In a recent article, Audubon's Mary Jean Yon was quoted asking an important question regarding Florida's magnificent natural water resources: "Who's water is it?"
"Whose water is it?" said Audubon of Florida legislative adviser Mary Jean Yon.Already, serious tensions over scarce supplies span the state, including a Panhandle fight over proposed wells, Jacksonville's contested pumping of the Floridan Aquifer, Orange County's quest to tap a reservoir on remote ranchland and high-stakes competition over South Florida's Lake Okeechobee.
Former Gov. Bob Graham recently launched the Florida Conservation Coalition to thwart what he calls the "privatizing" of water supplies.
Graham said he is concerned in part because of actions by Gov. Rick Scott and lawmakers this year to shrink and weaken state-watchdog agencies and a proposed law that would give utilities greater control over sources.
...But Audubon's Yon said expecting utilities to manage water more efficiently than the state is a "troubling" sign.
"There are a lot of signals coming out of the Legislature that, when combined, make one worry about whose water is it," Yon said.
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