calif. A warmer world is more likely to be a wetter one, experts warn, with more evaporation resulting in more rain, in heavy and destructive downpours. But in a troublesome twist, that world may also include more intense droughts, as the increased evaporation parches soils between occasional storms. "In a hotter climate, your chances of being caught with either too much or too little are higher," said Dr. John M. Wallace, a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington. And the globe is getting warmer. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

Diplomat Tries to Bring Together Rich and Poor
The big man in pinstripes walks into the convention center here and the diplomats take notice. The Japanese delegation asks for a few minutes of his time. South African officials whisper in his ear. In their offices nearby, senior American officials praise his leadership. The unlikely celebrity, who has a cellphone glued to his ear, chuckles at all the fuss. He is John Ashe, a 48-year-old engineer (with a doctoral dissertation called "Electric-Field-Induced Deformation of Biological Cells") and an ambassador for one of the world's smallest countries, Antigua and Barbuda (population 67,000). He is, as he cheerfully admits, little known outside the world of international environmental conferences. But here, at the United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development, Mr. Ashe is one of the most influential diplomats. He is chairman of the meeting's trade and finance committee - the man charged with bringing together the rich and poor nations, which are feuding over how to reduce poverty while preserving the environment. Mr. Ashe honed his skills as a negotiator in conferences on global warming and climate change, where he has represented Antigua and other small island nations for more than a decade. But this job, diplomats say, might call for a miracle worker. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

Saving Water, U.S. Farmers Are Worried They'll Parch
Ronnie Hopper grows cotton, and he has learned firsthand that water is precious. The water that he pumps from underground costs him five times as much as it used to, so he does his best not to waste a drop. He has installed new, high-efficiency center-pivot sprinklers, designed to eliminate losses to evaporation. He has cut back on his planting on his 2,000-acre farm to concentrate water on fields that can use it best. He is even considering drip irrigation, water by the trickle. Mr. Hopper has reason to be parsimonious. Though he lives atop one of the world's largest aquifers, the Ogallala, which spans eight states, it is falling every day. Here in dry northwest Texas, the problem is particularly acute, with declines of at least three times the average. "Putting more wells in this particular ground would be like putting more straws in a glass," Mr. Hopper said, ruddy-faced in the Texas sun. People have warned of the threat to the aquifer, which supplies roughly a quarter of the United States' irrigated farmland, for more than 20 years, and it is still in danger. But the experience of farmers like Mr. Hopper offers reasons both for hope and caution for those struggling to save scarce water elsewhere, and to arrest drastic declines in other underground supplies in places like India and China. In a shift of much significance, per capita water use - on the rise in most of the rest of the world - is now declining in the United States. Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved

27-August-02

Manatee plans in jumble
A federal sanctuary will govern part of Blue Waters part of the year.  Two proposed state sanctuaries would partly overlap part of the time. For years, local manatee lovers have complained that the endangered animals have been harassed in the Homosassa Blue Waters.  They said protections were needed to safeguard the lumbering herbivores.  Now, as another winter season creeps closer, it seems Blue Waters may get a double dose of safeguards.  Late last week, prompted by a federal judge, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to establish an emergency manatee sanctuary at Blue Waters and other spots around the state. The federal sanctuary at Blue Waters will operate Oct. 1 through March 31.  Next month, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will be asked to consider establishing two smaller sanctuaries at Blue Waters.  Those sanctuaries would be in effect between Nov. 15 and March 31.  The areas would not completely overlap: The federal sanctuary is much larger, encompassing a bigger part of the area that has been used in recent years as a manatee interaction spot just outside Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. The federal sanctuary also will include the closed part of the river inside the park and the spring run now inhabited by the state park's wild manatee herd.  
Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
Agenda - August 27, 2002
Substitute Page Twelve
Substitute tem 5
McIlvane Marsh Acquisition Project
Collier County is currently facing an unprecedented urban growth rate, with Naples leading the nation in metropolitan growth. Changes in land use within the primary watersheds that drain into the Rookery Bay estuary and adjacent water have been identified as the highest priority resource issue that threatens the long-term preservation of the RBNERR. The coastal habitats in Collier County have been impacted by alterations in hydrology and habitat, and development and channelization of natural systems.  Historically, freshwater traveled across the surface of the land, percolating through wetland flow ways, before entering McIlvane Marsh. An old road, known locally as the Belle Meade grade, now runs through this area with some smaller roadbeds feeding off from it. The roads have disrupted the natural hydrology and caused a shift in plant communities: mangroves encroach on the saltmarsh on the saline side and wax myrtles and other shrubs invade the saltmarsh on the freshwater side. This shift in plant communities has been further exacerbated by fire suppression.  Read more . . . 
Copyright  © 2002  Florida Department of State  All rights reserved.

