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                                                       Riverkeeper's Report

The much heralded and long awaited Ten Mile Creek Water Attenuation Facility has been in the news in past weeks.  The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) wants to give the project back to the Army Corps of Engineers since problems and design alterations have delivered a product that is not up to promised capacity and is deteriorating prematurely.  American engineering has brought wonders in technology and construction.  We have breathtaking skyscrapers, stadiums and bridges but we are humbled when we try to reproduce the effectiveness of a wetland ecosystem.  The $30,000,000.00 water attenuation facility is to be the model for much bigger water attenuation facilities in western St. Lucie and Martin Counties.  Problems that have arisen involve leaks and loss of structure due to erosion. District officials have been quoted as saying that another $13,000,000.00 is needed bring the project up to snuff.  Indian Riverkeeper supports the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration (CERP) projects proposed to solve problems that the Corps created by draining most of Florida’s wetlands.  We do hope that area leaders will look at the difficulties in constructing such remedies before they allow the further loss of wetlands in our region.  The positive self concept of many government engineers has led to catastrophes like the Hoover Dike and the loss of much of New Orleans to a class 3 hurricane. Faith in engineering has brought dredging where alterations to water flow and movement have unforeseen effects, and the destruction of our waterfront and near-shore reefs where destructive dredge and fill projects have covered beaches.  Our own lagoon now has 750,000 cubic yards of dirt, covered by a sheet of plastic and plastic strung concrete blocks because state and federal engineers felt they know better God what will survive on a high energy shoreline.  Human kind cannot engineer a product with the capacity of a mangrove marsh for protecting shorelines, providing habitat, cleansing runoff, giving shelter to juvenile game-fish and providing attractive and healthy areas for recreation.  Our permitting agencies are reviewing permits for many projects that will result in the loss of more wetlands. Please read our article on Kristen’s Cove, proposed to take vital mangrove and shallow water wetlands on South Hutchinson Island. Port St. Lucie still is not satisfied to direct its proposed crossing of the St. Lucie River to a route that will avoid impacting precious wetlands and our state park.  Every day we lose an acre here and a quarter acre there. Decision makers are told that CERP will provide water storage to protect our water supply and coastal resources. Where is the credibility of the engineers who propose easy fixes for theproblems we continue to make?
 

Back pumping, I do not like the thought, I do not like the term, idea or where the water comes from. Back pumping sound a lot better than saying, “… when the farms south of the lake are done with water and want to get rid of it they put it in the lake and let John Q public pay to keep it, clean it or dispose of it at their expense.” The nerve of us to think that this user group would clean the water before they put in some else's yard making their problem no longer theirs.  For years that is what was done, but finally we have anew governor that has appointed four new faces to the "South Florida Mismanagement Board". Finally, "that's the way we have always done this,” may not work any longer.  Finally "shared adversity" may mean something.  Personally I have not worked with three of the new faces but one I have, Melissa Meeker.  In ‘98 our water reached an all time low with dead and diseased fish for all to see and the public had enough. With many calls to the Department of Environmental Protection and no response, Ken Pruitt answered our calls.  Ken had the phone numbers to call and a reporting trailer was set up with D.E.P. staff there from morning till night. One member of that staff was Melissa Meeker. What a look of frustration! Any one could see that making excuses for the lack of interest was part of her job and she was not happy about that part. She once said it was not a priority with those higher up, all their work would be lost in words.  We were both frustrated.  For so many years I have attended many meetings and I have watched her move from one division to another and I always thought ‘cool, we will now see some action.’ Well, there was no action, to the point that I just stopped talking to her. Just the same old words "we will have to study this issue" and kept thinking kept thinking Melissa; make your voice heard. Disappointment at best, but I wanted to be wrong about that frustrated look in her eyes.  Well Gang, I am proud to say I was wrong. She was appointed to the governing board and she replied “NO”, to "back pumping" a voice I knew was there, a voice for the people in her district, and more importantly a voice for the water.
Thank You Melissa----------Henry
 

