Speak up now for health of the St. Lucie River | Guest column

Kelli Glass Leighton

For decades, our community has endured immense damage from the Lake Okeechobee discharges.

As the harm to our marine life, habitat, property values, small businesses — even very likely the health of humans and pets — worsens with each rainy season, we rightfully fear the level of degradation to our river and our community could reach a point of no return.

Many powerful entities, including state and federal agencies, impact what happens upstream from us. It often feels like our small city of Stuart is fighting a David-and-Goliath battle.

Here’s the good news: David won that battle with a well-placed shot. We have a chance to do the same.

Stuart has installed signs along the city's waterfront warning people about the health hazards of blue-green algae, like this one at Shepard Park.

Opportunity: Thanks to the unified and determined voice of our community, the leadership of Senate President Joe Negron and our representatives in Congress and the U.S. Senate, we have a chance to establish a large reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee to store and treat excess water during the wet season, cutting the discharges by more than half.

Action: The Stuart City Commission invites all residents to please join us in respectfully calling on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to allow a vote on the WRDA bill, known as the Water Resources Development Act S. 3021.

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Contact information: Write to: The Honorable Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, 317 Russell Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510: Email: senator@mcconnell.senate.gov, or call 202-224-2541.

Bipartisan support: U.S. Rep. Brian Mast and Sen. Marco Rubio, both Republicans, and Sen. Bill Nelson, Democrat, recently released a joint statement announcing that they teamed up to add language in the bill specifically mentioning building the Everglades Agricultural Area storage reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee. While the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill Thursday, Mast, Rubio and Nelson called on the Senate to pass WRDA and declared their commitment to work “together to secure funding to get it designed and built as quickly as possible.”

Benefits: Negron says were the reservoir and its accompanying stormwater treatment area — which is the size of Stuart and Palm City combined — in operation today, it would have eliminated 63 percent of the discharges we experienced this season.

Funding need: Through Negron’s leadership, the state already has fully funded its $800 million portion to construct the reservoir. But we still need the federal government to commit its matching portion of the same dollar amount. That can only happen through a supportive vote by the U.S. Senate. So, it is critical that as a community we raise our voices and call on Sen. McConnell to allow this vote.

Finn, a 9-year-old standard poodle owned by Alex and Misty Aydelotte, died after getting in the St. Lucie River, possibly from toxic blue-green algae in the water.

Time element: The U.S. Senate is addressing the budget during September. The sooner Sen. McConnell hears from us to allow a vote to include this bill, the better.

As a multi-generational native of Stuart, I’m excited to be joined on the Stuart City Commission by Martin County natives Mike Meier and Merritt Matheson, whose families have extensive histories in the area. Together with Stuart Vice Mayor Becky Bruner, who brings a long history of local activism for the river, and longtime resident and vocal advocate Commissioner Eula Clarke, the city commission is well positioned to see this fight to fruition.

But our strength comes through the vocal, informed, committed public. We’ve made it this far through your efforts and need you help to get even farther.

Please let Sen. Leader McConnell — and the rest of our delegation — hear your voice and bring real, lasting relief to our beloved, and long-beleaguered, St. Lucie River.

Kelli Glass Leighton is mayor of Stuart.