                Related Articles,

                November 18, 2002
                U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE GRANTS FUND WETLAND CONSERVATION PROJECTS IN 15
                STATES

                November 30, 2002
                State gets $1 million to buy Collier County marsh

 

Guest Editorial: Challenging law good for citizens, too Sierra Club, others have right view for Florida.
We appreciate the opportunity to explain how Sierra Club diverges from the Palm Beach Post on the question of our litigation against a new state law restricting citizen rights of standing to protest local and state permitting decisions.  The attack on citizen standing, by Senator Jim King, R-Jacksonville, was attached during this year's legislative session to a bill providing for a portion of state financing for restoration of our Everglades. On Aug. 14, three months after Governor Bush signed this bill, Sierra Club and other plaintiffs sued to overturn the new law on constitutional grounds.  The Palm Beach Post opines that the state portion of Everglades funding is needed now, and that tomorrow--or some uncertain point in the future--is enough time for the governor and Legislature to restore what citizen rights were taken away, and that by spoiling "the party", some self-interested environmentalists, not even from this part of the state, are putting the Everglades at risk.  
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Mbeki's Plea: End 'Inertia'


Agence France-Presse  
President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa called for an end to the 
rift between the world's rich and poor at the opening today of
the World Summit on Sustainable Development.

Following are excerpts from remarks prepared for delivery yesterday by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa to open the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. A full version is available here.    

The 1992 Rio Earth Summit produced several landmark agreements aimed at halting and reversing environmental destruction, poverty and inequality. Agenda 21 placed at the center of the challenges facing humanity, the appropriate framework for sustainable development.
. . . It is no secret that the global community has, as yet, not demonstrated the will to implement the decisions it has freely adopted.  The tragic result of this is the avoidable increase in human misery and ecological degradation, including the growth of the gap between North and South. It is as though we are determined to regress to the most primitive condition of existence in the animal world, of the survival of the fittest. It is as though we have decided to spurn what the human intellect tells us, that the survival of the fittest only presages the destruction of all humanity.  
Read excerpts...
website:  World Summit on Sustainable Development (www.johannesburgsummit.org)  
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

World Development Forum Begins With a Rebuke

Tens of thousands of officials, environmentalists and advocates for the poor converged on this old mining city today to devise an ambitious blueprint to promote development while protecting natural resources.  Participants from all over the world flocked to the United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development in flowing African robes, Indian saris and pinstriped suits. They celebrated the spirit of global solidarity and vowed to hammer out a plan to protect rain forests, to clean polluted air and to help millions of people escape from poverty.   
Read more...
website:  World Summit on Sustainable Development (www.johannesburgsummit.org)  
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.
 

Chinese Will Move Waters to Quench Thirst of Cities

The New York Times
At huge cost — $58 billion — China plans to 
rechannel water from the Yangtze basin to the 
north. Zhou Ying carries water after school 
each day in northwest China.

