Sanibel Mayor Keeping The Pressure On

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Sanibel Mayor Holly Smith has been the most active local Mayor when it comes to keeping the pressure on the Army Corps of Engineers about water quality in our area.

Smith’s latest push comes in the form of a letter to the ACOE reiterating that the Corp’s chosen Alternative (CC) to manage Lake Okeechobee is unacceptable.

Smith writes to Colonel Kelly at the Army Corps of Engineers that she’s deeply concerned with the direction the process may be headed and Sanibel may be forced to challenge the outcome if the concerns of West Coast stakeholders are not addressed. “CC proves harmful to the Caloosahatchee and, in some instances, will leave the Caloosahatchee worse off than under the current operations schedule. We cannot support an alternative that relies on the Caloosahatchee Estuary as the primary outlet for Lake Okeechobee, providing significant improvements to some stakeholders at the expense of the Caloosahatchee.”

Kelly and the Corps have said that Alternative CC is the starting point and changes will be made to accommodate the needs of the west coast. However, as days go by with CC on the table it appears local elected officials on the west coast trust the Corps less and less about optimizing that plan to prevent another 2018.

Read Smith’s fell letter to Colonel Kelly HERE.