COP21 in Paris, Rights of Nature Tribunal

 

The Center's Director Sr. Pat Siemen, and Associate Director, Traci Deen, traveled to Paris to attend the International Rights of Nature Tribunal in December 2015, a conference parallel to the UN COP21. 

There, Sr. Pat Siemen had an opportunity to interview and speak with many leaders in the Rights of Nature movement. This powerful video, produced by Clement Guerra, showcases some of those interviews and the Tribunal itself.

 

What are those rights of nature? You should know. Aren’t you a part of her?

CEJ sits on the steering committee for the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) (http://therightsofnature.org/), a network of individuals and organizations committed to creating human communities that respect and defend the rights of Nature.

The intent of the Tribunal is to provide systemic Rights of Nature based alternatives to the false solutions and failed negotiations of governing States. This “People’s Tribunal” provides a vehicle for reframing and adjudicating prominent environmental and social justice cases within the context of a Rights of Nature based earth jurisprudence. The adjudication process provides a platform for informed legal analysis of diverse cases based on Rights of Nature. With each case, the Tribunal will recommend actions for reparation, mitigation, restoration and prevention of further damages and harm.  The Tribunal provides a framework for educating civil society and governments on the fundamental tenets of Rights of Nature and an instrument for legal experts to examine constructs needed to more fully integrate Rights of Nature.

 

 

CEJ HOSTING WEBINAR SERIES

CEJ HOSTING WEBINAR SERIES

The Center for Earth Jurisprudence is hosting a 3 part webinar series beginning Jan 13th! Join us as this series explores emergent legal systems and cultural themes and addresses the intrinsic rights of nature and the international Earth laws movement. Topics will include law and policy, ethics, principles of environmental sustainability, science, and spirituality.

United Nations Recognizes Earth Jurisprudence in Resolution

BIG NEWS for Earth Jurisprudence! We are very excited to announce that the UN has adopted its first resolution addressing Earth Jurisprudence and the rights of nature.

Recognizing that planet Earth and its ecosystems are our home and...noting that some countries recognize the rights of nature in the context of the promotion of sustainable development, and expressing the conviction that, in order to achieve a just balance among the economic, social and environmental needs of present and future generations, it is necessary to promote harmony with nature
— UN Draft Resoltion

 

See the draft resolution by clicking below:
 

CEJ traveling to Paris for Rights of Nature Tribunal

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Sister Pat Siemen will be traveling to Paris for the International Rights of Nature Tribunal at Maison des Métallos on December 4-5. The Tribunal is a unique, citizen-created initiative that gives people from all around the world the opportunity to testify publicly about the destruction of the Earth, allowed – and in some cases encouraged – by governments and corporations. At the Tribunal, internationally renowned lawyers and leaders for planetary justice will hear cases addressing issues such as climate change, GMOs, and fracking. Learn more about this important initiative at Rights of Nature Tribunal – Paris. Updates will be posted on CEJ’s Facebook page.
 

CEJ Staff Attorney Comments on BMAP for Wakulla Springs

CEJ staff attorney Rob Williams has submitted comments on the draft BMAP for Wakulla Springs, addressed to DEP’s BMAP Coordinator Stephen Cioccia, with copies to Secretary Herschel Vinyard and Deputy Secretary Drew Bartlett. The letter focuses on the failure of the proposed BMAP to acknowledge what the Department’s own data shows: the significant contribution of septic tanks to the deterioration of Wakulla Springs, and the lack of any meaningful action by the Department to prevent further compromise and to restore the water quality and quantity.    

From the letter:

The Center for Earth Jurisprudence’s approach to the issues raised by the proposed plan reflects our belief that humanity has a foundational responsibility to care for and protect the long term health and well-being of the entire Earth community–that is, all beings and ecosystems that constitute the natural world.

. . . .

These conditions are the result of 376 tons of nitrate per year going into the Upper Floridan Aquifer. It is as if someone drove a pickup truck onto the dock at Wakulla Springs and shoveled a ton of fertilizer into the Spring every day of the year. Obviously, the park rangers would not allow that—why does DEP continue to permit our springs to be polluted?