The booming cities of northern China are parched and constrained by a growing shortage of water. Yet in China's rainy south, the mighty Yangtze River pours vast volumes, unused, into the sea.  So why not, Chinese leaders have long asked, cross the country with new canals, bringing that "wasted" water to where it is vitally needed for the country's progress?  In a world short of fresh water, one of the gravest challenges facing governments is that needs and supplies are often far apart. Now China, with water scarcity reaching the critical stage in sprawling showcase cities like Beijing and Tianjin, has embarked on one of history's great water-moving projects.  At huge cost and great risk to the environment, the government plans to rechannel vast rivers of water from the Yangtze basin to the thirsty north, over three pathways of nearly 1,000 miles each. The official price tag of $58 billion, nearly half to be spent in the next eight years, is more than twice that of the Three Gorges Dam, China's most recent mega-project now nearing completion.  Some officials speak of delivering new waters to a "green Beijing" in time for the 2008 Olympics, an indication of the political overtones of the project as well as the crash timetable.  "We have to sacrifice so that people in Beijing can drink water," said Zhang Jize, a 32-year-old farmer and father of two daughters who is among 370,000 people the plan will uproot.   
Read more...
Running Dry series,  http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/worldspecial/index.html
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

Water Supply As Land-Use Issue On Table
The Southwest Florida Water Management District today will discuss ways to make water supply a larger part of counties' land-use planning. The district's governing board would like county commissions to consider the availability of water when making decisions on their comprehensive plans. Swiftmud, as the district is commonly known, approves or denies water use permits for developments, while county commissions make land-use and zoning decisions. The Swiftmud meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the district headquarters, 2379 Broad St., about 5 miles south of Brooksville on U.S. 41. 
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

Letter to the editor
State simply reevaluating quality of all water bodies
Regarding Sally Swartz's Aug. 14 column "State plays dirty on clean water,": The state is not redefining water-quality standards, nor is it taking 600 water bodies off the list of impaired waters. The process being implemented to identify and clean up polluted water bodies is based on science. The department is implementing a comprehensive, five-year plan to identify
water bodies that do not meet water-quality standards for their intended uses, such as fishing, swimming or as a source of drinking water. Each year, the department will identify impaired waters in specific basins in each of the state's watersheds. The process will continue for five years until all water bodies in Florida have been evaluated. The department will repeat this cycle every five years to continuously reevaluate and restore our waters.
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

Letter to the editor
Choose water over development
Re "Mining industry targets Everglades": The mining industry has won in Florida by promising to help the Everglades. I can see that we need limestone to further development; however, if the mining company ruins our groundwater, as it is suggested it might do, how will people be able to live in all the new developments? People cannot survive without water. Will South Florida be able to desalinate ocean water for drinking? When you politicians vote, think past the immediate gain. Look at what your decision may bring us in 10 years. This mining company is from Australia. What do they care if the people of South Florida have adequate drinking water? 
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

 

26-August-02

U.N. Forum Opens in Africa


Associated Press
Dancers performed yesterday in Johannesburg 
at a welcoming ceremony for the United Nations' 
World Summit on Sustainable Development.

A call for an end to the rift between the world's rich and poor marked the opening here today of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development.  "A global human society based on poverty for many and prosperity for a few, characterized by islands of wealth, surrounded by a sea of poverty, is unsustainable," President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa told delegates to the 10-day meeting.  "There is every need for us to demonstrate to the billions of people we lead," he said, that "we do not accept that human society should be constructed on the basis of a savage principle of the survival of the fittest."  The meeting is expected to attract more than 100 presidents and prime ministers from Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America, who will devise a plan to protect the globe's atmosphere, lakes, forests and wildlife and focus on the link between poverty and environmental degradation. Officials hope to build on the ambitious, but poorly executed, agenda set at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago.  Leaders from the United States, Europe and developing nations have already agreed that reducing poverty must be a central element of the plan. But the question of how to do that and to ensure the survival of the globe's natural resources has left rich and poor nations bitterly divided. The dispute is likely to dominate the political negotiations here. In this continent of immense natural beauty and desperate poverty, the debate could hardly be more relevant.  
Read more...
website:  World Summit on Sustainable Development (www.johannesburgsummit.org)  
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

