In the News
- City rewards residents who conserve water
Miami Herald, 2010-09-03
Cooper City has rolled out a rebate program to encourage residents to upgrade home water devices. The program kicked off Aug. 16, offering rebates that range from $30 to $1,200, depending on which device a resident installs. The rebate program is the next step in the city's plan to cut water consumption 5 percent by 2013, Utilities Director Michael Bailey said. ...Read More - EPA Complies with Court Decision and Directs Florida to Restore Water Quality in the Everglades
EPA Press Release, 2010-09-03
ATLANTA - Sept. 3, 2010) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) directed the state of Florida to take specific measures to restore water quality to levels that protect the Everglades. This action, known as an "Amended Determination," complies with a decision by Judge Alan Gold of the U.S. District Court - Southern District of Florida following lawsuits by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians and the Friends of the Everglades. ...Read More - Special master's recommendation buoys supporters of Everglades land buy
Palm Beach Post, 2010-09-01
The South Florida Water Management District may be allowed to abandon a $700 million reservoir project in the southern Everglades Agricultural Area, after a court-appointed Special Master on Tuesday said the Everglades would benefit more from the district's purchase of 27,000 acres from U.S. Sugar than from completing the reservoir. ...Read More - Report may aid Everglades land buy
Miami Herald, 2010-09-01
An advisor's report may help Gov. Charlie Crist's controversial U.S Sugar land buy clear a major legal hurdle. Forcing water managers to build a massive abandoned reservoir would cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars but still not do enough to clean up the Everglades, according to an advisor to a federal judge. ...Read More - Report to federal judge recommends against finishing Everglades reservoir
Sun Sentinel, 2010-09-01
The South Florida Water Management District should not have to finish an Everglades restoration reservoir shelved by a land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp., according to a report to a federal judge filed Monday. ...Read More - Letter: Demand every candidate's promise to save Everglades
TCPalm, 2010-09-01
Now that the primaries are over, lots of people already have their favorite candidates for November. Now is the time to let your candidate know why Everglades restoration is important. Why the St. Lucie River will die without comprehensive Everglades restoration and why no one in Martin County will vote for them unless they make a commitment to restoring the Everglades and saving the St. Lucie....Read More - Judge won't block Florida-U.S. Sugar land deal
Miami Herald, 2010-08-30
A federal judge Monday refused to stop the downsized, $197million version of Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. The Miccosukee Tribe earlier this month requested an emergency injunction to stop the South Florida Water Management District from approving a contract with U.S. Sugar for 26,800 acres that could be used to help restore water flows to the Everglades. ...Read More - Guest opinion: Destroy those waters and you destroy us
Cape Coral Daily Breeze, 2010-08-30
As a concerned Florida citizen nearing 90 years of age, I have always been very conscious of the environment and the history of Lee County, as well as the sorry history of what man has done to disturb the beautiful system nature devised for the waters in our state....Read More - Eric Buermann: Reduced U.S. Sugar land buy was wise move in tough times
NEWS-PRESS.COM, 2010-08-30
Much has changed in the two years since Gov. Charlie Crist stood on the edge of America's Everglades and called upon the South Florida Water Management District to negotiate a historic land acquisition with U.S. Sugar Corp. that would help restore this national treasure....Read More - Miami-Dade County, Florida Power & Light Co. buddy up to cool down nukes
Miami Today, 2010-08-25
Miami-Dade County and Florida Power & Light Co. are pairing up on a reclaimed water agreement for two proposed nuclear units at Turkey Point - a partnership that could generate $6 billion in benefits to the region and create more than 4,400 jobs. ...Read More - Judge denies Miccosukee effort to block Everglades land deal
Palm Beach Post, 2010-08-25
A federal judge has denied a Miccosukee move to stop the South Florida Water Management District from buying 27,000 acres to help restore the Everglades. The tribe asked for an emergency injunction Aug. 10, arguing that if the district's governing board approved the $197 million purchase from U.S. Sugar on Aug. 12 -- which it subsequently did -- the district would not have enough money to resume construction of a massive reservoir the judge had ordered the district to complete. ...Read More - Federal judge rejects Miccosukees' request to stop Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar
Chicago Tribune, 2010-08-25
The tribe contends the deal takes money from other Everglades needs A federal judge Monday refused to stop the downsized, $197 million version of Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. ...Read More - Letters: Facts don't change: Everglades needs land
Palm Beach Post, 2010-08-23
Much has changed in the two years since Gov. Crist stood on the edge of America's Everglades and called upon the South Florida Water Management District to negotiate a historic land acquisition with U.S. Sugar Corp. that would help restore this national treasure. ...Read More - SFWMD approves key agreement for Indian River Lagoon
USACOE, 2010-08-23
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District applauds the approval of the Indian River Lagoon South (IRL-S) Phase I Project Partnership Agreement by the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board on Aug. 12. "This agreement marks another huge gain for Everglades restoration,"said Stu Appelbaum, Corps' Jacksonville District deputy for restoration. ...Read More - Lawsuits over former croplands in Everglades land in S. Florida
South Florida Business Journal, 2010-08-23
A national legal battle about building on former croplands located in wetlands, especially the Everglades, has landed in South Florida. Sugar companies, homebuilders and the American Farm Bureau Federation are suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over a recent change in policy that makes it more difficult to build on former croplands in the Everglades and other wetlands. ...Read More - Crist's downsized Everglades restoration land deal still faces legal scrutiny
Chicago Tribune, 2010-08-23
A nearly $2 billion land deal once described as the Louisiana Purchase of Everglades restoration ended up getting whittled away under the weight of a sinking economy and shifting political winds. Now two years after Gov. Charlie Crist announced a blockbuster deal to buy out all of U.S. Sugar Corp.'s more than 180,000 acres, a radically reduced plan has emerged to acquire two strategically located pieces of the sugar giant's vast real estate holdings. ...Read More - Tea Party willing to sacrifice $10 million of taxpayer money to sink Crist's U.S. Sugar land deal
Sun Sentinel, 2010-08-23
Tea Party activists who preach fiscal responsibility are willing to sacrifice $10 million of South Florida taxpayers' money to try to scrap a $197 million Everglades restoration land deal. Tea Party protests failed to stop the South Florida Water Management District from last week approving the contract to buy 26,800 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. farmland for Everglades restoration. ...Read More - Florida settles for less for Everglades, estuaries
PineIsland-Eagle.com, 2010-08-23
Opinions divided on downsized purchase of land from U.S. Sugar Corporation Some environmental groups called the drastically downsized land purchase deal approved last week by the South Florida Water Management District a "scary mini-purchase."They said it would do nothing to advance the formation of the critically needed flow way to relieve destructive discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries. The approved purchase is one-sixth the size of the plan Gov. Crist proposed two year...Read More - Eve Samples: Call off the pity party; there is something we can do about our rivers
TCPalm, 2010-08-16
I was ready to send out invitations to a pity party last week. The South Florida Water Management District had just approved a diluted deal to buy some of U.S. Sugar's land for Everglades restoration - but the purchase will provide no immediate relief from pollution to the St. Lucie River. ...Read More - Ever-shrinking U.S. Sugar buyout means putting on happy faces
Orlando Sentinel, 2010-08-16
Everglades deal downsized yet again, but Crist, McCollum, lawyers, environmentalists all still get something The latest sequel of "Honey, I Shrunk the Everglades Plan" premiered last week to rave reviews. It was the most entertaining installment yet. ...Read More - Outdoors Notebook
Miami Herald, 2010-08-16
Tom Greene, operator of Custom Rod & Reel in Lighthouse Point, will be guest speaker at the Monday meeting of the Pompano Beach Offshore Anglers Club. The meeting is at 7:30 p.m. at Galuppi's Restaurant, 1103 N. Federal Highway at the municipal golf course. For more information, call 954-868-0681. ...Read More - Smaller U.S. Sugar land purchase approved
South Florida Business Journal, 2010-08-16
In a 6-0 vote, water managers approved a plan on Thursday to buy significant portions of U.S. Sugar Corp.'s property in the Everglades Agricultural Area. The plan is to buy 26,800 acres using $197 million in cash, with options to acquire about 153,200 acres in the next 10 years. ...Read More - Still a good, if much smaller, U.S. Sugar deal
Miami Herald, 2010-08-16
OUR OPINION: U.S. Sugar land purchase will help Glades What a roller coaster ride the U.S. Sugar land deal has taken. The South Florida Water Management District's board approved a much smaller purchase Aug. 12. While the pared-down deal remains controversial, it is still better to have the land in the public's ``bank'' for future Everglades restoration projects than leave it in private hands. ...Read More - Shrunken land buy still right for Everglades: Editorial
News-Press.com, 2010-08-16
It's a shocking shadow of the epic land deal announced two years ago, but the state purchase of 26,800 acres from U.S. Sugar to restore the Everglades and help protect Southwest Florida from pollution is still a good first step. ...Read More - The incredible shrinking sugar deal Palm Beach Post
Palm Beach Post , 2010-08-13
The cost of the U.S. Sugar deal has been whittled from the original $1.75 billion to $197 million. The acreage has gone from 188,000 acres to 26,800. The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board votes at 11 a.m. on Thursday Aug. 12 as to whether to accept the incredible shrinking sugar deal. ...Read More - Scaled-down deal on Everglades land should be approved
St. Petersburg Times, 2010-08-13
The land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. that goes before the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District today is a far cry from the ambitious Everglades restoration plan that Gov. Charlie Crist unveiled in 2008. But the scaled-down deal would still put tens of thousands of acres into reviving Florida's River of Grass, and the district should salvage what it can with its declining tax revenues. The move would buy the state time to act on its larger vision after the economy recover...Read More - Everglades needs sugar land: Without it, restoration stalls, and there are no other sellers.
The Palm Beach Post, 2010-08-13
The U.S. Sugar land deal, whittled to one-seventh of its original size, deserves the support today of the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board. But it no longer is the game-changing deal once touted by environmentalists and Gov. Crist. ...Read More - Tribe asks judge to stop scaled-down Everglades land deal up for vote Thursday
Sun Sentinel, 2010-08-13
A new legal fight could swamp Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp., even before the recently scaled-down version comes up for a vote on Thursday. ...Read More - Scaled-down version of Crist's Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar approved
Sun Sentinel, 2010-08-13
South Florida water managers on Thursday approved a downsized version of Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. ...Read More - Water managers OK Florida-U.S. Sugar land deal
Miami Herald, 2010-08-13
All the old critics turned out to blast Gov. Charlie Crist's no-longer-so big sugar land purchase as a bad deal for taxpayers that could wind up hurting Everglades restoration more than it would help it. ...Read More - Water managers OK spending $197 million to buy U.S. Sugar land for Everglades
Palm Beach Post, 2010-08-13
WEST PALM BEACH — The South Florida Water Management District board this afternoon unanimously approved spending $197 million to buy 28,000 acres form U.S. Sugar to help restore the Everglades. ...Read More - Smaller Florida-U.S. Sugar land deal still draws bitter debate
Miami Herald, 2010-08-13
All the familiar critics turned out Thursday to blast Gov. Charlie Crist's no-longer-so-big sugar land purchase as a bad deal that could wind up hurting Everglades restoration more than it would help it. ...Read More - Scope of Everglades project downsized
The New York Times, 2010-08-13
WEST PALM BEACH - In the end, Gov. Charlie Crist's effort to buy huge swaths of sugar company land for the Everglades restoration was just too much: too much money, too much land to handle, and too much of a fight with critics and the courts. ...Read More - Everglades land deal gets water district's OK -- finally
Herald Tribune, 2010-08-13
WEST PALM BEACH - The South Florida Water Management District voted unanimously Thursday to pay U.S. Sugar $197 million for 27,000 acres of land to help restore the Everglades and comply with two court orders. ...Read More - $197 million U.S. Sugar land deal for Everglades cleanup still faces challenges
Palm Beach Post, 2010-08-13
WEST PALM BEACH — The South Florida Water Management District voted unanimously on Thursday to pay U.S. Sugar $197 million for 27,000 acres of land to help restore the Everglades and comply with two court orders. ...Read More - SFWMD Board Approves Affordable Plan for River of Grass Acquisition
SFWMD, 2010-08-13
West Palm Beach, FL —The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board today approved unanimously with one abstention a revised strategy to acquire land from the United States Sugar Corporation for Everglades restoration. The amended agreement provides for the initial purchase of approximately 26,800 acres of strategically located land south of Lake Okeechobee, with options to purchase another 153,000 acres should economic conditions allow in the future. ...Read More - Miccosukees File Injunction to Block Everglades Land Purchase
Sunshine State News, 2010-08-11
Hours before the South Florida Water Management District was to consider a plan to purchase 26,800 acres of U.S. Sugar land, the Miccosukee Tribe went to U.S. District Court to block the deal....Read More - Miccosukees File Injunction to Block Everglades Land Purchase
Sunshine State News, 2010-08-11
Hours before the South Florida Water Management District was to consider a plan to purchase 26,800 acres of U.S. Sugar land, the Miccosukee Tribe went to U.S. District Court to block the deal....Read More - Saving wetlands, farms and the Everglades
The Tampa Tribune, 2010-08-11
A land deal in South Florida last month shows how it's possible to protect the environment, property rights and the agricultural industry at the same time. ...Read More - Everglades restoration buy of U.S. Sugar land may be sharply downsized
Palm Beach Post, 2010-08-06
The South Florida Water Management District is considering cutting the once-mammoth U.S. Sugar Deal - which started at 180,000 acres and had already dropped to 73,000 amid concerns about cost - to one-seventh of what Gov. Charlie Crist announced to much fanfare in 2008. ...Read More - Downsizing planned for Crist's Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar
Sun-Sentinel.com, 2010-08-06
Water Management District once again considering scaling down governor's proposed restoration land deal Gov. Charlie Crist's stalled Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. would be watered down again under a proposal released Wednesday to buy less sugar cane land for environmental restoration. ...Read More - Cutbacks shrink Florida-U.S. Sugar land deal
