Originally published by Roger Williams in Florida Weekly on February 26, 2025
“In 2024 the state reported a total water area of 3,668,875 acres statewide for estuary segments identified as impaired for various pollutants.” Those waters no longer fully serve recreation or the economy. They’re a threat to public health.
“So what happened? It was death by a thousand cuts,” Cassani said.
Then, Gov. Rick Scott closed the Florida Department of Community Development that regulated local land use planning and opened the Department of Economic Opportunity.
“Florida Regional Planning Councils were rendered toothless and their planning programs aimed at developments of regional impact were eliminated.”
What else? Let’s have the rest of the bad news.
“In some cases, weakened land use rules have now allowed increased population density for building back after hurricanes devastated coastal communities and associated waters.
“Pollution prevention plans, even some mandated by courts as in Cape Coral and other areas discharging to estuaries, were abandoned or not maintained. And compliance thresholds enabled by state and federal clean water legislation were blurred by inaccurate or ineffective accounting.”
Accounting of what?
“Of pollutant load reduction credits,” Cassani said. “They were often based on outdated land use modeling where urban growth was accelerating. And Agriculture Best Management Practices? They remain unverifiable, just well-intentioned checks on the biggest upstream pollution source impacting many coastal waters.”