Photo by Chis Costello
More than 100 residents from all corners of Florida gathered recently at the headquarters of the South Florida Water Management District in protest of the Water Managers' inaction on a land purchase deal to save the Everglades.
Protesters held signs demanding the managers “BUY THE LAND” and two-sided signs with a healthy fish on one side and the same fish’s bare skeleton on the other. A protester dressed as a “Sugar Daddy” gave fake money to various “Florida Politicians,” with the face on the bills replaced with that of Governor Rick Scott.
The 48,600 acres of land to the south of Lake Okeechobee, currently owned by an agricultural business based in Florida called U.S. Sugar Corporation, could be used to store and naturally filter the heavily polluted overflow from the lake during storm season. This water could then be redirected to the Everglades to the south, delivering clean freshwater that the wetlands badly need.
The Water Managers, appointed by Governor Rick Scott, faced a four-hour gauntlet of protester comments, rebuffing the managers' list of constraints and calling on them to purchase the land.
“The real constraint is the lack of political will,” said Art Broughton, a Palm Beach County resident and Sierra Club activist.
The South Florida Water Management District has yet to take any of the preliminary actions that would allow for the purchasing of the land. They have had the contractual option to purchase the land from U.S. Sugar since 2009, an option which expires this coming October. Previously, the board of managers had said that it was waiting on a report from the University of Florida before it made a decision on the land purchase. The report found that buying the land would be beneficial, but no substantive decision has been made.
Currently, overflow from Lake Okeechobee flows into nearby rivers and estuaries, spreading the fertilizers, pesticides, and other agricultural runoff in the habitats of a myriad of wildlife. In periods of heavy rains, the lake’s floodgates are opened, and a torrent of toxic water surges through these habitats with unnatural force. The Army Corps of Engineers has also expressed concern that the the dike that currently regulates water levels in the lake is falling into disrepair, and could allow a breach into the Everglades and nearby communities.
The purchase and use of the land would allow for the building of an earthen reservoir to contain the lake’s seasonal overflow, and due to the composition of the soil, this reservoir would filter most of the pollutants out of the water, allowing for it to be directed into the Everglades.
“The Everglades are shrinking and dying because Lake Okeechobee water is being redirected elsewhere,” said Broughton. “The buying of this land and the building of this reservoir will enable the Everglades to live. Without it, the Everglades will die. It is that simple.”