TOM ROWLAND PODCAST

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“This is an important time, and an important issue. Spare the ten minutes that Daniel has asked for, and it will go a long way.”

Podcast Synopsis

In this bonus episode, we check back in with Capt. Daniel Andrews of Captains For Clean Water to learn about the recent freshwater discharges around Sanibel, and to hear about how the trip to Washington, DC went.

Daniel Andrews is the co-founder of Captains For Clean Water and has dedicated the past few years to addressing the problems in the Everglades.  The organization has grown quickly and has made a major impact towards protecting the Everglades.  Specifically, they are concerned with seeing the EAA Reservoir built to completion.  

In the beginning of June, the Army Core of Engineers released brown, pollutant water from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie Rivers and Caloosahatchee Rivers. These rivers lead into the Gulf and the Atlantic Ocean, harming living organisms, jobs, and the tourism industry. This issue has been occurring since 2016, and now is the time to put an end to harming our ecosystems.

Since the Everglades has been shrunken down over time, there is a small storage capacity that holds the water, and there is now no natural system provided. With the EAA Reservoir, there would be more storage spaces produced for the Everglades and more treatments being done. This treatment includes shallow filter marshes that filter out the nutrients and sediments in the water.

In today’s episode, Daniel gives distinct steps that we can all take to help the problems South Florida and the Everglades are experiencing today do not continue to happen in the future.

Daniel is optimistic in resolving this issue, and has a clear and concise manner in which he can communicate the issues in the Everglades today, combined with a path toward a solution. He encourages everyone to be aware of this issue, especially to those living outside the state of Florida, as this impacts the entire country.

After learning about the Everglades and the issue at hand, reach out to the congressmen in your state. While Florida politicians are in full support of helping the Everglades, the next step is taking this problem to Washington D.C. Discuss to your elected leaders the economic impact it has on the country and how it personally affects you.

Usually, in terms of fishing, rain is beneficial in shallow areas to dilute heavy salinity amounts, allowing for more species to live. Unfortunately with heavy amounts of rain, including Tropical Storm Alberto, too much water is brought to the Everglades and needs to be pushed out somewhere, namely the ocean and Gulf. In turn, this causes for the pollutants to continue to spread, hurting fish and plants.

Lastly, change is made from the outreach you can provide on social media. Congressmen look for the issues that people are discussing on social media, and that determines what issue they want to focus on and help find a solution.

If you are interested in helping:

1. Go to www.captainsforcleanwater.org and learn more about the problem and economic impact

2. Call or contact your Congressman and tell him or her that you want to make sure that the EAA Reservoir is in the 2018 WRDA Bill and that you want your Congressman’s support on this bill.

3. Share this podcast with your social media audience

4. Follow Captains For Clean Water on social media and join their email list.

- Tom Rowland