Chiquita Lock serves no purpose, has a heavy downside
To the editor:
I, like hundreds of other Cape Coral residents, would like to see the Chiquita Lock removed/permanently opened.
With the current problematic environmental condition of the Caloosahatchee River, the lock serves no purpose. My wife and I live full-time on an interior gulf canal whose brine water goes through the Chiquita lock, and we can attest that our water is environmentally cleaner than that of the river.
We have none of the algae growths or red tide blooms that have affected the canals along the Caloosahatchee River, and our canal has multiple manatees that apparently prefer to live and feed in our cleaner inland canal waters versus that of the river.
In addition to the water being cleaner within the canals, manatees are being killed/crushed due to the lock. Sixty-ive manatees have died in Florida locks, since 2012, and four were killed in Chiquita lock in the last two years.
We are also wasting a large amount of dollars on the lock itself, as follows:
— Daily Operation – operator wages and benefits, electrical costs & inspections.
— Increasing monthly maintenance of the old, outdated lock.
— Damage costs due to the collision of boats when entering and while in the lock.
That money has many better uses versus keeping up a locking system that has become outdated and no longer serves its original purpose.
These wasted dollars could further support:
— Continued replacements of stormwater catch basins.
-Contributions to further study endangered small tooth sawfish.
— Planting over 3,000 mangrove seedlings along the waterway and installation of oyster reef balls along the seawalls.
— Funding more educational programs concerning endangered species and water quality protection.
Since the Chiquita lock opened in 1984, the City of Cape Coral has continued to make positive impacts on the environment, including the following:
— Installed public sewers, potable water and re-use irrigation water within areas draining to the South Spreader Waterway and adjacent fresh water canals.
— Installed a deep injection well at the SW Reverse Osmosis potable water treatment plant to eliminate RO filtrate from normal plant operations to Lake Finnister which is connected to the spreader waterway.
— Implemented a dual water system for irrigation with improvements at waste water treatment plants to eliminate treated wastewater effluent discharges to the Caloosahatchee River.
— Began an interlock agreement for the City to purchase and dispose of reclaimed water generated by Fort Myers, resulting in a substantial reduction of nutrients to the Caloosahatchee River.
Do we continue down an outdated path to further waste dollars and the environment — or — do we stand up and do what is right for the environment?
Thank you for your consideration and commitment to resolve this issue.
Gary Lane
Cape Coral