The Miami Herald, 2010-08-06
For the third and likely last time, Gov. Charlie's Crist's controversial Big Sugar deal is being dramatically downsized. With their budget squeezed by a brutal economy and two major legal defeats, South Florida water managers have proposed yet another major whack at a land buy once so bold and bright that environmentalists touted it as the holy grail of Everglades restoration: Buy out the entire U.S. Sugar Corp. -- lock, stock and all 180,000-plus acres -- for $1.75 billion and convert much o...Read More - Scaled-down Everglades plan would secure 27K acres
By MATT SEDENSKY, 2010-08-06
MIAMI -- A historic effort to restore the dying Florida Everglades was scaled back yet again Wednesday, meaning the amount of land that will be purchased for protection is now about one-ninth the size originally planned. ...Read More - U.S. Sugar purchase downsized, again
South Florida Business Journal, 2010-08-06
For the fourth time, a plan to buy significant portions of U.S. Sugar Corp. 's property in the Everglades has been downsized. A victim of the recession and politics, the plan is now a tiny fraction of the larger vision announced by Gov. Charlie Crist in 2008. ...Read More - SFWMD again amends size and price of land purchase with U.S. Sugar
TCPalm, 2010-08-06
WEST PALM BEACH - The South Florida Water Management District announced Wednesday it will address a modified plan to purchase land critical for restoration of the Everglades from U.S. Sugar Corp. during the District's Aug. 12 Governing Board meeting at District offices in West Palm Beach. The new proposal will buy less acreage up front, deferring cost and purchase of future acreage to a 10-year option plan. ...Read More - Everglades sugar land deal trimmed again: Will help but not cure St. Lucie Estuary, not burden taxpayers
Sun Sentinel, 2010-08-06
Gov. Charlie Crist's stalled Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. would be watered down again under a proposal released Wednesday to buy less sugar cane land for environmental restoration. ...Read More - Everglades US Sugar Purchase Considered
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA BLOGSPOT, 2010-08-06
Water Management Board To Hear Amended Purchase Contract Details On August 12, 2010, the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board will consider an amended transaction for the acquisition of land from the United States Sugar Corporation for Everglades restoration. The amended acquisition, subject to Governing Board approval, is designed to address changing economic conditions while providing access to land for restoration and water quality improvement projects. ...Read More - MIAMI - Crist's Big Sugar Deal Downsized Again
Page One Daily News, 2010-08-06
Crist's Big Sugar Deal Downsized Again Gov. Charlie Crist's plan to spend $1.75 billion for Everglades restoration goes from blockbuster to lackluster ...Read More - Florida Weighs Swapping Cash for Debt in Scaled Back Everglades Purchase
BLOOMBERG NEWS, 2010-08-06
Florida may scale back a plan to restore the Everglades marshland and pay cash to buy land from U.S. Sugar Corp. after a proposed $536 million purchase using debt spurred legal challenges and tax revenue fell. ...Read More - Everglades Restoration Momentum Continues with New Federal-State Agreement
SFWMD News Release, 2010-08-06
Pilot project to help preserve clean water for Everglades National Park West Palm Beach, FL -Building on historic agreements to advance construction on Everglades restoration projects, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently approved another key Project Partnership Agreement to test technology for preserving clean water in Everglades National Park. If proven effective, technology developed during the pilot project will ...Read More - CFO Alex Sink Commends Revised U.S. Sugar Deal Proposal
PRESS RELEASE, 2010-08-06
TALLAHASSEE - Florida CFO Sink today released the following statement commending the revised agreement between U.S. Sugar and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) announced yesterday that will be voted on by the SFWMD Governing Board on August 12: ...Read More - Eye on Miami applauds Crist/US Sugar deal and trashes Fanjuls
Eye on Miami, 2010-08-04
Charlie Crist wins, Fanjuls lose ... by gimleteye The Fanjuls are sugar barons whose lands in the historic Everglades are pivotal to control of Florida politics. The influence of campaign contributions is so strong--touching all parts of the political spectrum and all levels of Florida government-- that the possibility a US Senator could emerge in Florida who has not received their blessings is remarkable. The election of Gov. Charlie Crist to the US Senate in November would be a stunning exc...Read More - Community Capital Management Bond Purchase Helps Finance the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project (CERP) - World's Largest Ecosystem Restoration Effort
PRNewswire, 2010-08-04
Plan will provide multiple benefits including restoring natural flows of water and improving the health of more than 2.4 million acres of the South Florida ecosystem. FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Everglades is the largest remaining subtropical wilderness in the United States. It is a national treasure, unlike any other ecosystem in the world. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is a joint project among state, federal, tribal and local governments to restore, preserve and prote...Read More - SUGAR DEAL : PRO
the Journal of the James Madison Institute, 2010-08-02
Economic interests, private property rights can be preserved, along with the Everglades For people who care about capitalism, private property rights, and individual freedoms, the State of Florida's plan to purchase 100 square miles of U.S. Sugar's cane fi elds ought to be a refreshing departure from the traditional condemnation actions of the past. ...Read More - Report: Warmer Climate Puts Water Supplies At Risk
CBS 4, 2010-07-23
Lake Okeechobee is the second largest lake in the United States, the headwaters of The Everglades, and the source of most of South Florida's drinking water. It was also in crisis, shrunken by drought to the lowest levels in recorded history. ...Read More - Dry days ahead: Collier, Lee counties at 'extreme risk' for water shortage
Naples Daily News, 2010-07-23
NAPLES — Water shortages are nothing new in Southwest Florida. Just ask anyone who has tried to figure out whether he can turn on his lawn sprinklers on Saturday or has to wait until Sunday to comply with watering limits. ...Read More - South Florida water managers avoid tax increase as they push for Everglades land deal
Sun Sentinel, 2010-07-19
Pledging no new taxes, South Florida water managers on Thursday agreed to keep the water district property tax rate unchanged for the coming budget year as they pursue a $536 million Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. ...Read More - Water managers hold tax rate level, swallowing $61 million shortfall
Palm Beach Post, 2010-07-19
South Florida water managers agreed Thursday to keep property tax rates flat next year -- a move that will require them to cut jobs and find efficiencies to cure a $60.9 million decrease in revenue. ...Read More - Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours & Swamp Buggy Rides Offers Military Discount
PRLog, 2010-07-19
Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours & Swamp Buggy rides is celebrating our Independence Day the entire month of July! To show appreciate to our military Wooten’s is offering a 50% discount on all tickets for active military & veteran personnel. ...Read More - 'Glades restoration: Acquisition of sugar land a must
Sun-Sentinel.com, 2010-07-14
Everglades restoration has been ongoing for nearly 20 years, and there is not one project among the billions of dollars worth of state and federal projects currently on books that will provide enough water storage and treatment to stop the devastating releases to our coastal estuaries every time it rains heavily or water levels in Lake Okeechobee rise before during or after hurricane season. ...Read More - Environmentalist: Cutback in Lake O releases must continue
TC Palm (AP), 2010-07-07
The Army Corps of Engineers has announced a 10-day cutback in water released from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River Estuary that will reduce flow from an average of 756.2 million gallons a day to an average 129.3 million gallons per day and turn off the spigot entirely two days next week. ...Read More - Details, schmetails! He just wants top job
St. Petersburg Times, 2010-07-07
Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott is running as an outsider untainted by political or government experience. Check him out on Political Connections on Bay News 9 today, and it's clear he's also unburdened of any detailed policy proposals or deep knowledge of Florida government. ...Read More - New Stuart irrigation restrictions start Thursday
TC Palm, 2010-06-30
STUART — Sprinklers and other landscape irrigation systems must be reset to twice-a-week schedules starting Thursday, when the city’s water restrictions go into place. ...Read More - Rainy season sweeps in, and it isn't going anywhere
News-Press, 2010-06-23
Although summer officially started at 7:28 a.m. Monday, Southwest Florida has been seeing summer weather for a while. ...Read More - South Florida water managers try to hold tax rate steady, salvage land deal
Sun Sentinel, 2010-06-11
A worsening budget crunch and pressure from federal judges to speed up Everglades restoration so far haven't soured South. ...Read More - Guest commentary
Naplesnews.com, 2010-06-04
An unusually wet “dry” season has forced South Florida’s water managers into an all-too-familiar balancing act. ...Read More - Letter: Contaminated river waters are unhealthy for local residents
TC Palm, 2010-06-04
Letter: Contaminated river waters are unhealthy for local residents TC Palm By reader submitted Posted May 28, 2010 at 1 a.m. Cindy Cosgrove and Sue Ambrose (Eve Sampes’ column, May 12), feel they have to tell their children that they canno...Read More - South Florida Water Management District has no excuses
CaptivaSanibel.com, 2010-06-04
While many are rightfully very concerned about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, here on Sanibel we are already being hit by an environmental disaster involving our estuaries and coastal waters. ...Read More - Corps, residents agree at Stuart meeting: Lake O water needs to go south
TC Palm, 2010-05-28
STUART — The Army Corps of Engineers and Treasure Coast residents upset with discharges of dirty water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River Estuary actually agreed on something at a public meeting Tuesday night: That the water needs to go south instead. ...Read More - Solution Needed
Cape Coral Daily Breeze, 2010-05-26
Last Wednesday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District started a 10-day series of scheduled water releases from Lake Okeechobee. This release is supposed to end this weekend, but with the rainy season - and hurricane season - just around the corner, future water releases into the Caloosahatchee and neighboring rivers, bays and estuaries may continue well into the summer months. ...Read More - OPINION: Ray Judah: U.S. Sugar acquisition only option for our estuary and Everglades
NEWSPRESS.COM, 2010-05-26
Due to exceedingly high water levels in Lake Okeechobee, billions of gallons of polluted lake water are currently being released to the Caloosahatchee River. ...Read More - Corps, residents agree at Stuart meeting: Lake O water needs to go south
TCPALM, 2010-05-26
STUART — The Army Corps of Engineers and Treasure Coast residents upset with discharges of dirty water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River Estuary actually agreed on something at a public meeting Tuesday night: That the water needs to go south instead. ...Read More - South Florida's plan to battle oil spill will be different from measures used in Gulf
Sun-Sentinel, 2010-05-14
If oil from the Gulf spill comes to South Florida, a different scene is likely to unfold from the desperate struggle taking place off the Louisiana coast. ...Read More - Storm season brings risk of increased flooding in South Florida
Sun Sentinel, 2010-05-14
After three years of irrigation cutbacks, amid on-again-off-again drought, South Florida heads into this rainy season bracing for too much water with too few places to put it. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Proposed purchase of U.S. Sugar land holds great promise for South Florida's aquatic ecosystem
TC Palm, 2010-05-14
The Florida Supreme Court will rule soon whether the state may proceed with its $536 million purchase of 73,000 acres of U.S. Sugar land. ...Read More - Eve Samples: Public eager to be heard on Lake O discharges as meeting continues Thursday
TC Palm, 2010-05-14
MARTIN COUNTY — The two women had never met before, but they quickly discovered their common ground. ...Read More - Editorial: Lake Okeechobee releases input needed
The News-Press Editorial, 2010-05-12
Some environmentalists fear the current releases of water from Lake Okeechobee will be a disaster for Lee County's estuaries, the way similar releases were in 2004 and 2005....Read More - Lake Okeechobee releases cripple Caloosahatchee
news-press.com , 2010-05-07
Unseasonal spring rains are producing potentially catastrophic conditions in the Caloosahatchee at a critical spawning period. To avoid a repeat of 2004-2005 we need to speak up now. ...Read More - OPINION: Engelhardt: In a hole, so stop digging: Too much mining in Everglades farm belt
Palm Beach Post, 2010-05-07
Farms cover nearly half of Palm Beach County. The county likes that. In fact, the county insists on it. The county growth plan protects "bona fide agriculture" and objects to "encroachment of incompatible urban land uses" in the Everglades Agricultural Area. In 1989, when the county approved the growth plan, it spelled out exceptions for rock mining. It would be allowed under two circumstances: for "public roadway projects" or "to support agricultural purposes." ...Read More - Ed Killer: Baby oysters drowning in sea of lake discharges
TC Palm, 2010-04-30
Trudy Godshalk’s babies are dying. Fingernail-sized oysters, the charge of oyster gardeners like Godshalk and several of her neighbors at Sandhill Cove in Palm City, are not faring well after four weeks of freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee. ...Read More - Corps of Engineers to drain more of Lake Okeechobee before rainy season
Miami Herald, 2010-04-30
Engineers expect to dump more water from Lake Okeechobee next week to protect its aging dike as the hurricane and rainy seasons approach. ...Read More - Help save our Everglades
Sun-Sentinel, 2010-04-28
At Lake Okeechobee, 22 billion gallons of water are dumped at sea. What's that worth by the bottle at Publix? $100 billion? What are we doing lambasting Charlie Crist for trying to solve the problem long-term, saying he overpaid to buy a piece of the Everglades. Is there anyone in Florida who bought property and overpaid based on today's values? The bottom line is reservoirs are fine, but the water still has to be cleaned to make it drinkable. ...Read More - Monday's rainfall sending Lake O's level higher, drowns TC watershed
TC Palm, 2010-04-28
STUART — Heavy rains that pounded Florida Monday are degrading the water quality in Lake Okeechobee and the St. Lucie River and Caloosahatchee River estuaries, water managers said Tuesday. ...Read More - Reversing the Effects of Urban Growth and Developmenton the Naples Bay Watershed
Water World , 2010-04-23
After nearly seven decades of neglect and destructive development, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, along with Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the City of Naples, South Florida Water Management District, and Collier County, is taking a holistic approach to reducing stormwater runoff and as a result is improving the effectiveness of the Naples Bay watershed. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Releases highlight need for land buy
Lehigh News Star, 2010-04-16
The Army Corps of Engineers has opened up the Lake Okeechobee faucet, which sends a shiver up the spines of those who remember the devastating releases of polluted lake water a few years ago. ...Read More - OPINION: Engelhardt: Is U.S. Sugar citrus land worthless?
