On behalf of our 132,000 member families, many of which live and farm within the Northern Everglades and Lake Okeechobee watershed, I appreciate the opportunity to provide public comment for this meeting.
Farm Bureau supports the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program (NEEPP) and the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project. Any changes made in Everglades Restoration Programs must be based on sound, scientific evidence, and a cost-benefit analysis.
We support balanced implementation of the Everglades Restoration Programs in a manner that provides for water-related needs of the region, including the enhancement of water supply and water quality while maintaining statutorily mandated flood control.
Within NEEPP, and statewide, Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) are an important part of the comprehensive sets of projects and management strategies set forth in Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs) to achieve the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), but agricultural BMPs alone cannot, and were never intended to, meet the TMDL and achieve the goals of BMAPs. Agricultural BMPs are only one part of the suite of management strategies and regional projects outlined in BMAPs that must all be implemented and constructed in order to meet the adopted TMDL, and nowhere is this more important than the Lake Okeechobee watershed.
We appreciate the District continuing to follow the models set in state law, while seeking solutions for the water related needs of the region.
Thank you,
Jake Fojtik
Assistant Director of Government & Community Affairs
Florida Farm Bureau Federation
Mr. Chair, and Governing Board members:
On behalf of our 132,000 member families, many of which live and farm within the Northern Everglades and Lake Okeechobee watershed, I appreciate the opportunity to provide public comment for this meeting.
Farm Bureau supports the Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection Program (NEEPP) and the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Project. Any changes made in Everglades Restoration Programs must be based on sound, scientific evidence, and a cost-benefit analysis.
We support balanced implementation of the Everglades Restoration Programs in a manner that provides for water-related needs of the region, including the enhancement of water supply and water quality while maintaining statutorily mandated flood control.
Within NEEPP, and statewide, Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) are an important part of the comprehensive sets of projects and management strategies set forth in Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs) to achieve the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), but agricultural BMPs alone cannot, and were never intended to, meet the TMDL and achieve the goals of BMAPs. Agricultural BMPs are only one part of the suite of management strategies and regional projects outlined in BMAPs that must all be implemented and constructed in order to meet the adopted TMDL, and nowhere is this more important than the Lake Okeechobee watershed.
We appreciate the District continuing to follow the models set in state law, while seeking solutions for the water related needs of the region.
Thank you,
Jake Fojtik
Assistant Director of Government & Community Affairs
Florida Farm Bureau Federation