Friends of the Everglades Wins Lake Okeechobee Lawsuit!

By David P. Reiner, II President, Friends of the Everglades

On Monday, December 11, 2006, a Federal District Court ruled in favor of Friends of the Everglades, finding that the South Florida Water Management District was a point source discharger of pollution through the S-2 S-3 pump stations into Lake Okeechobee in violation of the Federal Clean Water Act.

This is an important step in bringing Federal environmental oversight to South Florida and the Everglades. Absent such oversight, the state will continue to backslide on its commitments to protect the Everglades and the entire South Florida eco-system.

The SFWMD is likely to appeal and we still have three more related Federal cases so your continued support is appreciated.

Comments

[brittany]

I try to get my school a as involved as they can but the schools do not care i have found out . they care about math science reading ans social studies. i have asked the school many times to help . but nothing . not even durning science will the take some time. EVEN MY BEST FRENDS IF I TRY TO TALK THEM A BOUT THIS THEY DO NOT CARE . i mean they are my friends and humans and they should care .It bugs me a lot so i decided that i will make a website and a book about the animals that are endangered . i have created a website and am try ing to get it posted on the web and am working on my book (look for them) . just looking on the internet for info has tought me a lot. and use dogpile because with every search they make more money for animals in need .

[patricia tryee]

Prof. Jamie Cutler was a great mentor I inspired her to write a great proposal for restoration of everglades.

[David P. Reiner]

Miley-

Thanks for the bio. It was perfect. One of my favorite quotes from her came during an interview when a reporter - the scene setting is of course most important: Marjory at about 95 and the reporter around 30 - asked "how did you happen to found the Friends of the the Everglades?" Marjory classically responds "Oh it didn't just happen young man, I did it on purpose!"

Hard to find someone to fill that void...

DPR

[Miley Cyrus]

arjory Stoneman Douglas was a force to be reckoned with. Called the "mother of the Everglades," she was an environmentalist, activist, feminist, and independent thinker longer than many of us have been around. (She died in 1998 at 108 years old.) Her name is synonymous with the Everglades for her tireless, ground-breaking efforts to protect this watery region - a region her adversaries considered a worthless swamp.

Douglas was perhaps most known for her best-selling book, The Everglades: River of Grass. First published in 1947, River of Grass awakened residents and visitors to the notion of the Everglades as a vast, flowing river. Her descriptive, fluid prose portrays the strange beauty of the region and diversity of its wildlife; recounts the history of the native peoples, explorers, and conquerors who traveled here; explains its importance as the region's watershed; and addresses modern civilization's impact on this fragile ecosystem.

Douglas lived in South Florida from 1915 until her death and, through the decades, wrote extensively about the region. Twenty years afterpublishing River of Grass, when she was 78, Douglas became absorbed in the movement to preserve the Everglades. She served on the committees to create Everglades and Biscayne National Parks, formed the Friends of the Everglades, and spearheaded legislation to protect the parks and their wildlife. To defend this fragile ecosystem, she wrote and spoke out about it. And, whenever necessary, she went head-to-head with government authorities with her respected, straightforward approach to dealing with conservation issues.

In her 1987 autobiography written with John Rothchild, Marjory Stoneman Douglas: Voice of the River, Douglas summarizes the Everglades' role as the major watershed for South Florida: "Much of the rainfall on which South Florida depends comes from evaporation in the Everglades. The Everglades evaporate, the moisture goes up into the clouds, the clouds are blown to the north, and the rain comes down over the Kissimmee River and Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee, especially, is fed by these rains. When the lake gets filled, some of the excess drains down the Caloosahatchee River into the Gulf of Mexico, or throug hthe St. Lucie River and into the Atlantic Ocean. The rest of the excess - the most useful part - spills over the southern rim of the lake into the great arc of the Everglades."

Douglas fused a fiery commitment to the Everglades with her renowned tell-it-like-it-is approach. "Since 1972, I've been going around making speeches on the Everglades. No matter how poor my eyes are I can still talk. I'll talk about the Everglades at the drop of a hat. Whoever wants me to talk, I'll come over and tell them about the necessity of preserving the Everglades," she reveals in her autobiography. "Sometimes, I tell them more than they wanted to know." She will be greatly missed.

[Miley Cyrus]

OMG! IM MILEYCYRUS

[Maggie G]

Recently I wrote a paper that is called "Mission:Restoring Everglades". I mainly talked about how our Florida Everglade are facing serious threat, our second largest lake-Okeechobee is facing polution threat, and there are about 16 endangered and 6 threatened specises within the Everglades National Park areas. we need to persuade our stats's goverment to take action to protect our unique Everglades.

[David P Reiner]

Cesar-

The Lake Okeechobee case is in fact moving towards an appeal by the SFWMD. That's okay though - it is to be expected. It will take some time to change the culture of "protect the polluters" at the SFWMD.

The skyway would be an awesome addition to restoration. You are exactly right that you can't restore sheetflow when there is a dam (Tamiami Trail) in the River of Grass.

[Cesar M. Gonzalez]

Any progress made on the SKYWAY project ? This is one of the most critical ingredients of CERP. Without the SKYWAY it will be hard to restore sheetwater flow to our beloved Glades. We need to move on getting the Skyway going. Thankfully we have increasing support from local agencies and governments. I encourage everyone to get involved in this project.

[jonathan h]

Great news! Let's hope things continue in favor of Everglades preservation in South Florida. I know Weston is at least trying to do their part with hundreds of acres permanently set aside for wetland preserves.

Any update on the the case/appeals?