Hello Jason,

We're a little later in the month than usual in publishing our newsletter due to the holiday. We hope you were able to enjoy time with family and friends this Thanksgiving, or possibly some time out on the water or in a natural setting. As they say—when it rains, it pours—and we now have some urgent local advocacy updates for you this week:

The saga of the Chiquita Lock moves into its next phase this week. After months of pre-trial discovery and motions, the case will finally start to be heard on its merits by Administrative Law Judge Suzanne Van Wyk.

Catch Up Quick

Local stakeholders are challenging the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's issue to permit the City of Cape Coral to remove this water control structure near the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River. The previous stakeholder challenge was successful, but the City re-applied for the same action a few short years later.

• Matt DePaolis of SCCF on why the Lock should be improved, not removed.
• Calusa Waterkeeper and SCCF withdrew from the challenge in response to a "safe harbor" intimidation tactic by the City's law firm.
• CWK's (2020) Position Paper on the Chiquita Lock.

Hearing Info

If you'd like to attend in person, or virtually view the hearing, we encourage you to do so!

Lee County Justice Center

Courtroom 5G, 1700 Monroe Street,

Fort Myers, Florida

November 29 - December 1,

and December 4 - 6, 2023,

at 9:00am each morning.

To connect by computer or mobile device, visit https://zoom.us/join

Meeting ID: 975 456 7568

To connect by phone:

Telephone Number: (929) 436-2866

Meeting ID: 975 456 7568

Southwest Florida's state representatives and senators will convene the 2023 Delegation meeting at Florida Southwestern in Fort Myers at 7am Thursday to hear a variety of proposed bills and public input. There are at least two items that you may consider providing public input on:

Protect Captiva

A group of more than 13,000 concerned residents, visitors, businesses, and organizations are dedicated to fighting Lee County's plan to radically change development limitations on Captiva.

The state legislation will hear a proposal to create a Captiva Island Conservation Area to protect and maintain Captiva’s current building heights and density. It is critical that citizens show immediate support for this legislation so it can be heard and acted on by the Florida Legislature.

Next up: A hearing on the Lee Plan by Lee County Board of Commissioners—where they can choose to correct their mistakes—on Wednesday, December 6.

Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve

Calusa Waterkeeper Emeritus John Cassani recently sounded the alarm on this cryptic public notice concerning possible changes to the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve.

Little is known yet by the public or even the FDEP staff we have contacted. Rest assured this will be an issue our Waterkeeper Codty Pierce and CWK Rangers in the Estero Bay Zone Group will be keeping a very close eye on.

What's at Stake: Watch CWK's independent film on protecting the Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve and its nine tributaries: Eternal Vigilance

Quarterly Ranger Meeting Saturday 12/2

December 2nd at the Northwest Regional Library in Cape Coral

9:30am - Intro Ranger Academy: Anyone interested in the Calusa Waterkeeper Ranger program is invited to a special introduction to our new & improved Ranger Academy Program. Followed by:

10:30am - Quarterly Ranger Meeting: Presentation from Ding Darling National Wildlife refuge manager Bob Gerwig. Get Zone updates, discuss priorities for the upcoming year and hear from other Rangers regarding conditions around the watershed. Learn about new and upcoming volunteer opportunities.

2023 Annual Appeal

At Calusa Waterkeeper, we believe that clean water is a fundamental right and that together, we can do so much good in the fight for drinkable, fishable, and swimmable water. As we near the end of 2023, we ask that you help us reach our $20,000 fundraising goal, allowing us to continue our advocacy efforts to protect human health, aquatic life, and our local economy.

Your continued generosity fuels our mission to protect and restore the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee to the Coastal Waters. 

Let’s end 2023 with a resounding “Yes, I support clean water.” Renew your membership and advance your support for clean water. 

We thank you in advance for your continued support.

Contributions are fully tax-deductible; our tax ID# 65-0565226, FL registration # CH25796.

Low amounts of rain and runoff can provide for relatively clear waters for observation around SWFL. Of interest in this recent aerial run are turbidity and "snow clouds" of diatoms off Sanibel. Diatoms are a photosynthetic algae, and have been in great enough numbers to also show up on satellite chlorophyll monitoring.

Ralph Arwood & Calusa Waterkeeper - Nov. 21, 2023

Waterkeeper Alliance, along with other groups, published the Insure Our Future annual scorecard, “Fifty Years of Climate Failure.”

Insure Our Future - Nov. 17, 2023

Calusa Waterkeeper Codty Pierce and Tidal Zone Ranger Leader Dan Carney speak to the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife

Calusa Waterkeeper - Nov. 16, 2023

Calusa Waterkeeper representatives were on-hand at both the Fort Myers Boat Show and Edison-Ford Garden Sale

Calusa Waterkeeper - Nov. 2023

A profile on our Waterkeeper Alliance colleagues/neighbors to the north, Suncoast Waterkeeper and Justin Bloom

Observer - Nov. 3, 2023

Busted boats, stronger storms: Florida fishers face warming waters

USA TODAY - Oct. 30, 2023

Capt. Codty Pierce presents to the Sanibel FlyFishers group

Calusa Waterkeeper - Oct. 12, 2023