Sailfish City - Stuart Florida Community Site

After Tropical Storm Fay washed through, leaving us soaked I started to get really worried about some serious flooding if Gustav headed our way.  Not to mention the wind damage that would accompany a major storm like that - but the potential for flooding with our already water logged ground is serious.  But, luck is in our favor of avoiding a direct impact from Gustav and it seems like we may be spaired any effects of the storm itself.  That doesn’t mean we won’t feel it in the pocket book, it’s headed right for a whole bunch of oil platforms and possibly Texas oil refineries, so expect those gas prices that had been dropping to creep back up again.

There is another Tropical despression out there that will most likely become a named storm over the next day or two - for now it’s TD-8.  It looks like it’s developing fairly late in the game - in other words to far North to be a concern, for now.  But computer tracking models do have it pushing West a tad but if it has any Northern movement at all it will make landfall well North of our area.  We need the time to dry out!

FORCE - Friends of The Rivers Coalition eNewsletter - JULY 2008
P.O Box 2627, Stuart, FL 34995 ~ 772-225-6849    www.RiversCoalition.org

Candidate Tom Rooney Endorses Flowway And Buyout of Big Sugar Property!

Congressional Candidate Tom Rooney (Republican, District 16) has strongly endorsed the flowway concept that could stop most of the discharges from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie Canal and St. Lucie estuary in wet years..

In a position paper provided to the Rivers Coalition, Rooney states:

“As the first candidate to come out definitively for a flowway so discharges would stop coming through the St. Lucie River, I too am hopeful that the River of Grass may be on its way back. In a forum for the candidates, the Stuart News reported I was the only candidate who understood the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, while good, was not going to stop the discharges from the lake in the near term every year we have storms which threaten the dike. We have to have somewhere else to put that water ( the reservoirs north of the lake alone would not suffice). And now it looks like we will.”

“Moving forward, I will work hard as Congressman to make sure the mission of the Rivers Coalition is met. Although we have good news, the work now begins. I pledge to be your advocate in Washington in completing the mission.”

More information about Rooney is available at tomrooney.com

Rivers Coalition Resolution Supports Plan For Sugarland Purchase To Protect Estuary!

Citing extreme damages to the St. Lucie estuary due to discharges from Lake Okeechobee, the Rivers Coalition has adopted a powerful resolution in support of the state’s plan to buy 187,000 acres of sugar farms from U.S. Sugar Corp.

The resolution reviews a government history of failure to protect the estuaries and warns that current projects and programs will continue to pollute and degrade the environment.

“The proposed public purchase of U.S. Sugar would make enough land available to create the necessary water storage, cleansing and flow capacity south from Lake O to the Everglades,” according to the resolution which resolves:

“The Rivers Coalition strongly supports purchase of U.S. Sugar and conversion of its 187,000 acres of farmland to environmental restoration projects that will restore wetlands, increase the water supply for the Everglades, improve safety for residents of the EAA by enabling a substantial southern outlet between Lake and Everglades, improve Lake health, and better protect the Estuaries from damaging Lake releases.”

What’s Going on at the Next Meeting?

Thursday July 24, 2008
11AM
Realtor Association of Martin County
43 SW Monterey Road, Stuart
Corner of Monterey Road and Kanner Highway

Business Matters
Chairman’s Comments - Leon Abood
Land Acquisition - Leon Abood
Special Program - Leon Abood
“Saving Our St. Lucie Estuary” DVD Ready for Public Viewings”
Legal Update - Karl Wickstrom
Special Events - Jessica Briske
Fundraising - Karl Wickstrom 
WRAC - Ted Guy/Ed Fielding

Coalition Committee Reports
Water Quality - Mark Perry
Local Issues - Mark Perry/Ed Fielding
State/Federal Issues - Kevin Henderson/Paul Gray
IRL/CERP - Kevin Henderson/Paul Gray
Martin County Updates - Paul Millar

PLENTY OF FREE PARKING! DONUTS AND COFFEE! 

“Saving Our St. Lucie Estuary” DVD Ready for Public Viewings!

“Saving Our St. Lucie Estuary” is a hard-hitting documentary that focuses on damages to the estuary caused by discharges from Lake Okeechobee and what can be done to stop them from inundating the waters in wet years. opies of the DVD are available for showing to RC member groups and civic organizations. The Rivers Coalition Defense Fund also intends to show the presentation to as many government officials as possible. 

The showing calls for increased citizen support of the campaign to stop the discharges, which includes a current lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and advocacy on local, state and federal levels.

Get your name on the Honor Roll!

Don’t forget to donate today and get your name on the honor roll.

Go to www.RiversCoalition.org to donate.

The Rivers Coalition is a non profit 501c3 organization.

Stuart, FL - Bathtub Beach is open to the public once again but it isn’t back to full capacity just yet and probably won’t be for quite a while.  Over the weekend I took my family up to Bathtub Beach for a nice family day and for the most part was pleasantly surprised.  The thing that drew people to the beach in the first place, Bathtub Reef is still doing a great job keeping the beach nice and calm even at high tide.  My daughter is usually scared of the waves at Stuart beach (she’s only 16 months old!) but at Bathtub she was laughing and giggling in the water.

The difference is in the waves, which at Bathtub is little more than a ripple on the water.  If you are a surfer, this is not the place for you.  But if you have a family, particularly with small children or enjoy snorkeling there isn’t a better beach anywhere in driving distance! 

The beach itself is narrow with the erosion and the parking is very limited for now but it actually made for a nice balance.  The limited parking helped offset the limited beach area and kept the beach from getting overcrowded.  Though it may take you some time to find a parking spot on the weekends.  The water was very calm and clear and you could clearly see anything under the water as far as obstructions.  Just in case, there was always a lifeguard close at hand with adequate equipment to get to any swimmer in distress quickly.  No, no one was in distress on my trip but I did see guards patrolling on four wheelers and kayaks.

The water is a little deeper than I remember but it was high tide and the deepest part of the beach was almost midpoint between the shore and the reef itself, with either end of the spectrum being only four or five feet deep.  Toward the middle it probably got to around six feet.