| Thanks again for your heartfelt support and growing awareness of Florida’s destructive water management policies. After our last report, we were flooded with inquiries on who to vote for in the upcoming elections to fix these problems! Now or Neverglades has always stated that implementation of the solutions is a political problem caused by individual legislators and administrative appointees, not political parties.
There have been leaders and obstructionists from both parties in the fight to create dynamic southern storage, filtration marshes, send clean water through the Everglades to Florida Bay and reduce the St Lucie and Caloosahatchee discharges. Three estuary disasters with one common solution. The fall elections are critical to the future implementation of science-based solutions. Now or Neverglades’ Founding Members (listed below) are reporting extensively on past actions and policies in this fight for the future of our water, economy and quality of life. I urge you to read what they are saying in hopes that this year’s election choices will become clear as our waters should be. One other thing I would ask, is a simple request to help strengthen our coalition of like-minded organizations and individuals. Please forward this email to five of your friends, family or business associates today and ask them to join in support of Now or Neverglades. We can and will make a difference in our future together. Best, Sandy Moret Islamorada, FL |
Please sign the Now or Neverglades Declaration today, and ask your friends and family to do the same. |
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| In The News |
| Toxic algae threatens FL coasts with another lost summer
For environmentalists, who’ve argued for decades that the state needs to do more to monitor and clean its water, the bloom is just the latest evidence of the state’s failure to address its polluted water. It’s a problem they say will continue to be as inevitable as the steamy summers. Source: Miami Herald |
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Rick Scott panicked on toxic algae, but the problem won’t go away Scott, FDEP, SFWMD and the Army Corps (USACE) had been largely silent on the discharges, but in the immediate wake of Brian Mast’s letter to the Army Corps, they have abruptly changed water management operations, and they have doubled down on the claim that the system does in fact prioritize human health and safest by prioritizing flood control. That is an outright deception, and with toxic algae in the discharges again, it is time for exposure. Source: Bullsugar.org |
DeSantis blasts Putnam for Big Sugar ties in GOP gubernatorial primary
U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis criticized state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam on Friday for being “tied at the hip” with Big Sugar, suggesting the relationship has hurt efforts to stop toxic algae blooms from fouling coastal communities in Southwest Florida and the Treasure Coast.
Source: Naples Daily News
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Red tide is causing unprecedented fish kills in southwest Florida The excess nutrients in Southwest Florida waters are from two sources. First, they are from the high-nutrient water from Lake Okeechobee that is discharged into the Caloosahatchee River as part of water mismanagement in South Florida (the same mismanagement that is killing the Everglades and St. Lucie River). Second, the phosphate mining industry in the Charlotte Harbor watershed produces runoff high in phosphorous, which feeds red tide and other plankton organisms. Source: BTT |
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As algae slimes waterways, Ron DeSantis open to new business regulations Asked what he would do to clean up the lake, DeSantis offered an idea that already is in the works – diverting Okeechobee water south of the lake and away from the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers. But he also expressed a willingness to explore new regulations on polluters Source: Herald Tribune |
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Brian Mast’s ‘Tortured Coast’ focuses on Lake Okeechobee discharges, toxic algae blooms U.S. Rep. Brian Mast is taking a new approach to an old problem, one that’s plagued his Treasure Coast district for nearly 100 years. The Palm City congressman’s staff produced “The Tortured Coast,” a documentary series about how toxic blue-green algae blooms affect people’s daily lives. Source: TC Palm |
