VoteWater Statements

Special Report: 10 years after the ‘Lost Summer’ of 2013, what’s changed?

August 1, 2023

Ten years ago today, we were in the eye of the storm. The discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers had begun May 8; by early August 2013 the “Lost Summer” was in full swing, with…

Why we fight

July 5, 2023

It doesn’t get more American than this. Leading up to the Fourth of July, Florida beaches and waterways were packed. Families in the sand, music and cold beverages on the boat, some fishing, some swimming — that’s why we live…

Call to action: Tell Gov. DeSantis we need this clean-water advocate back

June 22, 2023

One of the most passionate clean-water advocates in South Florida just got kicked to the curb. As we detailed last week, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch had been a member of the South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board since 2019. The Sewall’s…

If Thurlow-Lippisch loses seat on SFWMD board, polluters win

June 13, 2023

Here’s a case study of how politics pollutes Florida’s waters: Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch is a Sewall’s Point Realtor, long-time Treasure Coast clean water advocate and, since 2019, a member of the South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board. Few people in…

DeSantis signs ‘sprawl bill’; will he let fertilizer ban stand?

May 26, 2023

One down, one to go — and not in a good way. On May 24, after weeks of lobbying and email campaigns and public pleas by citizens and conservation groups seeking a veto, Gov. Ron DeSantis ignored it all and signed…

Florida’s waters will bear the scars of this legislative session

May 8, 2023

And so the 2023 Legislative Session has come to an end. Mercifully. Let’s be frank: It wasn’t a good year for clean water or Florida’s environment in general. While the Legislature did allot a record $1.1 billion for land acquisition…

Here’s where VoteWater made an impact in 2022 – thanks to your support

December 27, 2022

Happy holidays from VoteWater! As 2022 fades, the fight for cleaner water and better political leadership is far from over — but this year, we made progress. And we’re proud to report the following accomplishments, all of them made possible,…

The election is over; the fight for clean water is not

November 9, 2022

The 2022 general election has come and gone; how, ultimately, will it impact Florida’s troubled waters? We’ll find out soon enough. Two VoteWater endorsed candidates prevailed last night; Congressman Brian Mast won re-lection to his 21st District seat; in the…

While other issues dominate the headlines, we can’t take our eye off the ball – clean water

October 18, 2022

Environmental concerns haven’t been high on the campaign agenda this year. Particularly at the state level, abortion and inflation take up a lot of bandwidth. At the federal level cultural and pocketbook issues also predominate. Our foundational cause, clean water…

VoteWater endorses Brian Mast, Lindsay Cross ahead of Nov. 8 election

October 4, 2022

Republican Congressman Brian Mast and Lindsay Cross, Democratic candidate for Florida House District 60, were endorsed this week by the environmental advocacy group VoteWater. “Brian Mast has been an absolute warrior when it comes to clean-water issues on the Treasure…

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