Clean water is everything for our community.  From restaurants to fishing guides and boating to beach trips, water is essential to our way of life.  Florida’s water, though, is under attack – from polluters, profiteers and even the government itself.

Sadly, this problem is not new.  For decades, the federal government has treated our community like Florida’s septic tank – dumping polluted water from Lake Okeechobee into our estuaries instead of sending clean water to the Everglades where it’s needed.  At best, this complete mismanagement of our waterways destroys the ecology and kills animals.  At worst, plagued by harmful algal blooms more than 100x too toxic to touch, people will die.

The good news is progress has accelerated to send more water to the Everglades and stop these discharges.  Over the last several years, we’ve seen record levels of funding contribute to finished projects that are needed for mission success and we’ve put shovels in the ground on many more.

Still, the fight is far from over.  In many ways, federal government water managers remain every bit as rogue and unaccountable as they were when they dug up Florida to begin with more than seven decades ago.  Far too often, they still choose to protect sugar industry profits instead of the health of Floridians.  This must change.

The good news is the end of this story is yet to be written, and together, we can succeed in defending Florida’s water.  So, if you’re new to our community, new to the fight for clean water, or just want to learn more, check out my latest video highlighting the decades of abuse our community has endured, the progress we’ve made over the last several years, and the next steps to stop the discharges for good.