Judge dismisses Caloosahatchee stakeholders' petition challenging water management district's flows to river

In what one advocate called a "maddening” ruling, a judge has denied a stakeholder challenge of the South Florida Water Management District's revised rule for minimum flows from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee River and its estuary.

Last year, a number of cities, towns and groups economically impacted by the river’s health asked an administrative law judge to reconsider the flow threshold set by the district.

During the course of the hearing, the petitioners provided empirical evidence that the district’s level will not meet the needs of the river and estuary, said Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani. Though his nonprofit was not part of the petition, he’s been watching carefully for the ruling, which he said will profoundly affect the watershed's health.

The petition included Sanibel, Fort Myers Beach, Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Estero, Bonita Springs and Captiva.

The controversy stems from the way humans have re-engineered the watershed for agriculture and development, digging and dynamiting to connect river to lake in order to drain the Everglades.

In the rainy months, water managers often release torrents of Lake Okeechobee water down the river, which can spur outbreaks of toxic algae such as those that devastated the region last year.

More:Altered, ailing river at center of ecology, economy

And:Lee mayors battle water managers over Caloosahatchee river rule

But when the heavy rains stop, the system needs regular infusions of freshwater to maintain a proper salinity balance for the animals and plants that depend on it.

Water Management District officials said sending 400 cubic feet per second through the Franklin Lock and Dam will help protect the estuary.

The petitioners argued during the hearing that the district-set levels are not nearly enough to keep the river healthy.

None were immediately available for comment Friday, when the ruling was released, nor did the water management district return calls.

Judge Francine Ffolkes  found the petitioners had standing to challenge the district, but she dismissed the case, finding that the district's flow rule "is a valid exercise of delegated legislative authority."

However, "The District's request for attorney's fees and costs is denied, because the Petitioners and Intervenors did not participate in this proceeding for an improper purpose," she wrote in her ruling.

Cassani speculated that perhaps Ffolkes “made a leap of faith that the C-43 (reservoir) is going to provide enough flow in the future to achieve a more reasonable level,” Cassani said.

The in-progress, $600 million project will hold about 55 billion gallons of water that theoretically can be used to replenish the estuary, but it's not expected to be finished until 2022.

“Once again, the Caloosahatchee estuary is going to get the short end of the stick," Cassani said. "I mean, we’ve been at this for 18 years ... With the empirical evidence presented, it’s maddening that the administrative law judge would not see the shortfall in what the district had revised the rules to.”

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