Why the Right to Clean Water is needed

Op-Ed originally published in the Sanibel Captiva Island Reporter by Mary Kay Kralapp on July 15, 2024

Recently, Calusa Waterkeeper Codty Pierce released an editorial about the plight of the Manual’s Branch in downtown Fort Myers. The Calusa Waterkeeper organization has been testing the waters of this creek for several years. And, although the city of Fort Myers is four years into a consent decree to clean the waters in its jurisdiction, the Fecal Bacteria present (FIB) at Manual’s Branch is consistently extreme — i.e. it far exceeds allowed amounts based on the EPA standards and represents a health hazard.