“Instead of asking how much more damage should be allowed to our aquifer, rivers and springs, we should be asking what can be done to improve their health and viability.”
Harry Patterson
Indeed, our water managers have it backwards. They look so carefully and work so hard to contrive feeble excuses to justify taking down our springs just a few more per cent.
On Tuesday, January 10, the SJRWMD Governing Board will vote on the CUP request from Sleepy Creek Lands. Please come to this meeting at district headquarters at 4049 Reid St. in Palatka. Please arrive at 9:30am before the Board Discussion at 11am.
The St Johns Riverkeeper writes the following:
We need you! Here is what you can do.
Good: Send an email to the Governing Board members asking them to Vote No on January 10.
Better: Call the Governing Board Members and tell them why they need to protect Silver Springs and the St. Johns River.
Best: Join us in Palatka 4049 Reid St on January, 10 to show your support for protecting Silver Springs, and ask the Governing Board to Vote No on more water for Sleepy Creek Lands.
Mr. Harry Patterson of High Springs has sent the following letter to the governing board of the St Johns River Water Management District in Palatka. We urge you to write to the water managers in Palatka who want to give more water to a cattle industry and diminish even more the springs and the Silver River.
Your letter does not need to be long nor elaborate; simply request that they do not issue this permit because it will negatively impact Silver Springs and the Silver River.
Here is a list of the board members and the executive director,
Dr. Ann Shortelle.ashortelle@sjrwmd.com,
John Miklos, jmiklos@sjrwmd.com,
Fred Roberts, froberts@sjrwmd.com
Chuck Drake, cdrake@sjrwmd.com
Ron Howse, rhowse@sjrwmd.com,
Douglas Bournique, dbournique@sjrwmd.com
John Browning, John.Browning@sjrwmd.com
Douglas Burnett, dburnett@sjrwmd.com
Maryam Ghyabi, mghyabi@sjrwmd.com
Carla Yetter, cyetter@sjrwmd.com,
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
-A river is like a life: once taken, it cannot be brought back-
January 4, 2017
Dear Chairman Miklos and Board Members,
Please note that the Green Party of Florida strongly opposes the proposed permit to allow an increase in water withdrawal for the benefit of the Sleepy Creek Lands, LLC. Their Consumptive Use Permit, #91926-4, if granted, will cause irreparable, long-term harm to the Silver Springs watershed, and to the associated springs it nourishes.
Livestock husbandry is widely known as a serious threat to the continued health of an aquifer, both from the fertilizer applied to grazing pastures, and the animal waste it generates. The large amount of methane gas produced by livestock operations is also problematic, and is believed to contribute more to climate change than even the burning of fossil fuels.
The natural resource of our aquifer belongs to the commons, to all the people, and should not be given away, at virtually no cost, for the profit of a single individual or his corporation. Instead of asking how much more damage should be allowed to our aquifer, rivers and springs, we should be asking what can be done to improve their health and viability.
Given that the flow rate of Silver Springs is already greatly diminished, and its water quality degraded, it defies logic to approve any actions that will further its damage. The drinking water supply for current and future generations, and the broad economic benefits of healthy springs and rivers surely outweighs the destructive effects that approval of this permit would have.
We ask you to carefully consider the needs of the people, and our planet, and reject this application for environmental harm, and unwarranted corporate profits.
Yours truly,
Harry Patterson
Treasurer
Green Party of Florida
