The problematic relationship between Lake Okeechobee and the Indian River Lagoon may have taken a step toward reconciliation Friday in a federal court in New York. In a ruling called “long overdue” by environmental groups, a federal judge ruled that pumping water from farmlands into public water supplies — including Lake Okeechobee — is in violation of the Clean Water Act. Earthjustice, a nonprofit public interest and environmentally-focused legal organization founded in 1971, has been arguing against the practice for 30 years and first filed the case in 2002. Water from Lake Okeechobee is used in part for irrigation of sugar, vegetable and sod farms in the Everglades Agricultural Area in western Palm Beach, Hendry and Glades counties, but it is also used as a backup drinking water supply for many South Florida municipalities including West Palm Beach and Fort Myers. In times of need, agricultural operations draw water from Lake Okeechobee to irrigate crops. But in times of excessive rainfall, those farming companies are permitted to move excess water back into canals that carry the water back into Lake O. The practice is frequently referred to as “back pumping.” Earthjustice said the water returned to the lake contains high levels of nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus and does not meet the standards outlined in the federal Clean Water Act. U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas in the Southern District of New York heard the case because Earthjustice “bundled” the Florida litigation with similar cases dealing with drinking water supply contamination in California, New Hampshire and Colorado. Earthjustice represented Friends of the Everglades, Florida Wildlife Federation and the Sierra Club, among others. The complaint named South Florida Water Management District, part of Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, as the agency responsible for violating the federal law. In Florida, Earthjustice attorney David Guest said the legal action was necessary because the groups had no success partnering with the South Florida Water Management District or farming businesses in the Everglades Agricultural Area. “We tried to talk to them for years and they just didn’t want to talk,” Guest told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers. “They basically ignored us all, sending us the message they would rather litigate.” The issue of moving water from farmlands south of Lake O back into the lake arose as recently as last year. Excessive rainfall in May on agricultural lands south of Lake O caused farmers to request permits from the water management district to move water into the lake even while the Army Corps of Engineers sent water into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers because, as they said at the time, there was nowhere else for it to go. “It’s well established by now that a city can’t just dump sewage into a river — they’ve got to clean it first,” Guest said in an Earthjustice news release Friday. “The same principle applies here with water pumped from contaminated drainage canals.” Randy Smith, spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District, said in a statement the state agency will evaluate the “complex court ruling” next week. Indian Riverkeeper Marty Baum applauded the ruling and decried the long-running and controversial water management practice. “Whoever signed off on those permits last year should be hauled off to jail in handcuffs,” he said. Smith said in a June 12 Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers article that during the 10-day long water transfer event in June, the district was operating under an “administrative extension while in the permit renewal process.” Permits in force from 2007 until 2012 had enabled “flood control back pumping into Lake Okeechobee” but stated the practice “shall be minimized,” as was reported by Scripps Newspapers’ Tyler Treadway. According to data from the Army Corps, water was pumped into the lake June 6 at a rate of slightly more than 1.1 billion gallons a day, enough to fill 1,721 Olympic-size swimming pools. Tommy Strowd, the district’s assistant executive director of operations, construction and management, said at the time it was a flood-control measure, citing heavy rainfall on the farmland primarily used to raise sugar cane. Whither the Water: A Timeline of the Lake O Pumping Controversy Environmentalists have fought the practice of pumping water from the Everglades Agricultural Area into Lake Okeechobee almost as long as the South Florida Water Management District has been doing it. Here is a timeline showing significant dates in the controversy: 1979: The state Department of Environmental Regulation approves the Interim Action Plan stating drainage water from the agricultural area can only be discharged into the lake under declared emergency conditions for water supply or flood control. According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, “Prior to the (plan), the northern one third of the EAA was routinely back pumped directly into Lake Okeechobee.” May 2001: The Florida Department of Environmental Protection issues an emergency order allowing the district to violate water-quality standards temporarily and pump dirty floodwaters from farm canals into Lake O as a way to bolster reserves during a drought. Audubon of Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation and Friends of Lake Okeechobee protest, saying the order sanctions the infusion of large amounts of phosphorus and nitrogen into the lake. 2002: Several environmental groups sue the South Florida Water Management District, claiming the district needs a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit to pump polluted water. June 2006: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, under President George W. Bush, adopts an administrative rule that says a federal pollution permit isn’t necessary for pumping, rather than discharging, polluted water. June 15, 2007: U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga issues an injunction requiring the district to immediately apply for federal permits to pump polluted water into the lake. June 18, 2007: The state environmental protection department issues the Lake Okeechobee Protection Act Permit to the district. Aug. 9, 2007: The water district Board of Governors votes not to pump water into Lake O for supply purposes, even during dire drought circumstances. June 4, 2009: U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit rules pumping water into Lake O for flood control can continue without federal Clean Water Act permits. Nov. 29, 2010: The U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Friends of the Everglades v. South Florida Water Management District, allowing the EPA’s 2006 rule to stand. Tyler Treadway, Scripps Newspapers’ environmental reporter, contributed to this
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 12:33:49 +0000
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