Annette Long addresses water shortage.

[Mark Long]

Annette gave a speech to the Suwanee River Water management District this past Tuesday 4-10-12.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoLhS3_-Lgc

[Randy Thornton]

She makes some great points!

[kensuf]

And unfortunately this stupid legislature doesn't care. They're more interested in lining their wallets than serving the public good.

BTW, Annette's also had some really good letters/editorials published in local rags over the past few years, but it's all falling on deaf ears. Floridians, you need to vote to be heard.

[Ken Hill]

Mark, Annette,

Thank you for your continuing efforts (especially Manatee.) There are five Water Management District's that cover the state and are a part of the Department of Environmental Protection. The Districts are led by a Director, appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. The WMD's and have jurisdiction in roughly half of Florida's counties and thirty one counties have retained local jurisdiction to further complicate the matter.

http://www.floridapsc.com/utilities/...ter/wawmap.pdf

As an example, the threat to close Madison to cave diving some years ago was caused by a bottler looking for cheap "spring water." What I found ironic was that the bottler used a published CDS map to pinpoint the best place for their well that could be legally labeled "spring water." Several conferences about the use of CDS copyrighted material stopped their effort. But we were lucky!

That same bottler operated desalinizing plants throughout the Caribbean. They told me that although bottlers draw a lot of spring water, they are good steward's of the environment. Although we cannot call them "friend's" they are not necessarily the enemy. Their goal are to keep the water clear, (brown water does not sell well) is a goal similar to ours.

The regulations and permit process for use and flow does not take into account the browning of the water. Annette is exactly correct. Twenty-five percent of Florida's water goes to agricultural or industrial use. Like it or not industry needs to go to go to de-sal in order to save the good stuff to drink. While daily reminders and a household water meter make the consumer aware of water use, virtually no similar reporting of consumption or reclamation is being forced on industry especially in the non-jurisdictional counties ... which also ironically is where most of the caves are.

Thanks Annette.

[loquat149]

Yes, thanks for your efforts!!!

Dave

[jlcdvr]

thank you Annette.

Joel Clark

[gschaut]

What she said! I'm afraid that my daughter or granddaughter may someday WALK thru the caves I am diving this year.

[apitkin]

What she said! I'm afraid that my daughter or granddaughter may someday WALK thru the caves I am diving this year.

Unlikely, they'll be full of stagnant mud.

According to the SRWMD's own regression equation, Madison Blue's mean flow will be zero in the year 2038, which means it might become diveable only for a few weeks in some years, like Twin Dees is now.

This is happening right now, in front of our eyes. Unfortunately, the main causes of groundwater depletion (i.e. agriculture, development etc) are economically beneficial, especially in these rural areas. The Nestle plant did create a lot of jobs even though its maximum permitted withdrawal equates to around 2% of Madison Blue's output. Does that make it OK? Not in my opinion, but they are not the worst offenders.

[bletso]

Good talk, but I fear it was on deaf ears.

Dale

[Gene Powell]

Annette gave a speech to the Suwanee River Water management District this past Tuesday 4-10-12.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoLhS3_-Lgc

Thank you Mark, and Annette! One of the scariest books I have ever read was Cynthia Barnett's "Mirage" Florida, and The Vanishing waters of the Eastern United States. This book should be required reading for every student in the U.S. It should also be required before being allowed to run for public office.
Thanks again Mark and Annette. You are true assets to our community!