We can solve this problem if we have the will to take meaningful action now, not as the Department proposes, five years from now. . . . So far the BMAP process has been a missed opportunity for our communities to come together and protect a priceless piece of our common heritage for our children and our children’s children. We can do better.

Read the full text of the letter here. Read the appendix here.

 

 

CEJ Director to Travel to NYC Climate March

Written by Sr. Patricia Siemen

I’M SHOWING UP.

AS A BABY-BOOMER FROM THE U.S.

AS A PERSON OF FAITH.

I’m going to the People’s Climate March in New York on September 21.

The security of our home, planet Earth, is threatened. That’s why I’m going. It’s not the terrorists, nor the immigrants, nor people who are poor that is causing this threat to Earth’s viability. It’s the continued excessive emissions of greenhouse gases created by those of us who live in highly industrialized, corporatized, and technology-rich countries.

We baby-boomers in the U.S. are uniquely responsible for this major climate disruption. We’ve benefitted enormously from a way of life that provides every convenience, gadget, and technology, beyond anything imagined by our parents. We’ve bought into the increased consumerism and easy access to a way of life made possible by increased use of fossil fuels. We taught our children to do the same. We didn’t know to teach them that Earth has capacity limits, just like every family.

 


Thousands are marching to reinforce the critical importance of the United Nations Climate Summit. I’m showing up with young and old, indigenous and immigrants, conservatives and liberals, business and labor, and people of every race, color and creed from all 50 states. Together we will march, sing, and pray along the 26 blocks of the march route. We hope that our presence will demonstrate to the world leaders that they must take urgent action to prevent further ecological threats and mitigate the damage already done.

We’re marching to demonstrate our solidarity with everyone who has a commitment to change the environmentally destructive ways we are living as a people—for the sake of our children and a viable future. We’ll march on behalf of all our kin:  the threatened and endangered species, ecosystems, and watersheds that are dying because of shifting climate patterns.

I’m going to publicly witness my own complicity in bringing about this major threat to Earth our home, to the people of the small island nations, and to the people, plants and animals who struggle to survive in already decimated deserts, forests and pastoral lands. Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, says it’s time for the elders to step up and take responsibility for the mess we’ve created. The youth of the world didn’t create this threat and we shouldn’t leave it to them alone to fix.

I’m going as the Director of the Center for Earth Jurisprudence, joining with colleagues who are advancing a rights-of-nature framework for protecting the spontaneity and ecological processes of the natural world. We’ll attend a special panel presentation on Tuesday, September 23, organized by WECAN, the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network, on Rights of Nature and Systemic Change in Climate Solutions. Panelists will address a new legal paradigm which treats nature as a rights-bearing entity. Recognition of the inherent rights of nature to exist and flourish is at the heart of genuine climate solutions.

I’m showing up and marching as a Catholic Sister, joining others from the 28 interfaith groups who have endorsed the march. As a woman of faith, I believe it’s our moral responsibility to care for all of creation. Our core identity flows from belonging to the whole. We’re not meant to be separate. We’re an integral part of an emergent Universe and kin to all that exists.

Today, love of our neighbor means love for all the species and life systems that sustain planetary wholeness. The entire cosmos is the handwork of a God who not only set this Universe in motion, but also embedded God’s very self into it. What’s at stake with climate disruption isn’t only the future existence and flourishing of the planet, it’s the existence and flourishing of the sacred within ourselves as well.

Talk and debate about climate disruption have been going on for years, to no avail. Meanwhile, the laws of physics wait for no one. I pray we’ll have the spiritual strength, discipline and creativity to make the necessary changes in our laws, economics, and relationships, so we can live as a single comprehensive community and mitigate the devastation being done to Earth and to those who are most vulnerable. Now is the time for world leaders to mobilize into action.

I’m marching in New York on September 21 to show my commitment to making the necessary changes. Will our leaders have the moral courage to make bold changes as well?

This article was previously published in slightly different form in the Global Sisters Report.

More Than Economics: Why We Should Care About a Small Snail

written by CEJ Staff Attorney Rob Williams

This week, the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit to protect the Ichetucknee Siltsnail under the Endangered Species Act. The snail is a tiny creature which is found in only one place in the world—an area of ten square yards in the pool of Coffee Spring on the Ichetucknee River.

Why should we care about a small snail?

