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We were exceptionally happy to see that Bob Knight, Director of Florida Springs Institute and member of the OSFR Advisory Board was invited to present to the Florida Legislative House, Water Quality, Supply and Treatment Subcommittee in Tallahassee on Tuesday, February 7, 2023.
In his allotted time Bob gave simple solutions to the water problem which basically are to put a cap on pumping groundwater and to reduce the nitrogen load. Another is to charge a fee for water.
He also identified what are not solutions and these are the BMAPs. Along with this non-working solution is the money which is not solving anything. In addition, the MFLs are ineffective because the State insists on using model projections which are theories only instead of looking at actual data which they could use. Bob did not say that the reason they do this is because they can manipulate the model to make it do what they want. Scientific data cannot be made up but theories can.
So after this presentation of facts, we have Mr. Adam Blalock from the DEP who addresses water quality and quantity. So, guess what Mr. Blalock talks about–yep, the BMAPs, which are the DEP’s solution.
Even though minutes before Bob Knight told the committee that they were not working, Mr. Blalock, unfazed, spent a long time talking about them. Next he went to the MFLs, and mentioned TMDLs, (Total Maximum Daily Loads.)
Mr. Blalock spent most of his time emphasizing data collection and used the word “monitoring” over and over. Rather than address results he talked of methods of monitoring. This reminds us of Mosaic’s and the plastics industry’s greenwashing by repeating upbeat words. Thus, we got a lot of “data collection,” “reduction strategies,” “most up-to-date data,” “recovery and prevention strategies” and so on and on.
His message was the DEP is assessing and monitoring the situation.
Representative Dianne Hart indicated she was not taken in by all of Mr. Blalock’s BS by asking how much we are spending just on data collection. She did not get a straight answer, but the implication was that just about all the allocations.
An example of the weak non-answers from the DEP is when their representative explained that when flow requirements were not being met, if the user, be it agriculture or industry, is going to be using more groundwater than what is available, then they must offset that with non-traditional groundwater source.
What does that mean? Does that imply the DEP curtails water users if they use too much? No one asked him what the non-traditional groundwater sources might be.
Our thanks to Bob Knight for his considerable efforts to save our springs because the State of Florida definitely will not.
We hope the information he gave to the committee is taken to heart and not shouted down by legislators on the payroll of the polluters.
Read the original article here in FloridaPolitics.
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
House Subcommittee Seeks to Give Florida Springs a Hand
And freeing the Ocklawaha River would cost next to nothing.’
Some environmental issues have a more bipartisan flavor than others, and so it is with Florida’s springs.
The House Water Quality, Supply and Treatment Subcommittee received a briefing on the situation with the state’s springs this week, and what needs to be done to restore and enhance them.
“Florida is home to more large springs than any other state in the nation,” said subcommittee Chairwoman Cyndi Stevenson, a St. Johns Republican. “Springs are important — they’re an indication of how healthy or not healthy our groundwater is. In Florida, groundwater is a source of 60%-90% of our drinking water, depending on what part of the state you live in.”
Robert Knight, Executive Director of the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute, explained the basics of Florida’s springs to the subcommittee, and came with ideas about what to do next and what not to do.
“We’ve spent $400 million already on engineering fixes to the springs, and yet we’ve gone back and analyzed the data, and none of the springs have gotten better in terms of nitrogen,” Knight said. “It’s still rising — nitrate levels are still rising. There have been some good projects, but a lot of that money has really gone to waste.”
Not to be overlooked, he suggested restricting installation of new septic systems of larger properties of more than three acres.
“And freeing the Ocklawaha River would cost next to nothing,” Knight said.
Another idea is to bring Florida springs under the umbrella of the National Park System.
“Do you believe that if we added it to parks, to national parks, the springs, would we get better protection?” Tampa Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart asked.
“That is basically admitting that the state can’t take care of its own problems,” Knight said. “I’d rather not have to go there, but I think having a springs national park is a neat idea.”
Wes Wolfe
Wes Wolfe is a reporter who’s worked for newspapers across the South, winning press association awards for his work in Georgia and the Carolinas. He lives in Jacksonville and previously covered state politics, environmental issues and courts for the News-Leader in Fernandina Beach. You can reach Wes at wes@floridapolitics.com and @WesWolfeFP. Facebook: facebook.com/wes.wolfe
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