Originally published in the News-Press by Chad Gillis on August 12, 2026
Cleaning water is much more expensive than keeping pollution out of the water to begin with, said Calusa Waterkeeper Emeritus John Cassani.
Years ago, there was an assumption that state and federal laws designed to protect public drinking water resources from being polluted would stop development in protected watersheds once pollution was detected.
That hasn’t happened as the state has allowed continued development (that brings more pollution) even in areas that drain to Estero Bay, the state’s oldest aquatic preserve.
Called impairment instead of pollution by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, or DEP, the spirit of the water protection laws was to keep bad situations from getting worse.
If a proposed development would add more pollution to a public waterway, it was supposed to be denied.
At least that was the case 25 years ago, when multiple mall developers wanted to build on undeveloped lands that drain into the tributaries leading to Estero Bay.
Again, it’s illegal to add more pollution to Estero Bay, according to laws like the Clean Water Act.
But that hasn’t’ stopped development within the watershed as entire towns are being proposed for areas like Corkscrew Road.
Duke, the water quality expert at FGCU, said those developments will impact downstream waters.
Cassani said it’s a case of private profits being more important to decisions-makers than the public’s right to clean water.
“One rule says you have private property rights and the other says you can’t contribute to impairment,” Cassani said.
Cassani also mentioned the fast-moving, intense but less frequent thunderstorm pattern could make issues like aquifer recharge worse.
“More intense summer rainfall events create more runoff running off more rapidly and that doesn’t allow it to percolate or stay in wetlands,” Cassani said.
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