The Environmentalists Are Wrong
With the opening today of the United Nations World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, we will be hearing a great deal about both concepts: sustainability and development. Traditionally, the developed nations of the West have shown greater concern for environmental sustainability, while the third world countries have a stronger desire for economic development. At big environmental gatherings, it is usually the priorities of the first world that carry the day. The challenge in Johannesburg will be whether we are ready to put development ahead of sustainability. If the United States leads the way, the world may finally find the courage to do so. Why does the developed world worry so much about sustainability? Because we constantly hear a litany of how the environment is in poor shape. Natural resources are running out. Population is growing, leaving less and less to eat. Species are becoming extinct in vast numbers. Forests are disappearing. The planet's air and water are getting ever more polluted. Human activity is, in short, defiling the earth - and as it does so, humanity may end up killing itself. There is, however, one problem: this litany is not supported by the evidence.  Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

 

Linking Poverty Aid to the Environment

Associated Press
South African President Thabo Mbeki, right, 
greeted Nitin Desai, U.N. Secretary General of 
the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 
which began today in Johannesburg.

The smoke settles over the rickety shacks and shabby houses as soon as this city wakes. Thousands of poor people without electricity burn scraps of wood in rusty tin cans to keep warm. Others burn coal in old stoves that belch soot and fumes into the cold morning air.  Poverty in crowded cities like this one and in sleepy villages as well is threatening the air, the waters and the forests of the developing world. On Monday, the United Nations' World Summit on Sustainable Development will be held here to try to focus the world's attention on the environment in these poor countries.  The 10-day meeting is expected to attract more than 100 presidents and prime ministers from Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America, who will devise a plan to protect the globe's atmosphere, lakes, forests and wildlife and focus on the link between poverty and environmental degradation. Officials hope to build on the ambitious, but poorly executed, agenda set at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro 10 years ago.  
Read more...
website:  World Summit on Sustainable Development (www.johannesburgsummit.org)  
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

As Multinationals Run the Taps, Anger Rises Over Water for Profit     

      

SAN ISIDRO DE LULES, Argentina — When Jorge Abdala's water bill jumped to 59 pesos a month from 24 a few years ago, he went looking for someone to blame. He soon found his villain: a French multinational company at the forefront of a global effort to privatize government-run water systems.  Mr. Abdala, a soft-spoken 54-year-old, scarcely seems the revolutionary. Scrambling for a living like most of his neighbors in this sprawling town tucked up under the Andes, he runs a meager catering business out of his kitchen.  But the protests Mr. Abdala organized here forced the company, now known as Vivendi Environnement , to abandon its long-term contract to overhaul and manage the waterworks of the Tucumán Province, where Mr. Abdala and roughly one million other Argentines live.  "Our main demand was, simply, `Go home!' " he said, shifting to the edge of his seat in the living room of his simple one-story home. "We kept presenting facts showing that they were not making any investments, just raising the price of water. And any investments they made were with government money."     
Read more...
Running Dry series,  http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/worldspecial/index.html
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

Ten Years Later, The Memories Are Still Vivid

 

 

 

With winds of 145 mph, a 10-mile wide eye and 16.9 feet storm surges, made Andrew the nations most costly natural disaster and left South Floridians fearful and battered. Andrew first made U.S. landfall on August 24, 1992 at 5:00 a.m., and for the next several hours, pounded South Florida with wind gusts up to 170 mph, as it moved west at 18 mph. According to The Weather Channel, Andrew reached hurricane strength 300 miles east of the central Bahamas, and crashed through the islands. Its 120 mph winds induced a massive surge, in which four people drowned. The hurricane gained strength as it swirled through the warm waters of the Florida Straits. Along Florida's east coast, a massive evacuation had already begun. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), massive evacuations were ordered in Florida as it became evident that likelihood of Andrew making landfall in those regions increased. Read More...
Copyright  © 2002  NBC6  All rights reserved.

