Election 2016: Water debate running through August 30 primary
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Every local election seems to develop one or two key themes, but rarely does a single issue take on the kind of visceral role that water — specifically water from Lake Okeechobee released down the Caloosahatchee — plays this year.
Almost every challenger in the Aug. 30 primary cites water as the major, if not only, issue. Incumbents are on the defense, recounting their responses to the situation after historic weather events and the ugly effects of lake water pouring down the river to the bays, beaches and Gulf.
Algae blooms, muddy colors, fish kills — or no fish to catch, stinky beaches — the impact is too obvious, too often, and now too easily seen worldwide. The matter has moved beyond a few scientists worried about balancing salt and fresh water in the bays, although that’s still a concern.
Now workers in the tourism and hospitality industry, Southwest Florida economic mainstays, are worried. Real estate agents are worried. Residents and potential newcomers drawn to Southwest Florida’s water-full lifestyle are worried. Some are angry, and not just a few.
No one in or seeking elected office is surprised; there’s widespread agreement this is at the top of voter concerns. But whether it’s the only concern, or whether voters believe the people seeking their vote are adequately addressing the problem, is more debatable.
“Trump and water. Those are the two things I hear about, everywhere I go,” said Chauncey Goss, a Sanibel councilman running for the congressional seat left open by Rep. Curt Clawson’s decision to not seek re-election. Lake discharges have affected Sanibel’s beaches and tourism; leaders there have been deeply involved in the issue for years.
Now Goss said he hears the same concern and anger everywhere as he campaigns throughout the Lee-Collier congressional district. Candidates and elected officials “are on notice the current situation is unacceptable,” said Goss, a Republican. “Everybody is upset about this. If the people don’t think you’re concerned about water, if they think you’re in the pocket of somebody else, they’re not going to vote for you.”
Single issues rarely are enough to decide a campaign, said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida political science professor specializing in Florida politics. But combine a big single issue with any other weaknesses, and things can change.
“Environmental issues are bigger in your part of the state,” she said. “In coastal areas, Republicans tend to be well educated and affluent, very much pro-environment. They worry about their property values and their quality of life.”
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And, she added, there’s a lot of anger among the electorate this year. “Starting with Congress, people feel like incumbents aren’t getting much done,” she said.
The incumbents also must deal with other issues, said Terry Miller, who consults for several Lee County legislators and other elected officials.
The lake discharges “are a big issue, but I hesitate to say it’s the only issue,” Miller said. “I think voters care about the whole package — jobs, the economy, schools, all the other things that are important.”
He suggests some challengers who stress the water issue above all are being urged on by “left-wing political organizations” trying to unseat incumbents. “They talk a lot about the problems, but they don’t provide much in the way of solutions,” he said. “Everybody says “send water south,” and that’s a catchy bumper sticker, but it’s not a practical solution.”
Jason Maughan, a Sanibel attorney opposing state Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, in the primary, says water is virtually the only issue. Most other matters connect with that, he said, such as jobs, tourism and the economy.
He’s running because of his distress over the discharge problems, and elected officials’ lack of action. “We’ve reached a tipping point,” he said. “We’ve gone from people being mildly concerned to being genuinely scared about their future here.”
Maughan believes more lake water should be able to go south. Most of the land needed for that, however, is owned by sugar and agriculture businesses. Gov. Charlie Crist announced a $1.75 billion deal to buy all of U.S. Sugar's land near the lake in 2008. The deal was later reduced to 72,800 acres for $536 million because of the recession. In 2010, the water district bought 26,800 acres. Last year the district nixed a plan to buy 46,800 acres, over the protests of environmentalists and others who still want the sugar land restored to Everglades.
Legislators, meanwhile, have focused more on projects north of the lake, and on storage basins to hold some of the excess lake water. They say those projects, already under way or on the verge of starting, have priority over new projects to the south.
Maughan thinks sugar exerts too much influence in that process — through the millions in campaign donations to legislators and other support — and elected officials won’t cross those who back them financially.
Benacquisto, meanwhile, earlier agreed with other legislators and stressed those other projects. But in early June, soon after Maughan entered the race, she wrote state water managers saying projects south of the lake should also be included, something of a break with other legislators who stressed storage and Kissimmee-area work.
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It takes so long to plan and begin such projects, she said, that she believes they need to start now at least talking about moving water south. No business looks at a problem piece-by-piece, she said. The situation should be dealt with comprehensively, and that includes looking south of the lake.