Palm Beach Post, 2010-04-16
In 2008, two of the world's largest citrus growers made written offers to buy U.S. Sugar's citrus groves. They made the offers to the South Florida Water Management District because the district would own the groves, all in Hendry County, as part of its then-$1.75 billion buyout of U.S. Sugar. ...Read More - Ed Killer: Army Corps of Engineers backs off on Lake Okeechobee releases
TC Palm, 2010-04-14
Fifteen down; 24 to go, hopefully. On Thursday, a minor battle was won in a long, ongoing war. The winners of this skirmish were those fighting for the health of the St. Lucie River. The side that blinked was the immovable object that is the Army Corps of Engineers. ...Read More - Letter: Don't let industry spoil western Martin County
TC Palm, 2010-04-14
On April 13, the Martin County Commission will take up amendments to the comprehensive plan that call for letting the western part of Martin County be used for industrial/commercial projects. Developing this area would put an additional burden on Martin County taxpayers. ...Read More - Eric Buermann: U.S. Sugar land essential to health of Everglades, estuaries
TC Palm, 2010-04-14
On Wednesday, the Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments as it reviews a lower court’s approval of the financing for the South Florida Water Management District’s purchase of U.S. Sugar Corp. lands for Everglades restoration. Last year, the lower court properly and thoughtfully ruled that the district met its legal requirements for issuing its financing, but special interests, mainly U.S. Sugar’s longtime rival in the competitive sugar industry, appealed to the high court. ...Read More - Lake Okeechobee releases show need for land buy: Editorial
The News-Press Editorial, 2010-04-14
The Army Corps of Engineers has opened up the Lake Okeechobee faucet, which sends a shiver up the spines of those who remember the devastating releases of polluted lake water a few years ago. ...Read More - Top Florida Court mulling Everglades Debt Deal
Planetark, 2010-04-14
Florida's top court has taken on a high-stakes environmental dispute over a proposed $536 million deal between the state and U.S. Sugar Corp to purchase 73,000 acres of farmland for Everglades restoration. ...Read More - St. Lucie may get second chance at jobs-producing 'inland port'
Sun Sentinel, 2010-04-14
ST. LUCIE COUNTY — Business leaders in St. Lucie County may get another crack at landing a job-producing “inland port” if environmental concerns scuttle the Palm Beach County site chosen for the distribution center. ...Read More - Eric Buermann: U.S. Sugar Land essential to health of Everglades, estuaries
TC PALM, 2010-04-12
On Wednesday, the Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments as it reviews a lower court’s approval of the financing for the South Florida Water Management District’s purchase of U.S. Sugar Corp. lands for Everglades restoration. Last year, the lower court properly and thoughtfully ruled that the district met its legal requirements for issuing its financing, but special interests, mainly U.S. Sugar’s longtime rival in the competitive sugar industry, appealed to the high court. ...Read More - Letters to the Editor: Florida's jewels
Fort Myers, 2010-04-12
The Florida Supreme Court is hearing arguments regarding the proposed land acquisition involving the U.S. Sugar Corporation. Oral arguments were held April 7 and after evaluation of both sides, pro and con, the court will issue its findings.This landmark decision will have a direct impact on the quality of water for all citizens of Southwest Florida and a direct impact on the quality of our environment for a lifetime. ...Read More - Editorial
Fort Myers News-Press, 2010-04-12
The Army Corps of Engineers has opened up the Lake Okeechobee faucet, which sends a shiver up the spines of those who remember the devastating releases of polluted lake water a few years ago. But while the effects of the current releases are being watched carefully, they should not be anything like as damaging as the much large surges after the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005. But they remind us that our Caloosahatchee River and its valuable coastal estuary are still used as a storm sewer for exc...Read More - OPINION: Engelhardt: Sugar deal's sour politics; biggest critic has self-interest at heart
Palm Beach Post, 2010-04-12
In 2008, before Florida Crystals began to criticize the U.S. Sugar land deal, the company offered to be part of it. The Fanjul-family owned, West Palm Beach-based company would have been happy to buy just about everything its rival owned: land, railroad, mill, refineries, warehouses — everything the water district didn't want for Everglades restoration. Florida Crystals even put its price in writing: $250 million to $350 million. The South Florida Water Management District had agreed to pay f...Read More - Court hears arguments in $536 million Everglades land restoration deal
Miami herald, 2010-04-12
The state Supreme Court heard arguments over the governor's proposed Everglades restoration land deal, which the South Florida Water Management District would fund with borrowed money. After nearly two years of political fights and legal battles over Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades-restoration land deal, the Florida Supreme Court now will decide whether the public benefit is worth the cost to South Florida taxpayers. ...Read More - Everglades restoration land swap deal unworthy, opponents tell Florida Supreme Court
Palm Beach Post, 2010-04-12
A half-billion-dollar deal aimed at buying farmland in the Everglades to help the ailing ecosystem should be rejected because it serves no public purpose and will only delay restoration further, an attorney argued Wednesday before Florida's Supreme Court. ...Read More - Ed Killer: 'They' are the ones who are wasting water
TC Palm, 2010-04-09
4/4/10 Nine down; 30 to go. At least that’s what they say. “They,” in this case, refers to the Army Corps of Engineers. They are the faceless, ambiguous agency of title-holders who control the flow of the majority of the storm water that falls from the sky on Florida’s terra firma. ...Read More - Commentary: Land purchase a victory for state, not a bailout for U.S. Sugar
Palm Beach Post, 2010-04-09
Most criticism aimed at the state's acquisition of U.S. Sugar lands for restoration is fueled by our largest business competitor, Florida Crystals, and a few politicians highly motivated by their campaign contributions. They have falsely characterized this acquisition as a bailout of a struggling company. ...Read More - Water Management District adjusts watering restrictions
SunSentinel.com, 2010-04-09
The South Florida Water Management District is hoping city residents will abide by a three-day-a-week residential watering restriction as part of an effort to save South Florida's water resources. ...Read More - U.S. Sugar deal an opportunity, not a bailout
Sun-Sentinel, 2010-04-09
U.S. Sugar was not for sale when Gov. Crist approached us about buying out all our assets. We considered his proposal, because he was the governor and our owners believed we could play a major part in resolving the huge problems of the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee, and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers, a fitting legacy for our land. ...Read More - Lake O water pulse releases into St. Lucie River cut in half
TC Palm, 2010-04-08
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District announced Friday it will continue the second in a series of three 13-day pulse releases from Lake Okeechobee at 7 a.m. Saturday. Friday, the level of Lake Okeechobee measured 14.75 feet, 2.82 feet higher than a year ago and 4.27 feet above the water level two years ago. ...Read More - Martin County readies growth plan changes for state consideration
TC Palm, 2009-12-17
Martin County Commissioner Sarah Heard voted against several changes to the county’s growth plan Wednesday because of concerns about traffic congestion, Everglades restoration and Witham Field. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Thumb up: Watering less saves water and money
TC Palm, 2009-11-28
SAVING WATER (AND MONEY): Sorry. We didn’t know it was broken. ...Read More - New water rules may be impeded by utilities, dry spell
Palm Beach Post, 2009-11-16
Water managers approved placing most of South Florida on year-round, three-day-a-week watering restrictions, although legal objections from water utilities and usually dry weather could delay the new rules from taking effect until well into 2010. ...Read More - Before the deluge . . .
www.miamidade.gov, 2009-11-16
Off the coast of Washington state, mysterious algae mixed with sea foam have killed more than 8,000 seabirds, puzzling scientists. A thousand miles off California, researchers have discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a swirling vortex roughly twice the size of Texas filled with tiny bits of plastic and other debris. ...Read More - Water folly in S. Florida
Orlando Sentinel, 2009-11-16
The gist: Public officials, utilities fumbling their duty to protect state's dwindling supply ...Read More - District wide water limits a smart move
Keysnet.com, 2009-11-16
After years of moving from one water crisis to the next, the South Florida Water Management District governing board has opted for year-round conservation. ...Read More - Year-round South Fla. water restrictions approved
Associated Press, 2009-11-16
The South Florida Water Management District has approved year-round water restrictions that its board says will reduce overall water demand by up to 10 percent. ...Read More - Water managers adopt year-round irrigation limits; 3 days per week no change for Collier
Naples Daily News, 2009-11-16
South Florida moved closer to year-round watering restrictions Friday, but sprinklers in Collier and Lee counties already comply with the proposed limits. ...Read More - Developers face new water quality requirements
Naples News, 2009-11-12
South Florida water managers issued a new memo Thursday about what developers should do to comply with water quality rules. ...Read More - Water Restrictions Could Soon be Permanent
12 NEWS, 2009-11-04
November 04, 2009 6:07 PM Dry conditions are a big problem throughout south Florida. Looking at the drought index nearly every county in our area is about 500. Anything over that level is high. ...Read More - Feds approve key Everglades restoration project
The Sun-Sentinel, 2009-11-04
November 4, 2009 Long-stalled Everglades restoration took a welcome step forward as the Army Corps of Engineers today announced the approval of a construction contract to turn a failed development back to its natural state. ...Read More - SFWMD, town work to improve water quality, flood protection
Community Newspapers, 2009-11-02
11-02-09 -- The South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board recently approved a cost-sharing agreement with the Town of Cutler Bay to treat stormwater runoff, which will improve water quality in Biscayne Bay and upgrade flood protection for residents....Read More - Everglades at mercy of county, group says
Sarasota Herald Tribune, 2009-10-28
Are decisions at local level undermining the state's investment? Published: Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 1:00 a.m. WEST PALM BEACH - A high-profile growth watchdog group called on the state of Florida Wednesday to rein in the Palm Beach County Commission, whose land use decisions, they fear, will cripple the multibillion-dollar Everglades restoration. ...Read More - Guest commentary: We must grab this chance to restore Everglades water flow
Naples Daily News, 2009-10-26
Posted October 26, 2009 at 7:44 p.m. My family connection to South Florida and the Everglades began with my grandparents, so when Nathaniel Reed asked me to join the Everglades Foundation to help with restoration, I was honored to say yes. ...Read More - COLUMN: Waters need their watchdog
Palm Beach Post, 2009-10-25
Sunday, October 25, 2009 George Jones spent 34 years in government before becoming the Indian Riverkeeper, charged with protecting and restoring the Indian River Lagoon. It was perfect preparation. ...Read More - Water Management District, partners plan projects to protect river, estuary
TC Palm, 2009-10-23
10-23-09 -- The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board last week approved cooperative agreements that fund a suite of projects to restore and protect Florida’s first federally designated “National Wild and Scenic River,” the Loxahatchee River....Read More - South Florida's dry season has arrived
The Miami Herald, 2009-10-22
10-22-09 -- The brisk weekend brought more than a welcome break from the heat. It also signaled that South Florida's annual dry season has arrived. The National Weather Service on Wednesday pronounced the rainy season officially over, after five months that brought a little more rain regionally than normal -- 42 inches, topping the typical 35 to 40 inches. ...Read More - Inland port plan delayed; officials want business plans from competing sites
The Sun-Sentinel, 2009-10-22
Vote is off until Dec. 17, while environmental objections are raised 2:46 a.m. EDT, October 22, 2009 RIVIERA BEACH - Growing environmental concerns and economic questions on Wednesday delayed a decision on where to build an industrial distribution center that could bring thousands of jobs to struggling Glades communities. ...Read More - Environmental concerns fail to stop expanded rock mining in Everglades Agricultural Area
The Sun-Sentinel, 2009-10-22
October 22, 2009 WEST PALM BEACH - Rock mining that environmentalists say threatens to pollute water supplies and hamper Everglades restoration can expand to more western farmland, Palm Beach County commissioners decided Thursday. ...Read More - Survey favoring land deal takes aim at Crist critics
The Miami Herald, 2009-10-21
10-21-09 -- A poll found strong support for the governor's sugar land deal and limits on development in Everglades farmland -- results that rankled a sugar grower with hopes of building a transportation hub. The latest volley in the political battle over Gov. Charlie Crist's controversial $536 million land deal with the U.S. Sugar Corp. was fired Tuesday in the form of a poll bankrolled by its strongest supporters. ...Read More - Most of Central Florida to be under once-a-week watering restrictions starting Nov. 1
Orlando Sentinel, 2009-10-21
1:28 p.m. EDT, October 21, 2009 The most restrictive limits ever on lawn watering will kick in soon for people who live in the St. Johns River Water Management District, which covers most of Central Florida. On Nov. 1, when daylight saving ends, residents will be allowed to water their grass only once a week until March, when daylight savings resumes and twice-a-week watering is allowed again. ...Read More - Poll: Majority favor 'Glades restore
Florida Keynoter, 2009-10-21
Green group commissions phone survey Posted - Wednesday, October 21, 2009 11:33 AM EDT Floridians of all political hues agree on at least one issue: Save the Everglades. So says a poll of 600 residents throughout the state that was commissioned by the Everglades Foundation and released Tuesday morning. "There is near universal support for Everglades restoration," said Kirk Fordham, Everglades Foundation chief executive officer. ...Read More - Port commissioners hold off on choosing inland port partner
The Palm Beach Post, 2009-10-21
Wednesday, October 21, 2009 The Port of Palm Beach put off choosing who will develop the inland port Wednesday, bowing to pressures from Tallahassee and South Florida's two larger ports. ...Read More - Long debate over Lake Worth water ends with groundbreaking for treatment plant
The Palm Beach Post, 2009-10-20
10-20-09 -- LAKE WORTH — The city will break ground Wednesday on a $16.9 million treatment plant that ends a long-standing debate over how to meet the city's future water needs....Read More - Polls says Floridians back Everglades land deal
The Sun-Sentinel, 2009-10-20
October 20, 2009 11:40 AM The Everglades Foundation released a poll today that says Floridians statewide overwhelmingly support state purchase of sugar land to help preserve the Everglades. The unsurprising results are intended to fend off any late attempts to derail the land deal. ...Read More - Poll supports U.S. Sugar deal for Everglades restoration
The Palm Beach Post , 2009-10-20
Tuesday, October 20, 2009 Three-quarters of Floridians support Gov. Charlie Crist's $536 million bid to buy farmland from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration, according to a poll commissioned by the deal's backers. ...Read More - Florida Keys wellfields get more monitoring
KeysNet, 2009-10-17
By KeysNet Staff Posted - Saturday, October 17, 2009 10:56 AM EDT South Florida water managers and Florida Power & Light have reached an agreement that will increase monitoring of saltwater intrusion in the area of the mainland Turkey Point nuclear power plant. ...Read More - Port of Palm Beach refuses state request to halt inland port work
The Palm Beach Post, 2009-10-15
Thursday, October 15, 2009 WEST PALM BEACH — Port of Palm Beach commissioners have dismissed a request by top state transportation and environment officials to halt efforts to develop an inland port. ...Read More - Long-stalled project to help Florida Bay, Everglades finally getting started
The Sun-Sentinel, 2009-10-15
October 15, 2009 WEST PALM BEACH - A vital Everglades restoration project, intended to fix decades of environmentally destructive draining, got a long-awaited go-ahead from South Florida water managers on Thursday. ...Read More - Delayed canal overhaul OK'd
The Miami Herald, 2009-10-15
Fixes to a canal in South Miami-Dade were approved, representing a milestone for one water management board member and for Everglades restoration efforts. 10-15-09 -- Back in the 1970s, when Mike Collins was a young flats guide in the Keys, old-timers like legendary fly-fishing pioneer Jimmie Albright already knew what was ailing Florida Bay. They'd point north, toward the C-111 canal. ...Read More - Palm Beach County industrial plans could conflict with Everglades restoration, state regulators say
The Sun-Sentinel, 2009-10-13
10-13-09 -- Palm Beach County's push to create a job-producing "inland port" on western agricultural area targeted for Everglades restoration faces new hurdles from state environmental regulators....Read More - Breakthrough reached in long-delayed Everglades restoration
Ledger Enquirer, 2009-10-12
October 12, 2009 After two decades, numerous changes of plans and multiple lawsuits, the federal government is finally ready to break open the asphalt dam across the Everglades called the Tamiami Trail. ...Read More - US Sugar, Shareholders Settle Lawsuit
Associated Press, 2009-10-05
Associated Press Writer - October 5, 2009 WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — U.S. Sugar Corp. and employee shareholders of the nation's largest cane sugar producer have agreed on a settlement to a lawsuit that claimed the company's board failed to inform shareholders of two lucrative buy-out offers, then rejected the deals. ...Read More - Judge OKs Florida's Financing Plan for Everglades Restoration Land Purchase
Environmental News Service, 2009-10-02
August 28, 2009--The financing plan for Florida's land deal with U.S. Sugar was approved by a circuit court judge on Wednesday, but only for a portion of the land the state wishes to acquire. ...Read More - Eve Samples: St. Lucie River looks good on surface, but still has problems
TC Palm, 2009-10-02
10-02-09 -- I’m kneeling on the bow of a 22-foot twin hull, staring at the Gates of Hell. At least that’s what Karl Wickstrom calls them. They’re the St. Lucie Locks — the spouts where hundreds of billions of gallons of polluted freshwater from Lake Okeechobee have poured into the St. Lucie River over the years. ...Read More - Palm Beach County gives Big Sugar, new industry a boost in Glades Environmental groups warn of threats to Everglades restoration
South Florida Sun Sentinel, 2009-10-02
August 26, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH - By opening more former Everglades land to new industry, Palm Beach County commissioners Tuesday decided the lure of jobs was worth a likely legal fight with environmentalists. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Progress at last on Everglades clean-up
The Miami Herald, 2009-10-02
EDITORIAL: Progress at last on Everglades clean-up Thursday, October 1, 2009 The gridlock that has stalled Everglades restoration for so long may finally be easing. A wise appointment by the Obama White House and the first real infusion of federal money since Congress approved the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in 2000 are combining with state efforts to move things forward. ...Read More - Florida's growth management boss fends off developers' criticism
Tampa Bay.com, 2009-08-28
AUGUST 26, 2009--TAMPA — All summer, Tom Pelham has been Public Enemy No. 1 for developers unhappy with his interpretation of a law passed this year designed to ease regulation of growth. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Victory for the Everglades
Palm Beach Post Editorial, 2009-08-28
August 28, 2009--Both sides declared victory after Wednesday's ruling that the South Florida Water Management District can issue bonds to buy a large portion of U.S. Sugar's land. ...Read More - OPINION: U.S. Sugar land deal is good for South Floridians
Miami Herald.com, 2009-08-26
August 13, 2009--Florida stands at a critical turning point in its stewardship of water management issues. For those of us who enjoy the recreational benefits of fishing or boating in Florida Bay and visiting Everglades National Park , it would seem quizzical that the future of the very ecosystem that allows us to enjoy a unique quality of life depends on the legal interpretation of what is defined as ``public purpose.’’ ...Read More - Palm Beach County gives Big Sugar, new industry a boost in Glades Environmental groups warn of threats to Everglades restoration
South Florida Sun Sentinel, 2009-08-26
AUGUST 26, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH - By opening more former Everglades land to new industry, Palm Beach County commissioners Tuesday decided the lure of jobs was worth a likely legal fight with environmentalists. ...Read More - In the Florida Keys, staghorn, elkhorn coral making a comeback--After the discovery of a `farm-raised' coral spawn, researchers have hope of reversing the decline of two reef-building species.