One answer can be found in the writings of Aldo Leopold(1), who taught us to see the natural world as a community to which we belong. He is most famous for his articulation of the land ethic:

The ‘key-log’ which must be moved to release the evolutionary process for an ethic is simply this: quit thinking about decent land-use as solely an economic problem. Examine each question in terms of what is ethically and esthetically right, as well as what is economically expedient. A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.(2)

 

Ichetucknee Siltsnail (photo courtesy of Florida Museum of Natural History, www.flmnh.ufl.edu)

Ichetucknee Siltsnail (photo courtesy of Florida Museum of Natural History, www.flmnh.ufl.edu)

 

Human ethics evolved over time because individual human survival depends on being a member of a well-integrated cooperative community. Leopold went farther; he saw that ecology had enlarged “the boundaries of the community to include soils, waters, plants, and animals,” giving rise to a new ecological ethic which “changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land-community to plain member and citizen of it. It implies respect for his fellow members and also respect for the community as such.”(3) As citizens of biotic communities, we have an ethical obligation to act consistent with the long-term welfare of those communities.

In our time, against the backdrop of a global mass extinction caused by human activity, the moral imperative to protect ecosystems which harbor much of the planet’s remaining biodiversity(4) is even stronger.

There is no doubt that North American freshwater ecosystems are seriously threatened. Already, at least 123 species of freshwater fishes, mollusks, crayfishes and amphibians have become extinct. It is has been estimated that the extinction rate for U.S. freshwater animals is five times that of terrestrial animals.

The southeastern United States is a hotspot for aquatic biological diversity. The Southeast, for example, harbors 493 species of fish (62% of all U.S. species), at least 269 species of mussel (91% of all U.S. species), and 241 species of dragonflies and damselflies (48% of all North American species). The Southeast also harbors over two-thirds of North America’s 405 species and subspecies of crayfish, more aquatic reptiles than any other region (30 species of aquatic turtle and 17 species of aquatic snake), and more amphibian species than any other region, with 178 recognized species and new species continuing to be described.

Within the Southeast, one area stands out—the Suwannee River and its tributaries, including the Ichetucknee and Santa Fe Rivers, are among the few river systems in the United States that are unimpeded, undeveloped and relatively unpolluted. The springs and spring runs which feed the Suwannee enrich the biodiversity of this river system still further.(5) The Ichetucknee and Santa Fe are home to three species listed as endangered by the Fish & Wildlife Service: the West Indian Manatee, the Gulf Sturgeon, and the Oval Pig-toed Mussel.

Few places on Earth have as many turtle species living together; 28% of all freshwater turtles in North America live in the Santa Fe, including the newly described Suwannee Alligator Snapping Turtle, Macrochelys suwanniensis.(6) The spring-influenced areas of the lower Santa Fe support twice as many turtles as blackwater areas of the upper Santa Fe.

An additional component of this biodiversity is the fauna of the submerged cave habitats associated with the springs. The Suwannee spring system contains the greatest diversity of obligate subterranean decapod crustaceans in the world.

The Ichetucknee and Santa Fe, even altered as they are today, remain priceless reservoirs of the freshwater biodiversity which is under siege everywhere. It is our moral obligation to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of these rivers and their biotic communities.

Admittedly, the siltsnail has no economic value. It is not a keystone species. It does not draw visitors to the springs the way the manatees do. But we can’t protect the snail without protecting Coffee Spring, and Coffee Spring cannot be held inviolate without protecting the entire glorious Ichetucknee and the complex biotic community of which the snail is a part. That is the whole point: protecting the snail is all about preserving a unique and wonderful biotic community.

Aldo Leopold counseled that we should adopt the precautionary principle with respect to the many lifeforms we know very little about:

The last word in ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant, “What good is it?” If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering.(7)

Leopold correctly pointed out that like the siltsnail, “most members of the land community [in this case, the aquatic community] have no economic value” and he urged against inventing “subterfuges to give it economic importance.”(8) The economic argument becomes a trap: in the end, the case for the little snail is no different than the case for the river itself. If we, when asked, “What value is the river?” respond that the Ichetucknee generates X number of tourist dollars and Y number of local jobs, we will surely be told by our adversaries that a new destination resort with golf course and shopping mall or a glorified feedlot like Adena Springs/Sleepy Creek Ranch will generate X+1 dollars and Y+1 jobs.(9) If the snail and the Ichetucknee River are to be saved it will be because we convince our fellow citizens that it is the right thing to do, not because of economic expediency.

