August 22, 2002
The Honorable Trudi K. Williams, Chair
Governing Board
South Florida Water Management District
3301 Gun Club Road
West Palm Beach, Florida 33416-4680
Dear Ms. Williams,
As you know, the Southwest Florida Watershed Council has hosted a number of discussions in recent months which have focused on the Caloosahatchee Basin. One of our major concerns stems from the fact the Caloosahatchee River is not considered an “existing legal user” of water resources when it comes to the process of allocating water resources.
It appears likely that the River, which is a tremendously important resource in Southwest Florida, will need extraordinary consideration in order to be guaranteed a flow regime which will support the ecological and economic needs of this region. To that end, we respectfully request that the South Florida Water Management District establish a statutory reservation for the Caloosahatchee River and its estuary.
It is our understanding that the District has initiated work on the rule making process for such a reservation. We would like to be involved in this process, and we would like to be included in the efforts to determine how much water should be reserved. We would appreciate your support of this initiative, and we look forward to hearing from you regarding progress on this important endeavor.
Sincerely,
Noel Andress
Chairman
The mission of the Southwest Florida Watershed Council is to protect, conserve, manage and/or
restore the land and water resources of the Caloosahatchee and Big Cypress Watersheds through participation and cooperation of all stakeholders in consensus building, planning, and decision making to meet the
economic, natural and cultural needs for this and succeeding generations.
