Clean water rally set for Sunday, Oct. 7
Area residents are invited to a Rally for Clean Water on the Matlacha Bridge to be held Sunday, Oct. 7, from noon to 1 p.m.
Such rallies are a clear demonstration that water quality is of vital importance to Southwest Florida and help keep this issue in the spotlight, organizers said. As the impacts of the recent harmful algae blooms become less visible and water conditions slowly improve, it will be tempting to turn off the spotlight on both the problem and on the solutions that must be pursued to ensure events of such magnitude do not become the new normal.
Organizers urge people to continue to pressure local, state, and federal officials via phone calls, letters, letters to news media, and rallies to take aggressive action to 1) reduce the amount of harmful nutrients that are flowing into our waterways; 2) reduce the amount of harmful water discharged from Lake Okeechobee down the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers; 3) reduce the amount of water that is sent back into Lake Okeechobee from the Everglades Agricultural area; and 4) send more water safely south to the Everglades.
This rally is being organized by Pine Island ROAR (pineislandroar@yahoo.com). It is the group’s fifth rally since July.