The first step toward moving toward a land ethic similar to the one described by Leopold is for a culture to recognize that the loss of biodiversity is a communal harm. The overwhelming number of species that comprise that biodiversity are not the top-of-the-foodchain predators, like tigers, wolves and sharks that humanity, as a another top predator, identifies with, but the little things: the countless invertebrates which do not resemble our warm-blooded relatives, and which most of us have a hard time cozying up to. Nonetheless, they are all fellow members, and often very important members, of the same community of life.

In any struggle, there comes a moment when the question is “What side are you on?” Leopold put it this way: “There are some who can live without wild things and some who cannot.”(10) I might rephrase that: there are some of us who don’t care whether our rivers are filled with an incredible diversity of life from tiny snails to huge manatees, and some of us who cannot imagine living in Florida without the river Archie Carr called “the most beautiful landscape in the world.”(11) Those of us who fall in the latter category should be on the snail’s side.

 

(1) Considered by many as the father of wildlife management and of the United States’ wilderness system, Leopold was a conservationist, forester, philosopher, educator, writer and outdoor enthusiast. The land ethic was set forth in Leopold’s most famous book, A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There (1949).

(2) Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac 224-5 (1949) (emphasis added). First published in 1949, Leopold’s formulation of land health may be a radical proposition, but it is not a new one.

(3) Id. at 203.

(4) “Biodiversity” is used here in its broadest sense to mean “the variety of life and its processes. It includes the variety of living organisms, the genetic differences among them, the communities and ecosystems in which they occur, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that keep them functioning, yet ever changing and adapting.” Reed Noss & Allen Cooperrider, Saving Nature’s Legacy 5 (1994).

(5) See R.A. Mattson, J.H. Epler, and M.K. Hein, Description of Benthic Communities in Karst, Spring-Fed Streams of North-Central Florida, 68(2) J. Kan. Entomological Soc’y 18, 31 (Supp.) (1995):

In north-central Florida, spring influence appears to be a major structuring force in stream communities. Increases in species richness in communities of benthic macroinvertebrates are associated with input of quantities of hard, alkaline spring water in the Suwannee River mainstem. Particular groups which show increases in species richness and/or relative abundance include ephemeropterans, molluscs, and oliochaetes. Causative factors postulated for these trends include increased buffering, higher nutrient availability, higher primary production rates and more constant (“predictable “) physical/chemical conditions. Stream periphyton communities undergo a shift in species composition with spring input; from communities dominated by green and blue green algae to those dominated by diatoms. The spring-influenced streams of Florida are one of the few Florida stream habitats to support substantial coverages of submergent aquatic vegetation.

(6) Travis M. Thomas, et al., Taxonomic Assessment of Alligator Snapping Turtles (Chelydridae: Macrochelys), with the Description of Two New Species from the Southeastern United States, 3786 Zootaxa 141–65 (2014). The lead author of the article describing the new species, Travis Thomas, said, “We have to be especially careful with our management of the Suwannee River species because this turtle exists only in that river and its tributaries. If something catastrophic were to occur, such as a chemical spill or something that affects the entire river, it could potentially devastate this species. The turtle is extremely limited by its habitat. All it has is this river and it has nowhere else to go.” Stephenie Livingston, Study Shows “Dinosaurs of the Turtle World” at Risk in Southeast Rivers, University of Florida News (Apr. 10, 2014), http://news.ufl.edu/2014/04/10/alligator-snapping-turtles/. Thomas also noted that “as large, apex predators, alligator snappers play an important role in the wild. A river ecosystem deprived of its alligator snappers would most likely experience negative implications.” Id. 

(7) Aldo Leopold, Round River 145-46 (1993).

(8) Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, supra note 2, at 210. 

(9) See George Monbiot, Reframing the Planet, Guardian, Apr. 22, 2014, available at http://www.monbiot.com/2014/04/22/reframing-the-planet/.  

(10) Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, supra note 2, at vii.

