STOP THE RIPPLE EFFECT

Below, you will find a list of needed actions - at both the state and federal levels - that are needed to save the Caloosahatchee River and the Everglades. 

Needed State Policy Actions

• Build the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir to help reduce damaging discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries and convey clean water south to the Everglades and Florida Bay

• Maintain consistent funding to complete the C-43 Reservoir, and develop a water quality filtration component

• Update state stormwater requirements for new development and redevelopment to ensure capture of at least 80% of nitrogen and phosphorus pollution generated

• Require monitoring of agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) to ensure proper implementation, and water quality testing of agricultural runoff to measure effectiveness

• Create a Nitrogen Total Maximum Daily Load pollution limit for Lake Okeechobee to control nitrogen pollution upstream of the Caloosahatchee
  
  
• Develop and implement the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project to store more water north of Lake O, and include a water quality treatment component to ensure compatibility with water quality restoration goals

• Control pollution at its source by setting numeric water quality standards for all flowing waters and upstream waterbodies

• Implement more stringent wetland protection regulations to stop the loss of wetlands that naturally store and cleanse freshwater

• Restore full funding to Florida Forever state land acquisition program to preserve critical wildlife habitat and water resources

• Assist counties and cities in building more freshwater storage and filtration projects in the Caloosahatchee watershed to lessen pollution and excess runoff from the watershed

• Develop Total Maximum Daily Load pollutant limits for all waters not meeting state water quality standards within the next 5 years, and Basin Management Action Plans to restore them within the following 5 years

• Update the Caloosahatchee Minimum Flow and Level using measured data to ensure adequate freshwater flows to the estuary to protect aquatic life

Needed Federal Policy Actions

• Work with the state to implement SB10 and construct the EAA Reservoir to provide the necessary storage, treatment, and conveyance south of Lake Okeechobee

• Implement the 2015 EPA Waters of the US Rule to protect upstream wetlands and tributaries. Do not repeal and replace with a less protective rule

• Provide consistent authorization of Everglades projects by passing a Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) every two years

• Provide sufficient funding to fully fund and complete all authorized Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Projects

• Require state to set numeric pollution standards for all artificial and natural flowing waters

• Revise the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule to ensure appropriate Lake Okeechobee flows to the Caloosahatchee for supporting safe water quality and protection of endangered species

• In federal wetlands permitting, revise methodology to require proper avoidance of wetlands impacts and acre for acre replacement if wetlands are impacted

• Assist C-43 Reservoir construction, as well as design and help construct filtration project

• Finish construction of Herbert Hoover Dike improvements for public safety, while ensuring the lake is not raised to levels that would compromise Lake Okeechobee’s ecology (over 16 feet)

• Update and revise the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan to address new technical information and engineering constraints, addressing how and where storage will be replaced from projects deemed infeasible or where storage has been reduced

• Fully fund and complete the Everglades Headwaters Refuge, as well as the Fisheating Creek Headwaters Refuge projects to conserve lands providing natural storage and filtration

• Pass the Everglades for the Next Generation Act to expedite the authorization and funding of CERP projects