Miami Herald, 2009-08-25
August 24, 2009--Every August or September on nights following a full moon, divers descend into the dark, warm waters off the Florida Keys to watch group sex -- a fascinating reproductive eruption known as the annual coral spawn. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Water Rights Denied
The Orlando Sentinel, 2009-08-25
August 24, 2009--The St. Johns Riverkeeper, a nonprofit advocacy group, tried in a state hearing to stop authorities from issuing Seminole County a permit to pump 5 million gallons a day from the St. Johns River. Later, its withdrawals could rise to 50 million gallons a day. ...Read More - Oyster reef restoration project under way
TC Palm, 2009-08-25
August 11, 2009--STUART — Truckloads of cultchfossilized shells, coral and other biogenic materials used to make oyster beds are making their way to Martin County this week. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Back on Everglades track
EDITORIAL: Back on Everglades track, 2009-08-25
August 18, 2009--When it comes to restoring the Everglades, an agreement on science may be only as good as an agreement on finances. ...Read More - LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Property to be protected with Tamiami project
Foster Folly News, 2009-08-20
August 4, 2009--As my tour of duty with the Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District draws to a close, I am thankful for the enduring support of South Floridians for Everglades restoration. I can assure you that -- referring to an analogy made famous by Marjory Stoneman Douglas -- restoring the Everglades is a ``test'' the Corps aims to pass, and we will work side by side with our many partners to do so. ...Read More - Salazar again urges climate action in Senate
The Associated Press/Miami Herald, 2009-08-20
August 4, 2009--While health care dominates debate in Washington, President Barack Obama's top environmental and energy officials continue to urge the Senate to move on legislation to tackle global warming. ...Read More - Florida Bay's ecology on the brink of collapse
The Associated Press, Knoe-TV, 2009-08-20
August 5, 2009--ISLAMORADA, Fla. (AP) - Boat captain Tad Burke looks out over Florida Bay and sees an ecosystem that's dying as politicians, land owners and environmentalists bicker. ...Read More - $536 million Everglades restoration plan up for debate in Palm Beach County court today
News Press (AP), 2009-08-20
August 6, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — Closing arguments are set for this afternoon in a high-stakes legal challenge to Gov. Charlie Crist's proposed $536 million land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. aimed at restoring the Everglades. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: U.S. Sugar deal: Good to go
Palm Beach Post Editorial, 2009-08-20
August 10, 2009--Parties challenging the purchase of U.S. Sugar land had to prove that buying swaths of farmland in the historic path of the Everglades has no public purpose. They failed. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Florida not practicing what it preaches
Times Herald , 2009-08-20
August 10, 2009--Throughout the nearly two-decade-old water war between Georgia, Florida and Alabama, our two neighboring states say the problem is Georgia -- more specifically, the metro Atlanta area, which is taking water from Lake Lanier and the Chattahoochee River basin to support development. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Back on Everglades track
Palm Beach Post, 2009-08-20
Monday, August 17, 2009 When it comes to restoring the Everglades, an agreement on science may be only as good as an agreement on finances. For years, Florida and the federal government had agreed on the science. They agreed to split the cost of restoring the Everglades, now estimated to be a $10.9 billion project. But they had not agreed on how to account for who pays what. Last month, the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District was shocked to learn that a pending a...Read More - EDITORIAL: Which is it? Pollute or clean Everglades?
A Times Editorial, 2009-08-20
August 20, 2009--Taxpayers in Florida and across the nation are spending billions of dollars to restore the Everglades. At the same time, the state and federal governments are spending additional time and money to legalize pollution there. This is crazy public policy and the Obama administration needs to put an end to it. ...Read More - COMMENTARY: With the Everglades, it's never easy
Palm Beach Post Editorial, 2009-08-18
July 27, 2009--Nine days ago, reptile experts and camera-toting news crews traipsed out into western Broward County for a photo-op to kick off Gov. Crist's war against invasive snakes ...Read More - Oyster reef restoration project under way
, 2009-08-18
August 7, 2009--STUART — Truckloads of cultchfossilized shells, coral and other biogenic materials used to make oyster beds are making their way to Martin County this week. ...Read More - Press Release: Restoring Florida’s Everglades has Impacts across the Nation
, 2009-08-18
August 10, 2009--BLACK PR WIRE) (August 8, 2009) -- Deep in the heart of Florida’s Everglades, you may think nothing has changed in 100 years. Some 2 million acres of famous saw grass prairies and tree islands still exist. Wading and migratory birds still flock to shallow freshwater wetlands, but in vastly smaller numbers than many years ago. Alligators quietly glide through inland waters and panthers roam uplands, often in protected preserves. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Fresh hope for 'Glades in Sugar sale , By Eric Buermann
, 2009-08-18
August 10, 2009--There is no mistaking the groundswell of support for the South Florida Water Management District's purchase of land from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration. ...Read More - End sugar's sweet deal
OrlandoSentinel.com, 2009-08-18
August 18, 2009--A food fight has flared up again between U.S. sugar growers and food manufacturers. The manufacturers have had their fill of restrictions on lower-priced sugar imports. And it's hard to blame them. ...Read More - Sugar farms continue cutting phosphorus
Denver Business Journal , 2009-08-18
August 18, 2009--Farmers in the Everglades Agricultural Area achieved a 68 percent reduction in phosphorus (fertilizer) levels in water leaving their fields, according to a news release from Florida Crystals Corp...Read More - Neither dry nor drowned, Lake Okeechobee's ecosystem is sound for the first time in years
Palm Beach Post, 2009-08-17
August 17, 2009--From the deck of an airboat floating atop Lake Okeechobee, Paul Gray can see all the way to the bottom, through 5 feet of crystalline water where bass, crappie and swarms of minnows dart through a wavy lattice of lush hydrilla....Read More - Obama appointee helps end Everglades funding flap
Miami Herald, 2009-08-17
August 17, 2009--After eight years of bickering, the state and the federal government have finally shaken hands on how to split the massive bill to restore the Everglades....Read More - COMMENTARY: Once-in-a-lifetime chance to restore Everglades
Special To The Tampa Tribune, 2009-08-17
August 17, 2009--There is no mistaking the groundswell of support for the South Florida Water Management District's purchase of land from U.S. Sugar Corp. for Everglades restoration. ...Read More - U.S., Florida reach Everglades restoration deal--After years of negotiations, water managers and the White House reached a deal that will finally have federal money flowing to Everglades projects.
Miami Herald, 2009-08-14
August 14, 2009--Water managers and the White House signed a crucial contract Thursday that promises a much-needed infusion of federal dollars for the Everglades. ...Read More - Everglades Restoration Could Begin Soon--Deal could jumpstart things
Associated Press, 2009-08-14
August 14, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - South Florida water managers and federal officials have reached a deal that promises to jump start stalled Everglades restoration....Read More - South Florida Water Management District finally has full board as three new members are sworn in
PAUL QUINLAN, 2009-08-13
August 13, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — Gov. Charlie Crist's three new appointees to the governing board of South Florida's largest environmental agency were sworn in this afternoon. ...Read More - Florida, federal government declare truce in Everglades money war
Palm Beach Post, 2009-08-13
August 13, 2009--After eight years of wrangling, the state and federal government have come to terms on how to split the multibillion-dollar cost of restoring the Everglades, clearing the way for the money that President Obama has pledged to the effort....Read More - South Florida water managers agree to hold off on selling public land
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 2009-08-13
AUGUST 13,2009--WEST PALM BEACH - Environmental concerns and questions about the transparency of real estate deals prompted South Florida water managers Wednesday to hold off on selling thousands of acres of taxpayer-owned land....Read More - U.S., Florida OK ‘milestone' Everglades restoration deal
Miami Herald.com, 2009-08-13
August 13, 20009--The state and the federal governments Thursday approved a crucial contract that promises to deliver a much-needed infusion of federal dollars to the Everglades....Read More - State, Feds endorse new deal intended to jumpstart Everglades restoration
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 2009-08-13
August 13,2009--WEST PALM BEACH - South Florida water managers today approved a new deal with federal officials intended to jumpstart stalled Everglades restoration....Read More - Can Florida Bay Be Saved Before It's Too Late?
Finding Dulcinea , 2009-08-12
August 12, 2009--The ecology of Florida Bay is imperiled, and saving it depends largely on the health of the Florida Everglades. How can the bay be revitalized?...Read More - Corps suspends releases from Lake Okeechobee as estuaries receive fresh water from local rainfall
Lake Okeechobee Watch (USACOE, 2009-08-12
August 12, 2009--JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ended pulse releases from Lake Okeechobee Aug. 3. At this time the Corps is not making releases from Lake Okeechobee because the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries continue to receive fresh water from local rainfall and runoff. Today’s lake level is at 13.82 feet (NGVD). ...Read More - Lake Okeechobee Dumping Stops, but Future Discharges Expected
Sun Sentinel, 2009-08-12
Aug. 12--PALM BEACH COUNTY -- Water managers stopped draining Lake Okeechobee water out to sea, but the dumping from South Florida's back-up water supply will likely resume to ease flooding concerns, the Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday. ...Read More - The Future of Florida Bay, By Alan Farago
Counter Punch, 2009-08-12
August 12, 2009--Can Florida Bay be restored? Yes. But we are twenty or thirty years beyond the time where nature's resiliency might have proven shortly. Florida Bay is heavily damaged. Its water quality bears little resemblance to what sustained remarkable biodiversity. Today, scavenger species roam the blighted underwater landscape. The scale of the tragedy is so great, that if its destruction had been above the surface, we would be squirming under withering international criticism...Read More - COLUMN: Martin's improving future?
Sally Swartz, 2009-07-31
July 27, 2009--Chalk up another win for residents fighting to save Martin County from overdevelopment. On Tuesday, the county commission decided not to allow small towns in rural western Martin. ...Read More - More good than bad in water management bill, By Michael W. Sole – Ocala.com
Michael W. Sole, 2009-07-27
July 27. 2009--On June 30, Gov. Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080, relating to water resources, into law. Although the bill is not perfect, it is my firm belief - a belief that I expressed to the governor - that this bill should be signed for the many benefits it provides to both to the environment and the people of Florida...Read More - What others say -
, 2009-07-24
June 26, 2009--The practice of "backpumping" used irrigation water from the farm fields south of Lake Okeechobee back into the lake eventually damages the environment here in Lee County. We have always opposed the practice. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: A bridge to the Everglades
Palm Beach Post Editorial, 2009-07-24
July 1, 2009--Though most attention has been focused on the deal to buy U.S. Sugar's land, Everglades restoration just got another big boost. ...Read More - Gov. Crist signs bill stripping public access on state water decisions-- District directors don't need board OK to grant 50-year pacts.
