PAGE 8 - June 27, 2012
THE NEWSCASTER-Nature Coast News
From Dawn's Front Porch
Squawk Box
Continued from page 1
A career? Work that you had to perform well at or be fired from? Think about that for a
By Newscaster Contributor Dawn Clary
Water Water Everywhere and Not a Drop To Drink – It was a shock to hear that all
moment. Our culture heralds child procreation and the subsequent duties as a given right.
of Cedar Key’s public water wells are now contaminated by salt water intrusion. The town
Wrong. Good child rearing is a grueling, mind numbing daily grind as bad (or good) as any-
is bringing in bottled water and trying to plan what to do next. The event apparently gave
thing you have to interview for. You know the worst part? You get no formal child rearing
no warning and was as sudden as throwing a light switch. Florida has been in a drought
education and the only schooling is by proxy by watching what your parents did. It is a ter-
for years and the population keeps growing which leads to more and more pumping so you
rible, terrible system. If your argument is to say, “hey look around, lots of good folks turned
have less goesintas and more goesoutas, therefore the aquifer drops. Another fact is that
out okay”. The counter argument is simple… okay is only okay. Elsewhere in today s paper
the sea level is rising. No matter what your political stand is, the planet is warming and the
is another story about a young lady whose parent s make her their job.
Three Men Stranded on Island
sea levels are coming up. In a recent prediction from the Army Corp of Engineers the level
will rise approximately 1 foot in the next 20 years, 6 feet in 100 years. In coastal areas, this
S.W. Of Yankeetown
means that the salt water pushes in harder on the fresh water and invades the space should
the aquifer retreat.
Salt water intrusion is always in the back of Yankeetown’s mind and I assume
Capt. Matt Fleming of TowBoatU.S. Yankeetown responded to a call from na-
Inglis also thinks about it although Inglis’ wells are a good piece inland. A reporter recently
tional dispatch regarding three young men stranded on an island southwest of Yankeetown.
asked what Yankeetown would do if the same thing happened to them. For the short term,
BoatUS. member Gary Greier stated he was a family friend of the young men
I imagine YT would do the same thing and bring in bottled water. In the long term, YT
but had no way to respond as he lives in Sarasota Florida and his boat was disabled due to
would probably hope that Inglis would allow a hook up with them which has been a very
flooding from T.S. Debby. The pontoon boat the men used to get to the island had devel-
contentious issue going back to the 1970s. A few years ago, Yankeetown and Inglis did
oped a leak in one of the pontoons overnight during high winds and flooding tides.
explore installing an interconnection between the two systems. The systems are very close
Capt. Fleming launched from Yankeetown Marina but was unable to locate the
together at one point. The Florida Rural Water Association did the engineering and plans
men at first based on their description of the island. They were located 2 miles further
for free. Their estimated cost for the project was $20,000. Inglis had agreed to pay half. It
southwest on a spoil bank in the Cross Florida Barge Canal. The men and some of their
was thought at the time it would provide a good back up for both towns incase either one
camping gear were transported back to the Yankeetown Marina where they were met by
had a real problem at their plant. However, another engineering firm said that it could be
members of the USCG and local Sheriffs Dept. The vessel was left anchored and beached
as much as $100,000 to construct and the project was shelved.
on the spoil bank as it was to dangerous to conduct salvage operations during the storm.
Anyway, if a hook up with Inglis was not possible YT would have to explore op-
Chassahowitzka NWR Management
tions of moving their wells inland or use reverse osmosis which is really expensive. Con-
servation is always encouraged although it is a double edged sword in that small town’s do
Plan Review Period extended
have to sell enough water to make ends meet or charge enough on what they do sell, which
at times it gets expensive.
Rumor Control – Apparently there has been some confusion over who resigned
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has prepared and issued a DRAFT Compre-
from Yankeetown’s government, Mayor Janie Hinson resigned. All the Town Council
hensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for Chassahowit-
members are still in office. Good Night and Good Luck
zka National Wildlife Refuge (NWR). The draft plan has been developed to guide Refuge
Inglis Community Center Open for Shelter
management over the next 15 years.
To allow additional time for the submission of comments, the US Fish and Wildlife
Levy County EM Director Marc Johnson has requested the opening of the Inglis
Service (Service) has extended the DRAFT CCP comment period until July 13, 2012. The
Community Center located behind Town Hall for any residents of Yankeetown who feel
DRAFT CCP was originally announced in the Federal Register on May 11, 2012, and was
they would be safer at this location during T.S. Debby. The Rosewood Baptist Church is on
open for public comment until June 11, 2012. By May 15, 120 copies of the DRAFT CCP
stand-by for any residents of Cedar Key should the need arise.
and EA had been mailed to a variety of stakeholders, including local governments in the
city of Crystal River and Citrus and Hernando counties. In addition, a copy of the DRAFT
CCP and EA was published on a Service website (see below) and hard copies were made
available free to the public at Refuge Headquarters. To date, the Refuge has received 21
comments on the DRAFT CCP and EA.
Although the Service sent a copy of the DRAFT CCP and EA and a letter an-
nouncing its availability for public review to the Citrus County Chronicle, the Service’s
mailing list had not been updated with the current editor. As a result, the Chronicle was not
aware of the availability of the DRAFT CCP and thus did not publish information about
the review process until June 10, 2012, the day before the review deadline. The Service
is extending the public review period for the DRAFT CCP and EA until July 13, 2012, to
better inform the public of its availability and provide adequate time for review.
email news to: news@thenewscaster.com
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