Dr. Paul Gray, Ph.D 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   
South Florida water agency says it will not need tax increase 

 

 

news-press

Written by Michael Braun

 

The South Florida Water Management District has recommended to its governing board no tax increase for the coming fiscal year.

More than 7 million South Florida residents in 16 counties pay property taxes to the district for flood protection, water supply and environmental restoration.

For most counties for fiscal year 2013, including Lee, the tax rate will be 42 cents per $1,000 of taxable value on a piece of property. A $250,000 home with a taxable value of $200,000 after the homestead exemption, would have a water district tax bill of $84.

In Collier and mainland Monroe counties, which are under the district's Big Cypress Basin, taxes on the same home would be $33.95 cents, or a bill of $66.

The recommendation came Thursday at the district's governing board meeting in West Palm Beach. Water district tax rates have remained the same since 1998.

"Budget challenges remain at all levels of government and in households and businesses of all sizes," according to a statement by Randy Smith, spokesman for the district. "The South Florida Water Management District continues to focus on its core mission responsibilities and has reduced operating expenses throughout the agency, streamlining processes and directing resources toward key initiatives.

"We remain committed to achieving our mission-critical goals without increasing the burden of additional taxes on the people of South Florida."

The tax rate becomes part of the proposed $656.7 million fiscal year 2013 budget. The budget year begins Oct. 1.

Included in that budget is $333 million for restoration in the Everglades, Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee, $153 million for restoration in the Central Everglades Planning Project, and $12 million for scientific support which includes regional water quality monitoring.....

 

Fresh Water   The amount of moisture on Earth has not changed. The water the dinosaurs drank millions of years ago is the same water that falls as rain today. But will there be enough for a more crowded world?

 

...Even while we take Mother Water for granted, humans understand in our bones that she is the boss. We stake our civilizations on the coasts and mighty rivers. Our deepest dread is the threat of having too little moisture-or too much. We've lately raised the Earth's average temperature by .74°C (1.3°F), a number that sounds inconsequential. But these words do not: flood, drought, hurricane, rising sea levels, bursting levees. Water is the visible face of climate and, therefore, climate change. Shifting rain patterns flood some regions and dry up others as nature demonstrates a grave physics lesson: Hot air holds more water molecules than cold.....

 

 

 

Everglades funds earn conservationists' praise

 

 

News-Press   KISSIMMEE - The Obama administration trumpeted $80 million in new funding Friday for land easements as part of restoration efforts in the Everglades.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack announced the funding, saying it would help restore another 23,000 acres through deals with farmers and ranchers who allow conservation projects on their land.

One of the big winners is the Florida panther because a needed easement in an area called the panther dispersal zone will be acquired with some of the $80 million.

Charles Lee of Audubon Florida heralded the funding as a "home run for the Everglades."

The Obama administration has spent $1.5 billion on projects and requested another $246 million in its 2013 budget, according to a report released Friday outlining historic federal investments and progress made in Everglades restoration.

Vilsack said the projects are helping preserve and restore the Everglades' water resources, create jobs through construction and contribute to a sense the ecosystem is reaching a key point in its healing.

"There is a lot of activity going on, a lot of momentum, and I think a lot of people will say this is the most progress they've seen in this area in quite some time," he said.

Elizabeth Fleming, Florida representative for the Defenders of Wildlife organization, said Friday she was satisfied with the announcement of the additional funding.

Fleming said the announcement would help further projects such as developing more wildlife areas such as the Everglades Headwaters Wildlife Area formed earlier this year and a similar one under development at Fisheating Creek, which meanders through Hendry County.

Fleming said the new funding also dovetails with other projects in Florida such as an easement for the panther disperal zone, the route most likely to be used by panthers migrating out of south Florida, crossing the Caloosahatchee River, and spreading out into south-central Florida.

The USDA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in May they have collaborated with private partners to protect this 1,278-acre piece of land in Glades County that is critical for panthers dispersing into habitat further north. A female panther and two kittens were recently photographed near this property - the first documented evidence of a female Florida panther that far north since 1973.

Andrew McElwaine, president of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples, hailed the funding.

"It is where we want to see panthers, in the future, disperse, if we ever want to see a viable panther population," he said. "This is something we have wanted to see preserved for a long time."

 

 

 

Lee gets Department of Commerce grant for Water Works

 

 

 

The U.S. Department of Commerce statement says its Economic Development Administration recently announced a $551,000 grant to Lee County to support the preliminary design, modeling, and permitting of wastewater and infrastructure improvements to serve the region's Renewable Energy and Research Diamond, the statement says. The project is expected to create 1,500 new jobs and attract more than $10 million in private investment.

"Investing in infrastructure that facilitates business growth and job creation is a top priority for the Obama administration," said Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development Matt Erskine through the statement. "This EDA grant will allow Fort Myers and Lee County to make the critical infrastructure improvements needed to attract new, diversified businesses interests in growing sectors like clean energy, biomedical technology, and advanced manufacturing."

The EDA grant funds the planning for a new wastewater treatment system that will replace septic tank systems. This will allow for expansion of the "Renewable Energy and Research Diamond," an area targeted by Lee County for economic diversification and job creation. The Renewable Energy and Research Diamond is anchored by FGCU and Southwest Florida International Airport, and includes several private-sector facilities, according to thde statement. FGCU has already committed to the construction of two research and business incubation facilities on the site, according to the statement.

 
 

 

 

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