Sandra Kokernoot, a founder of PCEC and the Water Works Committee, has published Wildflowers of the Water Works Environmental Education Center with assistance from Carol MacDonald, member of PCEC and active volunteer at the Water Works EEC.  Click on this link to view or download the publication and view a wealth of information about the Water Works EEC: https://www.palatka-fl.gov/246/Palatka-Water-Works.  Become a volunteer at this valuable community asset.

Please join us at PCEC's next meeting.

Date: April 19, Thursday, 6:00 pm

Location: Edgar Johnson Senior Center, 1215 Westover Dr., Palatka, FL 32177.

Help us welcome Kelly Patton, St. John's Riverkeeper's new Outreach Director.  She will give a special presentation Harmful Algal Blooms 101: River Friendly Living.

The public is invited and encouraged to attend.

5:30 PM Thursday March 15, 2018
Monica Ross of Sea to Shore Alliance will give a presentation on the “Winter Manatee Count in the St. John’s, Ocklawaha and Silver Rivers”. Edgar Johnson Senior Center, 1215 Westover Dr., Palatka, FL 32177.  The public is invited.

An Economic Evaluation of Ocklawaha/Silver River Restoration: 

University of Florida Study Finds Free-Flowing Ocklawaha River Nearly Doubles Economic Opportunity

To view the full UF report, click here.

GAINESVILLE – Florida Defenders of the Environment, Bruce Kaster and Joe Little are suing the United States Forest Service to obtain an order to breach the Rodman Dam and restore the free-flowing Ocklawaha River. This action was stimulated by the Forest Service’s perfunctory denial of a Petition for Rulemaking filed by FDE members Bruce Kaster and Joe Little earlier this year. The underlying Petition sought to enforce the terms of Rodman Dam’s Special Use Permit that has long since expired.

Contact: Jim Gross, 352.278.7150
Jim4fde@gmail.com 
Jane West, 904.471.0505 
jane@janewestlaw.com
STAND UP PRESS CONFERENCE
Location: Civic Media Center
433 South Main St.
Gainesville, FL 32601
Date: October 9, 2017 at 11:00 a.m.

Florida Defenders of the Environment SUES U.S. FOREST SERVICE OVER RODMAN DAM’S SPECIAL USE PERMIT 

GAINESVILLE – Florida Defenders of the Environment, Bruce Kaster and Joe Little are suing the United States Forest Service to obtain an order to breach the Rodman Dam and restore the free-flowing Ocklawaha River. This action was stimulated by the Forest Service’s perfunctory denial of a Petition for Rulemaking filed by FDE members Bruce Kaster and Joe Little earlier this year. The underlying Petition sought to enforce the terms of Rodman Dam’s Special Use Permit that has long since expired.
The lawsuit alleges that the agency has failed to manage their lands, specifically the Ocala National Forest, in a manner that furthers the conditions, goals and objectives listed in the Florida Plan for National Forests in Florida by allowing the continued, unpermitted use of Rodman Dam. The suit is being filed in federal court by the law firm of Jane West Law, an environmental and land use law litigation firm based in St. Augustine, on behalf of Florida Defenders of the Environment, Bruce Kaster and Joe Little.

The Special Use Permit that authorizes Rodman Dam (the Kirkpatrick Dam) was issued on January 21, 1994 and expired in 1998 but was twice extended to allow the State of Florida sufficient time to apply for a new occupancy permit that would properly describe their management intentions and provide environmental analysis to support the permit. FDEP refused to adhere to the proposed schedule and eventually, the US Forest Service directed FDEP to renew the permit in 2010 in order to allow for coordinated maintenance of the federal lands that are being occupied by the State. The Order went unheeded and to this day, no permit exists authorizing the continued occupation of federal land.

FDE Board member, Bruce Kaster, was one of the underlying petitioners and the decision to move forward with federal action was deemed necessary. “We regret that we have been left no alternative but to proceed with this lawsuit to force the US Forest Service to restore the Ocklawaha River. However, after waiting patiently for over a decade for the forest service to move forward on restoration of the river our patience has run out. We are aware that the US Forest Service committed to restore the river over 10 years ago and has recently reconfirmed that commitment, but no serious progress has been made to make good on their commitment. In consideration of the history of the Cross Florida Barge Canal being halted by President Nixon in 1971 and deauthorized by a bill sponsored by Lawton Chiles and Buddy MacKay in Congress in 1983, there is no excuse for further delay in restoring this unique beautiful river. We are committed to ensure that there is no adverse financial impact on Putnam county as a result of the restoration of the river. To the contrary our analysis shows that river access will actually result in increased revenue to the local community.”

