Lucinda Merritt of Ichetucknee Alliance and member of Floridians’ Clean Water Declaration Steering Committee, has written an article in today’s Gainesville Sun about the rally on Wednesday for clean water and Amendment 1. It is important to come out and support this activity in order to show our lawmakers that our mission is important to not just us, but to all Florida.
Continue reading here for the full article, or go to this link to see the piece in the Sun. OSFR is pleased to note the several articles appearing recently in the Sun regarding this topic: pieces by OSFR, Christopher Curry, Robert Knight, and now Lucinda Merritt. We also appreciate that we may reprint the complete article and send thanks to Nathan Crabbe and the Gainesville Sun.
Lucinda Faulkner Merritt: Rallying for clean water in Florida
Published: Monday, February 16, 2015 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, February 12, 2015 at 5:11 p.m.On Wednesday, residents from every region of Florida — from North Florida’s springs to South Florida’s Everglades and reefs, and all the lakes, rivers and beaches in between — will gather on the steps of the Old Capitol in Tallahassee to tell our elected representatives that we want clean water.
I encourage all Floridians who care about protecting and restoring Florida’s waters to join us for the rally beginning at 11:30 a.m.
The rally is one result of the Floridians’ Clean Water Declaration Campaign, an effort to promote a new water ethic for Florida that emerged from a statewide meeting of water advocates in fall 2013.
From that meeting came the Floridians’ Clean Water Declaration that promotes the ideas that clean water is essential for healthy people and a healthy economy, that problems of water quality and water quantity are related, and that our waters should be managed as a public trust.
One of the remarkable things about the Clean Water Declaration Campaign is the vision that lies at its heart — a vision that rejects ongoing pollution and destruction of our waters by promoting responsible water stewardship for the good of individuals, communities and the state.
It’s a vision that acknowledges a healthy environment and clean, abundant water are our most important assets because they are the hallmarks of the Florida “brand.”
Our unique environment is a major reason that Florida is one of the world’s top tourist destinations; it’s also the reason so many people choose to live and do business here, in a time when business can be conducted almost anywhere.
It’s a vision of people who accept personal responsibility and willingly embrace the idea of water stewardship, of people who have the courage to change today in order to preserve for tomorrow — for our children and grandchildren — the best of what Florida offers.
It’s a vision of what Florida could become — a forward-thinking state that is truly committed to water conservation and stopping pollution at its source.
It’s a vision that requires all of us — elected representatives, environmental advocates, water managers, farmers and ranchers, power suppliers, business owners, industry leaders, homeowners, engineers, builders, inventors, artists — to move beyond labels so we can begin to work together to solve our water problems.
Together, we can make Florida an international model of wise water use and a model of a sustainable economy that recognizes the considerable economic, ecological and spiritual value of our unique waters.
Manifesting this vision will take an outpouring of public support and courageous actions by our elected representatives and water managers — but if we can send people to the moon, surely we can clean up our waters!
If you value clean water and if our vision inspires you, please join us at the Floridians for Clean Water and Amendment 1 Rally, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday on the steps of the Old Capitol in Tallahassee.
Speakers from the Floridians’ Clean Water Declaration Campaign will be joined by speakers from the Florida Legislature and the Florida Water and Land Legacy Initiative (Amendment 1).
Add your voice to this call to action!
For more information about the rally and available buses, see wewantcleanwater.com.
Lucinda Faulkner Merritt is a member of the Floridians’ Clean Water Declaration Steering Committee. She lives in Fort White.
