Water quality, quantity top issues going into 2020

Environmental issues are always at the forefront in Southwest Florida as the region is part of the historic Everglades and made up large of watery landscapes and wetlands. 

The top stories for 2020 will range from algae task force meeting to Everglades restoration and Florida Forever funding and growth management. 

The typical agencies will be in place: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the South Florida Water Management District; the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Environmental groups will be part of melee too as some government leaders push for funding for restoration projects that are years behind schedule. 

Manatees will ply local waters and be struck by boats, panthers will die, too. But it won't be all bad news. Wading birds will nest, and dolphin calving season comes in late summer. 

So here's a look at some of the top stories for the coming year: 

Algae task force

The state's Blue-Green Algae Task Force will meet again this year to help set legislative priorities for lawmakers on issues regarding freshwater algae blooms. 

Gov. Ron DeSantis built the task in hopes that it would help funnel ideas from the scientific community to elected leaders in Tallahassee. 

The advisory group is made up of five scientists from different universities and agencies and is headed by Tom Frazer, the state's first chief science officer. 

It started meeting in June and has since come up with a list of water quality recommendations for lawmakers as they head into the 2020 session. 

Some topics addressed by the group so far include management practices with various types of agriculture, nutrient runoff and public notification of potentially harmful blooms. 

Water quality

Poor water quality has hit Southwest Florida for much of the past four years, since El Nino rains in January 2016 dropped more than a foot of water on the state in the height of the dry season. 

That extra rain piled up in Lake Okeechobee, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released water to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers. 

The worst conditions were on the east coast that year, but Hurricane Irma slammed the state in 2017, stirring up decades of settled nutrients from the bottom of the historic Everglades. 

A red tide bloom started in the fall of 2017 and became one of the worst on record. 

The bloom lasted through all of 2018 and into 2019, which saw a second bloom in the late summer and early fall. 

Blue-green algae blooms usually occur during the warm summer months while red tide typically blooms in the fall and into the early winter. 

Federal Everglades funding 

Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. are finalizing a $200 million funding package for Everglades restoration.

The U.S. Senate passed H.R. 1865 Thursday, which still needs to be approved by the president. 

“(The $200 million) from Congress in (2020) will really go a long way with the more than $200 million that Florida is bringing to the table," said Celeste DePalma, with Audubon Florida. "We have projects ready to go. This is the level of commitment needed to bring the wind back into our sails and move restoration full speed ahead.”

The Everglades restoration is multi-billion dollar, decades-long rehabilitation and alteration of the historic Everglades that is intended to provide more ideal conditions for the ailing system, which stretches from just south of Orlando to the Florida Keys. 

Also:Water district looks for more funding on two reservoirs within Everglades restoration plan

Florida Wildlife Federation looks ahead

The Florida Wildlife Federation, an advocacy group focused on native fish and wildlife, has a lot on its 2020 checklist. The organization will be focused on Conservation Collier, the Rural Lands Stewardship area and the proposed statewide toll roads.

Conservation Collier is a county land preservation program and a 2020 ballot initiative will seek a special tax to continue its operations.

“The Federation is supportive of the effort and will be focused on the education component of the initiative to inform the public and make sure everyone understands how great these areas are,” said Meredith Budd, the group's Southwest Florida field representative.

The lands preserved under Conservation Collier not only provide wildlife habitat, but recreational areas for citizens to enjoy, she said.

The federation is also keeping a close eye on the Rural Land Stewardship Area, a growth plan with conservation goals. County officials will be deciding on the fate of one proposed RLSA village, Rivergrass, in January, and the federation wants to make sure that impacts are contributing to the conversation to make sure that we can protect the Florida panther, Budd said.

Related:Collier reviews rural growth plan amid looming disagreements

And:Braden Hospital could break ground in Ave Maria sometime next year

A third matter of importance for the federation is roads cutting off wildlife connectivity, namely the proposed toll roads under the state's M-CORES plan — Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance. One route would go from Naples to Polk County. 

