Email from VoteWater Also: Update on the EAA rock mine project, and a tribute to one of our founders DONATE NOW!   Have you signed the Rescue the River of Grass petition yet? Learn more and add you name to the growing list of people who want to buy the land and fix the Everglades once and for all! Could discharges end March 15? U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials last week suggested damaging discharges to the “northern estuaries” (St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, Lake Worth Lagoon) could end on March 15. That’s only a possibility; but if “Lake Okeechobee Recovery Operations" (i.e. discharges) don't get the lake low enough to make a difference, discharges MUST end. And you can hasten that by contacting Col. Brandon Bowman at the link below to ask the Corps to close the floodgates. TAKE ACTION: Complete this letter to Col. Brandon Bowman with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; or email Bowman at [email protected] SPB 7002: Accountability or defunding Everglades restoration? A bill was filed last week in the Florida Senate that could be seen as a “good government” bill. It could also be seen as an attempt to cut spending on Everglades Restoration. Senate Proposed Bill 7002 would mandate greater detail in budgeting, more transparency and accountability for water management districts, the South Florida Water Management District in particular. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But some of the changes would effectively ensure less money for Comprehensive Everglades Restoration (CERP) projects, and less fiscal flexibility for water management districts that could slow progress on restoration. We dive into the details on our website — check it out for a closer look. READ MORE AT VOTEWATER.ORG State parks bills need to be better Last week in Tallahassee Senate Bill 80 — Sen. Gayle Harrell’s “State Land Management Act,” an attempt to prohibit inappropriate development in Florida's state parks — got its first hearing before the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee, where it passed unanimously. Unfortunately, as currently written, SB 80 and its House companion bill, HB 209, would not prevent the type of harmful development projects we stopped last August. We need your voice! Contact your representatives and senators TODAY and urge them to amend the bill with the following: Add a section on prohibited uses like golf courses and pickleball courts. Forbid any use that would cause “a material disturbance to the resources of a state park.” Take out terms such as “to the maximum extent practicable”, “significant harm”, and “avoid” which will allow inappropriate development rather than prevent it. Put state forest and state wildlife management areas under the same protections. Take action NOW to tell your legislators to protect our parks, and keep Florida wild! Look up your: REPRESENTATIVES SENATORS Contact the bill sponsors: Sen. Gayle Harrell (SB 80) Stuart office: (772) 221-4019 Jupiter office: (772) 221-4019 Tallahassee office: (850) 487-5031 Email: [email protected] Rep. John Snyder (HB 209) Palm City office: (772) 403-1064 Jupiter office: (772) 403-1064 Tallahassee office: (850) 717-5086 Email: [email protected] Trump should take aim at sugar subsidies It’s wishful thinking perhaps, as Florida Crystals sugar magnate Pepe Fanjul was reportedly onstage during President Trump’s inauguration, and Trump just appointed Fanjul’s wife, Emelia, to the Kennedy Center Board of Directors. However, the conservative Heritage Foundation — which appears to have Trump’s ear with its advice on spending cuts — last week published a piece on “America’s Addiction to Big Sugar Leaves a Bitter Aftertaste,” detailing how federal price supports for domestic sugar production contribute to high sugar prices. “Big Sugar isn’t content with the government benefits it receives at the cost of consumers,” the authors note. “Instead, it works to further entrench its monopoly through lobbying.” Trump, they point out, has long promised to take on special interests and “drain the swamp.” “Perhaps he should start with the sugar and corn lobbies,” they write. Check this link for the article. And if you haven’t already, check out our No Big Sugar page, where we provide more details on how the federal government supports the sugar industry, why that special treatment needs to end — and what you can do about it. EAA Rock mine update at SFWMD meeting Remember that rock mine in the EAA being styled as a “water resource project” by contractor Phillips & Jordan and property owners Florida Crystals and U.S. Sugar? One day it will supposedly serve as a reservoir — after all the limestone has been dug out, decades down the line. At last week’s South Florida Water Management District Governing Board meeting, Executive Director Drew Bartlett gave an update on the proposal, saying the district is definitely interested in more water storage in the region and that if staff reviews the project and finds it viable, the matter will go to the governing board for a vote. But later in the meeting Lisa Interlandi, an attorney with the Everglades Law Center, pointedly ask Bartlett and the board whether the letter Bartlett sent to Phillips & Jordan — on New Year's Eve! — constituted a "letter of project identification," which would allow the proposal to move ahead at the Palm Beach County level. She did not get a response. Bartlett's update notwithstanding, we agree with Friends of the Everglades Executive Director Eve Samples, who told the SFWMD board that “This has been discussed behind the scenes for more than a year without due public input.” “What happens in the EAA will determine the survival of the Everglades,” she said. That’s why this rock mine proposal needs to be buried — and we’ll keep you posted on how you can help us do just that. The final word: Goodbye to a true water warrior Kenny Hinkle Jr., a co-founder and former President of Bullsugar.org, the previous incarnation of VoteWater, has died. His passion for our waterways was palpable; he was a driving force in this organization’s early days, his ubiquitous video camera in hand to document the damage being done to our waters, and the pushback he and other water warriors were helping to ignite. Click here for Kenny’s memories of those early days. This organization might not have existed had it not been for his efforts and his realization that we were facing not a science problem, but a political problem — one that required a political solution. He pushed hard for that solution. And his legacy lives on as we continue to fight that good fight. BECOME A MEMBER DONATE NOW     VoteWater | 3727 SE Ocean Blvd. Suite 200A | Stuart, FL 34996 US Unsubscribe | Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice