Eco-Voice Digest
 
Sunday, June 10th, 2012  #1331
In This Issue
Izaak Walton League Advocacy
Mercury TMDL Meeting
RESTORE Act sign on letter
Land and Water Conservation Fund
Water Policy and MFLs
SFWMD Governing Board Meeting
SWF Watershed Council Meeting
Wind Farms and Birds
CEPP Workshop - 6/26
Biscayne Bay Project
Lake O/Estuary Call
Everglades Foundation Website
Green News Links

 

 


 

 

  

An Eco-Voice 2012 Sponsor 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Mission Statement

 

To fight for a safe, healthy and ecologically balanced St. Lucie River Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, natural resources that are vital to the economy and quality of life of Martin County

and the Treasure Coast.

 

  http://www.riverscoalition.org/

  Get the Daily Digest

Glossy ibis, breeding adult
Rust-proof
Glossy ibis, breeding adult
Mark Renz photo

 

 

 

 

Advocacy

From its inception, the Izaak Walton League and its members have been advocates for conserving, protecting and enjoying our country's incredible array of natural resources. Our active engagement coupled with a practical approach to problem solving has made a difference from town halls to the halls of Congress for 90 years. The Advocacy section of this Web site provides the tools, information, and other resources you need to affect public policy - from the nation's capital to your home town.

   

Urge Congress to Support Strong Mercury Standards

Please urge Congress to support new national standards that will reduce mercury and other toxic air pollution.

 

 

  

 

 

Setting a Statewide Mercury Total Maximum Daily Load

 

 

 

 

DATE: Monday, June 11, 2012

TIME: 1:30 PM

PLACE: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

Bob Martinez Center, Room 609

 2600 Blair Stone Road Tallahassee, Florida 32399

 

 

 

 

I. Introductions and Opening Remarks

II. Purpose of the Mercury Total Maximum Daily Load Public Meeting

III. Overview of the Total Maximum Daily Load Program a. State and Federal Laws and Requirements

b. Impaired Waters in Florida

c. Mercury in Fish Tissue as an Impairment

　

IV. Overview of the Total Maximum Daily Load Development Effort a. Data Collection i. Fish Tissue Data

ii. Water Quality Data

iii. Sediment in Lakes Data

iv. Atmospheric Data

b. Atmospheric Modeling i. Global

ii. Regional

iii. Florida Specific

c. Aquatic Statistical Inferential Assessments

　

V. Process for Setting the Total Maximum Daily Load

VI. Questions From the Public

VII. Next Steps

 

 
comment by Larry Fink:

 The last of this round of hearings on the draft proposed Statewide Mercury TMDL Plan is at FDEP Headquarters in Tallahassee on Monday, June 11, 2012, at 1:30 PM. http://www.dep.state.fl.us/water/tmdl/merctmdl.htm
 Public comment on this version remains open until the revised version is public noticed.
>
> According to FDEP's Jan Mandrup-Poulsen, the Plan is not an enforceable rule, so it may not be fulfill the mandate set forth in the Consent Decree in the matter of Florida Wildlife Federation et al. vs. carol Browner et al. circa 1999 to promulgate enforceable TMDLs, including but not limited to mercury, by September 30, 2012. FDEP has been finessing its Clean Water Act (CWA) responsibilities at every opportunity, so why stop now! This is also true of USEPA, which had to be sued to force implementation of the TMDL provision of the CWA, so, left to its own inclinations, USEPA is likely to approve whatever FDEP submits, even if it is scientifically and/or legally deficient.
>
> Ironically, both agencies are playing Russian Roulette with people's lives when they under-regulate methylmercury, but, unlike the regulatory gun, the methylmercury gun being held to the heads of consumers of sport and commercial fish and shellfish species in Florida is really loaded. For subsistence consumers and traditional Tribal consumers, there are even more bullets in the gun. The most susceptible life stage is the developing fetus and the most susceptible organ is the human brain. Our environmental debt to our children dwarfs our economic debt. Life is tough enough when you have all of your wits about you. Let's stop playing their game and take the gun away from them. Stand your ground for your kids and the environment in which they will have to live.
>
> Larry E. Fink, M.S.
> Waterwise Consulting, LLC

 

Casualty, Gulf Dead Zone
Casualty, Gulf Dead Zone
Mark Renz photo

 

 

 

 

 

The Nature Conservancy is working with the Environmental Defense Fund to send the  'Sign on' letter below to Congressional leadership asking that the leadership deliver a final Transportation bill, including RESTORE, to the President for his signature as soon as possible (see below for information on the RESTORE Act). Specifically, for the letter we are seeking signatures from the following entities:

·State/local chambers of commerce

·Coastal parishes and counties

·Coastal cities, councils, mayors

·Economic development groups & associations representing these interests

Of course NGO sign ons are welcome too.

 

The timeline is short-they are looking to complete the letter by the end of this week. If you are with one of the above entities - or have a contact with one and willing to forward this message to them - please consider 'signing on' to this letter. What does 'signing on' require'? All we need is an email stating approval to place your respective agency's name on the letter alongside all the other sign on supporters.

We know this is a quick turnaround but the stakes are high. Please send me your email support ASAP and I will ensure it reaches the right people to include your entity on the letter. Feel free to forward this to others who represent the above entities.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you!

Ann Birch - abirch@TNC.ORG
 

What the RESTORE Act Does

Under current law, the parties responsible for the 2010 oil spill will pay a Clean Water Act (CWA) penalty for each barrel of oil spilled into the Gulf.

If Congress does not enact legislation, the penalties will be spent without regard to the needs of the people and the communities of the Gulf Coast region who suffered as a result of the spill.

Please contact your representatives in Congress to let them know that you support the RESTORE Act, and urge them to pass the bill quickly.

 

Two official reports on the spill - one conducted by Navy Secretary and former Mississippi Governor Ray Mabus, the other from the bipartisan National Commission on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling - recommended that CWA penalties be dedicated to Gulf Coast restoration.

The RESTORE Act creates an essential framework to manage and finance the Gulf Coast recovery. Using 80 percent of the CWA penalties from the Gulf oil disaster, the RESTORE Act establishes a trust account to restore both the economic and environmental health of the Gulf Coast.

A majority portion of these penalties (60 percent) will be allocated to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council, to be spent in two ways:

  • Half of the funds will be used to implement the Council's comprehensive federal environmental plan.
  • The other half will be distributed to the five Gulf States based on oil spill impacts and spent according to each individual state's plan, which will be consistent with the comprehensive federal plan.

 

A smaller portion (35 percent) will be available to Gulf Coast states to be used within the impacted region for environmental and economic restoration.

The remainder (5 percent) will be dedicated to science and monitoring of Gulf Coast ecosystem restoration and fisheries.

Fifty percent of the accrued interest on the Gulf Coast Restoration Trust Fund funds the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Science, Monitoring and Technology Program and Fisheries Endowment.

http://voice.nature.org/restore-act.html

 

 

Ann Birch - abirch@TNC.ORG


 

 

 


  

To our Senate and House Leaders:

 

It has been two years since the start of the Gulf oil spill, the worst environmental disaster in American history. As leaders of concerned communities, cities, associations and businesses, we ask that you take action by delivering a final transportation bill, including the RESTORE Act, to the President for signing as soon as possible.

 

The RESTORE Act would help restore our region's economy and the natural resources on which our communities rely. This common-sense legislation would direct 80 percent of the Clean Water Act civil penalties paid by those responsible for the spill back to our communities - where the damage from the spill was done.

 

This legislation is vital to our efforts to bounce back from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The economic and ecological restoration called for under the RESTORE Act will create needed private sector jobs while reclaiming vital natural and commercial assets that are unique to the Gulf Coast and critically important to the economic and environmental health of the nation.

 

We are grateful for the leadership of our congressional delegations in advancing the RESTORE Act and for the support you and your colleagues already have demonstrated for the Gulf region.   The decisive action in both the House and the Senate on the RESTORE Act to dedicate the penalties to the Gulf reflects broad support across the country for Gulf restoration.

 

We hope you will do all you can in this crucial effort to make our communities whole and deliver a final transportation bill - with the RESTORE Act - to the President to sign into law as soon as possible.

 

Sincerely,

 

Seeking signatures in Gulf states from:

State/local chambers of commerce
Coastal parishes and counties

Coastal cities, councils, mayors                                   

Economic development groups & associations representing these interests

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Land and Water Conservation Fund conserves irreplaceable lands and and improves outdoor recreation opportunities across the nation.
 
 

 

 

 

 

  More water concerns aired at water policy meeting 

 

 

By Christopher Curry
Staff writer
 

GAINESVILLE - More concerns over Florida's water future flowed Friday during a state advisory board's meeting in Gainesville.

Members of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Agricultural Water Policy Advisory Council were gathered to receive staff updates on state government's ongoing effort to have all water management districts adopt the same uniform rules for water withdrawal permitting and the challenges expected in formulating long-term projections for the agricultural industry's water supply needs.

Some members of the public were there to talk about drying lakes and rivers.

"Water is a finite resource," Orange Lake resident Judy Etlzer said. "I hear you talking about rules and regulations. I don't hear you talking about water as a finite resource."

Etlzer, who lives on the banks of Orange Lake, said she has watched the lake dry up and has had to drill down some 130 feet in order for her well to draw water.

She expressed concerns that the Adena Springs cattle ranch in Fort McCoy, which seeks a permit to pump up to 13 million gallons of water per day, would further impact groundwater levels and lakes.

There were also concerns that the state was moving to establish the statewide rules for the review and approval of consumptive use permits to pump water ahead of another state-led process to establish more consistent rules for determining and updating minimum flows and levels (mfls).

Those mfls establish a point from which further water withdrawals would have significant negative impacts on springs, rivers and lakes. A concern expressed Friday was that, by the time new rules for those mfls are in place - or by the time mfls are set on water bodies currently without them - the water needed to meet them would already be tied up in a consumptive use permit.

Ann Shortelle, the Department of Environmental Protection's water policy director, said the update of rules for the establishment of mfls would take place in 2013.

"It may look like kicking the can down the road," she said. "It's something we talk about every day. We're not there yet."

Members of the advisory group and the public also pushed for a larger investment in the development of alternative water sources and, in the case of agriculture, funding for research and development for more efficient irrigation systems.

 

 

 

 

 

Hurricane shelter
Hurricane shelter for nearly a century
Ft. Denaud -- Mark Renz photo art

 

 

 

    

South Florida Water Management District

GOVERNING BOARD MEETING AGENDA

 

This meeting is open to the public/webcast

June 14, 2012,  Okechobee Court House

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

SWF Watershed Council - June 21st from 1:30 pm
Royal Palm Yacht Club in Ft. Myers


The next regular meeting of the SWF Watershed Council will be June 21st from 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm at the Royal Palm Yacht Club (RPYC). This month's  presentation topic will be the Lee County Transfer of Development Rights Program - Past, Present and Future. The presenter will be Paul O'Conner, Director of the Division of Planning for the Lee County Department of Community Development.  

 

 


The RPYC is located at 2360 West 1st Street in Fort Myers.
 
All are welcome to attend this free program.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

  Wind Farms: New Perspective Needed to Assess Bird Risks

 

 

Risk assessments of potential bird mortality caused by planned wind farms should be assessed at the scale of the individual turbine rather than the whole farm, according to new research. It indicated that risk assessments made prior to building are not predicting the actual level of mortality when the farm is built.

