Rotary Happenings: Rotarians hear from Calusa WaterKeeper representative
People visit Sanibel because of the warm clear weather, beautiful, crystal clear waters and beaches littered with collectable shells. At least that is how Sanibel and the surrounding regions look some part of the year. Other times throughout the year are a completely different story; one that is not nearly so romantic or beautiful. An unfortunate fact that many of us are all too familiar.
The Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club’s recent speaker was John Cassani of the Calusa Waterkeeper, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the Caloosahatchee river and estuary, Lake Okeechobee, Nicodemus Slough, Charlotte Harbor, Estero Bay, and near-shore waters of Lee County and their watersheds, which is nearly 1000 square miles of water. He shared some grim statistics about the health of our waterways. Studies have shown that pollutants mainly enter our waterways through storm runoff, agriculture and the effects of climate change by droughts and then extreme rainfall.
Cassani described the effects of the cyanobacteria that is in the waters causing harm to our waterways, the life within the water and the health effects to people who live and work on or around the water. All of this was enough to scare even the most stoic of us, raising concerns for our most vulnerable population’s health — the elderly, as well as the children — living on the islands and coastal areas.
Cassani’s professional career as an ecologist started in Lee County in 1978 after he received degrees in biology and fish and wildlife. From 1978 to 2014, he worked as a resource manager for local government, managing waterways of Southwest Florida. Cassani has authored both peer-reviewed scientific publications and popular media sources on resource management, history, water policy and conservation issues.
His service on advisory boards, his commitment to community, and his involvement with land and water conservation has led to recognition from various civic groups, including the Florida Audubon Society, Estero Bay Agency on Bay Management, Lee County Government, Everglades Coalition, American Fisheries Society, and the Alberta provincial government. In 2016, Cassani accepted the position of Calusa Waterkeeper, a member of the international Waterkeeper Alliance.
For more information, visit https://calusawaterkeeper.org/.
The Sanibel-Captiva Rotary Club holds a meeting on Fridays at 7:30 a.m. at The Community House, at 2173 Periwinkle Way, Sanibel, and via Zoom; doors open at 7 a.m. To attend in person, email Bill Harkey at William.Harkey@gmail.com by the Tuesday before the meeting. For more information, visit sanibelrotary.org or www.facebook.com/sancaprotary.