There were two main events at the February 27th Rivers Coalition meeting: A presentation by Eve Samples, Executive Director of Friends of the Everglades, on their recently-launched “Rescue the River of Grass” campaign, and updates on the Lake Okeechobee Recovery Operation from Major Cory Bell, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Commander for South Florida, and Jason Engel, the Corps’ Chief of Water Resources Engineering Branch.
 
The ”Rescue the River of Grass” campaign has already quantified, scientifically, how much land is needed above and beyond the currently-authorized projects to complete the restoration process in the Everglades Agricultural Area (102,000 acres). It has also identified funding sources to acquire the land (primarily the 2014 Amendment 1 funds generated by doc stamps from real estate transactions that are earmarked for land acquisition -- over $1.3 billion a year). They are now trying to spread the word about the benefits of acquiring this land, now; their case is here: https://www.everglades.org/rescue/
 
But there’s a problem. The state is prohibited, by statute, from taking the land by eminent domain – which means it has to be acquired from willing sellers. And who owns most of those 102,000 acres? Big Sugar, which doesn’t quite have a reputation of being environmentally-friendly. (They are now trying, for example, to get permission to develop an 8000-acre rock mine in the EAA, which is hardly the kind of development the Rescue the River of Grass initiative envisions.) So the scientific evidence is there and the money is available – but can the landowners be persuaded to sell? There’s a petition at the bottom of the website you can sign to tell them how really nice it would be if they did. 

Meanwhile, the ACE representatives updated us on the in-progress Lake Okeechobee Recovery Operation. The current lake level is 13.7 feet, and the goal is to get it below 12 feet for 90 days or below 11.5 feet for 60 days. “There is a high chance of a successful operation”, they reported, “if current conditions persist” (i. e., if we don’t get a lot of rain before the dry season ends May 15). They are currently projecting that the lake will drop below 12’ sometime in April, so keep your eye on Lake O.
 
The really good news, though, is that if the current operation is successful the Corps won’t have to do any more recovery operations for five years. The only discharges that would occur during that time would be if the lake level rises above 16’ – and there’s even some wiggle room in that benchmark. So if Mother Nature continues to cooperate for another few months, the longer-term outlook regarding harmful discharges sent our way from Lake Okeechobee will be more optimistic than it has been for quite a while.
 
-- Walter Deemer, League of Women Voters Martin County Chapter