Environmentalists and supporters of Florida’s newly-approved conservation amendment assembled at the capitol Wednesday, on a mission to improve the state’s clean water policies.
The rally highlighted The Floridians Clean Water Declaration Campaign. Event coordinator Ryan Smart says has acquired thousands of signatures. “To date more than 15,000 people have signed the clean water declaration and more than 150 organizations and businesses have joined on to agree to work together for the principles established in the declaration,” said Smart.
The group is trying to influence state water policy. Cris Costello, organizing representative for the Sierra club says her group’s goal is to make politicians focus on the quality of Florida water bodies. “Our job is to send a resounding message to all of the decision makers whether they be the governor, the legislature or the high level water managers of the state; that Florida can’t live without clean water, we can’t prosper without clean water and they need to do what they need to do to make sure that water is protected… that pollution is stopped at the source,” Costello said.
Becky Parsons is on the board of directors for sustainable Tallahassee. She says water conservation is a key initiative for her organization.
“We can’t continue to live the way that we’ve been living, in order to protect our future. We advocate for water and a lot of sustainability issues and so we’re down here today saying save our water Florida,” said Parsons.
The campaign comes as lawmakers weigh how to spend more than $700 million generated by Amendment 1. Voters approved the conservation language in November.
