Lu Merritt is too kind to our water agencies in this great op-ed. The term is “greenwashing” and Ron DeSantis is an expert at it. And those people in the agencies who want to keep their jobs just follow along.
She mentions that, statewide, agriculture is responsible for 70 per cent of pollution in our springs, but the state only allocated 4 per cent of restoration funds to fight agricultural pollution. What she did not mention is that this 4 per cent went for land acquisition, not in stopping pollution from agriculture. That was zilch, nada.
Which shows that the State of Florida gives agriculture a free reign to pollute. If you follow any type of action by the DEP or the water management districts, you will see that money spent [and it adds up to billions] will hit very selective targets and always miss the companies and industries that do the polluting.
Always.
When DeSantis beats his chest and proclaims that he spends millions to fight green algae or red tide, the money never goes to the source or the companies which cause the pollution.
Thus, the “illusion of protection” is what we have in Florida. Our state is willfully allowing our springs and rivers to slowly die, and future generations have no rights nor voice. Our legislators, water managers and DEP have failed us.
This did not happen by accident; it is a planned roadway to promote business and money, which our state deems more important than our springs and rivers.
OSFR is grateful to Lu Merritt for exposing this tragedy we are experiencing under our incompetent and useless water “protectors.”
Read the original article with many photos on line here in the Gainesville Sun. The hard copy publishing date is likely Sunday, June 26, 2022.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Florida provides only the ‘illusion of protection’ for our springs
June 23, 2022
According to Article II, Section 7 of the Florida Constitution, “Natural resources and scenic beauty — (a) It shall be the policy of the state to conserve and protect its natural resources and scenic beauty. Adequate provision shall be made by law for the abatement of air and water pollution and of excessive and unnecessary noise and for the conservation and protection of natural resources.”
Yet according to report cards issued by the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute, these were the overall ecological health grades earned in 2015 by several of Florida’s well-known springs:
Silver Springs, F
Silver Glen, C+
Wekiwa Springs, D-
Manatee Springs, D-
Fanning Springs, F
Poe Spring, C-
Ginnie Spring, D+
Gilchrist Blue Spring, C+
Rainbow Springs, F
Ichetucknee Head Spring, C+.
These failures occur because regulatory agencies exist to regulate the amount of harm that our springs experience, not to protect those springs from harm. The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund calls this the “regulatory fallacy.”
When the minimum flows and levels were set for the lower Santa Fe and Ichetucknee in 2015, both were designated as “in recovery” — meaning there was not enough water for both people and the springs and rivers. Despite a huge public outcry several years later, the Suwannee River Water Management District approved a huge water withdrawal permit for a water-bottling operation on the Santa Fe near Ginnie Springs.
Several watchdog groups that recently challenged BMAPs for failing to follow state law received unfavorable decisions from an administrative law judge. Those decisions have been appealed, meaning the state is spending our tax dollars to defend its failure to protect our springs.
More Messages from the Springs Heartland:
A wake-up call to local leaders: Lee property should be protected, not developed
Springs protection zone would restrict gas-powered boats on lower Ichetucknee River
The 2022 Springs Summit: information, illusion and inspiration
State agencies’ public relations campaigns advertise spending millions of dollars to fix springs pollution problems. A recent study by the Florida Springs Council, however, found that 90% of that money is allocated to fix less than 18% of the nitrogen pollution in Outstanding Florida Springs.
Only 4% of springs restoration funding is spent to reduce or prevent pollution by agriculture, which is responsible for approximately 70% of all nutrient pollution in those springs. The Florida Springs Council also concluded that based on 2021-2022 projects proposed by Suwannee River Water Management District, it will take 190 years and cost almost $2 billion to achieve water quality goals for the Santa Fe and Ichetucknee rivers. Florida hasn’t yet learned that it’s cheaper to prevent problems than to fix them.
Our “illusion of protection” also has national roots, because federal laws protect business and commerce at the expense of natural systems. Natural systems are considered property and anyone with a title to property has the legal right to harm it.
A “permit” allows destruction of ecosystems. Some major sources of water pollution, such as runoff from agricultural operations, are classified as “non-point sources” and are not regulated by federal law. Corporate personhood means corporations can claim constitutional rights that allow them to sue for lost income.
Given the expense of such lawsuits, state agencies refuse to cap the amount of water that can be withdrawn in Florida — even when such caps could ensure healthier natural systems for everyone to enjoy, and even as those agencies spend taxpayers’ money to defend their own failures in court.
How do we break through these illusions to achieve real protections? That will take major shifts in public consciousness, political will and legal systems. Granting legal rights to natural systems could help. Granting people legal rights to clean and healthy waters could help. A groundswell of votes for healthy water could help.
How many innovations could that vision spark? How many jobs could be created?
How many springs could be saved?
Lucinda Faulkner Merritt is a writer and springs lover who works as the staff assistant/communications coordinator for the Ichetucknee Alliance. This column is part of The Sun’s Messages from the Springs Heartland series.