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau , 2009-07-24
July 1, 2009--TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday signed a bill that, among other things, strips public access from state decisions about who controls Florida's precious water resources. ...Read More - U.S. money going for reefs--Federal stimulus money will go to help restore coral reefs
CAMMY CLARK, 2009-07-24
July 1, 2009--An underwater nursery project to restore the struggling coral reefs along Florida's southern coast and the U.S. Virgin Islands will receive $3.3 million in national stimulus funding, according to an announcement Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. ...Read More - Environmentalists decry bill giving state more control over water resources-- District directors don't need board OK to grant 50-year pacts.
Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau , 2009-07-24
July 01, 2009--TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday signed a bill that, among other things, strips public access from state decisions about who controls Florida's precious water resources. The new law takes effect Wednesday. ...Read More - Crist signs bill to continue water management districts
South Florida Business Journal, 2009-07-24
July 1, 2009--Gov. Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080 into law Tuesday, which renews Florida’s water management districts as well as encourages more water conservation-based landscaping. ...Read More - Endangered Everglades
Back Packer, 2009-07-24
July 1, 2009--Salazar urges U.N. to place Florida's Everglades on list of threatened sites ...Read More - Gov. Charlie Crist put the future of Florida's water resources in the hands of five people.
Times Staff Writer , 2009-07-24
July 6, 2009--With a stroke of his pen last week, Gov. Charlie Crist put the future of Florida's water resources in the hands of five people. ...Read More - Federal stimulus money for Florida's reefs a sound investment-OUR OPINION: Stimulus money to restore state's corals, seafood beds
Miami Herald, 2009-07-24
July 7, 2009--Federal stimulus money is paying for more than roads and bridges during this economic downturn. Ecological projects are part of the mix -- and that bodes well for Florida. ...Read More - Delays could scrap Everglades deal
Sun Sentinel, 2009-07-24
July 9, 2009--South Florida water managers are calling out the Obama administration over long-stalled Everglades restoration and are threatening to scrap a state and federal partnership aimed at saving the famed River of Grass. ...Read More - Delays could scrap Everglades deal
Sun Sentinel, 2009-07-24
July 9, 2009--South Florida water managers are calling out the Obama administration over long-stalled Everglades restoration and are threatening to scrap a state and federal partnership aimed at saving the famed River of Grass. ...Read More - Third day of lawn watering might be added, but not in Miami-Dade--Water managers decided to pursue three-day watering limits instead of the current twice-weekly restrictions. Miami-Dade will keep the twice-weekly limit.
CURTIS MORGAN, 2009-07-24
July 10, 2009--Since imposing emergency sprinkling restrictions during a drought two years ago, South Florida water managers have been moving toward making the twice-weekly limits permanent. ...Read More - Water Management Boards Lose Vote, but Will Ensure Openness
The Ledger.com, 2009-07-24
On June 30, Gov. Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080, relating to July 10, 2009--water resources, into law. Although the bill is not perfect, it is my firm belief - a belief that I expressed to the governor - that this bill should be signed for the many benefits it provides to both to the environment and the people of Florida. ...Read More - Water managers ponder relaxing sprinkler limits for 5 years, despite calls for conservation
PAUL QUINLAN, 2009-07-24
July 10, 2009--It may seem strange, but in its effort to promote water conservation, the South Florida Water Management District could move water restrictions from two to three days a week. ...Read More - Alligator Alley swamp may open to hunters
Herald Tribune, 2009-07-24
July 13, 2009--FORT LAUDERDALE - A federal proposal would open a vast sweep of forest and swamp on both sides of Alligator Alley to hunting and off-road vehicles. ...Read More - Three options for guiding preserve: Big Cypress National Preserve released three proposed management options and is seeking public comment.
The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX, 2009-07-24
July 13, 2009--Big Cypress National Preserve released three proposed management options Friday -- including a preferred alternative -- to guide recreation in the 146,000 acres of "addition lands" for the next 15 to 20 years. ...Read More - Study: Seagrass decline severe
Keysnews.com, 2009-07-24
July 13, 2009--Sea grass meadows are declining worldwide at a rate comparable to coral reefs and rain forests. ...Read More - Boca Raton: State and stimulus money to fund trail
Boca Raton News, 2009-07-24
July 13, 2009--Palm Beach County Commissioners have approved a $1.25 million agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation for reimbursement to the county of construction costs of Bluegill Trail from Riverbend Park to Sandhill Crane Park. ...Read More - Wood storks breeding season finally a success
News Press (AP), 2009-07-24
July 13, 2009--For the first time in three years, Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary's woods storks had a successful breeding season, but biologists say it's not time to change the species' endangered status. ...Read More - Fitch Revises Outlook on Florida Environmental Protection Revs to Stable from Negative; Affirms Rtg
News Blaze, 2009-07-24
July 13, 2009--NEW YORK - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Fitch Ratings has revised the Rating Outlook on approximately $2.6 billion outstanding Florida Department of Environmental Protection Preservation 2000 and Florida Forever revenue bonds and $200 million outstanding Florida Everglades bonds to Stable from Negative. In addition, the rating is affirmed at 'A-'. ...Read More - New law protects water resources
Tampa Tribune, 2009-07-24
July 13, 2009--On June 30 Gov. Charlie Crist signed Senate Bill 2080, relating to water resources, into law. ...Read More - Delays, price hikes make a muck of $800 million Everglades project
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, 2009-07-24
July 13, 2009--Deep in the cane fields south of Lake Okeechobee, a massive construction site sits abandoned along U.S. 27, its dreams for the Everglades unfulfilled. ...Read More - Collier floats flowway plan that could require private property purchases in Estates
Naples News, 2009-07-24
July 13, 2009--NAPLES — Collier County is laying plans to change the way it mitigates for wetlands damage from road building east of Collier Boulevard. ...Read More - Conference set for discussion of Everglades bill
TC Palm, 2009-07-24
July 16, 2009--TREASURE COAST — Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-20), along with Kirk Fordham, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, Kathleen Shanahan, CEO of WRScompass and John Adornato, Regional Director, National Parks Conservation Association, will be available via media conference call on Thursday to discuss the amended Energy and Water Bill approved this week by the House Appropriations Committee. ...Read More - South Florida congresswoman, environmental groups praise vote on federal Everglades money
Palm Beach Post Blog, 2009-07-24
July 16, 2009--A lot of the news about the Everglades has been less than glowing lately, what with the revelations that it might cost the state $17 billion to make use of the land it’s buying from U.S. Sugar Corp; yesterday’s news that water managers might need to offer $1.5 billion of restoration land as collateral to finance the purchase; and Palm Beach Post reporter Paul Quinlan’s account this Sunday on the demise of an $800 million reservoir project. ...Read More - 'Glades OKs given, so what's the delay?
Keysnet.com, 2009-07-24
July 16, 2009--After years of delays in the vaunted Everglades restoration effort, it's time to speed things up. ...Read More - Wildlife officials to begin trapping pythons
Baynew9.com, 2009-07-24
July 16, 2009--Florida's governor is asking wildlife officials to begin trapping pythons, the same way the state handles nuisance alligators. ...Read More - Palm Beach County hones in on Fanjul-owned site as potential home for proposed 'inland port'
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, 2009-07-24
July 16, 2009--WEST PALM BEACH — Palm Beach County planners should not spend any more time working on a proposal that would have allowed an "inland port" to be built in a broad swath of land near Lake Okeechobee, commissioners agreed this morning. ...Read More - Blog: Restored Everglades and Kissimmee River lands as Wall Street collateral?
Palm Beach Post Blog, 2009-07-24
July 17, 2009--Several people including Carol Wehle, executive director at the South Florida Water Management District, reacted to this week’s story about a quarter-million acres of state-owned lands being offered to Wall Street as collateral to finance Gov. Charlie Crist’s land deal with U.S. Sugar and other environmental restoration projects. ...Read More - BLOG: Estenoz: Bureaucrats blocking Obama from funding Everglades
, 2009-07-24
July 17,2009--Break out the Twizzlers and popcorn! It’s South Florida Water Management District movie night! ...Read More - Charlie Crist appointees could shape U.S. Sugar deal--Three new appointees could be key to fate of governor's controversial land deal with U.S. Sugar.
Miami Herald, 2009-07-24
July 21,2009--A Miami attorney is among three people Gov. Charlie Crist named Monday to the board of the South Florida Water Management District. ...Read More - Interior czar: 'Glades wrongly stripped from list of world's endangered sites
Billnelson.senate.gov news, 2009-07-21
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After two years of pushing and with a change in U.S. administrations, Florida Democrat Bill Nelson has won the support of the nation’s lands czar for putting the Everglades back on a United Nation’s list of the world’s most treasured and endangered sites. Two years ago, a top Bush administration official removed the Everglades National Park from a United Nations’ list of endangered world sites, because he felt a lot of progress had been made in its restoration. When...Read More - Wood stork bevy stirs hopes for survival
THE MIAMI HERALD, 2009-07-21
July 6, 2009--MIAMI - The wood stork, an ungainly duckling among the Everglades' elegant wading birds, has been breeding in numbers unseen in decades. ...Read More - Endangered wading birds making a comeback
PAUL QUINLAN, 2009-06-29
June 29, 2009--It was a rare sight: three young wood storks, perched awkwardly atop two tree islands deep in the Everglades....Read More - Obama Administration to request Everglades be put back on endangered sites list
Tampa Bay.com , 2009-06-24
Two years after a Bush Administration official removed Everglades National Park from a United Nations' list of endangered world sites, Obama Administration officials are seeking to put it back on. ...Read More - Tamiami project gets go-ahead
Keysnews.com, 2009-06-24
SOUTH FLORIDA -- A federal judge has cleared the way for work to begin on a $212 million Tamiami Trail project that should benefit Florida Bay. ...Read More - Editorial: Don't let farms pollute Lake Okeechobee
News Press.com, 2009-06-23
The practice of "backpumping" used irrigation water from the farm fields south of Lake Okeechobee back into the lake eventually damages the environment here in Lee County. We have always opposed the practice...Read More - EDITORIAL: Restore Everglades reality
Palm Beach Post, 2009-06-23
An editorial in Tuesday's Post called for Gov. Crist to veto Senate Bill 624, which makes it harder to discipline police officers and sheriff's deputies. The governor signed the bill last week. The mistake resulted from a misreading of communication from the governor's office.In 2007, the Bush administration got the United Nations to drop the Everglades from its list of endangered World Heritage sites. That mistake soon may be corrected. ...Read More - Everglades bridge can move forward - EVERGLADES: Injunction is lifted, but Miccosukee Tribe will keep fighting
Herald Tribune, 2009-06-22
Construction on a controversial bridge project in the eastern Everglades could begin as early as September, after a federal judge lifted an injunction imposed on the project last November. ...Read More - Palm Beach galas cut costs, donations fall
Palm Beach Post, 2009-06-20
PALM BEACH — The island's glitzy gala season is over. The tux is back from the cleaners. The tiara is in the vault. And the bottom line does not look good. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Tamiami Trail bridge hurdle lifted
Miami Herald, 2009-06-19
Twenty years ago Congress approved a project to improve water flow in Everglades National Park. Integral to the project is elevating some of Tamiami Trail for better flow into Northeast Shark River Slough, the park's headwaters. But lawsuits, plan revisions, interagency turf wars and skyrocketing costs have delayed the road work. ...Read More - One year later, Everglades land deal shrinks to stay alive
South Florida Sun Sentinel , 2009-06-19
One year ago, Gov. Charlie Crist surprised the state with a blockbuster land deal aimed at restoring the Everglades' "missing link" through sugar cane country. ...Read More - Judge OKs Tamiami Trail bridge to help Everglades
Miami Herald , 2009-06-18
A Miami federal judge has cleared the path for a long-delayed plan for a new long bridge on the Tamiami Trail, an asphalt dam across the River of Grass for nearly 80 years. ...Read More - Judge rules against Miccosukee in Glades bridge work dispute
The Tampa Tribune, 2009-06-18
MIAMI - A federal judge in Miami has lifted an injunction that prevented the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from building a 1-mile bridge on a road through the Everglades. ...Read More - Army Corps has cash and plan to strengthen Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee
Sun Sentinel, 2009-06-18
Bite by bite, a giant clam-shell-style scoop lowered by a crane chomps into the 30-foot-tall earthen mound that for seven decades has guarded South Florida against getting swamped by Lake Okeechobee....Read More - EDITORIAL: Governor Crist should veto SB 2080
Florida Today , 2009-06-17
Our views: Veto this disaster Crist should kill water board measure that would prevent public input ...Read More - Tamiami Trail bridge injunction thrown out
South Florida Business Journal, 2009-06-17
A federal judge has cleared the way for construction of a controversial $60 million bridge along Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41) in the Everglades west of Miami. ...Read More - UPDATED: Judge lifts roadblock for Tamiami Trail project aimed at restoring flow to Everglades National Park
Palm Beach Post.com Blog , 2009-06-17
A federal project aimed at elevating a stretch of the Tamiami Trail in Miami-Dade County, helping restore water flows to Everglades National Park, got a big boost this week from a judge in Miami. ...Read More - Federal-Florida dispute holds up Everglades money
Miami Herald, 2009-06-16
The Obama administration has pledged to spend nearly half a billion dollars on Everglades restoration over the next two years, a record amount, including $103 million set aside for stimulus projects picked because they are ``shovel-ready.'' ...Read More - Bird vs. builders: Endangered stork's status called 'an albatross'
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-06-16
Although the recession is the chief obstacle to the construction of new houses in Florida, the building industry has taken aim at a more humble opponent: the endangered wood stork. ...Read More - Global warming study: US has already started changing
Boston Globe blogs, 2009-06-16
WASHINGTON -- A new government study of global warming confirms that climate change caused by carbon dioxide is already having a "visible impact" on the United States, and severe problems are on the way -- including longer droughts, more floods and an increase in pests like mosquitoes -- if global warming continues unchecked. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: A national priority
The Times - Picayune, 2009-06-15
Louisianians have been trying for years to raise awareness about the need to restore our coast and to make the effort a national priority. A new coalition of conservation groups from across the country could help us accomplish that. ...Read More - Florida Keys agency to discuss Everglades, Florida Bay
The Miami Herald, 2009-06-15
Florida Keys Keynoter Resolutions on issues affecting Everglades restoration and possible Florida Bay management will be considered at Tuesday's meeting of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council. ...Read More - Wellington wetlands area to clean storm water before it goes to wildlife refuge
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-06-14
Work has begun on a multimillion-dollar wetlands area in Wellington....Read More - Selling public land, to buy more, planned to help Everglades
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-06-13
Even as South Florida water managers push for their largest land deal ever, they are also trying to unload thousands of acres taxpayers already own. ...Read More - Water limits loosen this week
Keysnet.com, 2009-06-13
Some of South Florida's wettest weeks on record have washed away a one-day rule for Florida Keys landscape watering. ...Read More - Water rules eased after wettest May
Keysnews.com, 2009-06-13
The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board has eased emergency water restrictions after the wettest May on record. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Crist Should Block Bad Water Bill - Tampa Tribune
Tampa Tribune, 2009-06-12
