Gov. DeSantis and Secretary Valenstein:

The Blue-Green Algae Task Force has met eight times over the past two years to deliberate on some of the state’s most critical water-quality issues. In October 2019, it issued a consensus document, outlining “specific science-based recommendations to help expedite restoration of water bodies in Florida that are continually plagued by blue-green algae blooms.” These recommendations were publicized as the foundation for writing legislation intended to enforce real and lasting change.

Since its release, many of those recommendations have gone unexecuted, despite last year’s passage of The Clean Waterways Act (Senate Bill 712) and recent celebration marking the 2-year anniversary of Gov. DeSantis’ executive order calling for the advancement of water quality and Everglades restoration.

Though SB 712 was hailed by some, we feel it did too little to curtail polluters, and too little to protect Floridians from the harmful impacts of toxic algae that has devastating effects on human health and the state’s economy.

Outbreaks of harmful algal blooms across Florida, and the human health risks they bring, demand bolder action.

In particular, SB 712 fails to put meaningful constraints on agricultural pollution, ignoring task force recommendations to increase enforcement through verified data of best management practices and relying too heavily on a presumption of compliance. Though SB 712 declares agricultural pollution as the “dominant source of both phosphorus and nitrogen within the Lake Okeechobee watershed,” it lacks teeth to hold the industry accountable. This absence of enforcement harms the lake itself and punishes downstream communities subjected to near-annual discharges.

The Clean Waterways Act also neglected to include a valuable task force recommendation that called on the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to create health advisories and defensible water quality criteria that could be supported by science and monitoring and updated as necessary.

These failures to implement effective policies and enforcement strategies will harm Florida’s water and inhabitants in the long run. The establishment of the Blue-Green Algae Task Force was an encouraging acknowledgment of the pressing need to address these issues while there’s still time. To not act on the good advice of its reputable members would be a waste of the time and resources put into the task force’s work.

It is up to lawmakers and state agencies to enforce real and lasting change. Today, we are asking you to complete this unfinished work. It’s critical for the future of Florida.


Respectfully,