Previous Stories:

   August 22, 2002: After 10 Years, Hurricane Andrew Gains Strength
      http://www.nbc6.net/News/1623854/detail.html

   August 22, 2002: Hurricane Andrew: Ten Years After
      http://www.nbc6.net/News/1618270/detail.html

   August 22, 2002: Visual Echoes Of Andrew
      http://www.nbc6.net/News/1624502/detail.html

   August 21, 2002: Miami Sportscaster Recalls Post-Andrew Plane Crash
      http://www.nbc6.net/News/1622278/detail.html

   August 19, 2002: Memories Of Hurricane Andrew
      http://www.nbc6.net/News/1464051/detail.html

 

25-August-02

Manatees gain 3 havens in Tampa Bay in winter
In response to a judge's order, a federal agency limits human activity around three power plants and Blue Waters in winter.
To protect manatees, parts of Tampa Bay near three power plants will be put off-limits to boaters, swimmers, divers and anglers for half the year, from Oct. 1 to March 31, federal officials announced Saturday. During that time, boats would be limited to slow or idle speeds in the areas adjacent to Tampa Bay's three power plants -- in Tampa, Apollo Beach and Weedon Island -- as an additional step to spare manatees from being harassed, hurt or killed, federal officials said. The headwaters of the Homosassa River in Citrus County, an area known as Blue Waters, will also be put off-limits to all forms of human activity from Oct. 1 to March 31, federal wildlife officials said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's announcement came as a response to a federal judge's order that the agency pinpoint waterways around the state where "there is substantial evidence that there is imminent danger of a taking of one or more manatees," meaning they would require emergency action to protect them.  
Copyright  © 2002  St. Petersburg Times  All rights reserved.

To find out more

For information on the sanctuaries and refuges, go to
http://northflorida.fws.gov/Manatee/manatees.htm

Restoring the Everglades
The Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District are conducting test and buying water-storage land in preparation for an $8.4 billion project to restore proper water flow in the Everglades. Here's a look at the plan and why it is needed:The Everglades are fed from water that overflow Lake Okeechobee's southern shore. Originally 60 miles wide, this sheet of shallow water slowly made its way south across Florida's flat grasslands. 
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

In Race to Tap the Euphrates, the Upper Hand Is Upstream

Ruth Fremson/The New York Times
Zuheyya Aygul returns from a nearby irrigation
canal in southern Turkey.

The Euphrates River is close by, but the water does not reach Abdelrazak al-Aween. Here at the heart of the fertile crescent, he stares at dry fields.  The Syrian government has promised water for Mr. Aween's tiny village. But upstream, in Turkey, and downstream, in Iraq, similar promises are being made. They add up to more water than the Euphrates holds.  So instead of irrigating his cotton and sugar beets, Mr. Aween must siphon drinking and washing water from a ditch 40 minutes away by tractor ride. Just across the border, meanwhile, Ahmet Demir, a Turkish farmer, stands ankle deep in mud, his crops soaking up all the water they need.  It was here in ancient Mesopotamia, thousands of years ago, that the last all-out war over water was fought, between rival city-states in what is now southern Iraq. Now, across a widening swath of the world, more and more people are vying for less and less water, in conflicts more rancorous by the day.  
Read more...
Running Dry series,  http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/worldspecial/index.html
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

Lake Istokpoga's phosphorus levels are still rising
Editor's Note: This is another in the series on the effect of phosphorus on
Lake Istokpoga and the Everglades watershed. Sebring - Florida has few natural resources, but it does have plenty of phosphorus, the stuff that makes plants grow. Too much of it make plants grow until they choke lakes and other waterways. The most recent example was the Lake Istokpoga tussock removal projects that ended about a year ago and opened about 1,300 acres to watercraft navigation and recreational fishing. It cost about $3 million. Since then, hundreds of samples have been taken by Dr. Jenifer Brunty, a Highlands County natural resources specialist, and Paul Ritter, a staff environment analyst for the South Florida Water Management District.c
Copyright  © 2002  News Sun All rights reserved.

