For the last four years, Captains for Clean Water has worked to one goal: repairing Florida’s chronic water issues. A poison-pill provision in the US House of Representatives’ upcoming Water Resources Development Act reauthorization (WRDA), however, threatens to upend everything Captains for Clean Water has worked towards.
In a relatively short amount of time, Captains for Clean Water has secured large amounts of public and political support for fixing Florida’s water problems. Decades of chronic water mismanagement, to the benefit of special interests, has plagued South Florida. The solution to these issues is known: restore the natural flow of freshwater to the Everglades.
Progress on the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir and other essential water improvement projects were chugging along faster than anticipated–thanks to renewed political interest. But today, everything is at risk. The sugar industry has flexed its political muscles and is attempting to destroy all this progress.
Thankfully, even in this time when most of the country is stuck at home, Captains for Clean Water caught wind of this devious plan and is working day and night to block it. Very generally speaking, this poison-pill provision, offered by Representative Alcee Hastings (FL-20), would revert water allocations in Lake Okeechobee back to pre-2000’s levels. This would ignore all the new scientific understandings and beneficial practices that have helped improve Florida’s water management. For more info on the specifics of this threat, check out this recent Captains for Clean Water blog post.
Additionally, the most important thing you can do to voice your support for the everglades, Florida’s fisheries, and all the important work Captains for Clean Water and others are doing, is email your respective members of Congress. This would be devastating for Florida’s recreation-based economy, clean drinking water, and some of our favorite fisheries. Captains for Clean Water makes it really easy with this simple form: Urgent! Take Action Now.
