HM 1227

1
House Memorial
2A memorial to the President of the United States and the
3United States Congress, urging the prompt enactment of
4legislation to authorize funding to construct the Indian
5River Lagoon Restoration Project and the development of a
6comprehensive plan to assist in the implementation of the
7Lake Okeechobee and Estuary Recovery Plan.
8
9     WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie Estuary
10encompass the most biologically diverse estuary in North America
11that is recognized for national significance in the National
12Estuary Program, and
13     WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon and the St. Lucie Estuary
14have been and continue to be severely degraded by excessive
15freshwater discharges, nutrients, and sediments from Lake
16Okeechobee and the drainage canals constructed by the Central
17and Southern Florida Flood Control Project, and
18     WHEREAS, the State of Florida has a long history of
19supporting local, state, and federal programs to improve the
20environmental health of the Indian River Lagoon and the St.
21Lucie Estuary, the health of which are critical to the economic
22and social environment of Florida and the nation, and
23     WHEREAS, the support of the State of Florida includes
24forming and funding the St. Lucie River Issues Team and the
25Indian River Lagoon Restoration Task Force and providing 50
26percent of the cost of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration
27Plan projects, and
28     WHEREAS, local government partners, including the Nine
29County Coalition for the Responsible Management of Lake
30Okeechobee and St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries, are
31implementing urban stormwater quality retrofit projects, funding
32over $100 million to restore the Indian River Lagoon and the St.
33Lucie Estuary, and
34     WHEREAS, water being released into the Caloosahatchee River
35westward from Lake Okeechobee has introduced too much fresh
36water into the Caloosahatchee River and its estuaries, causing
37great damage to the aquatic life in that fragile system, and
38     WHEREAS, local voters in Martin County approved a special
39sales tax referendum for healthy rivers that raised over $50
40million to assist in the purchase of the land necessary to
41implement the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Project, and
42     WHEREAS, the State of Florida has enthusiastically endorsed
43Congressional authorization of the Indian River Lagoon
44Restoration Project, and
45     WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Project, after
46numerous bureaucratic delays, has now undergone full
47administrative review and is ready for Congressional
48authorization and subsequent funding and construction, and
49     WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Project is the
50first of over forty major components of the Comprehensive
51Everglades Restoration Plan that require Congressional
52authorization, and
53     WHEREAS, Congressional authorization of the Indian River
54Lagoon Restoration Project will pave the way for Congressional
55authorization of the other major components of the Comprehensive
56Everglades Restoration Plan, and
57     WHEREAS, Lake Okeechobee is the gateway to America's
58Everglades and the largest freshwater lake in the southeastern
59United States, and
60     WHEREAS, the health of Lake Okeechobee is vital to the goal
61of restoring America's Everglades, and
62     WHEREAS, catastrophic hurricanes have caused massive
63pollution of the lake's waters and destroyed essential plant
64life within the lake, and
65     WHEREAS, catastrophic hurricanes have made it extremely
66difficult to maintain the level of the lake without damaging
67releases into the Indian River Lagoon and St. Lucie Estuary and
68the Caloosahatchee Estuary, and
69     WHEREAS, on October 10, 2005, Governor Jeb Bush announced
70the Lake Okeechobee and Estuary Recovery Plan, an initiative by
71the State of Florida to accelerate the recovery and restoration
72of Lake Okeechobee, and
73     WHEREAS, the people of the United States, and the
74generations of Americans to follow, deserve the environmental
75and economic benefits of the restoration of America's Everglades
76that will be derived from the implementation of the entire
77Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, NOW, THEREFORE,
78
79Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
80
81     That the State of Florida urges the United States Congress
82to pass, without further delay, legislation to authorize the
83Indian River Lagoon Restoration Project and requests the
84President of the United States to sign that legislation into law
85and further requests the President to work with the Congress to
86develop and enact a comprehensive planning and funding
87initiative to be implemented in coordination with the Lake
88Okeechobee and Estuary Recovery Plan announced by Governor Bush
89on October 10, 2005.
90     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
91dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
92President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
93United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
94the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.