If the head of the algae task force is not concerned about the current status of Florida’s waters, then we can just say from the start that this group is going nowhere.   Even if he were aware of our problems (how in the world can he not be?) we hold little hope that this politically-motivated waste of taxpayer money would achieve any solution to the problem.

Sounds like the old saying about “religion and politics” should be applied here.  “Disingenuous” is way too nice an adjective in this case.  Perhaps Mr. Rains is living in a parallel universe, but at any rate, he sounds like a good DeSantis scientist.

Over and over we have seen the cause of the problem– over-pumping and over-fertilization– ignored because the solution would be expensive and career-killing for politicians.

The solution will not come until we have ruined our resources or, perhaps, put protection in our Florida Constitution.

Read this original sad story  here in TCPalm.

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

Which is why some remarks Gov. Ron DeSantis’ chief science officer made during a recent interview with TCPalm are so troubling.

The state’s Blue-Green Algae Task Force, empaneled by DeSantis in 2019, released a report earlier this month noting most of its recommendations for cleaning up the state’s waterways haven’t been followed.

Mark Rains heads that task force. Yet he seemed remarkably unbothered by the current state of affairs.

“As we’re continuing to make progress, I’m not overly concerned about where we are today — I’m concerned about what we do tomorrow,” Rains said in an interview the day after the task force’s lack-of-progress report was released.

If those problems had been discovered yesterday, Rains’ response would seem perfectly reasonable.

However, in light of the state’s history of inaction in addressing those problems, Rains seems about as disingenuous as the corrupt police captain portrayed by Claude Rains in the 1942 classic movie, Casablanca.

One can almost imagine Mark Rains feigning similar surprise, with a similar amount of credibility, about the state’s water conditions.

Our View:Manatee deaths, algae blooms suggest Florida waters getting worse, not better

Our View:Florida must follow data, enforce rules to clean up Lake Okeechobee pollution

Our View:No time to relax on Lake Okeechobee water plan; lagoon, St. Lucie too important

It’s true, on the most superficial level, that cleaning up water pollution is a monumental task that requires a multi-faceted approach to accomplish.

It’s not like trying to solve the riddle of the Sphinx, however. There are a lot of practical ideas for how to make it happen.

Within months of its formation, the task force made up of scientific experts came up with a list of steps for improving water quality. According to its follow-up report, 87% of the recommendations haven’t been followed.

In other cases, it appears no action has been taken at all.

For example, consider the state’s efforts to track the amount of pollution entering Lake Okeechobee at various points along the waterway. In January, TCPalm published an investigation illustrating how and why those monitoring efforts have been ineffective.

Rather than using available technology to monitor pollution levels, the investigation found state regulators were essentially taking polluters at their word about the amounts of toxic materials flowing into the lake, many of which eventually end up being released into the St. Lucie River.

The investigation also detailed how the state allows property owners to follow a set of voluntary best management practices, rather than enforcing pollution restrictions with fines or other penalties.

In response, state lawmakers did virtually nothing to address those issues in this year’s regular legislative session or the special sessions that followed. Maybe if Disney were one of the alleged polluters, our elected leaders might have found some steel in their spines.

But ensuring clean drinking water apparently isn’t as sexy of a political issue as whatever culture war debate is dominating the day’s headlines.

There are lots of other steps state officials could be taking to address these problems, including providing more money for septic-to-sewer conversions, improving stormwater treatment infrastructure, and investing in new pollution-reduction technologies.

There are activists in Florida who have spent large portions of their lives advocating for cleaner water. You could fill a small cemetery with advocates whose time ran out before meaningful progress was made.

Florida native Tom Petty sang that the waiting was the hardest part. But he was just talking about the time he spent between concert performances.

In their quest for clean water, Floridians have something more substantive at stake. And we have waited long enough.

Editorials published by TCPalm/Treasure Coast Newspapers are decided collectively by its editorial board. To respond to this editorial with a letter to the editor, email up to 300 words to TCNLetters@TCPalm.com.