S.A.F.E.R. making waves in 'Glades
The fight to keep Everglades canals from being filled in is far from over, but things are looking a lot better thanks to the efforts of the South Florida Anglers For Everglades Restoration. When S.A.F.E.R. first formed a little more than a year ago, the agencies in charge of overseeing the restoration of the Everglades didn't even know that people fished in the water conservation areas of the 'Glades. Not filling in the canals was not even considered by those looking at options for restoring the historical flow of water in the Everglades. The members of S.A.F.E.R., most of whom represent South Florida bass clubs, are committed to restoration with recreation. The canals that they fish offer some of the best bass fishing in the country and have a significant economic impact in terms of bait, tackle, gas, food, drinks, ice and the like. When nearly 100 boats competed in a S.A.F.E.R.-sponsored bass tournament in May, several people pointed out that the boats and tow vehicles alone at Everglades Holiday Park represented several million dollars. 
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Editorial: Everglades restoration threatened
If Everglades restoration is really about restoring the Everglades, Congress should act quickly to clear an obstacle that threatens to delay some of the restoration's most important environmental benefits. This little epic is a maddening example of the politics that swirl so densely around restoration, especially when a local dispute over Everglades policy gets caught up in a national political culture war. This kind of thing is likely to dog the $8 billion federal-state project through its life. More specifically, this impasse reinforces the suspicion that the project is more about making sure cities and farms have enough water than about restoring the much-altered South Florida environment. Part of the restoration plan calls for filling some canals and breaching certain levees to allow water to run essentially where it did under natural conditions, south into what is now Everglades National Park. But that element in the project may be delayed by at least two years because of a festering controversy over a separate project, also designed to restore natural water flows. The separate project, known as Mod Waters, or "Modified Water Deliveries," is caught up in a 13-year-old property rights dispute that has become a national cause to opponents of big government. 
Copyright  © 2002  Fort Meyers News Press  All rights reserved.

Reserve project on table
When it is no longer a dusty path leading to vegetable fields, nurseries and a few modest homes, Acme Dairy Road will stir memories of south county's agricultural heritage by its name only. But before asphalt pours over this dusty road and bulldozers clear the surrounding countryside, the debate between progress and preservation will come to a head at a County Commission meeting Wednesday morning. At issue is how GL Homes will be allowed to develop a 1,500-home community on 1,500 acres of Agricultural Reserve land off Boynton Beach Boulevard, between Florida's Turnpike and the future extension of Lyons Road. GL Homes is asking commissioners to amend the county's comprehensive plan so that the main entrances to its subdivisions can be built on Acme Dairy Road. The current plan allows main access to new developments along only five roads in the reserve: Boynton Beach Boulevard, Atlantic Avenue, U.S. 441, Clint Moore Road and parts of Lyons Road. 
Copyright  © 2002  Sun-Sentinel  All rights reserved.

Environmentalists Criticize Endangered Species List
The state's official roster of endangered species, facing widespread criticism from environmentalists, may be overhauled again. Bald eagles could be dropped, bobwhite quail added and gopher tortoises bumped up into a classification of higher concern. The state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission will decide early next month what to do with the list it uses to prioritize efforts for saving animals from extinction. "We want it to be scientifically rigorous, and we want it to be objective," said Brian Millsap, a commission biologist in Tallahassee and an administrator of the wildlife list. "It may always be controversial at some level, and we may have to accept that." Decisions about bald eagles, bobwhite quail and gopher tortoises could be put off for a couple of years, depending on whether the commission board opts for partial or wholesale revisions to list guidelines. 
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune / Associated Press  All rights reserved.

Related Links:

FLORIDA'S ENDANGERED SPECIES, THREATENED SPECIES AND
SPECIES OF SPECIAL CONCERN
Official Lists
Publication Date: 1 August 1997
http://www.floridaconservation.org/pubs/endanger.html

 

24-August-02

 

Editorial: Environmentalists Are Right To Seek Ditching Of Errant Law
A coalition of Florida environmental groups is seeking to overturn a state law that curtails citizens' ability to contest government decisions. The challenge is being made on technical grounds. The groups rightly say the law violates the Florida Constitution's single-subject rule, which states that two or more unrelated subjects can't be in one law. The slippery effort to muffle citizens' legal voice was tagged onto an Everglades restoration bill in the closing hours of the Legislature. This was typical of the bullying tactics of Sen. Jim King, who was determined to pass the measure. The Jacksonville Republican is scheduled to become the next Senate president. King initially sought to virtually eliminate citizens' ability to legally contest a development permit by narrowly defining the parties eligible to file a challenge. While the measure was moderated during the late-session push, it still represents an affront to the public. 
Copyright  © 2002  Tampa Tribune  All rights reserved.

