Opinion
Act now
Opinion of The Miami Herald
Published: January 5, 2013
Largely because of the expense, the state has spent 14 years resisting the federal Environmental Protection Agency's 1998 requirement that states write water-quality controls with effective measures to curb pollution in their rivers, lakes and other waterways by 2004.Published: January 5, 2013
Florida balked, citing enormous costs, with state officials and EPA bosses in a perpetual sparring match. The state missed the 2004 deadline, and in 2008, exasperated environmental groups sued the state in federal court, citing the federal Clean Water Act. Finally, under court pressure, the EPA agreed to write the rules and impose them on Florida, which continued to resist.
But the end of this battle may be in sight. Last month, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle denied the state's request for more time. He ordered the EPA to implement its water-quality rules in Florida.
What the state does next is anybody's guess. But what it should do is comply with the judge's ruling. This will not be easy, yet it's vitally necessary if the state is to protect its drinking-water supply, which comes from waterways, springs and underground aquifers. The costs are high, but the stakes are higher.
In the 1980s, the Save our Rivers program bought nearly 2 million acres of open space to protect river basins. The restoration of the historic, north-flowing St. Johns River is one of the state's most ambitious environmental projects. So is the restoration of the Kissimmee River to its traditional ox-bow flow by the Army Corps of Engineers. The cost for both restorations totals $2.5 billion so far.
These projects are an example of how complex the state's waterway systems are and why cleaning up and protecting all the state's water bodies from further pollution can't be avoided any longer.