HM 0031E 2003
1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the United States Army Corps of Engineers,
3	urging prompt action to complete the Indian River Lagoon
4	Restoration Plan on schedule.
5
6	WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon is the most biologically
7	diverse estuary in North America and is recognized for national
8	significance in the National Estuary Program, and
9	WHEREAS, the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon have
10	been and continue to be severely degraded by excessive
11	freshwater discharges, nutrients, and sediments from drainage
12	canals constructed by the Central and Southern Florida Flood
13	Control Project, and
14	WHEREAS, the State of Florida has a long history of
15	supporting local, state, and federal programs to improve the
16	environmental health of the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River
17	Lagoon, which health is critical to the economic and social
18	environment of Florida and the nation, and
19	WHEREAS, state support includes forming and funding the St.
20	Lucie River Issues Team, the Indian River Lagoon Restoration
21	Task Force, and 50 percent of the costs of related Comprehensive
22	Everglades Restoration Plan projects, and
23	WHEREAS, local government partners, including the Nine
24	County Coalition for the Responsible Management of Lake
25	Okeechobee and St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries, are
26	implementing urban stormwater quality retrofit projects budgeted
27	at over $100 million dedicated to cleaning up the St. Lucie
28	Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, and
29	WHEREAS, local voters voluntarily approved a special sales
30	tax referendum for healthy rivers that raised over $50 million
31	to help buy the land necessary to implement the Indian River
32	Lagoon Restoration Plan, and
33	WHEREAS, the State of Florida has enthusiastically endorsed
34	the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan, and
35	WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan, after
36	numerous bureaucratic delays, is ready for Congressional
37	authorization and construction, and
38	WHEREAS, the citizens of the United States deserve the
39	prompt authorization and construction of the Indian River Lagoon
40	Restoration Plan, the first major component of the Comprehensive
41	Everglades Restoration Plan, NOW, THEREFORE,
42
43	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
44
45	That the State of Florida urges the United States Army
46	Corps of Engineers to complete work on the Indian River Lagoon
47	Restoration Plan and forward it to Congress for authorization as
48	rescheduled in August 2003 and urges federal officials to keep
49	the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan on schedule and present
50	it without further delay for Congressional authorization in
51	2004.
52	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
53	dispatched to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, to the
54	President of the United States, to the President of the United
55	States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of
56	Representatives, and to each member of the Florida delegation to
57	the United States Congress.