Jun. 12--No long ago there would have been little doubt that Gov. Charlie Crist would veto legislation that limits public involvement in water-use decisions. After all, he has been a proponent of both open government and environmental stewardship...Read More - New colonel named to lead Army Corps of Engineers' Florida operations
Palm Beach Post, 2009-06-12
Col. Al Pantano will take command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Florida headquarters this year, just as a wave of federal money rolls in for Everglades restoration projects and repairs to Lake Okeechobee's Herbert Hoover Dike, the corps said today. ...Read More - Watering limits set to be eased in South Miami-Dade, Keys
Miami Herald, 2009-06-11
It's not like any lawn in South Florida needs watering, but starting Thursday the residents of Homestead, Florida City and the Florida Keys will get back an extra day to do it. ...Read More - Groups: Federal Court Gives Big Agriculture a "Free Pass" to Pollute
Public News Service, 2009-06-11
(CN) - Transferring polluted water from one body of water to another without a permit does not violate the Clean Water Act in light of a new Environmental Protection Agency regulation, the 11th Circuit ruled. The ruling allows a water district to pump agricultural runoff into Lake Okeechobee in southern Florida without a permit. ...Read More - South Florida water managers won't increase tax rate despite plummeting revenues
Palm Beach Post, 2009-06-10
The South Florida Water Management District will not hike its property tax rate, despite plans to finance the state's priciest-ever conservation land purchase amid a historic plunge in real estate values, leaders said today. ...Read More - 'Top to bottom' rainfall means no tightening of sprinkler limits, water managers say
Palm Beach Post , 2009-06-10
You can thank the rain for preventing water managers from imposing even stricter limits on your sprinklers. ...Read More - Washington dollars flowing to Glades
The Tampa Tribune, 2009-06-09
Say what you will about the federal stimulus plan, but thanks to it Washington finally is keeping its pledge to share the costs of the Everglades restoration project. ...Read More - Collier County may drop legal challenge against water management district
Naples News.com, 2009-06-09
COLLIER COUNTY — A knot over Everglades restoration money for a Collier County project is a step closer to getting untangled this week. ...Read More - Rainy season getting wetter
Sun Sentinel , 2009-06-08
In less than a month, South Florida made a dramatic transformation from bone dry to soggy wet. ...Read More - Panel offers mixed views on Everglades land buy
FloridaEnvironments.com, 2009-06-08
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK -- Representatives of the Everglades Foundation and the Florida Park Service say a revised U.S. Sugar Corp. purchase proposal will help restore the "River of Grass." But an attorney representing the Miccosukee indian tribe says it will further delay restoration projects already under way. ...Read More - Flood fears in South Florida: Huge levee needs repairs; insurance costs may rise
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-06-07
A 105-mile-long mound of dirt and rock helps stop the Everglades from flooding South Florida communities sitting on former swampland. ...Read More - Everglades national preserve sees rebirth after massive fire
Sun Sentinel , 2009-06-07
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. | A red-shouldered hawk perches on the blackened limb of an oak tree. Sprays of daggerlike leaves grow from charred saw palmetto trunks. ...Read More - The C-111 Canal poses huge challenge in Everglades restoration: It's an essential part of fixing Florida Bay
Keysnet.com, 2009-06-06
Everglades Foundation scientist Tom Van Lent pointed to the 50-yard-wide expanse of the C-111 canal, a deep channel brimming with fresh water amid a parched ecosystem. ...Read More - Federal appeals court ruling could mean more polluted water for Southwest Florida
MarcoNews.com, 2009-06-05
When water is pumped out of canals circling cane fields south of Lake Okeechobee back into the lake, it takes with it heavy doses of nutrients. ...Read More - Judges: South Florida water managers did not violate Clean Water Act
The Associated Press , 2009-06-05
ATLANTA - A federal appeals court has reversed a Miami judge's ruling that Florida water managers violated the Clean Water Act by pumping contaminated water from farmland into Lake Okeechobee. ...Read More - Opinion: Awesome start for Everglades restoration
Miami herald , 2009-06-03
Lake Okeechobee's dike will finally be repaired to prevent flooding. The Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach County will be improved. And sewer improvements will protect the Florida Keys from polluting the clear turquoise waters. ...Read More - Big Cypress National Preserve in the Everglades is undergoing rebirth
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-06-03
A red-shouldered hawk perches on the blackened limb of an oak tree. Sprays of dagger-like leaves grow from charred saw palmetto trunks. ...Read More - National Parks Waive Fees for 3 Weekends This Summer
Keyes Treasures Blog, 2009-06-03
National parks, including Everglades National Park and Dry Tortugas National Park in South Florida, will drop fees for three summer weekends. The parks will lift admission fees June 20-21, July 18-19 and August 15-16. About half the parks charge entrance fees. Everglades charges $10 per car for a pass that is good for one week. Dry Tortugas charges $5 to visitors, who must get to the site 70 miles west of Key West by boat or ferry. ...Read More - South Florida's Best Fishing Hole, the L-67A Canal, Falls Victim to Environmentalists
New Times Broward-Palm Beach, 2009-06-02
Iron wires dangle from a boat in a cool brown river deep in the Everglades. On this breezy April morning, a few hundred volts crackle through the metal strands into the water. ...Read More - Water Managers From Around The World At Usf Listen
WMNF 88.56 FM, 2009-06-01
This morning at the University of South Florida, 20 water managers from around the world exchanged ideas about that essential resource with people from the Tampa Bay area. The internationals are students from the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education in Delft, The Netherlands. ...Read More - Florida DEP continues restoration of rivers, lakes and estuaries
The Beach Leader, 2009-06-01
TALLAHASSEE – Florida has marked another milestone in its comprehensive strategy to address waterbody restorations around the state. Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Michael W. Sole has signed three orders identifying waterbodies for water quality improvement goals. The waters identified for restoration include waters in the Group 5, Group 1 and Group 2 basins. Florida's 52 major basins have been divided into five groups of basins and a five year rotating basin appr...Read More - Have you had enough rain yet? It could be the wettest May ever
Palm Beach Post, 2009-05-31
Just a little over two weeks ago, a water shortage crisis seemed all but inevitable. Vast swaths of the Everglades had run dry. Wildfire had charred more than 30,000 acres of Big Cypress National Preserve. Emergency pumps were installed to suck what little remained in Lake Okeechobee. ...Read More - Interior secretary treks to Everglades
Associated Press , 2009-05-29
THE EVERGLADES - Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made his first trip to the Everglades on Thursday, gliding through the swamp on an airboat and pledging to protect the "natural wonder" with the help of millions in federal dollars. ...Read More - Interior secretary promises to revitalize Everglades
Miami Herald, 2009-05-28
Saying the federal government had ''not kept its end of the bargain,'' the Obama administration on Thursday promised to pay its fair share of an Everglades restoration effort now estimated to reach $22.5 billion and to make long-stalled projects a top priority....Read More - U.S. interior secretary tours Everglades, champions federal funding
Miami Herald, 2009-05-28
Top White House aides acknowledged Thursday that the federal government had ''not done its job'' in supporting Everglades restoration over the last decade and pledged to make the effort a priority. ...Read More - State: Bigger bridge needed for canal maintenance
Florida Keys News, 2009-05-27
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY -- The new $22 million C-111 canal bridge will have eight feet of additional clearance to accommodate cranes and maintenance vehicles used to dredge the waterway, according to spokesmen for two state agencies. ...Read More - Rain makes dent in South Florida drought; more storms expected
Miami Herald, 2009-05-27
The wicked weather that washed out much of the Memorial Day weekend is going to hang around to make rush hour miserable for the next few days, as well. ...Read More - Wrong place, time to loosen the rules
KeysNet.com, 2009-05-27
-- Developers in Florida's most congested urban counties want to build more housing without paying for road improvements now required by county or city growth management rules. ...Read More - Rain means vehicles, airboats again allowed in parts of Everglades
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-05-27
WESTON - Vehicles, motorcycles and airboats are welcome again in parts of the Everglades where they had been banned because of drought conditions, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said today. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Keep water decisions public
Palm Beach Post Editorial, 2009-05-27
Imagine if a county administrator in Florida could make development decisions in secret, without asking the county commissioners. Only if the administrator denied a request would the commissioners have a say. ...Read More - Land buy boosts restoration
Miami Herald, 2009-05-26
Everglades restoration has been a priority at the South Florida Water Management District for more than a decade. That priority was underscored this month with a landmark decision by the district's Governing Board to invest $536 million in the largest land buy in the agency's history -- a 73,000-acre acquisition that will provide unprecedented opportunities for preserving the famed River of Grass. ...Read More - Water in South Florida -- What Were/Are We Thinking?
The Key West Citizen , 2009-05-24
It rained. It rained hard. Yep, old Mother Nature came through in the end! ...Read More - HOT TOPIC: EVERGLADES REPAIR
Palm Beach Post Letters to the Editor, 2009-05-24
Opponents may call it the environmental bridge to nowhere, but raising Tamiami Trail is a bridge to the future and a critical first step to restoring the Everglades. ...Read More - Guest commentary: Everglades land buy critical to restoration effort
Naples Daily News , 2009-05-23
Everglades restoration has been a priority at the South Florida Water Management District for more than a decade. That priority was underscored this month with a landmark decision by the district’s governing board to invest $536 million in the largest land buy in the agency’s history — a 73,000-acre acquisition that will provide unprecedented opportunities for preserving the famed River of Grass. ...Read More - COMMENTARY: Everglades restoration plan is sweet and sour
Orlando Sentinel, 2009-05-19
Again. We now are in the third remake of a plan to save the nation's most imperiled swamp. It's a smaller version of a smaller version of a grandiose plan announced by Charlie Crist last June. ...Read More - Florida Land Donation to aid in Restoring Everglades Sets Land Partnership Standard for Local Governments
eNewsChannels, 2009-05-18
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Okeechobee Land Dev. announced a land donation worth $53 million and 2,256 acres near Lake Okeechobee that will eventually help clean up polluted runoff flowing into local waterways has set a new standard in public-private partnerships. Martin County Commissioners unanimously endorsed the project Tuesday at their board meeting, and the South Florida Water Management governing board is set to approve the project Thursday. ...Read More - Bill aims to weaken water managers' say on permits
Palm Beach Post, 2009-05-18
TALLAHASSEE — An amendment quietly tacked onto a bill during the last days of the legislative session would strip water managers' authority to control permits, seriously altering 37 years of the state's efforts to control one of its most precious resources. ...Read More - Florida Bay proposals would restrict boating
Los Angeles Times, 2009-05-17
Reporting from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. -- Concerned that powerboats are tearing up seagrass in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park has proposed a range of possible restrictions on boaters to protect a vast, shallow estuary that supports sea turtles, fish and wading birds. ...Read More - A better Glades deal
St. Petersburg Times, 2009-05-16
The scaled-down proposal for restoration of the Everglades that South Florida water managers approved this week shows that pragmatism is not always the enemy of the ideal. ...Read More - Wildfires threaten state
South Florida Sun Sentinel , 2009-05-15
It's a race between rain and lightning. As wildfires ignite across bone-dry South Florida, there are signs that the rainy season may have started early. ...Read More - Conference stresses water conservation, enforcement
Keysnews, 2009-05-15
Officials from the South Florida Water Management District reached out to local law and code enforcement personnel on Wednesday in an effort to raise awareness about the phase three water restrictions currently in place. ...Read More - Miami officials ready to tighten water rules
Miami Herald, 2009-05-15
Miami commissioners gave unanimous preliminary approval Thursday to adopting tougher water restrictions. The ordinance, passed on first reading, means the city would follow rules set by the South Florida Water Management District if the agency limits water usage to two days a week or less. ...Read More - South Florida suburbs, not farms, spared new water restrictions
Miami Herald , 2009-05-15
At least four groundwater monitoring wells in South Miami-Dade County have hit the highest salt concentrations ever. The marshy water conservation areas at the western fringes of Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties have gone bone dry. Lake Okeechobee has dropped so low that water managers can't tap it to replenish coastal drinking water supplies. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Everglades progress flows slowly
News-journalonline.com, 2009-05-15
A promising breeze is blowing over the "River of Grass." Earlier this month, Congress and the White House loosened federal purse strings to allocate almost $280 million for Everglades restoration projects. This is the largest commitment of federal dollars to the 50-50 U.S.-Florida compact since its approval in 2000, and welcome after years of wondering whether Washington would ever put money where its "we must save our national treasure" rhetoric has been. ...Read More - Sen. Nelson swings through Naples in rare stop
Naples Daily News, 2009-05-15
In a rare visit to Southwest Florida, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said he has worked hard to get some attention focused on the Everglades, news that was music to the ears of environmentally minded locals. ...Read More - Crist praises water managers for support of Big Sugar land buy
Miami Herald, 2009-05-14
A day after winning approval for his landmark Big Sugar land buy, Gov. Charlie Crist thanked water managers in person. ...Read More - U.S. Sugar Everglades land deal approved -- but obstacles remain
Miami Herald, 2009-05-14
Gov. Charlie Crist's bid to buy a massive swath of farmland for Everglades restoration won final approval Wednesday, with water managers endorsing a smaller, more affordable version of the controversial deal. ...Read More - Crist on vote for Everglades land deal: 'God Bless you'
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-05-14
PALM BEACH COUNTY - Gov. Charlie Crist stopped by to say "Thank You" today to the South Florida water managers who Wednesday approved his history-making $536 million Everglades restoration land deal. ...Read More - South Florida Water District: Water supply has reached critical low levels, pray for rain
Palm Beach Post , 2009-05-14
WEST PALM BEACH — The bad news: South Florida's water supply has reached a critical level amid the driest November-through-May dry season on record, as vast swaths of the Everglades are now dry to the touch and Lake Okeechobee, South Florida's backup water source, has fallen below shortage level. ...Read More - Worsening drought leads to second-guessing water decisions
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-05-14
Like wildfires flaring up in the Everglades, worsening drought conditions Thursday sparked South Florida water fights over new restrictions as well as how to divvy up strained backup supplies. ...Read More - Crist's session scorecard mixed
The Tampa Tribune, 2009-05-13
TALLAHASSEE As Gov. Charlie Crist begins his quest for a U.S. Senate seat, his performance as governor will be a key campaign issue. ...Read More - Coming to grips with drought's dry reality
FLORIDA VOICE, 2009-05-13
Floridians can always rely on year-round sunshine, but rainfall is highly unpredictable in the Sunshine State. This makes water resource management one of Florida's greatest challenges, but also one of its greatest rewards. Water sustains more than 16 million residents, supports multibillion-dollar industries in agriculture and tourism, and is the lifeblood of our natural environment, from north Florida's underground springs to central Florida's Lake Okeechobee and south Florida's expansive Ever...Read More - Judge: Miami-Dade County Commission wrong to expand UDB for Lowe's: A year after Miami-Dade commissioners amended the Urban Development Boundary for two projects on the county's western fringe, a judge ruled one was unlawful.
