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Friday, June 15th, 2012 #1337 |
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Rosey and embers Mark Renz photo
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South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force
Integrated Calendar
Task Force, Working Group (WG), & Science Coordination Group (SCG)
Biscayne Bay Regional Restoration Coordination Team (BBRRCT)
Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP)
CEPP Project Delivery Team (PDT)
South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) Governing Board (GB)
Water Resources Advisory Commission (WRAC)
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TMDL Water Quality Restoration Grant Opportunity
- Application Deadline is July 1st
Three times a year, funding is awarded for the implementation of best management practices designed to reduce pollutant loads to impaired waters from urban stormwater discharges. This funding is administered by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as the TMDL Water Quality Restoration Grant, which is set out by rule in Chapter 62-305, F.A.C. and authorized by Section 403.890(2), F.S.
What type of project is eligible for this grant?·The project reduces stormwater pollutant loadings from urban areas that discharge to waterbodies on the state's verified list of impaired waters. ·The project is at least at the 60% design phase. ·The project is permitted or the permit has been scheduled for approval at the next meeting of the water management district governing board or Department. ·The project includes storm event monitoring to determine the actual load reduction. ·The construction will be completed within three years of appropriation of the funds by the Legislature in order to ensure fund remain available. ·The applicant provides a minimum of 50% of the total project cost in matching funds, of which at least 25% are provided by the local government. ·The grant funds are used for construction of best management practices, monitoring to determine pollutant load reductions, or public education activities specifically associated with the project and may only occur after the date of contract. Funds spent in advance of contract may be used for match, such as design, land acquisition, and other costs incurred by the applicant. What criteria are used for project ranking and selection?·Impairment status of the receiving water body·Estimated load reduction of the pollutants of concern ·Percentage of local matching funds ·Cost effectiveness based on the cost per pound of Total Nitrogen and/or Total Phosphorus removed per acre treated ·Inclusion of a robust educational component ·Whether the local government sponsor has implemented of a dedicated funding source for stormwater management, such as a stormwater utility fee
If you would like to submit an application, the deadline for this project selection period is July 1, 2012. Please visit our website for more information: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/watersheds/tmdl_grant.htm
For additional information contact:
Samantha Fillmore, P.G.
Environmental Consultant
Watershed Planning and Coordination Section
Bureau of Watershed Restoration |
Hundreds of Organizations Ask Congress to
"Hold the Line" on Conservation Programs in the Farm Bill More than 500 organizations, businesses and individuals signed a letter asking congressional leaders not to further cut funding to the Conservation Title of the Farm Bill. Noting that conservation programs already have been significantly cut in recent years and will bear more than their fair share of deficit reduction in the Farm Bill as currently drafted, the letter asks Congress to "hold the line" on conservation funding at the amounts provided in the bill approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee. The 523 signatories comprise large and small organizations, businesses and landowners from all across America, collectively representing tens of millions of Americans. The letter notes that conservation programs are essential to the sustainability of agriculture and forestry in the United States and to meeting the growing demand for food and fiber at home and abroad. These programs are "high-leverage investments in rural America," protecting natural resources by funding a variety of voluntary partnerships and cooperative conservation efforts between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and private landowners. "Since the 2008 farm bill was enacted, Conservation Title programs have already been cut significantly through the annual appropriations process, particularly in the last two agriculture appropriations bills, and these cuts have had real and unfortunate impacts on the ground. The additional significant cuts to conservation funding included in the bill advanced by the Senate Agriculture Committee, if enacted, mean that the Conservation Title is already contributing more than its fair share to budget deficit reduction. While policy improvements can help reduce the impact of these additional cuts, they will, nevertheless have a negative impact on the ground. Further cuts would jeopardize this country's entire system of successful agricultural and forestry conservation programs. And so we urge you to hold the line on Conservation Title funding at the amounts provided in the bill approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee on April 26th, 2012," states the letter. Conservation Title programs "are both popular and highly effective," state the groups in the letter. These programs "recognize that the health of America's soil, water, wildlife, and other natural resources is essential to the long term productivity and economic viability of agriculture and forestry, that protecting and managing our natural resources is critical to the future of American communities, and that most of our nation's opportunities for hunting, fishing, and observing nature depend upon