(11) Archie Carr, A Naturalist in Florida: A Celebration of Eden 71 (1996). Is it enough to post Carr’s words on a bronze plaque at the entrance to Ichetucknee Springs State Park or do we need to take action to protect and preserve the landscape he loved?

Summer: a time for fullness

written by Sr. Patricia Siemen

Summer begins its unofficial reign here in Florida with the beginning of the rainy season. This is when the humidity rises and the afternoon rain showers soak the Earth—and restore some of the groundwater and Floridian aquifer. It’s not the favorite time for many visitors and residents as one hears people say, “It’s another terrible rainy day.” Interestingly, the day is generally only “terrible” for those of us who don’t want to be inconvenienced with carrying an umbrella! For the rest of the ecosystem—the other animals and plants—it’s a wonderful time of replenishment and restoration.

Here at CEJ, summer invites us to live more deeply from an eco-centric perspective, one that respects the rights of all species and ecosystems to exist and flourish. Indeed, this is challenging. It requires consciously changing the way we think and speak. Language reflects our cultural paradigms and biases. Therefore we strive in our programs and Earth jurisprudence classes, our writing and presentations, our community engagements and advocacy, to advance the essential concept that nature has inherent rights to fulfill its purposes. We understand that our human rights are enveloped within those rights. When our laws and public policies miss this concept they create regulatory systems that continue to prioritize business interests over land health. Implementation of environmental regulations is easily co-opted by economic drivers that seek short term profit rather than long term health. 

As we know, the ecological health of Florida did not fare well in this last state legislative session recently concluded in Tallahassee. Delaying comprehensive restructuring of water and springs legislation that would recognize water’s rights to be healthy, and to be freed from significant amounts of nutrient pollution and massive water consumption, does not bode well for Florida’s future. Instead, we envision a campaign that celebrates the beauty of Florida’s waters and fights to protect its diversity. We envision expanding the state’s trustee responsibility, through the public trust doctrine, so that the state has fiduciary duties to protect Florida’s publicly owned land and waters for the common good of future generations of all species.

To claim this vision–one of protecting the beauty and rights of nature—we need the artists and activists, the planners and the lawyers, the engineers and the economists, the seekers of beauty and the people of faith, to continue loving and protecting the natural systems of Florida. As one response, we join with other organizations that are supporting the Florida Water and Land Legacy Conservation Amendment on the ballot this November. Many other responses are possible—and essential, if Florida as we know it and as we envision it is to survive and thrive.

Let us know what steps you are taking to protect and love Florida’s natural beauty—for as Bill McKibben says, “Nature will never be more beautiful than today.”

Earth Day 2014

written by Sr. Patricia Siemen

Happy Earth Day 2014!

We at the Center for Earth Jurisprudence are celebrating Earth Day in a variety of forums this year. Two weeks ago (to avoid scheduling conflicts at the Barry Law School), CEJ participated in hosting Dr. Joel C. Hunter, senior pastor of Northland, A Church Distributed, who spoke to the law school community on the concept of “Creation Care.”  CEJ also has a presence at the Barry University main campus Earth Day activities on Tuesday, April 22.

I will also be speaking at a Winter Park Earth Day event, and then joining, via internet, the international community in celebrating International Mother Earth Day as the United Nations General Assembly presents its third Interactive Dialogue on Harmony with Nature. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and General Assembly President John Ashe will preside. Linda Sheehan from the Earth Law Center will be moderating the panel, which will discuss the implementation of the rights of nature and other strategies consistent with CEJ’s approaches to achieve Earth-centered public policies—and the cultural changes which support these governance changes. We invite you to check out these international initiatives.

Lots of fun and educational Earth Day events occurred this weekend. In keeping with CEJ’s commitment to the rights of Florida’s springs to be healthy, we continue to monitor and educate on the Springs Protection Bill wending its way through the Florida Senate—but with zero traction in the House. The outcome looks very dire as the proposed legislation continues to be gutted of any significant mandate to insist that the water has a right to be freed of waste and pollution. Nor does the current legislations insist upon a water budget to allocate sufficient water to the springs and rivers so they can be healthy—and so we learn to live responsibly within nature’s limits.

