Revised petition for clean, healthy waters going out
Lee County voters who signed a petition to qualify a proposed “Right to Clean and Healthy Waters” Constitutional Amendment for the 2024 ballot will soon receive a 2026 petition in the mail, according to FloridaRightToCleanWater.org — the organization behind the statewide effort.
Officials noted that credit goes to Lee volunteers who are piloting the targeted mail campaign for statewide application.
“With massive water releases from Lake Okeechobee putting Southwest Floridians on edge, and with Earth Day just weeks away, finding these petitions in their home mailboxes could not be timelier for citizens,” Mary Kay Kralapp, who leads the Lee County team, said.
FloridaRightToCleanWater.org reported that 7,000 county voters signed the petition in the last election cycle. With three petitions being mailed to known supporters, volunteers are aiming to surpass last cycle’s total in weeks. A cover letter urges supporters to get two other registered voters to sign and to mail all three to the state’s petition headquarters in Fort Myers in the provided return envelope. It noted not to send more than five petitions in one envelope as the postage will not cover the weight of more.
“Especially commendable is that Lee County volunteers organized the entirety of this mail campaign,” organization Operations Director Joseph Bonasia said. “They raised the thousands of dollars needed to fund this project. They worked with the Lee County Supervisor of Elections office, USPS and local printing firm to get this done. Results from this pilot program will inform our statewide mail campaign. And if you see a Right to Clean Water billboard in the months ahead, you can bet that will be their doing, too. They are passionate about this amendment.”
Revised for 2026, the amendment would give all Floridians a Constitutional fundamental right to clean and healthy waters with which they can hold state agencies accountable when they allow harm to Florida waters. Nearly 900,000 signed and verified petitions are required to qualify for the state ballot.
FloridaRightToCleanWater.org reported that over 200 organizations and businesses support the amendment, including Calusa Waterkeeper, Friends of the Everglades, the League of Women Voters, Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and VoterWater.
For more information about the petition, visit FloridaRightToCleanWater.org.