Right smack in the middle of Sunrise Ford’s property is a culvert that drains polluted water from the western part of the county into the Indian
River Lagoon. The culvert is part of
the North St. Lucie River Water Control District that was established nearly a
century ago to drain St. Lucie County’s swampland for farmers and future
development.
For years, I was repulsed
knowing that the filthy dark brown water that flowed through a good sized canal
adjoining Sunrise Ford would eventually empty into the beleaguered river. While
environmentalists ---and most Treasure
Coast residents—rant about the billions of gallons of polluted water being
diverted into the lagoon through Lake Okeechobee, we have our own homegrown
pollution system that can be just as devastating to the river.
The North St.
Lucie River Water Control system is a made up of 200 miles of canals that
spread from western St. Lucie County and head south through Port St. Lucie. The
polluted water dumps into the St. Lucie Estuary and then flows under the
Roosevelt Bridge and into the lagoon.
A similar system called Fort Pierce Farms Water Control
District drains the agriculture lands and runoff from the northwest part of the
county and dumps it into Taylor Creek which has a straight shot to the river.
Like the disgusting water that passes along Sunrise Ford,
the water flowing through Taylor Creek leaves a large plume of pollution as it
flows into the river and out the Fort Pierce Inlet.
So how much pollution monitoring is being conducted in those water management districts? Not much
as far as I can tell.
Ultimately the state Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) is supposed to enforce water quality regulations. But Mark Perry, executive director of the
Florida Oceanographic Society, said
enforcement has been lax since Rick Scott became governor.
“The whole
department is on the loose side of what the administration wants,” he said.
And some experts say
the amount of polluted water in those two systems can cause just as much damage
as the water coming from Lake Okeechobee.
During the “Lost Summer of 2013” when up to 3 billion gallons of Lake O
water was pumped into the estuary a day, water managers said a similar amount
of runoff was drained into the lagoon from St. Lucie County’s water control
districts.
Unfortunately, our state legislators while promising to
earmark money towards restoration of the Florida Everglades , took a giant step
backward when it came to cleaning up St Lucie County’s canal systems as well as the rest of the state’s waterways. The new water bill passed quickly and early
in the Legislative session allows agriculture to “self monitor” its anti-pollution policies.
“It’s a
travesty,” said a researcher who keeps
track of water quality along the Treasure Coast.
Critics said say besides reducing enforcement powers by the
DEP, farmers could claim they are
practicing “best management practices,” when in reality they are not.
The DEP was
hit hard when Scott took office and fired many of the long tenured
scientists as well as other career staffers at the agency. It was part of his policy to drastically
scale down government which has resulted
in the loss of 27,300 government jobs since he took office while the state’s
population has grown by 2 million. He also promised to curtail the power of
regulators who could hinder jobs.
“There’s been
a major brain drain here over the past five years,” said one frustrated DEP
employee.
“I feel that
everything we accomplished since I started working there is being undone,” said a retired DEP manager. “And we were supposed to be the generation
that would make a difference.”
Another
former state employee was even more skeptical. “They should call the DEP “Don’t Expect Protection,” he said.
The water bill
does provide money for eight employees
to be hired by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs to oversee agriculture’s
self monitoring practices. But I doubt
very seriously that we will be seeing any heavy fines or enforcement from those
new hires. According to the DEP, Florida
has 54,836 miles of rivers and streams as well as 49,128 miles of canals and
2,390 square miles of lakes, reservoirs and ponds. That’s a lot of ground for eight employees
to cover. And since they will be under
the tutelage of Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a big promotor of the
water bill, I would not expect them to be too aggressive with fines and cease
and desist orders.
By all accounts
the two St, Lucie County water control districts have worked well over the past
ninety plus years. And Perry said that there are those in the
agriculture who are compliant with pollution regulations using new and
innovative techniques.
The complex
construction of canals and pumps has stopped flooding while aiding farmers with
irrigation. But when the system was planned in the early 20th
century, no one really worried about the long term effects
the water districts would have on the once pristine Indian River.
I would hope
that the state and its water management agencies could come up with an equally
ingenious solution to clean up our waterways—and enact those policies before
the Indian River is officially declared dead.
But the outlook is not encouraging. Gov. Rick Scott’s tea party agenda appears to be going strong and many
don’t expect any major changes in the state’s attitude toward agriculture and
water policies. Word is that the state
politician who has one of the best shots of being our next governor is none
other than the controversial water bill’s biggest cheerleader---Adam Putnam.