Maughan thinks his entry in the race helped move her to that position. Even that change, he said, means he’s had an impact.
The senator pooh-poohed that idea, saying the timing was more about a water managers’ meeting to start the planning process. As for breaking with other area lawmakers, “sometimes they let me take the lead on some things,” she said.
Clawson is one of the few incumbents who’s won praise for advancing the water issue, including more emphasis on moving water south. But Clawson is leaving office, creating one of the few open seats.
Along with Goss, Naples multimillionaire Francis Rooney and radio talk host Dan Bongino are in the GOP primary. Rooney said water is a major local priority for him, and he sees voters’ concern daily. Moving water south is a very complex issue, he said, and projects to the north, along with strengthening the dike around the lake, are also crucial. “If we could get the dike raised, we wouldn’t have to release so much water,” he said, adding that money is the main hurdle to that.
Bongino, who moved to Naples last month from the Stuart area, said he’s been going door-to-door, and water is the first issue mentioned. “If we don’t fix this, it’s not just an environmental disaster, it’s an economic disaster, and people know that.”
At some point, he said, water will have to be sent south. The problem is how to do that while respecting the agriculture industry’s property rights. “In the long run it will be in sugar’s best interests to come to the table and help with solutions,” he said.
In the meantime, he said, government has obviously failed to fix the problem. What’s needed is someone who can show leadership, and get all parties working together. “I can get that done,” he said. “Right now everybody’s just kicking the can down the road.”
Lee County commissioners don’t get a pass either. Dick Anderson, a former planner and business executive opposing Commissioner Larry Kiker in the primary, said the board should be more involved with state and federal agencies to get discharge solutions under way.
He also thinks more water can and should be sent south, and it can be done without “demonizing” sugar and ag interests. Anderson has several ideas for doing that, including better use of state-owned lands that, all combined, have some impact in lessening releases into the river. With his background in planning and permitting, he said, he understands the issue and what needs to be done.
But asked why so little has been done so far, Anderson said “follow the money,” pointing to sugar’s political donations and support for incumbents. “When much is given, much is expected …There’s a lack of political will” to buck sugar’s preferences.
Kiker said he’s gone to Washington to lobby federal officials, and meets constantly to develop solutions. “I have a passion for clean water,” he said. “I’m there every time, advocating for clean water.” The county has also spent millions on water-related projects, he said.
When Kiker was elected four years ago, he ran against incumbent Ray Judah, a vocal and long-time critic of sugar and ag’s impact on the Everglades. Ag interests spent more than $500,000 attacking Judah in that election, and Kiker won the seat.
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Judah had other issues as well, said Peter Bergerson, a Florida Gulf Coast University political science professor. He’d been in office about 20 years and some voters thought it was time for a change. He’d also been involved with controversial county projects.
A single issue may not be make or break, Bergerson said, but if the incumbent has other weaknesses, that issue may be the final straw.
This year, however, water covers a host of issues, including tourism and the economy, Bergerson said. “Now we have strong competing interests. We have sugar and agriculture vs. the tourism and hospitality industry,” he said. “And all the ads that sugar is running about the benefits they provide tell me that they are worried. Those ads are a red flag to me that they want to head off criticism.”
But generally, he said, incumbents have the advantage, regardless of any particular issue.
State Rep. Matt Caldwell, R-North Fort Myers, has been a legislative leader in water issues, and has been on the receiving end of sugar and agriculture money. He doesn’t face opposition until November, but one opponent, Democrat John Scott, has already said he’ll focus on the water issue.
Caldwell has not been supportive of sending water south. At one point last spring, he labeled such suggestions “foolishness” on social media, saying other lake-related projects should be finished first.
He agrees that water is a major issue — although not the only one — and an easy place for challengers to score points. “When the water turns green and algae is everywhere, people can see that, and they want immediate results,” Caldwell said. “But it takes more than just opening a valve,” he said, adding that the problem was decades in the making.
Projects to offer relief are under way, and should be finished in a few years, he said.
Others wonder whether that’s enough, both time-wise and size-wise.
The other projects, including the C43 reservoir and work in the Kissimmee River basin, are good projects, Anderson said, but they’re not enough.
“We’ve been watching this happen again and again, and waiting for somebody to do something,” Maughan said. “It’s like they wait for it to go away and hope for the best, hope it doesn’t happen again. But it does, and it will, unless there are some big changes in the way we deal with this.”
Betty Parker is a freelance writer specializing in politics. She can be reached at parkerspolitics@aol.com.