Calusa Waterkeeper 25th Anniversary Commemorative Report

Jack Green had departed as Executive Director in 2017 and Reinaldo Diaz, who served as interim ED, left in early 2018 to become the Lake Worth Waterkeeper. CWK was again on the hunt for an Executive Director. 2018 saw historic toxic algae blooms – both Cyanobacteria (Blue-Green Algae) and Karenia brevis (Red Tide). On July 2, 90% of Lake Okeechobee was covered in Blue Green Algae. After record rainfall during the month of May, the Army Corps of Engineers began steady massive releases of water down the Caloosahatchee throughout June and July. What ensued was the worst outbreak of HABs in the history of Southwest Florida. Waterkeeper Cassani became the “go to” local expert commenting on HABs, interviewed over 55 times on local and national news. [CONTD.] On May 11, 2018, Calusa Waterkeeper, John Cassani, assumed a central role at the Save our Water Summit sponsored by the News-Press. The very next day, CWK graduated 16 new Rangers. On July 1, 2018 noted community organizer, marketing expert and film executive, KC Schulberg was tapped to become the new Calusa Waterkeeper Executive Director. Schulberg hit the ground running, setting up an August 6 Public Health Town Hall at the Broadway Palm Theatre - generously offered . by theatre owner Will Prather. This was followed just eight days later by a sold-out Public Health Town Hall and screening of the movie “TOXIC PUZZLE,” including expert panel moderated by Rae Ann Wessel, with Dr. Walter Bradley, Dr. James Metcalf, Dr. Larry Brand and Waterkeeper John Cassani. On October 15, CWK conducted an Economic Impact Town Hall drawing panelists from real estate, charter fishing, tourism and economics. The evening also featured video vignettes of ordinary citizens who had suffered economic harm, including those standing on food lines at the Harry Chapin Food Bank on Fort Myers Beach. 2018 ended with two major events on CWK’s bustling timeline: The first, on December 10, was a benefit screening of the nation’s first environmental feature film “WIND ACROSS THE EVERGLADES” (Warner Bros 1957) produced by CWK Executive Director KC Schulberg’s father and written by his uncle. The second was the filing of a Notice of Intent to Sue (NOIS) the Army Corps of Engineers and two federal agencies for failing to assess harm to Florida’s endangered species before approving releases of Lake Okeechobee water polluted with toxic, nutrient- rich HABs. The lead petitioner on the suit was the Center for Biological Diversity, with CWK and the Waterkeeper Alliance as co-petitioners.