Although most recorded collision rates of birds at wind farms are low, some poorly sited farms have caused higher mortality rates. In an attempt to prevent this, environmental authorities conduct environmental impact assessments (EIA) of proposed wind projects, which cover likely effects to the site's bird population. These EIAs are conducted at the scale of the wind farm......

 

 

 

 

 
  
 

 

  
South Florida Ecosystem Restoration  Meetings   

www.sfrestore.org
    

 

 

 

 

Workshop - Central Everglades Planning Project Workshop
 

   

The purpose of the June 26, 2012 workshop is to continue to engage the

public in the CEPP.

 

This workshop will focus on Lake Okeechobee and the

St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries.

 

 

Frances Langford Dockside Pavilion, 2nd

1691 Shearwater Drive, Jensen Beach, FL

 

 

Restoration Working Group to engage the public in the Central EvergladesPlanning Project (CEPP).
 

These workshops will enable the Task Force to provide important feedback to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) during the CEPP. The public is advised that it is possible that one or more members of the Water Resources Advisory Commission and Governing Board of the SFWMD may attend and participate in this meeting.

 

 

   
 

 

 

 

 

 

  
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District has completed the Integrated Final Project Implementation Report and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FPIR/FEIS) for the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands project. 

The project is essential to achieving restoration of tidal wetlands and nearshore habitats within Biscayne Bay, including Biscayne National Park. It also has an integral role in meeting the CERP system-wide ecosystem restoration goals and objectives.

The project will divert runoff that currently discharges through regional canals and redistribute the freshwater through a spreader canal system into the coastal wetlands adjoining Biscayne Bay to provide a more natural and historic overland flow. The slower, more natural delivery of fresh water over a broad area is expected to reduce hypersaline conditions and re-establish appropriate estuarine salinities that are important to provide nursery habitat for fish and shellfish in tidal wetlands and nearshore bay habitats. This project is expected to create conditions that would be conducive to the re-establishment of oysters and other components typical of a healthy estuarine ecosystem.

Diversion of canal discharges into coastal wetlands, as opposed to their direct discharge into the bay, is expected to re-establish productive nursery habitat along the shoreline and reduce the abrupt freshwater discharges that are physiologically stressful to fish and benthic invertebrates in the bay near canal outlets.

The Integrated Final Project Implementation Report and Final Environmental Impact Statement (FPIR/FEIS) is available for public review online at http://www.evergladesplan.org/pm/projects/docs_28_biscayne_bay_pir.aspx
 
    

 

 

 


 

 Lake O Scientists' Conference Call: Estuaries/releases


Periodic Scientists Conference Call -

Lake Okeechobee/Estuaries
The next conference call is scheduled for Tuesday, 10:30am.
The call-in number is (877)322-9654 and the code is 842466.
 

Public comment is accepted at the conclusion of the representatives' discussion.
 
 

 

 

Everglades Foundation website

 

http://www.evergladesfoundation.org/ 

 

 

 Please  learn  more about the locations and current status of efforts underway to save America's Everglades.  Please feel free to contact us with comments or questions at info@evergladesfoundation.org.

 

 

Mammoth 1
Maxilla (upper jaw)

 

Mammoth 2
Mandible (lower jaw)
When I uncovered this mammoth mandible and maxilla in Hendry County, I knew right away there was something unusual about it.  The animal had died with a clear break between the developing teeth.  A mammoth's tooth would come in from the back and get pushed forward like a conveyor belt, wearing down along the way.  By the time the tooth was completely worn out, it would be spit out of the jaw in pieces.

The arrows indicate the breaks in the upper jaw.  Similar breaks are in the lower jaw.  The front and back of the jaws are labeled "B" and "F".

Mammoths would have gone through six sets of teeth in their lifetime, potentially living 60 years if their teeth didn't wear out first.

These jaws were turned over to the Florida Museum of Natural History, which has loaned them permanently to the Clewiston Museum where they are now on display.

Photo and finds -- Mark Renz 

 

 

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