Continuing that theme, we are pleased to promote Equinox Documentaries’ forthcoming film, Hidden Secrets of Florida’s Springs, which will be released and made available on PBS stations soon.

Wherever you live, make sure to take time on Earth Day to recognize Earth’s gifts, and our humble place in the web of life. Earth is an unending source of wonder, awe and resiliency. However you say thank you, take the time to savor nature’s abundance and commit to acting responsibly for the sake of the common good. Now go, and get outside!

Suwannee Cypresses (photo by Jane Goddard)

Suwannee Cypresses (photo by Jane Goddard)


A Heart for Earth

Heart Pods (photo by D. Sharon Pruitt)

Heart Pods (photo by D. Sharon Pruitt)

written by Sr. Patricia Siemen

Valentine’s Day in the United States is a time to celebrate what we love—and is usually focused on rekindling our relationships with our romantic partners. This year I invite us to stretch our love to include Earth herself. The single, comprehensive Earth community provides us our life’s sustenance, our very home, and is the context for all the relationships that are essential for our physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Clearly Earth deserves heart-felt protection!

My own heart was opened more deeply when I attended the Global Alliance on the Rights of Nature Summit in Quito and Otavalo, Ecuador, last month. Ecuador is the only country in the world that has constitutionally protected Nature’s rights to exist, persist, maintain, regenerate, and flourish. For five days I met with over 60 Earth jurisprudence leaders, international environmental activists, and indigenous leaders who spoke about the devastation happening to their lands, their people, and their cultures.  Their stories were stories of resistance and hope, stories highlighting how the law has failed to protect their communities.

The Summit concluded in Quito, with over 400 participants attending the world’s first Tribunal on the Rights of Nature, chaired by the internationally renowned Dr. Vandana Shiva of India. Eight international cases of violations of the Rights of Nature were presented to the Tribunal in an evidentiary hearing forum. After a day-long hearing, the Tribunal determined that each of the cases (which can be found at therightsofnature.org) would advance to the next World Tribunal on the Rights of Nature to be held in Lima, Peru, in December 2014.

Then I returned home and my heart expanded as I experienced the power, beauty, and solidarity of folks like the Silver Springs Alliance, dedicated to protecting the health of the Silver River, and the Preserve Brevard members. But soon my heart clinched again as this week the St. Johns Water Management District approved the Niagara Bottling permit allowing Niagara to double its pumping from the Floridan Aquifer to nearly a million gallons a day–in direct contrast to already low flows of the Wekiva River Basin and neighboring springsheds.  This approval was granted over an incredible amount of citizen resistance and registered public comments opposing the permit.

Our work to love and protect the natural systems that are our home areas expands daily. I used to live in Southwest Florida. Now an oil boom and hydro-fracking threat is taking place in that corner of the state. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection recently approved a proposed oil well located approximately three-quarters of a mile west of the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge. Apparently nearly 115,000 acres of mineral rights have been leased by a Texas company from Collier Resources.  This lease, which runs for five years and can be extended, includes large portions of the Florida Panther Wildlife Refuge, Picayune Strand State Forest, Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed (CREW Lands), and even the famous Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary with some of the last old-growth cypress in our state.

The onslaught feels endless and my heart wavers at times. But as I learned from the tribal peoples in Ecuador, our role is to defend with our lives the land that sustains the community’s wellbeing. Let our hearts burn in defense of our home areas. And may we take the time to savor the natural beauty and resiliency that the land community provides us. Be still my heart, and listen. Adelante!

CEJ Attorneys Write to SJRWMD

Double & Nothing: SJRWMD Grants Niagara's Permit, Ignores the Wekiva River and Springs

CEJ Director Patricia Siemen and CEJ staff attorney Rob Williams were among numerous citizens and organizations submitting comments to the St. Johns River Water Management District, raising serious concerns about Niagara Bottling’s request to nearly double its water withdrawals from 484,000 gallons per day to 910,000 gallons per day and shift its target from the Upper Floridan Aquifer to the Lower Floridan Aquifer.

Williams and Siemen’s February 10, 2014, letter pointed out that the Wekiva River and its associated springs–which will be impacted by any increased water withdrawals–are already below the minimum flow levels established by the District itself, and the District’s own rules require that a consumptive use permit should not be issued if it will cause a surface water  course to fall  below the minimum flow.

