Since we started this petition a lot has happened. So like everything else in this movement that started off to save our Indian River Lagoon and morphed into saving Caloosahatchee River, saving the Everglades, saving the water of south florida , saving the florida bay, saving south florida and stopping the discharges of millions of gallons of fresh water out to tide.

Sending water south will not only help us stop the discharges to us and Caloosahatchee River but it is needed to recharge the aquifers for people's drinking water and to help stop salt water intrusion and sea level rise. Plus that who wastes that much water? This is your water being wasted.

According to the Scientists at the Everglades Coalition meeting “The most important thing to prevent sea level rise in MIami is to send the water south.”

75% of Floridians voted in amendment one. This land was written into that into amendment one. Now the Florida Legislature wants to use the land ( the same folks who opposed it) as their personal slush fund.

The reason this is so important right now is that the option on the land runs out in Oct and this needs to be taken care of before May 1 in the legislative session.

Our local legislators, rick scott and the south florida water management district are doing nothing and hoping it will all just go away the option will run out and then the land will be too expensive to buy.

They have their directives. Constraints.

SFWMD Engineer Jeff Jeff Kivett wrote a report with all the constraints as to why we will never ever ever ever ever be able to buy the land and send the water south.

The discharges have got to stop. The reservoir needs to be built. (BS actually wanted this. It would be good for all involved) The money is there. With out a flow way the rest of Everglades Restoration won't work.

From the blog of Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch:

"Recently US Sugar Corporation, and even some members from the Governing Board of the SFWMD itself “hijacked” Mr Kivett’s document, to make it seem like it proves everything is “in stone,” justifies the atrocities of the plumbing system, and makes the idea of buying land south of Lake Okeechobee null and void….Nothing, could be further than the truth….and was not the intention of Mr Kivett’s document."

According to SFWMD we will be getting toxic discharges forever, the water of South Florida will be destroyed, salt water will continue to intrude. They have no intention of doing anything about this. That means Rick Scott has no intention of doing anything. According to Kevin Powers he is our best friend and we should listen to him.

With friends like that who needs enemies? Same goes for our legislators that voted for the water bill. You are all complicit. Every single one of you.





We are sure that you are aware of the impending disaster of the St Lucie River Esturary and the Indian River Lagoon that we local residents (and tourists who vacation here annually) are now facing because of the illegal pollution that is killing the wildlife and creating a health hazard for humans. We ask you to please help us clean up this problem before it is too late.

The St. Lucie River Estuary and the Indian River Lagoon are in critical condition due to large discharges of polluted freshwater from Lake Okeechobee and the agricultural canals. Discharges now exceed 4.5 billion gallons per day! The water has high levels of phosphorus, nitrogen and pesticides while depositing over 500 cubic yards of sediment into the estuaries daily during the discharges. This is also a direct loss of billions of gallons of freshwater to the ocean that would normally recharge south Floridas drinking water aquifers.

Direct impacts of the discharges include fish with lesions, dying oyster populations and loss of seagrass habitat. Declines in tourism, boating, fishing, and all water-related activities are causing a major economic loss in our community. Here, the environment IS the economy. Protected areas are also being impacted, including two State Aquatic Preserves, the Indian River Lagoon National Estuary, NOAA Essential Fish Habitat, EPA Critical Habitat for Seagrass, the St. Lucie Inlet State Preserve Reefs, and St. Lucie Near shore Reefs nominated for National Marine Sanctuary. These estuaries and coastal ecosystems are habitat for over 4,300 species of plants and animals, including 33 endangered and threatened species, the most bio-diverse ecosystem in North America.

Stop the Discharges and Pollution Now Before it is Too Late!

We, the undersigned, demand that the US Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District stop the discharges of pollution that are killing our estuaries; The St. Lucie River, the Indian River Lagoon, and coastal reefs. To our elected officials: We support the buyback of the 700,000 acre "Everglades Agricultural Area" and restoring the land to its original use as the "River of Grass. We demand that our government enforce the Federal "Clean Water Act", and other similar laws, prohibiting the discharge of any polluted water into the canals and waterways that flow into the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. This is not just a tourism related issue, but a serious health hazard that deserves the utmost urgency.