Enough of the 'doomscrolling'; a photo essay on what we're all fighting to preserve and protect     The beauty behind why we 'Vote Water' Here at VoteWater, we learned a new word last week: “Doomscrolling.” According to Wikipedia it means “spending an excessive amount of time reading large quantities of negative news online.” Guilty as charged. There’s never any shortage of unsettling news about Florida’s waterways. But for once, let’s tap the brakes and talk about what we’re fighting for instead of what we’re fighting against. Or rather, let us show you. These pics, we hope, illustrate the breathtaking beauty and majesty of our Florida waterways. All of this is fragile. All of this needs protection. And that’s why we “Vote Water” — and maybe why you do, too. VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE PHOTOS: CLICK HERE DONATE TO VOTEWATER   Right project, but in the right place?  We’re keeping an eye on a proposal in Okeechobee County to build a stormwater treatment area, or STA, north of Lake Okeechobee along the C-38 Canal in the Lower Kissimmee Basin. The land, some 3,400 acres, is owned by a private company called Ecosystem Investment Partner, which has been contracted by the South Florida Water Management District to study and design the project. The idea is to capture water from the L-62 and C-38 canals before it enters Lake O and treat it, removing phosphorus and nitrogen, before returning cleaner water to the canal and ultimately the lake. It’s part of the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program (NEEPP) and would be situated just south of some of the biggest “hot spot” sub basins in terms of nutrient pollution/runoff. So if you want to treat water north of the lake before it flows INTO the lake — and we do — this would seem to be a perfect spot. But not so fast: Okeechobee County Commissioners, reacting to local concerns, have called for the project to be canceled, saying the project could decrease property values, increase insurance rates and pose a danger to air traffic at the nearby Okeechobee County Airport. County commissioners say it's not that they think it’s a bad project — they just want it moved to a different location. Unfortunately, it may be impossible to find a more suitable location from an environmental (and land acquisition) standpoint. We get the county’s concerns; but this project could do a lot of good. So we hope the county, the district and the company can come to some sort of agreement so the proposal can move forward. What about this (wet) winter? After a super-dry October, Lake Okeechobee dropped below 16 feet this week. The question is whether it will stay there. Heavier rains moved into the region Monday and were expected to continue the rest of the week. NOAA forecasters expect above-average rainfall throughout November, and as we’ve noted previously experts predict a strong El Nino winter, which could bring more rain than usual during the dry season. A key question is: How much lake water (if any) will be sent to the STAs south of the lake during the winter months? According to data presented by SFWMD officials during their Nov. 9 meeting, only about 6,000 acre-feet of the 991,000 acre-feet of water sent to the STAs during the current “water year” came from the lake. This figure could change significantly by the time the water year ends in April, but officials at the meeting talked about the need to give the STAs a “breather” in November and December. If heavier-than-usual winter rains then commence, will district officials prioritize more capacity in the STAs for lake water than we’ve seen so far this year? Or will the Everglades Agricultural Area get first dibs, as usual, leaving little to no room for lake water? The answer could determine whether we see discharges over the dry season or not. Stay tuned. For the record: 63% of the EAA is sugarcane So there’s a little tiff going on between our friends in the conservation community and Big Sugar/Big Agriculture. It started, or at least accelerated, last week after four groups — the Everglades Foundation, Captains for Clean Water, the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and Florida Oceanographic Society — co-authored an op-ed in the Orlando Sentinel touting the need for continued Everglades restoration and more water storage as the solution for recent flooding that’s plagued the central Everglades. But the piece also suggested Big Sugar could lend a hand by dropping lawsuits filed to thwart construction of the EAA Reservoir. Dropping the legal actions would be appropriate, wrote the co-authors, “considering that [Big Sugar's] own fields are already being drained causing the drowning of the Everglades tree islands.” Well. Big Sugar and Big Ag were outraged — outraged we say! — and quickly trotted out a shill to rip Captains for Clean Water in particular. And by the way, did you know a lot of fruit and vegetables are grown in the EAA? Why do these enviro groups hate farmers and want to ruin the nation’s food supply! We would simply point out that the Everglades Agricultural Area encompasses about 700,000 acres. According to the University of Florida’s IFAS Extension in Palm Beach County, about 440,000 acres of that is sugarcane. That’s 63%. Those seeking to refute the enviro groups somehow forgot to mention this. We wonder why. Big Sugar has this way of trying to hide behind small farmers, as if most of the EAA land isn’t owned by huge agribusiness corporations. Likewise, this invocation of all the corn and other crops grown in the EAA is a way of distracting you from the fact that 63% of the EAA is sugarcane. Lastly: At their Nov. 9 meeting SFWMD officials said 20% of the water stacked up in the central Everglades came from the EAA. So the EAA and our water management policies that keep it dry aren’t the CAUSE of the flooding — but certainly a SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTOR to the flooding. So next time you hear a sugar shill wailing that enviro groups are distorting the facts — you might want to check the facts, as we did. And then you’ll understand who’s really doing the distorting. Why do you Vote Water? At VoteWater we believe Florida's water crisis is a political crisis, requiring a political solution. We need the right policies, and the right politicians, to protect and restore our invaluable, beautiful natural resources. That's why we "Vote Water." Why do you Vote Water? Send us a note and tell us; include some pics if you like; and maybe we'll feature you in an upcoming newsletter! DONATE BECOME A MEMBER P.S. Signatures Needed! The "Right to Clean and Healthy Waters" petition needs 900,000 signature by November 30 to get on the 2024 ballot. The petition can be printed out and signed here: [link removed] VoteWater 3727 SE Ocean Blvd Suite 200-A Stuart, FL 34996 | (772) 212-2939 VoteWater | 3727 SE Ocean Blvd, Suite 200-A, Stuart, FL 34996 Unsubscribe [email protected] Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by [email protected] powered by Try email marketing for free today!