At first glance this news from the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWIFTMUD) headquartered in Brooksville sounds very good, even if out of character for a WMD. But read carefully as to the reason they oppose the current toll road plans: it is NOT those the affected citizens cite, which are “harm to water resources, wildlife, human health, agriculture and the overall climate, as well as being a poor use of tax dollars.“
No, it is because it would make the District’s lands harder to manage.
As we have seen on these pages, special titles, preserves or conservation areas mean nothing when moneyed-politicians, citizens or industrial corporations see an opportunity to make even more money.
We remember the rumor that when this ill-conceived plan was first made public, the FDOT had not even been consulted. Nor had the State of Georgia that the plan was to run a toll road to its border where there was nothing to tie in to. This rumor sounds very plausible because the plan was self-serving, halfcocked, non-researched and non-thinking.
And remains so. Political power and political influence.
Maybe Thomas Peterffy, Florida’s richest man, will still get his city-in-the-wilderness in Taylor County that he so wants. The FDOT is still working on it, and a few smart, courageous counties and municipalities are saying “NO BUILD” and some are too timid and wimpy to say no even when their constituents oppose it.
And as long as the toll road doesn’t cause management problems for SWIFTMUD, everything is copacetic.
The Gainesville Sun does not provide a link to this article.
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
Water management district voices turnpike concerns in letter
March 1, 2022
Marion County residents have not been shy about their feelings on the proposed Northern Turnpike Extension routes that would connect to the northern terminus from Wildwood/Interstate 75 west to U.S. 19.
They have flocked to County Commission meetings, rallied within Facebook groups and stuck bright pink ‘NO TOLL ROADS’ signs in yards throughout the region. Though the Marion County Commission has declined to support the ‘no build’ option, other entities like the Dunnellon City Council have voiced their objections.
The latest group to share its opinion in the turnpike debate is the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD), which manages water resources over a region spanning 16 counties, including the western portion of Marion County, southeast Levy County, and all of Citrus and Sumter counties.
In a letter addressed to Nicola Liquori, executive director of Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, on Feb. 14, Swiftmud, as the agency is commonly known, wrote that the district cannot support any of the proposed routes because each traverses district-owned conservation lands.
‘We appreciate FDOT’s willingness to consider an alternative option,’ Brian S. Starford, SWFWMD’s operations, lands and resource monitoring division director, wrote in the letter.
Four proposed routes ‘traverse District-owned conservation lands’
SWFWMD Public Information Officer Susanna Martinez Tarokh detailed to the Star-Banner that the four nearby lands are the Halpata Tastanaki Preserve, Potts Preserve, Half Moon-Gum Slough and Two Mile Prairie.
‘Any option that would bisect District-owned conservation lands or sever District lands from other existing conservation lands would be inconsistent with the original intent behind the use of taxpayer dollars to acquire those conservation lands,’ the letter states.
SWFWMD also wrote that bisecting such conservation lands would adversely impact its ability to manage those properties.
‘Therefore, the District cannot support proposed routes that bisect District-owned conservation lands or otherwise severs District-owned conservation lands from existing conservation lands,’ it concluded.
Halpata Tastanaki Preserve, an 8,146-acre property in Dunnellon near the Marion County Airport, would primarily be bisected from southeast to northwest by Alternative Corridor North A, though it is also near alternative routes North B and Central.
The land is adjacent to the Withlacoochee River and contains floodplain swamp, oak scrub and longleaf pine turkey oak sandhill communities. There are dozens of miles of public biking, hiking and equestrian trails.
Two Mile Prairie, a 2,900-acre preserve in Hernando, is located just south of Halpata Tastanaki in Citrus County. Its southern portion overlaps with the proposed Central corridor.
Potts Preserve, an 8,500-acre site in Inverness also along the Withlacoochee, is situated just north of Alternative Corridor South and south of the proposed Central route in Citrus County.
Half Moon-Gum Slough is a 9,554-acres property in Lake Panasoffkee in Sumter County adjacent to Potts Preserve and on the east side of the Withlacoochee. Its southern tip touches the proposed South corridor.
The Gum Slough SWFWMD Conservation Easement bordering Half Moon-Gum Slough and Potts Preserve to the north also touches the proposed North A and Central routes at its north end.
There may be other smaller conservation easement lands also impacted by the current plan, Martinez Tarokh indicated.
District hopes to communicate with FDOT, encourage alternative route
SWFWMD noted the purpose of the letter was to maintain communication between the FDOT and the district and ‘memorialize the District’s position’ on the proposed routes.
It urged the FDOT to consider its position on the proposed routes and also expressed interest in the FDOT’s discussion about an alternative corridor ‘that would minimize impacts to existing conservation lands to the greatest extent possible.’
Many area residents have advocated for no build altogether, citing harm to water resources, wildlife, human health, agriculture and the overall climate, as well as being a poor use of tax dollars.
Marion County’s approach, which has been supported by the Ocala/Marion County Chamber & Economic Partnership, was to send a letter to FDOT reminding of the county’s comprehensive plan protecting Farmland Preservation Area, asking to avoid impacting residential subdivisions, and urging for a seat at the table as the process continues.
Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com
