New Statewide Stormwater Rules a Win for Water Quality

By Rob Moher | President & CEO, Conservancy of Southwest Florida

Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law SB712, also known as the Clean Waterways Act which includes in its provisions the requirement to update Florida’s Statewide Stormwater rules. Every new community in Florida being built today, should be incorporating the best available standards to treat pollution on site to ensure downstream estuaries and waterways are not plagued by upstream developments.

The Conservancy has been a strong advocate for updating statewide stormwater standards for over a decade and is pleased to see this common-sense measure finally put into law. The Conservancy next plans to provide detailed input into the rulemaking process to ensure the law has the intended impact on reducing water pollution to downstream water bodies.

“Conservancy staff strongly supported the creation and participated in the work of the Blue-Green Algae Task Force headed up by some of Florida’s finest scientific minds and are pleased to see that some of the recommendations from the Task Force have transformed into the law of the land,” stated Rob Moher, President & CEO of the Conservancy.

This new law does create meaningful work on a number of known problem areas contributing to our water quality woes, however, the Conservancy also believes this is incremental progress and a foundation that absolutely must be built further upon if we hope to address all the major sources of pollution impacting our waterways. Significant work legislatively remains to address pollution from agricultural sources, septic tanks, and other point and non-point source pollution.

“The Conservancy remains committed to working with our partners to pursue the next phase of needed funding and legislative updates to further address all sources of pollution contributing to our water quality woes, and to ensure that natural systems such as wetlands and mangroves are protected to provide critical water cleansing, wildlife habitat and flood control for our communities and coasts,” Moher said.

Click here to learn more about our water quality initiatives and here to read our Estuaries Report Card.

Earlier this week, Governor DeSantis also signed the state budget for Fiscal Year 2020–2021, which provides more than $625 million for Everglades restoration and the protection of water resources.

This investment in the environment includes:

• $322 million for Everglades restoration projects
• $25 million to combat harmful algal blooms
• $160 million for targeted water quality improvements
• $50 million for springs restoration
• $40 million for alternative water supply

The newly signed budget also includes $100 million for Florida Forever, the state’s land acquisition and management program that helps to ensure the conservation and preservation of our natural resources for future generations.

“These robust funding numbers are worth celebrating in this year’s budget, as water quality improvements and Everglades Restoration are dependent on long term consistent investments to keep pollution clean-up efforts and restoration projects focused and on track,” said Marisa Corrozzo, Conservancy Everglades and Water Policy Manager.