Veto Florida Senate Bill 2080, Governor Crist!
Dear Supporter,
Speak out against S.B.2080!
Demand the right to keep participating in how Florida’s precious water is managed
Governor Crist has a bill on his desk that would limit open public meetings with Florida water officials considering water withdrawal requests. Under this new bill, S.B.2080, those decisions would be left up to a single water management district official with little transparency and almost no public input!
Sign a letter telling Gov. Crist to veto this bill and maintain the public’s right to voice how their state should use its precious water resources.
This bill would give potential new bottling facilities, desalination plants, and even new developments the ability to take from Florida’s aquifers, oceans, rivers, and lakes with little oversight from the public.
And how important is this civic participation? All through 2006 and 2007, for instance, citizens from the Our Santa Fe River group regularly attended water management board meetings to oppose a bottling facility that would have needlessly extracted water from a spring head on the river. And their public outcry defeated the bottling facility!
Encourage the governor to act in the public good and preserve this most essential citizens’ right.
Currently, the state’s five water management districts that oversee much of how Florida’s water is allocated are run by board members appointed by the governor and NOT elected by the public. Regular board meetings, which under the bill would no longer play such an important role, are the only opportunity for citizens to hold their water management officials accountable.
Tell Gov. Crist you want to keep a system of accountability and transparency in place that will protect Florida’s water.
Sincerely,
Jorge
Water Organizer
Food and Water Watch
Food & Water Watch is a nonprofit consumer organization that works to ensure clean water and safe food. We challenge the corporate control and abuse of our food and water resources by empowering people to take action and by transforming the public consciousness about what we eat and drink.