Miami Herald, 2009-05-13
In twin rulings marking the newest chapter in the long fight over sprawl in Miami-Dade County, an administrative law judge ruled that county commissioners wrongly expanded the western development boundary for a Lowe's Superstore but properly approved a separate request to move the line. ...Read More - Key vote expected today on U.S. Sugar land deal
South Florida Sun Sentinel , 2009-05-13
PALM BEACH COUNTY - After a year of negotiations and closed-door deal-making, South Florida water managers are expected to decide today whether to move forward with Gov. Charlie Crist's $536 million Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. ...Read More - Fla. Water Managers Approve $533M Everglades Deal
New York Times, 2009-05-13
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- South Florida water managers have approved Gov. Charlie Crist's deal to buy farmland from U.S. Sugar Corp. for use in Everglades restoration. ...Read More - Water managers OK scaled-down Everglades restoration land deal
Sun-Sentinel, 2009-05-13
PALM BEACH COUNTY — Making history, tempered with a dose of economic reality, South Florida water managers Wednesday approved Gov. Charlie Crist’s scaled-down $536 million Everglades restoration land deal. ...Read More - Upcoming Events - New Everglades Land Deal Could Ease Restoration: Changes in the Pending Land Deal With U.S. Sugar Could Clear the Way for Faster, Easier Land Swaps With Rival Growers for Everglades Restoration.
Miami Herald, 2009-05-12
May 12--If water managers approve the smaller, cheaper version of Gov. Charlie Crist's Big Sugar land deal Wednesday, they won't be done dealing. ...Read More - Proposed restrictions in Everglades worry some boaters, fishing enthusiasts
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-05-12
Concerned that powerboats are tearing up seagrass in Florida Bay, Everglades National Park has proposed a range of possible restrictions on boaters to protect a vast, shallow estuary that supports sea turtles, fish and clouds of wading birds. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Buy the U.S. Sugar land
Palm Beach Post , 2009-05-12
There's an admittedly high price to pay for buying large swaths of U.S. Sugar land. It's worth paying, however, because the South Florida Water Management District - not private sugar growers - would control the future of the Everglades. ...Read More - Collier officials approve emergency burn ban amid driest period in 75 years
The Naples Daily News , 2009-05-12
NAPLES — Facing the driest six months in at least 75 years, Collier County commissioners approved an emergency burn ban Tuesday that they hope will reduce the number of wildfires in the county. ...Read More - Delray Beach looking to revamp the way it charges for water
South Florida Sun Sentinel , 2009-05-12
DELRAY BEACH - Water could get more expensive in this city – but only for the few who use lots of it. ...Read More - Water managers urge tougher restrictions in West Palm
West Palm Beach Florida Local News , 2009-05-12
This time of year our days are long, hot and dry. Evaporation is at its worst. And we're in the middle of a drought. ...Read More - Everglades land deal Includes $50 million option to buy more
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-05-11
Gov. Charlie Crist's Everglades restoration land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. comes with a $50 million gamble for South Florida taxpayers. ...Read More - U.S. help on horizon for Everglades, beaches
Miami Herald, 2009-05-08
President Barack Obama's proposed 2010 federal budget boosts spending on efforts to restore the imperiled Everglades and includes money for shoring up beaches. ...Read More - Water restrictions tightened in South Florida
Miami Herald, 2009-05-08
A severe water drought is forcing officials to tighten water restrictions in South Florida. ...Read More - Business coalition supports U.S. Sugar purchase
South Florida Business Journal, 2009-05-08
A new group of South Florida businesses has been formed to support the state buyout of U.S. Sugar Corp. land for Everglades restoration....Read More - Dealing with other buyers could help state get all of U.S. Sugar's land
South Florida Sun Sentinel , 2009-05-07
Bringing in another buyer could help lock up the 180,000 acres of farmland Gov. Charlie Crist covets for Everglades restoration. ...Read More - New Watering Limits For S. Miami-Dade & Monroe Co.
MIAMI-DADE (CBS4), 2009-05-07
New one-day-a-week watering restrictions are now in place for residents of South Miami-Dade and Monroe counties. ...Read More - Are your wells going dry?
Highlands Today, 2009-05-07
SEBRING - When one of his wells quit pumping last Friday, Chuck Domm had no drinking water....Read More - Glades funds at last
Miami Herald, 2009-05-07
By most measures, $20 billion is jaw-dropping sum, but it's a drop in the bucket in the big picture funding cost of the entire Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). Nevertheless, the $279 million in federal funds earmarked largely for Glades restoration projects mark the single-largest amount that Congress and the White House have allocated since the joint federal-state project was approved in 2000. It's a start, finally. ...Read More - Lake O level drops; pumps needed to keep water flowing to South Florida
South Florida Sun Sentinel, 2009-05-07
PALM BEACH COUNTY - Water levels in Lake Okeechobee are dropping so low that pumps will be installed Monday to keep sending flows to South Florida for irrigation and water supplies. ...Read More - Water Restrictions Imposed Amid Dry Conditions / Stricter Watering Rules Apply To Southwest Miami-Dade, Monroe
Post Newsweek Stations , 2009-05-07
MIAMI -- Recent dry conditions have led to an emergency order from the South Florida Water Management District. ...Read More - Everglades land deal could be delayed 6 months
South Florida Sun Sentinel, 2009-05-06
Financial concerns could delay Gov. Charlie Crist's blockbuster Everglades land deal with U.S. Sugar Corp. until next year....Read More - Past six months driest in southern Florida since 1932, water official says
Naples News , 2009-05-06
The level of Lake Okeechobee dropped below 11 feet this week with no rain in sight and parched southern Florida continues to be tinder-dry....Read More - Ken Burns PBS series to highlight South Florida's national parks: Filmmaker Ken Burns has explored South Florida's two national parks -- and spoke with the people who helped create them -- for a PBS series.
Miami Herald, 2009-05-05
Everglades National Park is a short drive from Miami, yet most of its visitors come from out of the state or country. And on a typical weekend, many Biscayne Bay boaters don't even know they're cruising through Biscayne National Park. ...Read More - $65 billion deal is set on budget
H-T Capital Bureau, 2009-05-05
TALLAHASSEE - Floridians could face some $2 billion in taxes and fees and the Bright Futures scholarship program may be fundamentally changed under a final budget deal reached Monday by legislative leaders. ...Read More - Everglades National Park is getting $13.2 million in federal stimulus
Miami Herald, 2009-05-04
• Everglades National Park is getting $13.2 million in federal stimulus funds -- the lion's share going to repair two failed dams near Flamingo that were supposed to prevent saltwater intrusion into interior marshes. The dams on East Cape Canal and Homestead Canal failed in 1997, compromising the freshwater habitat of minnows, wading birds and crocodiles. Park officials have installed cables with floats to bar motorboat entry, but canoes and kayaks, which may legally enter those no-motor zones, ...Read More - Drought raises Lake O stakes
Palm Beach Post, 2009-05-01
WEST PALM BEACH — We're nearing the end of the driest dry season on record....Read More - More federal money is coming for Everglades restoration
South Florida Business Journal , 2009-05-01
More federal money is coming to the Everglades for restoration projects, which means more jobs, money and water flowing for Florida’s economy....Read More - South Florida's dry season worst on record
South Florida Water Management District, 2009-05-01
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- South Florida is sweating. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Fair vote on U.S. Sugar deal
Palm Beach Post, 2009-04-30
Gov. Crist continues his attempts to stack the South Florida Water Management District board, which will vote next month on his proposal to buy a heaping dose of U.S. Sugar. ...Read More - Rainy Days Ahead for S. Fla.: Forecasters Predict a Solid -- If Not Timely -- Wet Season, Extending Concerns About Wildfires and Water Supply
Miami Herald, 2009-04-30
Apr. 30--The summer rainy season is shaping up as a wet one, the National Weather Service said Wednesday, raising hopes of snuffing out a winter marked by plummeting water levels and smoky wildfires. ...Read More - Boaters can learn online how not to damage ecosystem
McClatchy Newspapers , 2009-04-30
MIAMI – As captain Rob Clift motored his 19-foot bay boat over a sea grass meadow in Florida Bay last week, he asked his three passengers what color wake his boat was trailing astern. ...Read More - Everglades projects to get $96M from feds
The Associated Press, 2009-04-30
Everglades restoration will get a boost from about $96 million in federal stimulus funds coming to Florida for the work. ...Read More - Funding for the Florida Forever Land Program May End
Lakeland Ledger, 2009-04-29
TALLAHASSEE | Funding for Florida Forever, the state's $300 million-a-year environmental land-buying program, was put into serious jeopardy Tuesday when the House rejected the Senate effort to support the program by closing a tax loophole. ...Read More - River of cash: Stimulus aid for Glades
Miami Herald, 2009-04-29
Consider the sluggish effort to save the Glades officially stimulated. ...Read More - Everglades projects get $103M from stimulus
South Florida Business Journal, 2009-04-28
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Tuesday that at least $103 million in federal stimulus dollars will be spent on Everglades restoration projects. ...Read More - Everglades invaders
Lakeland Ledger, 2009-04-28
During an unplanned hiatus from this blog (and most other endeavors), I had occasion to read a disturbingly fascinating article on invasive wildlife in the April 20 issue of The New Yorker. The piece, written by Burkhard Bilger, details the explosion of introduced animals in Florida, particularly in Everglades National Park. Most of the exotic animals are the offspring of former pets that either escaped (in some cases, with help from Hurricane Andrew) or were released. ...Read More - Everglades money included in $4.6 billion Army Corps stimulus bundle
Palm Beach Post, 2009-04-28
The Everglades will receive about $96 million in restoration work as part of the $4.6 billion that the federal stimulus package sets aside for a nationwide slate of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers civil works projects, the corps announced today. ...Read More - Dry wells in Lehigh may mean once-a-week watering is coming, official says
Naples News, 2009-04-21
FORT MYERS — With aquifers at historic lows and significant rainfall not expected soon, the South Florida Water Management District has Lehigh Acres under the microscope....Read More - Might The Obama Administration be More Invested in Everglades Restoration Than Its Predecessor?