DEP's deeper problem
A state appeals court ruled this week that the Department of Environmental Protection can't decide on a permit for a new phosphate mine in Manatee County because of prejudicial comments made by DEP Secretary David Struhs. As welcome as the ruling is, a much deeper problem at the DEP -- the agency's failure to provide, or even seek, an independent analysis of the impact of phosphate mining -- remains unaddressed by state officials. In a 2-1 decision Thursday, the 1st Court of Appeal in Tallahassee ruled that Struhs and his agency must disqualify themselves from acting on a request by IMC Phosphates for a permit to mine 3,000 acres northeast of Bradenton. The ruling centers on statements that Struhs made last spring after an administrative law judge ruled that DEP's review of the application complied with department rules and state law. Although the matter was still in litigation and DEP had not delivered a final decision on the permit, Struhs issued a press release celebrating the administrative law judge's ruling. Struhs said, among other things, that the public could "feel comforted" by the judge's decision. 
Copyright  © 2002  Herald Tribune  All rights reserved.

Researchers: Latest dark water events not troubling
Spotting black water off Southwest Florida's coast over the summer apparently isn't all that remarkable or worrisome. Researchers looking into recent reports of dark water off Sanibel Island and in the Ten Thousand Islands are ascribing those events to relatively harmless algae blooms that tend to crop up during the rainy season.

Sanibel Island pilot Jim Anderson said he took this picture around 10 a.m. Aug. 1. The view is across the northward bend of Sanibel Island, looking toward the Gulf of Mexico. The black mass of water was within yards of shore and stretched to sea almost a mile, Anderson said. He did not know how far south it went. Photo courtesy of Jim Anderson

The masses of water, which have dissipated over the last two weeks, bear little organic resemblance to the mysterious expanse of black water that appeared last January between Cape Romano and the Florida Keys, they say. That earlier black water event consisted of a mixture of red tide, other algae blooms and river runoff, researchers concluded. At least one coral expert has said the event is the No. 1 suspect in the devastation of coral in that region. 
Copyright  © 2002  Naples News  All rights reserved.

 

 

23-August-02

Anonymous donor may help FGCU build engineering school
An engineering school may be on the horizon for Florida Gulf Coast University. FGCU President William Merwin said Thursday in his annual "State of the University" address that an anonymous donor is seriously considering giving a gift that would make an engineering program and school possible. "It's not in the bag yet, but it's possible we'll have a major engineering program," Merwin said in his morning speech to the faculty. "I'm thinking, for us, along the lines of environmental engineering, software engineering and biotechnological engineering." Merwin, who became FGCU's second president in 1999, told of the university's accomplishments and milestones in its five-year history. He also told about projects coming up in its future in his annual speech, which he delivered to staff members Thursday afternoon. Merwin specifically addressed some issues raised early this year in a Faculty Climate Survey, such as FGCU's mission statement and a communication gap between himself and the faculty. The mission statement, he said, is undergoing revision and will be considered by the FGCU Board of Trustees. He plans to hold quarterly forums with the faculty in a town-hall format and meet with each of the university's five colleges.  

Bush Defends Logging Initiative as a Better Means of Management Against Forest Fires  
Stepping through the blackened cinders left by one of the worst forest fires in Oregon's history, President Bush asserted today that his proposal to allow more logging in national forests would prevent catastrophic blazes and lift local economies.  Mr. Bush denounced critics who described his plan as a giveaway for the timber industry.  "What the critics need to do is come and see firsthand the effect of bad forest policy," Mr. Bush said as he walked through a charred stand of Douglas fir and ponderosa pine on Squires Peak, trailed by a clutch of cameras and reporters. "That's what they need to come and see."  "And by the way, there's nothing wrong with people being able to earn a living off of effective forest management," Mr. Bush continued. "There are a lot of people in this part of the state who can't find work."  Mr. Bush flew here this morning from his ranch in Texas for an evocative backdrop to press his proposal to allow more logging of national forestland. He said his plan would remove small trees that have contributed to one of the worst forest fire seasons in the nation's history.  Air Force One flew low and slowly over the Biscuit fire, which started on July 27 and quickly became the largest fire in the state's history at 471,000 acres, banking to starboard to give Mr. Bush a view.   Read more...
Copyright  © 2002  NY Times online  All rights reserved.