Filing the underlying rulemaking petition was deemed necessary to move forward in a timely manner to ensure compliance with the National Forest Management Act. “What has developed over the decades with Rodman is a culture of inaction. Enough is enough. The permit expired. The terms are clear – when the permit expires the State was required to remove the structures and improvements authorized by the permit to allow for partial restoration of the Ocklawaha River.” declared Jane West.

Copies of the Complaint will be provided at the press conference.

On August 19 PCEC board member Karen Chadwick visited the Kenwood boat ramp on the north side of the Rodman Reservoir off County Road 315. This popular spot, with a two-lane boat ramp and picnic facilities, is the site of frequent fishing tournaments. However, access to the reservoir had been almost completely blocked due to water lettuce. During temporary drawdowns of the Rodman Reservoir the natural flow of the Ocklawaha River typically keeps these blockages from occurring, but during “normal” reservoir levels water lettuce grows prolifically in the stagnant or slow-moving water. This creates a hindrance and inconvenience to fisherman and blocks access to Putnam Lock. And on August 19, Karen saw that the state’s solution to this problem was a heavy application of chemical spray.  To read more go to Fall 2017 Green Gazette.

Troubled Waters
Screening and Panel Discussion
Wednesday, March 29, 5:30 PM
Beef O'Brady's in Palatka, Florida

This event will be hosted by St. Johns Riverkeeper, Putnam County Environmental Council and Bartram Trail in Putnam County. The documentary video, Troubled Waters, was funded by St. Johns Riverkeeper and produced by Ray Hays and PRC Digital Media.

Despite their importance, Florida’s waterways are suffering from significant pollution problems such as fertilizer runoff, poorly treated municipal and industrial wastewater, and failing septic tanks. Combined with the impacts from a rapidly growing population we have a potential recipe for disaster.

The film will be shown (48 minutes) and then followed by a panel discussion moderated by Karen Chadwick, Putnam County Environmental Council. Invited panelists include the following:

Lisa Rinaman, St. Johns Riverkeeper
Robert Burke, Aquatic Biologist
Sam Carr, Bartram Trail in Putnam County
Chip Laibl, Putnam County Commissioner

Public questions will be encouraged during the panel discussion. The panel discussion will address steps that we can take to protect Florida’s waters.

5:30 - 6:30 Social hour with the panelists (Food and drink will be available for purchase.)
6:30 - 7:15 Troubled Waters 
7:15 - 8:00 Panel discussion

Two Florida attorneys, Bruce Kaster and Joseph Little, are petitioning the Secretary of Agriculture and the Chief of the U.S. Forest Service to (1) issue and implement rules to enforce the terms of the special use permit issued by the Forest Service to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and (2) issue rules to redress the continuing failure of the Forest Service to manage the Ocala National Forest in a manner that furthers the desired future conditions, goals, and objectives of the Forest Plan for National Forests in Florida. Kaster is a practicing lawyer and a member of the Board of Trustees for Florida Defenders of the Environment (“FDE”). Little has been a member of FDE for nearly 50 years, and has served as a professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law since 1967.

The petition is being filed by Jane West Law, a public interest environmental and land-use law firm based in St. Augustine, FL.

A petition for rulemaking is the mechanism by which individuals, public interest groups, and private enterprise can argue to compel changes in existing rules or new rules for an agency that are necessary to remedy failures of agencies to fulfill their duties and purposes as provided by law.

The legal authority for such a petition is contained in the Administrative Procedure Act, 5 U.S.C. §553(e), which states that, “Each agency shall give an interested person the right to petition for the issuance, amendment, or repeal of a rule.” 

To read the complete petition or press release click on Restoring Our Rivers above.

Taking ownership | Ocala.com
Florida's vanishing springs - Tampa Bay Times

To read an article about Rodman/Kirkpatrick Dam in the July-August issue of Audubon magazine, HAS ONE FLORIDA DAM'S DAY FINALLY COME?, click on

http://mag.audubon.org/articles/conservation/has-one-florida-dams-day-finally-come.