Calusa Waterkeeper 25th Anniversary Commemorative Report

If approved, CRCA planned to change its name to Calusa Waterkeeper (CWK). The call went out for a Waterkeeper and an Executive Director. CRCA also sought donors to cover salaries and a boat to seal the deal. In December of 2016, Linda and Dan Mattos donated the 16-foot Triumph, a trailer and multiple accessories, that CWK uses to this day. And with the increased visibility from prospective Waterkeeper Alliance Membership, a major donor in the name of Mr. David Laties, a future Board Member and still major sponsor of the organization, stepped forward to underwrite the Waterkeeper’s salary through his charitable fund, the Severus Foundation. The Waterkeeper Alliance Membership approval came on December 19, bringing Calusa Waterkeeper fully into the fold of the world’s largest non-profit organization focused on clean water and John Cassani was tapped to be the first Calusa Waterkeeper. On January 17, 2017 Calusa Waterkeeper announced the name change and rolled out the new logo. Jack Green became Executive Director. We were off and running. To celebrate the name change and official Membership, CWK hosted a “Cheers & Beers” launch event on March 17, 2017. And a call went out to solicit interest in CWK’s freshly announced Ranger program. August 30, 2017 saw the arrival of Hurricane Irma, a whopping category 5 storm that cost an estimated $742m in Lee County and more than $30b nationwide. In response, CWK Director John Capece and Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani created a Google Map pollution report categorized by wastewater (sewage), industrial water, reuse water, storm water, diesel and oil. Also on the map were results of CWK’s bacteria testing. On October 14, 2017, Calusa Waterkeeper held its first Ranger training academy. Current CWK President Ruth Watkins and current Treasurer Jim Watkins were in that first CWK Ranger graduating class. As this Anniversary Issue makes abundantly clear, the Calusa Waterkeeper story is twenty-five years old. There is much to be learned from the early days as the principles of advocacy have not changed and the challenges we confront have not diminished. In fact, the headwinds of Climate Change, coupled with an exploding population base and aging infrastructure, increasingly threaten any progress we might make on restoring our region’s waterways. CRCA had desired Waterkeeper status since 2007, but Waterkeeper Membership required the applicant to have a full- time staff “Waterkeeper” and own a boat – neither of which were within CRCA’s means. However, in 2014, the Waterkeeper Alliance implemented new rules, permitting a more flexible “Affiliate” status. A CRCA team, led by John Capece, Marti Daltry, Wayne Daltry, and Mary Rawl, applied for Affiliate status In November of 2015 and received word the following month, December 2015, that the application had been granted. The organization kept the name CRCA-Riverwatch. The work project area as we know it today was sanctioned by the Waterkeeper Alliance, as reflected in the 2015 jurisdictional map created by John Capece. The following year, 2016 saw enormous outbreaks of cyanobacteria blooms on the Caloosahatchee. Local scientists, like CRCA Board Member John Cassani (not yet the Waterkeeper) called out the DEP for not finding any significant traces of it. DEP quickly responded with an algae “discovery” press release. The West Coast was hit even harder with the St. Lucie River plagued by HABs that paralyzed Stuart, causing economic damage and concerns for residents’ public health. K.C. Schulberg On Nov 8, 2016, John Capece wrote and submitted the CRCA proposal to Waterkeeper Alliance to upgrade its status from Affiliate to full Member. [left to right] Nan Gibson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & CRCA VP Gene Gibson, attend the 2016 Waterkeeper Alliance biannual summit in North Carolina