Mayors take water quality issue to Washington

Mayor Marni Sawicki has just returned from Washington, D.C., where she spent two days lobbying House and Senate legislators trying to drum up support for legislation aimed at cleaning up the Caloosahatchee River estuary being damaged by excess water discharges from Lake Okeechobee.

Congressman Curt Clawson and Sen. Bill Nelson co-sponsored a bill to provide funds to strengthen the Herbert Hoover Dike at Lake O. in an effort to create a flow-way south through the Everglades.

"... Clawson cleared his schedule for two days to walk us through all 17 meetings we had," said Sawicki. "That really, really impressed me as well as the passion he has for this problem. He's willing to stand up for it."

In addition to the flow-way and dike talking points, the delegation harped on the negative economic impact on Southwest Florida's tourism industry when the nutrient-rich lake discharges turn the river and nearshore Gulf of Mexico beach waters a murky brown color.