Southwest Florida water issues cross the aisle
The issue of poor water quality – and how to effect change – is an issue that is not only dividing candidates; it’s splintering party lines.
Republicans for John Scott, a small grass roots movement formed “to save Southwest Florida waterways,” has formed to support Democratic candidate John Scott in the upcoming election for State House District 79. Meanwhile the Republican incumbent, Matt Caldwell, says his efforts on the issue have draw support across party lines as well, from Democrats and independents alike who understand that water quality is not a single-solution issue.
Rachel Singletary, owner of Pine Forest Fruit & Flower Farm in North Fort Myers, is among those crossing lines to support Scott. She said she has seen the deterioration of the Caloosahatchee River and the estuary and listened to the politicians’ claims and finger pointing.
She said there needs to be leadership at the state level to ensure the water quality issue gets resolved.
“Nobody has done anything to help the problems. Matt Caldwell has been in office six years. I am aware of his voting record and we need to elect someone who will at least try to get something done about the water,” Singletary said.
Singletary said about 30 Republicans have joined the movement. She also said that fishermen have formed their own group and members of the movement for clean water have also joined the cause.
She said this is not as much a tight-knit group as it is a group of people who are saying that political affiliation is meaningless, just vote for who will try to get things done at the local and state level. For them, it’s Scott.
“I want people to pay close attention to the voting record of the incumbent and to the water issue and look at those who are closely related to clean water. That’s why John Scott is our candidate,” Singletary said. “It’s because of his history in the Sierra Club and the clean water movement.”
Ray Judah, longtime former Lee County Commissioner and environmental activist, said more Republicans have gotten on board daily, knowing the water quality is tied to everything else.
“We need to improve the estuary, improve the quality of schools, care for the economy and that’s why it’s transcended partisan politics,” Judah said. “We’ve been distributing fliers in the neighborhoods John Scott represents and meeting with Republican and independent voters. They recognize we need discussion and not party politics.”
As for Scott, the GOP support doesn’t surprise him, since many people are angry about the water situation. Even if there are people coming at it from different angles, they all want the same result.
“We felt pretty good about the race because Democrats are always environmentally minded and there are Republicans who feel the same way,” Scott said. “Many people’s livelihood has been affected this year with the discharges.”
Those who oppose Caldwell say he has sold out his constituency by taking money from PACs and what they say are special interests, including Big Sugar.
Caldwell strongly disagrees, saying the water issue is a complex issue with many moving parts, and not all of it coming from Lake Okeechobee.
He said the two most important projects are the Kissimmee River restoration and fixing the Herbert Hoover dike. But most of the water load from the river comes from local sources, which means taking control of their own affairs on the river.
Caldwell said he and Judah won’t be exchanging Christmas cards this year.
“We have more than 80 natural resource projects going in Southwest Florida that we’ve been able to partner with local governments to bring home,” Caldwell said. “If Judah had real solutions, he would have accomplished something besides watching Estero Bay decay in his own district.”
Caldwell said that treating stormwater is a simple project nobody paid attention to until recently. Septic tanks are also an issue, especially in North Fort Myers.
Asked if he’s worried, Caldwell said his main goal is to represent the district, regardless of affiliation.
“There are plenty of people who are registered Democrats and unaffiliated who are voting for me and worked on issues that are important to them,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell has a key ally in Ernie Barnett, the former executive director of the Southwest Florida Water Management District and current executive director of the Florida Land Council.
Barnett said he’s been impressed with the way Caldwell has governed and his desire to do good things for the people.
“There’s a lot of misinformation regarding the freshwater releases into the Caloosahatchee. You can send some water south, but once it’s flooded, that option is precluded,” Barnett said. “Mr. Caldwell is advocating strategies to send water south, but also moving the focus to storing the water before it gets into the lake.”
Barnett also said that two-thirds of the water flowing down the river comes from the watershed, not from the lake, thus the need for local projects.
“The call to buy land south of the lake is about 20 percent of the flow at the most. You have to compound that with the water flowing down the St. Lucie,” Barnett said. “Caldwell has been trying to tell people we need solutions that will stop discharges.”
Many of the water problems stem from an unusually wet winter which forced discharges from the lake during the winter. Visitors got to see the murky waters of the summer instead of the clear, blue water seen in the gulf during dry season.