privately owned habitat on working farms, ranches and forest land." The letter concludes, "Maintaining, strengthening, and providing sufficient funding for the Conservation Title programs will deliver multiple benefits for every region of America. Not the least of these is helping America's farmers, ranchers, and private forest land owners to stay on the land as stewards of America's natural resources." The letter was coordinated and distributed by 11 agricultural, forestry, and conservation organizations. They are American Farmland Trust, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Ducks Unlimited, Environmental Defense Fund, Land Trust Alliance, National Association of Conservation Districts, National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, National Wildlife Federation, The Nature Conservancy, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Trout Unlimited. The full text of the letter to the leaders of the Agriculture Committees can be found online, including the complete list of signers. |
FACTORY FARMING SERIES PART II: Bigger Isn't Better
By Karen Steuer Before the 1960s, America's supply of chicken, beef, pork and eggs was produced by a multitude of farms across the country. The vast majority of these operations were, by today's standards, smaller and housed fewer animals. As one would expect, volume of manure generated by these farms was relatively small and was used to fertilize nearby crops. But over time, farming has become more centralized, and scaled-up operations are so large that they could scarcely be termed "farms" any longer. These concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) condensed the raising of animals to particular regions, many with insufficient nearby cropland to effectively use the manure all those chickens, hogs and other animals create. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that more than 1 billion tons of animal waste is produced annually by livestock operations, much of it from CAFOs. These facilities commonly rely on open lagoons or large piles to store the huge volumes of waste generated there, later to be crop-applied. This waste is essentially untreated and often used at levels that far exceed the fertilization needs of crops. This results in excess runoff and leaching into local rivers, streams and bays, damaging water quality and fish, birds and other life. And there have been plenty of reports of these issues affecting people, too. In 2004, 29 states identified livestock-feeding operations as a source of water pollution. According to the U.S. EPA, drinking water sources for an estimated 40 percent of Americans have suffered some level of pathogen contamination associated with CAFOs. The waste generated by CAFOs contains a range of pollutants, including excess nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Even more alarming, this manure can carry pathogens like bacteria and viruses, antibiotics, copper and arsenic. All this can result in a multitude of problems for people, plants and animals alike. For example: * A massive manure spill at a Lewis County, N.Y., dairy farm in 2005 contaminated 20 miles of the Black River and killed 375,000 fish. * At a national wildlife refuge near a large hog operation in Nebraska, wildlife experts concluded in 2004 that wastewater with high concentrations of phosphorus, ammonia, nitrogen, and harmful pathogens had created an environment conducive to algal blooms and possible outbreaks of avian botulism and avian cholera. * Over the last three years, toxic algal blooms have plagued Grand Lake St. Marys in western Ohio. These are caused by excess nutrients, and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources notes that the "manure generated by approximately 300 confined animal operations and applied to nearby crop fields is a major component of the nutrient load to the watershed." The Clean Water Act is the principal law for controlling pollution of rivers, lakes and wetlands in the U.S. The law has a mixed record overall, but an especially poor one when it comes to regulating pollution from animal agriculture, particularly concentrated animal feeding operations. While the U.S. EPA and state agencies have implemented various regulations to control nutrient pollution, significant gaps remain.
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Keynote by Cynthia Barnett
An award-winning journalist reports on the many ways one of the most water-rich nations on the planet has squandered its way to scarcity, and argues the best solution is also the simplest and least expensive: a water ethic for America.
Reporting from across the country and around the globe, Barnett shows how people, businesses, and governments have come together to dramatically reduce water use and reverse the water crisis.
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Audubon Calls for Stronger Lake Okeechobee Protections
The fight to clean up excessive nutrients that are killing Lake Okeechobee continues with Audubon's science-based recommendations for controlling pollution sources. With the Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan under a three-year review, Audubon is pushing a list of actions to meet water quality goals. Warning that excessive amounts of phosphorus cause toxic algae blooms and dead zones, which endanger fish, wildlife and human drinking water supplies, our scientists have also demonstrated approaches to reducing pollution. Audubon submitted extensive comments for eliminating the disposal of human waste in the watershed and reducing farm fertilizers that were headlined in a major news coverage article.
Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program (NEEPP)
The Office of Ecosystem Projects Program Coordination and Regulation is the lead office responsible for implementation of the Department of Environmental Protection's responsibilities under the NEEPP, pursuant to Chapter 373.4595 of the Florida Statutes (F.S.).