Considering the Everglades restoration project’s Picayune Strand efforts where hundreds of miles of roads had to be torn down, the proposed toll roads are a no-go for the federation.

“(We’re) putting all this money and effort to bring to natural conditions (to the Everglades), and here we are at the state level approving and moving forward, seemingly rushing forward, the building of more roads,” Budd said.

Florida Forever funding

Advocates for the Florida Forever are asking the 2020 Florida Legislature for $470 million to fund the land acquisition program. In a letter sent to state leaders, the coalition of environment groups, small businesses and land owners said, “there is no time to lose.”

“Industry and development are encroaching rapidly onto Florida’s last remaining natural lands,” the letter says.

Full funding will allow the program to acquire priority lands, rural and family lands and urban lands for conservation purposes.

“In Florida, we still have a chance to do our part – but not for long,” said Gladys Delgadillo, environmental policy specialist at the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. “The Florida 2070 report paints a picture of a future where nearly half our land is placed in conservation. But it requires saving all the lands on the Florida Forever Priority List, plus others.”

Indigenous voices of Everglades restoration

As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and several state agencies move forward with plans to restore the natural Everglades, the Miccosukee tribe hopes to have a stronger voice at the table.

Members of the tribe held a two-day prayer walk near the end of 2019 to raise awareness of the tribe’s livelihood held in the lands tapped to be restored.

"We go to meetings to give historical context, but that's seen as anecdotal," said Betty Osceola, member of the Miccosukee tribe. "But nature is a great teacher."

Osceola said the tribe has a living history of the ecosystem with a consistent picture of what the Everglades environment should look like.

Conservancy looks ahead toward water quality, growth

The Conservancy is hoping for water quality measures and smart growth and development for the upcoming year.

President and CEO Rob Moher said the Conservancy is working hard with its partners to get a comprehensive water quality bill passed.

“New statewide stormwater standards are a great opportunity to get ahead of the development,” he said.

Moher believes development can be done right, and the conservancy will work with Collier County and local governments to find solutions for climate resiliency and smart growth.

The organization will also work to educate the citizens on how some proposed growth opportunities could affect them.

“These cities and towns (Rivergrass) are not self-sufficient towns, people will be commuting on very clogged arterial roadways,” he said. “The Conservancy will be leading the effort on science to not bring these badly designed developments in. Rivergrass and the (Rural Land Stewardship Area) will fundamentally change our community.”

Advocates warn about environmental effects of agricultural antibiotics

Discussion of farmers’ antibiotics use on crops including Florida citrus will be something to watch this year, as concern grows over the potential consequences of the drugs on the environment and human health.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which tracks the proliferation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, has urged farmers to be cautious about overusing the drugs, and earlier this month, advocates filed a legal petition urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require labels on oranges and other fruits sprayed with antibiotics before harvest.

The filing was in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s approvals of streptomycin and oxytetracycline for use as pesticides on citrus and other crops over the past three years. Citrus farmers, desperate for a leg up in the fight against devastating citrus greening disease, have begun spraying the drugs on their trees.

Petitioners include the Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Environmental Health, Farmworker Association of Florida, Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future, Migrant Clinicians Network and U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

The CDC and others warn that overuse of antibiotics, which are essential to fight human disease, can lead to “superbugs” – bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics. More than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections — causing 35,000 deaths — occur in the United States each year, according to the CDC

“I live in Florida, see the problems that the citrus industry is facing, and am sympathetic to that burden,” Center for Biological Diversity attorney Hannah Connor wrote in an email. “The fact remains, though, that the pesticidal uses of antibiotics discussed in this petition have not been proven to be effective at treating citrus greening disease, especially when sprayed onto the trees rather than injected into the tree's heart. Spraying of antibiotics like pesticides, however, can lead to drift into the surrounding environment, entry into waterways, and direct exposures to humans, including our important farmworker communities, and wildlife."