Water transfer plan dries out ecological, cash resources
By GINNY BROWN-WAITE and NANCY ARGENZIANO
Published October 3, 2003
For whatever reason, state Rep. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, recently appeared on television and proposed putting water from this area on barges and sending it to water-needy metropolitan areas in the state. He proposed taking water from, by name, the Suwannee and Apalachicola rivers and sending it to areas like Miami, Jacksonville and Orlando.
Is he serious? That plan is not economically feasible and is environmentally irresponsible.
Starting the type of water transfer program Dean calls for would be extremely expensive. Imagine the predicament we'd find ourselves in when transportation costs inevitably skyrocket and become too much for other areas' taxpayers to bear. Florida would be left with no other option than to transfer water in the traditional way - with pipelines running down U.S. 19.
No way! That is the danger in doing away with Local Sources First and going down that slippery slope of transferring water.
Environmentally, Dean's plan is a disaster. Taking water from these rivers would cause unquantifiable ecological damage by disturbing the rivers' estuaries and drastically impacting the clamming and fishing habitats there. Additionally, it would deal a tremendous blow to each of those industries in this area, industries that are the livelihood of so many residents here.
And if his plan begins with the Apalachicola and the Suwannee rivers, how long before it is realized that the Homosassa, Withlacoochee and Weeki Wachee rivers are closer targets?
As a member of the House Committee on Natural Resources and of the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Water Resources, Dean should be more aware of the havoc his proposal would wreak on Citrus, Hernando, Levy and Suwannee counties. (Dean's District 43 includes all of Citrus County and a chunk of north-central Hernando County.)
Opening the door for water transfers like this goes against everything our law, Local Sources First, mandates. Local Sources First requires counties and municipalities to consider all local water-access options available to them, rather than simply routing water from other areas in the state. Our law promotes the examination of new ideas and fosters new thinking on water issues. At the same time it contributes to the use of new, revolutionary water treatment and retention efforts, such as the desalination plant in Tampa, reservoirs and various reuse and conservation methods.
Auctioning a vital public resource to the highest bidder only sets this area up for catastrophe in the future as we continue to grow and rely on our water reserves. Fighting for things like fair taxation, better business practices and improvements in our children's education are things we expect our representatives to strive toward - not giving away our water.
Serving the people of this region is an important duty and residents deserve nothing but the best, deliberative and thoughtful representation. It is our hope that as Dean continues to serve District 43, he consider the future needs of its residents and have the foresight to carefully take into account all the potential ramifications of his decisions.
Area counties need to have unified voices protecting our area from those who want our water, not a dissident who seeks to sell our resources.
One has to question the motives of those who sold Dean on the barge concept. Thinking outside the box is laudable but dangerous if the end result is endangering the environment, our economy and our future.
- U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite represents the 5th Congressional District, which includes all of Hernando County. Nancy Argenziano's state Senate District 3 extends south to Citrus County. They and state Rep. Charlie Dean are Republicans. Guest columnists write their own views on subjects they choose, which do no necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.
