Sanibel Mayor Calls For Immediate Response to Lake Okeechobee Releases

Lake Okeechobee Warter Release Impact, Redfish Pass, 7:10:13, Photo By SCCF.

Sanibel Mayor Kevin Ruane Calls for Immediate Implementation of 3-Point Action Plan in Response to Lake Okeechobee Releases

Kevin Ruane, Sanibel Mayor, Photo Credit – City Of Sanibel.

The City Of Sanibel issued the following news release this evening.

“While in Tallahassee addressing our State legislators on critical long-term local and regional water quality projects Sanibel Mayor Kevin Ruane issued a call for immediate action by the South Florida Water Management District and the Army Corps of Engineers to address the current Lake Okeechobee releases.

Simultaneously, Mayor Ruane issued a call to the mayors of each city in Lee County to work collectively on requesting a 3-Point Action Plan. “As a community, as a region and as a government restoring and protecting the quality of our economic lifeline, water quality, is our highest priority. We know we are most effective in Tallahassee and Washington when we speak with one unified voice. Today I am calling on the mayors of our sister cities to support this 3-Point Plan for immediate action steps” stated Ruane as he issued the “Call for Action.”

The “3 Step Action Plan” calls for:

Maximizing storage on all private lands currently under contract with the SFWMD
Maximize potential storage on public lands within Lee County
Call on the Army Corps of Engineers and the SFWMD to exercise their operational flexibility to hold more water in the Lake

Click here to read Sanibel Mayor Kevin Ruane’s request to the mayors of Lee County.

Click here to read the City of Sanibel’s Caloosahatchee Watershed Regional Water Management Issues White Paper: Short and Long-term solutions for storage and treatment.”