POINT OF VIEW
Palm Beach Post
July 13, 2017
By: Drew Martin
Flooding problems are the result of too much development
In The Palm Beach Post story, “Water can flow into endangered sparrow
territory” (June 29), discussing the seaside sparrow versus flooding
north of the Tamiami Trail, it was suggested that only two solutions
existed for reducing flooding: either the protection of the deer in the
conservation area or protecting the endangered cape sable seaside
sparrow, pitting them against each other resulting in flooding of the
conservation area.
The story did not present the underlying causes
leading to this flooding. It is the result of development policies
impacting excess water, leaving us with only bad choices. This is the
result of our constant filling in of wetlands, and the dredging of
creeks and rivers, tuning them into free flowing canals, among the other
things.
Recent attempts to change the zoning restrictions to open
up the Agricultural Reserve to more homes — by removing existing
preserves and permitting preserves north of the Ag Reserve to be used as
preserve land rather than the 60 percent preserve requirement in the Ag
Reserve that now stands — will change flooding patterns. These changes
alter to a great extent how water moves naturally across the land.
Roads have also blocked important fresh water flows. One of these roads
is Tamiami Trail, built almost 100 years ago when people did not
understand the importance of letting fresh water flow into the
Everglades, Biscayne and Florida Bay. We have drained the Everglades
Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee. After the deadly 1928
hurricane, the lake had a permanent berm built around it. We are taking
away the open lands that provide the space to hold the floodwaters.
If the GL Homes proposal were approved, it would move all the preserves
out of the Ag Reserve by using preserved land in other tiers of the
county to meet preserve requirements. This would contribute to the
problem. The Ag Reserve would no longer provide a buffer to the
Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge.
It would no longer provide a place to
hold floodwaters or to recharge the aquifer. It would no longer be the
winter vegetable provider for the eastern United States. It would become
another crowded urban area with all the urban difficulties. Not the
refuge that many who purchased there sought. And these floodwaters from
the Ag Reserve will then contribute to the dilemma of flooding the
conservation area north of the Tamiami Trail by adding even more
floodwaters.
DREW MARTIN, LAKE WORTH
Editor’s note: Drew Martin is conservation chair for the
Loxahatchee Group of the Sierra Club.
