Articles by: Gil Smart
“No.” The last holdouts on Rick Scott’s South Florida Water Management District governing board had gone years without hearing this answer from any authority, but things in Florida are different now. On Monday US Judge Federico Moreno denied their request,…
Scores of Treasure Coast residents have already gone on record. Now it’s your turn. The Army Corps of Engineers is offering opportunities all across the state to residents, visitors, and anyone else who holds places in Florida close to their…
We need your help. The Army Corps is reviewing its rules for managing Lake Okeechobee, and they want to hear whether discharges or toxic blooms have impacted people’s lives and livelihoods. They’re gathering comments in a series of public forums,…
“There’s no silver bullet” has been just about every politician’s soundbite at some point during Florida’s ongoing water management crisis. Red tide, toxic algae, human health risks, poisoned dogs, collapsing fisheries… somehow the equivalent of “golly, search me” passes for…
Quick, name the Florida politicians–Democrat or Republican–whose leadership on clean water policy makes them true champions. To be fair, there are a few legitimate champions in office today. Why aren’t there more? A recent Politico article describes the Florida Democratic Party…
Has there ever been a harsher contrast in leadership than what Florida saw last week from the Governing Board of the South Florida Water Management District and from former governor Bob Graham? Confronted with a litany of catastophic failures and…
More conservation groups are standing up for clean water, refusing to wait decades for Florida to build itself out of this water management crisis. Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani says it plainly:Â the time for bold action cannot wait. Introducing federal legislation…
We made history this year. Never before has clean water inspired political debate, media coverage, or public discussion the way it did in Florida in 2018. For the first time federal lamakers and agencies enter a new year being held…
Without Lake Okeechobee discharges feeding toxic blooms, the water on both Florida coasts is clearing up, like a Christmas gift from water management agencies. Memories of the sight–and smell–of death and slime piling up on our shorelines are starting to…
Lost in the outcry to replace the SFWMD Board of Governors over its attempt to sneak in one last sugarcane land deal at taxpayers’ expense before the Rick Scott era ends is another reason to replace the board: Its announcement…
