August 8, 2012
Dear South Florida
Water Management District Governing Board members,
Thank you for looking into alternatives that could provide water
to the Caloosahatchee River.
More than a century of drainage, channelization and diking plus
climate-induced drought has led us to the current dilemma. However, backward
pumping polluted water is not the solution.
The Sierra Club, the country’s oldest
and largest grassroots environmental organization opposes any plan to pump agricultural
pollution into Lake Okeechobee.
Under the plan to
boost water levels, untreated EAA run-off, laden with nitrogen, phosphorus,
pesticides and herbicides, would be pumped backwards into Lake Okeechobee.
According to a
recent South
Florida Sun-Sentinel report, the pollutants “could
lead to a dead zone in the lake, resulting in algae blooms and low oxygen
levels that kill fish, aquatic insects and disrupt other aspects of the lake’s
food chain.”
Polluted runoff would
run through the heart of the City of Belle Glade and be pumped into Lake
Okeechobee at Torry Island, home to the community’s public fishing area and recreational
space. Backpumping would be detrimental to the local public’s enjoyment of the
area and would all but eliminate any tourism in this community.
In addition, pumping
water into Lake Okeechobee diverts water critically needed in the Everglades, water that the State of Florida is proposing to spend
an additional $890 million to clean. Instead of cleaning the water and
allowing it to flow south to the Everglades naturally, the District would force
the water back north, cutting off a vital water supply to the water-starved
wetlands and native species. Diverting water that would otherwise go to the
Everglades and replenish the aquifer would reduce water available to Southeast Florida’s urbanized areas.
The
Sierra Club supports supplying more water to the Caloosahatchee by modifying
the adaptive protocols to eliminate the tributary hydrologic conditions
restraint, prioritizing the Lake Hicpochee project, expediting the C-43
reservoir, and greater water conservation measures.
Taking these steps – not
backpumping – will protect the Greater Everglades, as well as the people and
the economies that depend upon a healthy ecosystem.
Again, thank you for
your attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Jonathan Ullman,
Sierra Club Everglades
Team
