PURRE's position on proposed spillway to Herbert Hoover dike
GUEST OPINION

PURRE (People United to Restore our Rivers and Estuaries) Chairman, Michael Valiguette, addressed the Lee County Board of County Commissioners at the Oct. 8 Commissioner meeting giving the following recommendation regarding the proposed spillway to move water south to relieve the negative impact on the Caloosahatchee river on St. Lucie estuaries. PURRE's position is:

Statement on proposed spillway to Herbert Hoover Dike:

In years past, massive discharges of nutrient-rich polluted freshwater have been released from Lake Okeechobee during times of high water to relieve hydrostatic pressure on the aging dike that surrounds it. These releases have been blamed for causing major algae blooms and other environmental harm to the rivers and estuaries on both coasts.

It is the belief of the PURRE Water Coalition that any additional infrastructure that can be put in place that will automatically keep the lake from reaching an emergency status level will undoubtedly help in preventing more destruction to our rivers, estuaries and surrounding waters.

We support the spillway elevation to be set between 15 and 16 feet above sea level to allow water to be stored for the normal domestic and agricultural use while allowing water to be automatically released south during rising emergency levels.

By installing one or more spillways on the dike, they will automatically relieve the hydrostatic pressure simulating the natural flow. This should ease the worry of a dike breach in the surrounding towns as well as the worry of massive releases to the rivers and estuaries in the future.

This single item could be the start of a major turn around in how water in south Florida is managed as well as confirm that the State and Federal agencies in control of water truly recognize that human safety and the environment hold precedence over special interest and big business.

It is PURRE's belief that the problems facing the coast, as related to Lake Okeechobee water releases, will ease with the combination of:

Installing spillways to automatically feed Lake Okeechobee water into cleaned and widened rim canals around the exterior perimeter of the dike.

The cleaning and possible widening of the four main flow canals that currently pass through and around the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) so that they can be utilized for water storage, filtration and water movement south.

The Agricultural industry as well as all municipalities, both north and south of the lake, must retain and filter their storm water runoff prior to any overflows of any kind being put into the public system at amounts over the mandates set by the Clean Water Act and The Outstanding Florida Waters Rule. Enforcement is a must.

All of this will allow the automatic movement of clean water to the south as Mother Nature intended.

The PURRE Water Coalition commends Lee County Commission for their diligent efforts on this most important issue and respectively requests that you include the SPILLWAY language into the Resolutions.

- Michael J. Valiquette, Chairman

People United to Restore our Rivers and

Estuaries