Background
In May 2007, the Florida Legislature passed the NEEPP, which expanded the existing Lake Okeechobee Protection Act (LOPA) to include the Caloosahatchee and the St. Lucie Rivers and Estuaries. The primary goal of the legislation is to restore and to protect the state's surface-water resources by addressing water quality, quantity, timing, and distribution of water to the natural system. .....
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http://www.eco-voice.org/node/13336
10-day pulse release to the Caloosahatchee
The evaluation by SFWMD for Caloosahatchee Estuary indicates that the 30-day average salinity at I-75 location will continue to exceed 5 psu within the next two weeks and there is less than 50% probability that Lake stage will fall below 11.0 ft during the dry season, and the Tributary Hydrologic Condition on Sunday, 10 June was normal. Therefore, the AP release guidance suggests "S-79 up to 300cfs, S-77 environmental water supply release to supplement as needed".
Therefore, USACE's decision is to begin a 10-day pulse release to the Caloosahatchee Estuary beginning 15 June, 2012. The target flow for the pulse release to the Caloosahatchee Estuary is an average flow over the 10-day period of 300 cfs, measured at S-79. |
Report nuisance alligators
Alligator attacks are rare, but they occur; from 1948 to 2011, there were 335 recorded unprovoked alligator attacks (an average of 5.3 a year) and 22 fatalities in Florida.
Anyone who encounters a nuisance alligator (one that is at least 4 feet long and a threat to humans, pets or property) should call the state's nuisance alligator hot line: 866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).
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When I wander into your habitat while just trying to survive
I'm called a nuisance...
When you wander into my habitat for recreation
I'm also called a nuisance...
What do you want from me?
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Mark Renz photos
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Florida - Turtle nests abound on Lee, Collier county beaches - The News-Press
The number of turtle nests on beaches in Lee and Collier counties and around the state are shocking even the experts. In many areas there are more than double the number of nests from this time last year and the turtles keep coming ashore laying more eggs.
"We're thrilled with our nesting numbers," said Eve Haverfield, president and founder of Turtle Time, a nonprofit group that monitors sea turtles in South Lee County. "We've not seen numbers like this, this early...Read Entire Article Here
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If I had only half the turtle's sense of direction... Mark Renz photo art |
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Lee County favors plan to help Caloosahatchee River
Written byKevin Lollar- news-press
While some environmental organizations spoke against a possible plan to help the Caloosahatchee River on Thursday at the South Florida Water Management District meeting in Okeechobee and estuary, Lee County came out in favor of the plan.
At issue is how much fresh water should be released from Lake Okeechobee down the river during dry periods - too little fresh water in the river causes various environmental problems, including die-offs of tape grass, an important part of the river's ecosystem.
Water district staff explained a plan to the district's Governing Board that would pump water from south of the lake back into the lake and then release some of that water down the Caloosahatchee.
The plan would be a temporary solution because it would only last until methods are implemented to store water for the Caloosahatchee, such as the C-43 reservoir, which will store 55 billion gallons of water just south of the Caloosahatchee in Hendry County.
Environmental groups said that this "water supply augmentation," also known as back-pumping, would increase nutrients, and therefore algal blooms, in the lake, would decrease dissolved oxygen in the lake and would reduce water going to water conservation areas, stormwater treatment areas and Everglades National Park south of the lake.
Dan Delisi, Southwest Florida's representative on the district's Governing Board, said the board should not dismiss the idea simply because back-pumping in the past caused environmental problems in the lake.
Speaking for Lee County, Kurt Harclerode, operations manager for the county's Division of Natural Resources, said the district should implement the plan and that the various groups must make trade-offs.
"Everybody wants to go to heaven," he said. "But nobody wants to die."
After lengthy public comment, the Governing Board decided to take the issue up again in its August meeting.
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Exploring the old river... Part of the third phase of the Great Calusa Blueway
(Caloosahatchee River)
Mark Renz photo art |
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www.calusablueway.com The third phase of the Great Calusa Blueway is open. The trail, now 190 miles long, encompasses three distinct regions of the Gulf of Mexico coast off Lee County. |
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Sincerely,
Eco-Voice Moderator
Eco-Voice, Inc.
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