I continue to be overwhelmed by your passionate support! Tens of thousands of individuals, companies, conservation organizations, public figures and politicians have joined you in endorsing the common sense #NoworNeverglades Declaration to fix our failed water policies.

 

In response to the current water crisis, on August 9th, Florida Senate President-Designate Joe Negron announced his plan to expedite the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir to store water that can be sent south into the Everglades and Florida Bay and thereby helping protect the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers.

 

Early last fall lack of fresh water delivery to Florida Bay resulted in too much salinity which was the principal cause of a 40,000-acre seagrass die off. It was the same reason Florida Bay had collapsed in the 1990s. As scientifically predicted an algae bloom would surely follow the seagrass die off and two weeks ago a massive bloom began in the Everglades National Park.

 

To make matters worse, the water Florida Bay so desperately needs is dumped untreated to the St Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers east and west of Lake Okeechobee, resulting in widespread environmental and economic harm in those areas. All three estuaries require clean fresh water in the right amounts at the right times, or they will continue to suffer.

 

Yet today, hope is restored and momentum is on our side. Margaret Mead once said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." What is happening today is proof positive of this sentiment.

 

You, the anglers, homeowners, business leaders and parents were part of the inaugural voices pressing for change by signing the #NoworNeverglades Declaration to fight for estuaries - from Fort Myers, Stuart and the Keys, and I offer my heartfelt thanks. Together, we must keep fighting to fix the problem once and for all by restoring the flow of clean, fresh water to the Everglades, Florida Bay and the Florida Keys.

 

Today, please share and re-share the declaration far and wide to protect our livelihoods, our water supply and America's Everglades.

Sandy Moret

Sandy Moret
Islamorada, Florida