Williams and Siemen’s letter also challenged the analysis Niagara submitted in support of its application for the increase, pointing out that the analysis itself is flawed and that it is also inconsistent with recent information from the Central Florida Water Initiative.  They cited the District’s own studies and reports to show that the Wekiva Basin springs and the Wekiva River are already suffering ecological harm as a result of lack of water, and called upon the District to follow its own rules to protect them from further damage.

On February 11, 2014, the District granted Niagara’s request to double the amount of water it  pumps from the aquifer.  

From the letter:

We believe that this permit application raises a question of profound importance to the current and future citizens of our state. Simply put, will the water management district act to protect the ecological integrity of the Wekiva Basin and the Wekiva River?

. . . .

The facts set out in this letter are already well known to you and the Board from our extensive prior correspondence. They have not been disputed and, since they largely are derived from the district’s own data, it seems difficult to see how they could be challenged. In response to our numerous letters, we received a response from Deputy Secretary Drew Bartlett, dated November 8, 2013. Although Mr. Bartlett acknowledged that Rock and Wekiwa Springs are projected to fall below the MFLs by 2015[, he states] that “district staff has made a reasonable case that the violation of MFLs for Wekiwa and Rock Springs may not occur by 2015 in the absence of increased withdrawals” (emphasis added). Now, three months later, the Board is on the brink of authorizing an increase in withdrawals.

We have repeatedly asked you to implement a recovery plan for the Wekiva basin as required by the statute. To date no such plan has been implemented. We have also asked that you declare a water shortage and implement conservation measures as provided under the district’s rule. We have been told by Mr. Bartlett that in response to our request to follow the law, the district intends to repeal the portion of the MFL rule requiring the phased water restrictions. Today we again ask that you protect the precious treasure of the Wekiva River, one of only two nationally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers in our state, by denying Niagara’s permit application as required by Chapter 40C-2.301(5)(a).

Read the full text of the letter here.

CEJ Attorneys Write to Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Wekiva River

On November 20, 2013, CEJ director Patricia Siemen and CEJ staff attorney Rob Williams responded to a letter from Deputy Secretary Drew Bartlett of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection concerning the ongoing degradation of the Wekiva River and its associated springs.

Their response challenged assertions in Bartlett’s letter dated November 8, 2013, claiming that the minimum flow levels (MFLs) for the Wekiva River and its springs were being met, with the exception of Palm Spring; that water restrictions were no longer necessary; and that significant reductions in annual nutrient loading would be achieved under the Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP).

Williams and Siemen’s letter points out that according to the St. Johns River Water Management District’s own data,  the springs and the Wekiva River have been and remain under the minimum levels required to avoid significant harm to the Wekiva Basin ecosystem, and the failure of the Department to implement water restrictions when called for by the scientific data.

Williams and Siemen also challenged the methodology and effectiveness of the BMAP, which reduces Total Nitrogen loading by only 2% when an overall reduction of 80% total nutrient loading is what is necessary to achieve pollution reduction goals.

From the text of the letter:

Both of these processes [minimum flow levels and pollution reduction goals] and the accompanying charade of public participation create the illusion of environmental protection and compliance with the law. However, Nature is not so easily fooled. The protection of groundwater recharge to Wekiwa Springs, Rock Springs, and the many other springs that feed the Wekiva River is crucial to the long-term health of the Wekiva Basin Ecosystem.  As the Wekiva Basin Area Task Force noted a decade ago, “simply put, if the necessary quantity and quality of recharge of groundwater to the aquifer does not occur, then the vegetative and wildlife resources of the Wekiva River Basin will not be sustained.” The “inconvenient truth” is that the River is not receiving the necessary quantity or quality of groundwater needed to sustain the Wekiva Basin Ecosystem.

We need a real plan designed to attain the target reduction of nitrate pollution to 0.35 mg/L within five years as the current law provides. We also need a recovery plan for the springs and the Wekiva River which will restore all the flow which has been lost as soon as is practicable, as required by Section 373.0421(2), Florida Statutes.

Read the full letter to Bartlett here.

Summer & Springs

Written by Sr. Patricia Siemen

“Where did the summer go?”