Letter to Editor 
Atlas Shrugged, and where is full cost accounting?
What Ms. Pena fails to mention in her justification of sustaining low-density residences on a flood plain, all part of the historic Everglades,  is the cost to the rest of the taxpayers to acquiesce to the non-buyout position.  Taxpayers have a right to know how much they are paying and for what. A full cost accounting would reveal that we, the people, will have to pay something  on the order of $200,000 to  $500,000 per residency over the 50 year life cycle of the Conceptual Everglades Restoration Plan to execute the non-buyout option.   A range has to be given because of all costs considerations and some crystal ball projections:   (1) The capital investment  to install more levees, canals and pumps per square mile in the history of draining Florida Wetlands; (2) the inevitable adverse environmental impact from (1);  (3) the cost of fossil fuel to run the pumps over a 50 year life cycle, and probability of having to go to alternative fuels; (5) Hurricane damage and intense flooding which will inevitably come, and the fact that water managers have indicated there is no possibility of much flood protection here;  (6) Septic tanks in the water table; (7) more infrastructure that is sure to follow; and (8), the further trashing of Everglades National Park as more negative value to public lands that are also the property of the taxpayer. 
Copyright  © 2002  Palm Beach Post  All rights reserved.

 

22-August-02

Officials Agree: Polk Needs Water Plan
It will include policies on source development and conservation.
Polk County should have a water plan a year from now, county commissioners agreed Wednesday. The discussion occurred as commissioners approved a charge for the next stage of the deliberations of the Polk County Water Policy Advisory Committee. "We need a master plan," said Commissioner Don Gifford, who has pushed the commission to become more active on water issues. Gifford and other commissioners envision a plan that could be incorporated into the county's growth plan. It will include policies on how to develop more sources of water, such as reservoirs or aquifer storage, and increased emphasis on water conservation. In addition, Gifford said there should be some long-range planning on the disposition of reuse water, much of which is now planned to offset the use of groundwater for lawn and agricultural irrigation. That could renew the debate over how receptive Polk County should be to new power plants, all of which create additional water demands of millions of gallons per day, and what kinds of land uses the county should encourage or discourage with an eye toward future water demand.  
Copyright  © 2002  The Ledger All rights reserved.

U.S. environment groups see threat to green rules
U.S. environmental groups said on Thursday they fear President George W. Bush may weaken more rules protecting air, land and water after he announced a plan to ease regulations for logging in fire-prone forests. The groups expect the administration to move to open up more Western land to oil and gas drilling, and to push to roll back water pollution programs
and air pollution limits on utilities. "Given Bush's track record on everything from global warming to forest protection to energy policy, their record says that they are listening to
the special interests at the expense of the environment," said Tiernan Sittenfeld, spokeswoman for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group. 
Copyright  © 2002  Forbes  All rights reserved.

 

21-August-02

Environmental groups sue to stop expansion of mining in Everglades
The Army Corps of Engineers ignored years of warnings and criticism - and four federal laws - in approving rock mining permits across 5,000 acres of sensitive Everglades wetlands, claims a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday. Three environmental groups filed the suit in U.S. District Court for the Washington, D.C., circuit in an attempt to have those permits revoked. The Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Parks Conservation Association also accuse the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of ignoring its duties as the Corps' environmental overseer by allowing the permits, despite many documented concerns its officials had expressed about them. The permits at issue are in an area of western Miami-Dade County known as the Lake Belt, a major component of the $8 billion Everglades restoration plan Congress approved in 2000. The Lake Belt envisions turning two major mining pits into water storage areas once the miners are done there, in 35 to 50 years.

Commercial catches down again
For commercial fishermen in the Keys, the official numbers offer no consolation, o