×
×
homepage logo
STORE

Clean up local waters

By Staff | Mar 2, 2016

To the editor:

We need to send the dirty water from the Caloosahatchee River south so we can clean our river up. Audubon both on the state and local levels has been fighting for this all along.

It’s frustrating when, last year, we had a rally in Tally and Fort Myers and not one of our commissioners or mayors showed up. The rallies said to buy the land south of Lake Okeechobee and send the water south and purchase lands on the Florida Forever list, some of which have been there for eons. The local politicians should be going to Tally and asking Reps. Caldwell, Rodriguez and Eagle and Sen. Benacquisto to buy this land to clean the water in Lake O. It will need a flowway through the dike to do this. We have the money in Amendment 1 funds.

The feds could fund the flowway and clean canals around the lake, clean the lake, Everglades and Kissimmee Basin. Congressman Curt Clawson is doing an outstanding job as is U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson. But I will always wonder why Sen. Nelson did nothing for Lake O when he came to Fort Myers years ago and vowed he would clean up the river holding those dirty water river files up for all to see.

The state of Florida Legislature is at fault for not helping clean the river. Try to get them on board. The county commissioners must do more, too. Talk to your local representatives and tell them to talk to the state reps as well as the federal reps about cleaning up our once-beautiful river. Your voices need to be heard. Please talk to your state legislative members – they are stakeholders, too.

Carl Veaux

Audubon of Southwest Florida

Board member