HM 0193 2004
   
1 House Memorial
2          A memorial to the United States Army Corps of Engineers,
3    urging prompt action to complete the Indian River Lagoon
4    Restoration Plan on schedule.
5         
6          WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon is the most biologically
7    diverse estuary in North America and is recognized for national
8    significance in the National Estuary Program, and
9          WHEREAS, the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon have
10    been and continue to be severely degraded by excessive
11    freshwater discharges, nutrients, and sediments from drainage
12    canals constructed by the Central and Southern Florida Flood
13    Control Project, and
14          WHEREAS, the State of Florida has a long history of
15    supporting local, state, and federal programs to improve the
16    environmental health of the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River
17    Lagoon, which health is critical to the economic and social
18    environment of Florida and the nation, and
19          WHEREAS, state support includes forming and funding the St.
20    Lucie River Issues Team, the Indian River Lagoon Restoration
21    Task Force, and 50 percent of the costs of related Comprehensive
22    Everglades Restoration Plan projects, and
23          WHEREAS, local government partners, including the Nine
24    County Coalition for the Responsible Management of Lake
25    Okeechobee and St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries, are
26    implementing urban stormwater quality retrofit projects,
27    budgeted at over $100 million, dedicated to cleaning up the St.
28    Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, and
29          WHEREAS, local voters voluntarily approved a special sales
30    tax referendum for healthy rivers that raised over $50 million
31    to help buy the land necessary to implement the Indian River
32    Lagoon Restoration Plan, and
33          WHEREAS, the State of Florida has enthusiastically endorsed
34    the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan, and
35          WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan, after
36    numerous bureaucratic delays, is ready for Congressional
37    authorization and construction, and
38          WHEREAS, the citizens of the United States deserve the
39    prompt authorization and construction of the Indian River Lagoon
40    Restoration Plan, the first major component of the Comprehensive
41    Everglades Restoration Plan, NOW, THEREFORE,
42         
43          Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
44         
45          That the State of Florida urges the United States Army
46    Corps of Engineers to complete work on the Indian River Lagoon
47    Restoration Plan and forward it to Congress for authorization as
48    rescheduled in August 2003 and urges federal officials to keep
49    the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan on schedule and present
50    it without further delay for Congressional authorization in
51    2004.
52          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
53    dispatched to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, to the
54    President of the United States, to the President of the United
55    States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of
56    Representatives, and to each member of the Florida delegation to
57    the United States Congress.