National Parks Traveler, 2009-04-19
Different administrations in Washington have different sets of priorities. That's understandable. For instance, while the Bush administration talked about helping restore the massive Everglades ecosystem, the Obama administration is sending signals it will work harder to push the project forward. ...Read More - Water releases will hopefully continue past deadline, Lee officials say
Naples News, 2009-04-17
Lee County officials met with Army Corps of Engineers Col. Paul Grosskruger on Thursday, trying to make sure the freshwater releases from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River continue past Monday. ...Read More - Kirk Fordham: U.S. Sugar's land deal saves jobs, restores Everglades
Orlando Sentinel, 2009-04-15
April 15, 2009 -- The world's largest ecosystem restoration took a decisive step forward when Gov. Charlie Crist announced an amended proposal to purchase more than 70,000 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land for Everglades restoration. ...Read More - Guest commentary: Convergence of opinions on rural land preservation is good for all
Naples News, 2009-04-15
Audubon of Florida, Collier County Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife and Florida Wildlife Federation endorse the recommendations of the Rural Lands Stewardship Area Five-Year Review Committee relating to the future utilization of 179,000 acres of privately owned land in eastern Collier County. We further urge the Collier County commissioners to authorize the next steps required for eventual adoption of the committee’s recommendations. ...Read More - Governor Shares Proposal to Achieve Everglades Restoration Vision in Tough Economic Climate
Strategy cuts initial investment by 60 percent, provides ready access to land, preserves jobs, 2009-04-14
April 1, 2009, TALLAHASSEE: After gathering key input from the public, legislators and South Florida's communities and in recognition of the nation's current economic climate, Governor Charlie Crist today shared details of a revised strategy to acquire land for Everglades restoration from the United States Sugar Corporation....Read More - Worsening drought sparks Lake Okeechobee water fights
THE MIAMI HERALD , 2009-04-13
LAKE OKEECHOBEE April 13, 2009 -- Water for a river and fish in Southwest Florida, or for farms and cities in the Southeast? Drought and dropping lake levels trigger a debate over a dwindling resource. Lake Okeechobee sits at the center of a confli...Read More - EDITORIAL: On sugar deal, it's try, try and try again: State's revised land buyout offers a better compromise
The Miami Herald, 2009-04-12
Apr. 12, 2009 -- Maybe for Gov. Charlie Crist the third time in his dance with U.S. Sugar will be the charm. The latest version of the governor's proposal to buy land for Everglades projects is much improved over the previous two offers. The price is about a third of the $1.75 billion first offer, and it buys less than half of the original 180,000 acres. Now, the deal is affordable -- a concession to the recession -- and some of the unattractive features have been removed or changed for the bett...Read More - Editorial: Scaled back sugar deal sweeter than initial Save The Everglades plan
The Stuart News, 2009-04-10
Friday, April 10, 2009 -- The deal is getting better by the day. In June 2008, Florida was prepared to spend $1.75 billion to purchase U.S. Sugar's entire Clewiston-based operation for Everglades restoration. In December, a new deal was negotiated: The state would purchase only the land -- 180,000 acres -- for $1.34 billion, and lease back the land to U.S. Sugar for seven years. ...Read More - Dry skies have water managers running low on options to protect faucets
The Palm Beach Post , 2009-04-10
Friday, April 10, 2009 -- WEST PALM BEACH -- An unpedented shortage of rain has water and utility managers pondering how to weather what could soon go down as South Florida's worst dry season ever recorded. All records, which stretch back to 1932, will be shattered if less than an inch of rain falls in the next three weeks. ...Read More - Florida's worsening drought sparks water fights
The Miami Herald, 2009-04-09
April 9, 2009 -- A worsening drought is sparking battles over dwindling water supplies, with Florida's southwest coast demanding relief for rivers and estuaries. ST. CLOUD -- Everglades marshes and Big Cypress swamps are drying up. Estuaries at the mouths of the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers are turning too salty. Lake Okeechobee, brimming from Tropical Storm Fay less than a year ago, is slipping into the low zone again. ...Read More - Smaller deal, smarter bet
The Palm Beach Post, 2009-04-09
Thursday, April 09, 2009 In March, as the $1.34 billion deal to buy U.S. Sugar's land unraveled, two company executives approached South Florida Water Management District Executive Director Carol Wehle in the state Capitol and suggested a new approach. As it turned out, half a deal would be better than none. ...Read More - Water levels dropping, fueling Lake Okeechobee and U.S. Sugar land deal debates
Sun-Sentinel , 2009-04-09
April 9, 2009 -- Key water supplies already are in worse shape than during the past two years of drought, heightening concerns about how to use Lake Okeechobee to help meet South Florida's needs. ...Read More - $533 million Everglades land deal gets initial go-ahead
South Florida Sun-Sentinel , 2009-04-09
3:45 PM EDT, April 9, 2009 -- South Florida water managers today gave the initial go-ahead to Gov. Charlie Crist's scaled-down, $533 million land deal for Everglades restoration. ...Read More - Lake Worth to vote on water-sharing agreement with Palm Beach County
The Palm Beach Post, 2009-04-06
Monday, April 06, 2009 -- LAKE WORTH -- City commissioners will decide Tuesday whether to approve a $6 million payment to Palm Beach County to reserve the capacity for 2 million gallons a day of drinking water. ...Read More - Drought forces West Palm Beach to supplement drinking water with canal runoff
The Palm Beach Post, 2009-04-06
Monday, April 06, 2009 -- WEST PALM BEACH -- By late last month, the drought had so dried up the lakes and marshes that supply the city with drinking water that the city rushed to test out tapping into a new source: the West Palm Beach canal. ...Read More - Now that there's a new deal with U.S. Sugar, can we get on with the Everglades restoration?
Sun-Sentinel, 2009-04-06
THE ISSUE: Everglades land deal is scaled down. April 6, 2009 -- The new deal to buy land to help restore the Everglades may not stem controversy, but it should spur state leaders to finally get on with completing one of Florida's more important public works projects. ...Read More - Advocates Concerned for Bay
By Laura Morales, The Miami Herald, 2009-04-03
Mar. 29, 2009 --At least $10 million for water managers to buy endangered Biscayne Bay wetland is gone, and more than $140,000 has been slashed from the Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas program. As Laura Reynolds sees it, ...Read More - Sweeter Glades deal
St. Petersburg Times , 2009-04-03
In Print: Friday, April 3, 2009 The state of Florida has addressed the most troubling aspects of its deal to buy U.S. Sugar land to replumb the Everglades. The proposal, unveiled Wednesday, is fairer to taxpayers and more affordable. And it balances phasing in Everglades restoration while phasing out the agricultural operations that pollute Florida's River of Grass. After three tries, Gov. Charlie Crist has a proposal that offers both fiscal sense and a road map for moving ahead. ...Read More - Keep full U.S. Sugar buy alive
Ft. Myers News Press, 2009-04-03
APRIL 3, 2009 -- Now that the state has scaled its U.S. Sugar land purchase back for the time being to less than what's needed for full Everglades restoration - and to protect the Caloosahatchee River system - future purchases are vital. ...Read More - Alarm Rising over Drought's Threat to Coastal Drinking Water Supplies
The Palm Beach Post | By PAUL QUINLAN | Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, 2009-04-02
Friday, March 06, 2009: WEST PALM BEACH — Lake Okeechobee, inundated last fall by Tropical Storm Fay's sopping march across the state, is saving a parched South Florida from tightening its emergency water restrictions amid the third-driest dro...Read More - South Florida's Uncommon Dry Spell Raises Wildfire Risk
The Miami Herald | BY CURTIS MORGAN | cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com, 2009-04-02
March 6, 2009: Water and forestry managers are issuing a warning: A record-setting dry winter is exposing South Florida to more water shortages and fires. ...Read More - Chamber poll: Crist's voter approval at 70
Jacksonville Business Journal, 2009-04-02
March 3, 2009: He received a 70 percent approval rating, while 21 percent disapproved. The poll also shows that 66 percent of Floridians support the South Florida Water Management District’s purchase of 182,000 acres of land from U.S. Sug...Read More - Feds Finally Help Everglades
Fort Myers News Press, 2009-04-02
March 2, 2009: After almost a decade of foot-dragging, Congress may finally be ready to pay its promised share of Everglades restoration. It matters deeply to Southwest Florida, because restoring the natural water system of South Florida can help pro...Read More - Don't Let Sugar Get Away
Ft. Myers News Press, 2009-04-02
February 26, 2009: Florida could blow a historic opportunity to repair grievous damage to its environment, damage that threatens Southwest Florida’s economy. That’s if the state does not move aggressively to close its deal on ...Read More - U.S. Sugar's Land Purchase will be Historical Landmark
The Sun Sentinel | By David Guest, 2009-04-02
February 23, 2009: The Feb. 11 Sun Sentinel story on a state senator's attempt to derail Florida's purchase of U.S. Sugar lands for Everglades restoration detailed the latest controversy surrounding this conservation land buy....Read More - Cost-cutting Everglades deal raises questions about environmental benefits
Sun-Sentinel, 2009-04-02
Is it worth it to buy half the acreage originally sought for restoring water flows? April 2, 2009 Dialing back an environmental dream to deal with economic realities, Gov. Charlie Crist on Wednesday announced a scaled-down, $533 million bid for 72,500 acres of U.S. Sugar Corp. land to help restore water flows to the Everglades. ...Read More - EDITORIAL: Smaller deal, better deal?
The Palm Beach Post, 2009-04-02
Thursday, April 02, 2009 -- With criticism growing and resources dwindling, Gov. Crist cut in half his signature Everglades land deal and made it sound as big and grand as ever. It's not clear, however, that the new proposal to buy U.S. Sugar farmland for Everglades restoration is any better than the old one. ...Read More - Reality on U.S. Sugar Deal
Palm Beach Post Editorial, 2009-03-27
Friday, March 27, 2009: Fortunately, even the often delusionally optimistic Gov. Crist has acknowledged that the U.S. Sugar deal is too expensive. Crafting a new deal will be more complicated, but it's the only option to get land for Everglades rest...Read More - Gov. Charlie Crist to downsize Everglades-U.S. Sugar deal
The Miami Herald, BY CURTIS MORGAN AND MARY ELLEN KLAS, 2009-03-26
March 26, 2009: His hand forced by a failing economy, Gov. Charlie Crist is poised to dramatically downsize his proposed Big Sugar buyout -- and his vision for Everglades restoration.The new agreement with the U.S. Sugar Corp., which Crist hint...Read More - Several Bad Ideas Threaten Florida's Precious Wetlands
Jacksonville.com, 2009-03-26
March 26, 2009: Don Ray, Floridians are paying billions of dollars to restore the Everglades and reverse the damage done by decades of diking, draining and filling in wetlands for development and agriculture.When Katrina struck Louisiana, people saw ...Read More - Protecting Land and Water is Good for Business
The Miami Herald BY JEFF DANTER, 2009-03-23
Monday, March 23, 2009: When my family and I pulled into Bahia Honda State Park in December, the parking lot was packed, and the beach was filled with bathers -- all of whom had paid park entrance fees. Many visitors likely dined at local restaurant...Read More - Don't Walk Away from U.S. Sugar Land Purchase
By Megan Tinsley, Everglades Science Coordinator, Audubon of Florida, 2009-03-21
Posted - Saturday, March 21, 2009 11:07 AM EDT: EDITOR: The editorial "State should walk away from sugar deal" published March 11 failed to recognize that the state's initiative to purchase vast quantities of land in the Everglades Agricultural Ar...Read More - Can Thirsty Central Florida Ccount on Kissimmee River for Drinking Water?
Orlando Sentinel | Kevin Spear | Sentinel Staff Writer , 2009-03-19
The long-suffering Kissimmee River is on the path to restoration. (GEORGE SKENE, ORLANDO SENTINEL / March 19, 2009): The battered Kissimmee River was dredged into a grotesque mess years ago and has been undergoing costly environmental restoration.Now...Read More - Land Buy Worthy
The Bradenton Herald, 2009-03-18
March 18, 2009: Last summer when Gov. Charlie Crist and U.S. Sugar Corp. unveiled the state purchase of 187,000 acres to help reconnect Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, hopes soared that maybe, just maybe, the long-delayed restoration project would...Read More - Ribbon cutting marks dedication of drinking water plant for western Palm Beach County
The Palm Beach Post | By MITRA MALEK| Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, 2009-03-17
Friday, March 06, 2009:BELLE GLADE — Today marks the official celebration of clean drinking water flowing to the Glades. At 10 a.m. today, several Palm Beach County commissioners and officials from the Glades cities cut a ribbon and acknowledge...Read More - Back Bonds for Sugar Deal
Palm Beach Post Editorial, 2009-03-16
Monday, March 16, 2009: If the opponents of the South Florida Water Management District's $1.34 billion purchase of U.S. Sugar's land get their way, the three-day trial that begins today in Palm Beach County will be the debate that taxpayers never ...Read More - Restoration Reserve, another reason for Florida to acquire U.S. Sugar Land
Stuart News, Jupiter Courier, TC Palm , 2009-03-11
March 11, 2009: This is the vision being articulated by Karl Wickstrom. It's a concept that merits far greater attention than it has received.Wickstrom is the founder of Stuart-based Florida Sportsman magazine and one of the leaders of the Riv...Read More - South Floridians Warned to Cut Water Use
Sun-Sentinel | By Andy Reid | South Florida Sun Sentinel , 2009-03-05
March 5, 2009: Unusually dry season straining water levels, managers say. Lack of rain during the start of 2009 has South Florida water managers warning residents to cut back. The South Florida Water Management District plans to hold a briefing Frida...Read More - Miami Springs Warns of Continuing Water Limits.
The Miami Herald |BY LUCIA OROZCO | lorozco@MiamiHerald.com, 2009-03-03
March 3, 2009: MIAMI SPRINGS: After noticing an increase in violations, the Miami Springs Police Department wants to remind residents and businesses within the city that South Florida remains under water restrictions. Water users must adhere to the i...Read More - Stanch the Rate of Wetlands Destruction
The Miami Herald , 2009-02-25
Feb. 25, 2009: There was a time when wetlands were considered useless -- places too wet for growing crops or building homes. We know better now, but that hasn't stopped us from continuing to destroy wetlands at a record rate. The results of a ...Read More - Reward Success, Punish Excess
The Miami Herald, 2009-02-15
Posted on Sun, Feb. 15, 2009: South Floridians were so good at obeying the South Florida Water Management District's drought water-use restrictions that local utilities have recorded a marked decline in how much water we are consuming. Water use has...Read More - Moderate Drought is Back in South Florida, Palm Beach County
By CHRISTINA DeNARDO |Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, 2009-02-14
Saturday, February 14, 2009: South Florida has slipped back into a moderate drought, months after a wetter-than-average 2008 rainy season lifted the region out of one of the worst water shortages in its history.Without much rain expected during the n...Read More - Next Half of Dry Season Expected to be just as Parched
By Tyler Treadway (Contact) | TCPalm.com, 2009-02-13
Friday, February 13, 2009: If the sound of your grass crunching under your feet isn’t enough, water managers make it official: The first half of this year’s dry season is one of the driest on record for most of the Treasure Coast.WhatR...Read More - Utilities Chipping Away at Year-Round Watering Restrictions
By Andy Reid | South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 2009-02-13
February 13, 2009: Bristling from two years of watering restrictions, South Florida communities on Thursday moved closer to watering down proposed year-round irrigation limits.The South Florida Water Management District has proposed switching from te...Read More - South Florida Water Restrictions May be Eased
The Miami Herald | BY CURTIS MORGAN | cmorgan@MiamiHerald.com, 2009-02-13
Feb. 13, 2009: After warnings of stale water, rate hikes and lawsuits from utilities, the South Florida Water Management District is considering an extra day of watering. The catch: fewer hours to water.Water managers moved on Thursday toward a lite ...Read More - South Florida Experiencing Fourth-Driest Start to Season
Miami Herald | BY CURTIS MORGAN, 2009-02-12
Posted on Thu, Feb. 12, 2009: Though rainfall wound up above average last year, the first three months of winter have been arid, with much of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties receiving less than two inches -- more than 8.5 inches below ave...Read More - Drop that Hose! Low Rainfall Worries State Officials
By Andy Reid | South Florida Sun Sentinel , 2009-02-12
10:57 AM EST, February 12, 2009: Palm Beach County - Rainfall remains stingier than normal halfway through Florida's dry season, prompting managers today to renew the call for conservation.South Florida averaged just over 2 inches of rainfall during...Read More - Water Managers: Fourth-driest start to South Florida's dry season
Sun Sentinel, 2009-02-12
9:58 AM EST, February 12, 2009: West Palm Beach - It's the winter dry season and South Florida is once again experiencing near-record rainfall deficits, the South Florida Water Management District said today.An above-average rainy season for 2008 he...Read More - Anti-Drought Insurance
Palm Beach Post Editorial, 2009-02-11
Wednesday, February 11, 2009:Lack of rain this winter isn't the only reason for South Floridians to use less water, but it's one of the reasons. Thursday, the South Florida Water Management District board will hear more comments about the proposal ...Read More
