Guest commentary: Three hours for a lifetime of water protections?
This October and November is our best chance to exercise our rights to self-governance to create the highest level of water and wetlands protections in western law for future generations of Floridians.
The 2026 Florida Right to Clean and Healthy Waters (RTCW) constitutional amendment ballot initiative will only happen with your help. The RTCW campaign is a fully grassroots, wholly volunteer, unpaid staff effort. The campaign depends on individual citizens like you to help create the law our failed legislative and regulatory agency decision makers refuse to make. The campaign does not have the deep pockets of constitutional amendment campaigns spending $50 million dollars for ballot placement. We need you!
If you sincerely want safe, drinkable, swimmable and fishable waters, now is your chance to make it happen. You can fix Florida’s waters. At no other time in Florida’s history will stepping forward to volunteer make a bigger impact in saving our environment. Every single Floridian deserves the fundamental right to clean water. If you agree, you can be the change to make this happen.
Placing the RTCW petition on the 2026 election ballot for a vote requires collecting 900,000 signatures. During this “Push to The Polls” Call to Action from now to Nov. 3 and on Election Day on Nov. 5, the RTCW petition campaign is seeking 900 volunteers across 67 counties to collect signatures at their local voting locations. You will be heading there to vote, so why not help with a few hours to make this new law a reality?
Floridians agree on the importance of clean waters and eagerly sign the petition when asked. Early voting dates vary by county with most locations are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. There is a day, time slot and location to fit everyone’s schedule. Register to join our growing team of concerned citizens to collect petitions in your hometown at https://tinyurl.com/FLRTCW2026. “How to” short training webinars, actual petitions and support materials will be provided to volunteers by FloridaRightToCleanWater.org.
Daily we see and hear of the 1,000 cuts killings our waters. Florida is No. 1 in the United States for most polluted lakes and the number of remaining lead pipes. Over 50% of our drinking water systems fail for forever chemical contamination. What is coming out of your tap? Is it safe?
We have water bottlers essentially stealing our fresh waters, failing infrastructure and sewage spills, 9,000 miles of feces contaminated rivers, harmful blue-green algae and red tide blooms, 80% of all freshwater springs are polluted, toxic aquatic vegetation spray programs, and we have lost over one-third of all wetlands to unbridled development. Politicians and state regulatory agencies for decades have allowed the degradation to happen. Statewide toxic waters exist, and wetlands destruction occurs daily. Florida voters now have the opportunity to break the fixed framework of failed government stewardship. Our petition signatures will change the rules Tallahassee plays by forever in protecting our waters. The new fundamental Right To Clean Water will have the same enforcement power as our rights to free speech and religion, superseding all rights to pollute by permit and for profit. The law gives us the legal standing to compel Tallahassee agencies to do the job we hire them to do in protecting our waters and environment. Sound good? Join the team.
No time to volunteer at the polls? In just five minutes you can help save our waters from your home. Visit Floridarighttocleanwater.org to print, sign and mail your petition … be sure to share some with your friends and share the petition link widely. Any questions or concerns can be sent to ADMIN@FloridaRightToCleanWater.org.
Capt. Karl R. Deigert is chairman of the Florida Right to Clean Water’s political action committee. A pharmacist, charter captain and clean water advocate, he has been a Florida resident since 1986 and currently resides in Ocala. Deigert can be reached at karlrdeigert@gmail.com. For more information, visit FloridaRightToCleanWater.org.