Finger pointing does not solve the problem
To the editor:
It’s definitely Florida’s worst-kept secret that we have been experiencing various water woes over the past few years. However, it seems that the need to analyze the problem and provide realistic solutions is, more often than not, overshadowed by the desire to cast undue blame for these problems on someone, anyone else.
This became especially apparent after reading Ray Judah’s recent column in the Pine Island Eagle, “Sea of political deception, distortion.”
The fact of the matter is, Judah pointing fingers at runoff from south of the Everglades polluting Lake O gets us nowhere, considering that according to the South Florida Water Management District, northern watershed contributes about 90 percent of inflow to Lake Okeechobee. When accounting for the inflow from all other regions surrounding Lake O, the land south of the Everglades only contributes about 4 percent of total inflow.
Not to mention that Judah’s fear mongering a-bout “back-pumping” water from the sugar cane fields is misleading since private companies have no authority to pump water. This pow-er lies with the SFWMD, which often controls watershed in local waterways automatically based on predetermined water levels to prevent flooding.
When all is said and done, it’s easy to label a scapegoat, but at what cost? If we turn a blind eye to the real causes of our water issues, we have no hopes of ever resolving them. Now, THAT’S a problem worth discussing.
J.P. Sasser
Pahokee