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(Another contribution from Stan Meeks)
An economic analysis meeting was recently held in Suwannee, FL, the notes are available online at the Suwannee FL Yahoo Group.
Suwannee Riverkeepers, Inc. (non-profit) was not notified of this
meeting, although the Suwannee Riverkeepers core group’s resistance to
dredging the Suwannee River is well know and dates back to Friends of
the Great Suwannee Reef; an-anti dredging group that was formed in 1996
by George Anderson (Anglers Marina- now George Anderson Park).
In 2003, the SRWMD proposed setting MFLs without considering the effects of this dredging project and I joined with George and others to resist this project. The proposed dredging project for McGriff’s Pass would effetely separate fifth teen to twenty percent of a twenty thousand square mile oyster reef area. And this area was declared by the USGS in 2002 to be the largest of its kind left in North America.
Oysters and all exoskeletons require Class II water to survive according to the State’s Water Classifications. Thirty miles up the coast the Gulf Stream flows directly through the Fenholloway River’s Dead Zone, which is Class III water due to a special rule made for the Fenholloway River’s Dead Zone. It is my opinion that Class III water or higher is slowly killing all exoskeleton life at the north end of the Great Suwannee Reef.
The first impediment in the flow of the Gulf after it leaves Fenholloway River Dead Zone is the north area of the Great Suwannee Reef, about twenty to thirty miles down the Gulf flow. Combine this flow with the flow of the Suwannee River and the pollution it carries; remember the TMDLs were just set by the SRWMD. They are a measurement of how much pollution the Suwannee River can carry away without damage to the habitat and then you add amputating twenty percent of the Great Suwannee Reef by the proposed dredging and the cost of another spoil site; I hope that they consider these Reef economics in the proposed economic study.
For over 5,000 years, all the Great Suwannee Reef has done is to provide ready to go, natural fast food for man and his family. The giant shell mounds that existed are now the base for many roads in the area. Shirred Island is an Indian Midden and there are other Native American Midden sites and State Archeological sites at the mouth of the Suwannee River. And look at all the trouble that it is in.
There is a Dead Zone forming in the Shirred Island/Horseshoe Beach Area. I believe that Class III or higher water is flowing from Fenholloway River, killing all exoskeleton life and forming our Dead Zone with the help of the runoff that Defoliant Agents the forest company uses along its coastal property to defoliate its land before replanting. The water in the area is slowly killing all the exoskeleton life in the Shirred Island area, also there is an algae that is thriving on nutrient pollution and killing our grass beds a full thirty miles up the river, the effects of the TMDLs which are greatly biased to regularly carry the extreme limit of pollution down river and a few people even want to permantly separate twenty percent of an oyster reef that is the largest of its kind left in North America.
Should we not add to and provide stewardship for an area that has provided man with habitat for over 5,000 years instead of taking too much from the area until the habitat no longer exists? Just what kind of people are we? Our actions, not words, will tell.
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