The June Climate Change Summit in Miami may have signaled a new outlook on our future on the part of Tallahassee. Governor Crist signaled a out with his usual energy against the current administration’s lack of action to stem the increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. You can hear his address on the web at: http:// sun17.dms.state.fl.us/ramgen/ eog/20070712_climatesummit_kennedy.rm.  The real wonder was the widespread increase in awareness among conservative business people that aside from being a tremendous challenge for our country, climate change presents much opportunity for industry to generate new value in conservation and new energy sources.  Climate change is accepted as a threat to coastal waters that dwarfs many of the issues with which we are so deeply concerned. If the Everglades are flooded by salt water the proposed solutions for fixing Lake Okeechobee’s ills will not be adequate or well directed.  We must work to reduce the levels of greenhouse gasses that are released on the planet today. Procrastination and failure are not options. Indian Riverkeeper urges all Florida residents to reduce their carbon footprints, join us in working for sustainable energy sources, fight the defoliation of both wetlands and uplands that accompanies current development practices, and support companies that are working to improve in meaningful ways.  Beachwalker Stein Kretsinger discusses the next leg of his 1,600 mile trek from Miami to Manhattan with the Riverkeeper, Board member Terry Gibson and photojournalists.  Stein and Robert Weinman completed the trip on June 7th to achieve their goals of raising funds for Waterkeeper Alliance, promoting healthy water activities and encouraging active participation by citizens to protect their waters. Their February visit to Ft. Pierce was celebrated with a beach clean-up at  Fredrick Douglas Park on Hutchinson Island.

A brilliant presentation by John A. Marshall of the Arthur Marshall Foundation brought welcome news to the Rivers Coalition in August. Mr. Marshall informed the group that the creation of a storage flow-way in the western Everglades Agricultural Area could save taxpayers 1.5 billion dollars allocated for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program (CERP). Indian Riverkeeper continues active participation in the lawsuit against discharges from Lake Okeechobee. We have secured a $4,000 grant from Corps Reform to fund an analysis of CERP in light of climate change and sea level rise. Indian Riverkeeper is proud to be funding Kevin Henderson of the Rivers Initiative and Mark Perry of Florida Oceanographic in the analysis and report.     Speak out for Plan 6!

Indian Riverkeeper
Kevin Stinnette: 772-336-7284,
631-5827 (cell)

In April Indian Riverkeeper joined with the Jensen Beach Group and concerned Jensen Beach residents in petitioning for enforcement of permit provisions for the seawall/rip-rap permit for the property immediately north of the Jensen Beach Causeway.  The beautiful, gently sloping half-moon beach had turned into a nightmare of erosion, shoaling, and "wavy shoreline" caused by improper placement of the riprap out into the aquatic preserve, failure to plant the required mangroves and native grasses as mandated by the DEP and County rip-rap permits, and improper slope of the rip-rap. The developer, Stephen Dutcher, subsequently removed the riprap from the lagoon and newspapers reported that he had applied for a seawall permit in June. Further communication with the county and the DEP brought a great deal of confusion as to what the intentions for the property were.  Recently, Mr. Dutcher, his attorney and his permit engineers agreed to meet with Jim Egan of the Marine Resources Council. Jim is the foremost authority on shoreline restoration and was to have shared ideas on how to make the shore line an inviting, attractive asset to the project while enhancing the habitat value and the protective capacity of the shoreline. Indian Riverkeeper was in the process of reviewing the latest plans submitted by Mr. Dutcher and was very pleased to find that he was receptive to the ideas espoused by the MRC and Indian Riverkeeper.  Unfortunately Mr. Dutcher was a noshow at the meeting.  Indian Riverkeeper remains committed to shoreline protection and enhancement that protects and preserves the health of the Indian River Lagoon. We are working closely with attorneys Sherlock & Heims to see that the law is respected and citizens do not loose the health, access or productivity of their waters.  We are hopeful that the issue can be resolved in a way that allows the property owner to do what is best for his property and ensures protection of the public’s resource.  The development just to the north of Dutcher’s Cove is Pitchford’s Landing.  The Jensen Beach Group has fought for protection of the waterfront there and has been subject to legal action characterized as a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) suit. Indian Riverkeeper has not been a participant in the work of the Jensen Beach Group but I wish it had. SLAPP Suits are vile and un-American attempts to prevent people from exercising their rights to participate in their democracy. The development in question concerns a proposed 10 slip commercial dock.  Indian Riverkeeper supports additional docking and public access facilities when such facilities are appropriately placed and the Indian River Lagoon is not harmed.  Indian Riverkeeper Kevin Stinnette has received a subpoena to appear for a deposition on October 1st and to bring all documents that "...relate in any way to the Jensen Beach Group from December 1, 2005 to the present  There are apparently many other people in Martin County who have been subpoenaed to appear. Some feel it represents an attempt to intimidate any who would oppose the development.