Are you saying that, too? Although we at CEJ are gearing up for the fall term and future programming, we brought our summer spirits together to celebrate the last of the season with a team paddle in the Thousand Islands (Banana River/Indian River Lagoon) on Labor Day evening. Thanks to Space Coast Kayaking for hosting us and knowing just where to direct us so we could experience incredible bioluminescence.

Tiny marine plankton called dinoflagellates produce light when disturbed by a paddle, a hand, or fish swimming, causing an amazing twinkling or neon-like light to appear.  It was awesome to see schools of fish flash by, and to see the twinkling go up and down one’s arm after dipping it into the warm water.

It was particularly poignant to realize we were kayaking in the northern end of the much endangered Indian River Lagoon. The southern end of the lagoon is under siege from huge amounts of pollutants flowing into it from stormwater discharge from Lake Okeechobee, septic tanks, and fertilizer runoff.

The entire lagoon – and the fish, manatees, pelicans, and other beings who live there – is struggling to survive pollution from stormwater discharge, septic tanks, and fertilizer runoff, but still generously produced its magic. Throughout the lagoon the fish, manatees, dolphins, and pelicans are dying in massive amounts. How lovely then to be greeted as we began our paddle by two gentle manatees, a rainbow dissolving, and the sky fading into dusk.

These are the experiences that renew one’s spirit to continue to fight to protect the beauty and essence of the natural world around us. We all have special and ordinary places of beauty and nourishment that sustain.

CEJ’s mission is to awaken people to nature’s inherent rights to exist and flourish, and to advance public policies that legally protect both human and nature’s rights to live and thrive in sustainable communities. Thus I found myself at the press conference with Governor Scott last week at Wekiwa Springs State Park.

Given the promo that he was going to make a major announcement about springs restoration funding, I went with interest, albeit more than a bit doubtful. I also went with a lengthy letter in hand to personally deliver to him, describing CEJ’s major concerns that nothing is actually happening–nor has anything been happening—to restore the historic flow of the Wekiva River nor to reduce the devastating nitrate pollution levels in the springs and springshed. (Read the letter here.)

 

Helene Spring (photo by Jane Goddard)

Helene Spring (photo by Jane Goddard)

 

The press conference was mainly fluff: comments from elected leaders and directors of the Department of the Environmental Protection and several of the water management districts. I turned to someone next to me after the first several speakers and asked, “Did I miss something? What’s the news?” He shrugged and shook his head, as befuddled as I was by the lack of news.

I continued to wonder as we heard many people speak about springs restoration projects that were to begin, funded with the $10 million allocated by the Legislature, and augmented with funding from the water management districts and already strapped local governments. When it was over I asked Representative Elizabeth Porter, Lake City, what was the news? “I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but I didn’t hear anything new here.” She said the newsworthy item was that the allocated $10 million for springs’ recovery was being supplemented with additional funding from the Water Management Districts and local governments.

My conclusion is that this was a major public relations stunt–and the springs will still be suffering degradation except for a handful of isolated projects. What this clearly doesn’t mean is that the state agencies will actually begin to fulfill their statutory mandates to protect the springs, or that any significant shifts in springs friendly policies will be emerging.

As the Governor entered the room I had a moment to greet him.  I said I had a letter to give him about the DEP and the Water Management Districts’ lagging response to correcting the springs’ water quality and quantity. Instead of responding to my comment he looked at my name tag and saw that it said “Sister Patricia.” He began talking to me about sisters he had known while in the health care business. I responded that I was there to talk about the springs – and the moment was over.

We did deliver our letter, however, summarizing what needs to be done to restore Florida’s springs to their historic flows and radically reduce nitrate pollution. The larger transformation and remedy will be when we as a state adopt a constitutional amendment that recognizes the rights of nature—for humans and ecosystems—to exist and thrive as sustainable communities. The springs clearly are more than just “property” available for human use and consumption–or worse, as convenient waste receptacles.

And so, as we stay resilient in the struggle for ecological integrity, we wish you more days and nights paddling on the river, or fishing, or swimming, or whatever sustains your commitment to appreciate and protect the wonder and healing of nature that nourishes all of us.

Get outside and be amazed!