As toxic algae, Lake Okeechobee discharges loom, Martin County has no voice on SFWMD board

Football season is hurtling towards us like an unstoppable asteroid. As a huge fan of all things pigskin, armchair quarterbacking is a favorite pastime of mine.

I like watching the game unfold on my TV and telling anyone around who'll listen — and many times, even friends who don't want to listen — why the quarterback should have tossed it to the wide receiver running the post route instead of the running back in the left flat.

I do the same thing with water management in South Florida.

Why a governing board vacancy is a bad thing

The South Florida Water Management District governing board has been understaffed since June 19, when it went from nine members to eight. That's when Martin County resident Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch served her final day.

The governor appoints board positions for all five Florida water management districts. A replacement has yet to be named to the state's largest district which includes parts of 16 counties and affects 8 million Floridians.

Thurlow-Lippisch did not leave the board voluntarily. You see, she had been doing a fantastic job representing the interests of residents in Martin and St. Lucie counties. She was appointed in early 2019 barely a few months into Gov. Ron DeSantis' first term as the state's executive branch leader. It was just a few weeks after DeSantis asked for the resignations of all board members appointed by Rick Scott. At the time, clean water advocates praised his decision.

For four years, she voted on water-related issues, land purchases, contract negotiations and personnel moves with the point of view of a Martin County resident. It mattered. She made a difference. Thurlow-Lippisch made headway in the hallways where so often clean-water dreams of Stuart residents were sent to die.

Her colleagues respected her and SFWMD personnel reacted to her requests. She made everyone around her aware of how for nearly 100 years, Stuart has been on the wrong end of a toilet's plumbing system. As a student and teacher of local history, she was able to convince other board members that they must strive for change from a destructive status quo.

Florida Senate canned a good person

That didn't matter to the Florida Senate. DeSantis reappointed her, but senators elected not to confirm the reappointment for her second term on the board. They claimed Thurlow-Lippisch disrespected them when she spoke out against Senate Bill 2508 in 2022. That water supply bill prioritizes Big Sugar getting the irrigation water it wants to siphon off Lake Okeechobee over the Everglades ecosystems' health.

Shame on them. The cowards didn't even have the decency to discuss this issue with Thurlow-Lippisch face-to-face or in any other way. Not even by phone call. By the way, SB 2508 was straight-up garbage and would have been damaging to Florida's environment. If anyone tells you different, they don't understand the water.

So here's the problem: No one has been appointed to take her seat. The governor may be a little too busy with his side gig right now, but that just proves he should have let the lieutenant governor run the state while he runs for president.

Why it's important to have a Martin Countian on the board

Noticeably absent from the board is anyone from the Treasure Coast — at a time when Lake Okeechobee discharges to the St. Lucie River in Stuart are looming and a toxic algae bloom already has fouled Indiantown.

The seat Thurlow-Lippisch filled for four years is an at-large seat for someone who resides in Martin, St. Lucie, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade or Monroe counties, according to Florida Statute 373.073. I think they should amend the rule to require a resident of Martin or St. Lucie counties have a seat on the board. It's these two counties rather than the others that receive all the adversity from Lake Okeechobee discharges.

The governor's office has not answered TCPalm's email asking if or when someone will be appointed. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo's office has not answered TCPalm's email and phone call asking exactly why Thurlow-Lippisch wasn't confirmed.

I wanted to know what it takes for the governor to appoint someone to a water management board, so I applied. It was easy to submit an application on the website, but I was surprised I did not receive a confirmation email. Now my name is in the hopper. It goes without saying if by some rare chance I'm selected, I do not plan to serve.

But several Martin Countians have served: Nat Reed, Kevin Powers, Timer Powers (Kevin's dad), Lennart Lindahl and Melissa Meeker, to name a few. I must admit, I wonder what it would be like to try to keep the district fiscally responsible and vote on land use changes. I'm sure my armchair management would be blown out of the water.

Does DeSantis care about Republicans who want clean water?

The time to appoint someone — anyone — is long overdue.

On Aug. 4, the governor's office announced three other SFWMD board members had been reappointed to second terms. Chairman Chauncey Goss of Lee County, Vice Chair Scott Wagner of Miami and Jay Steinle of West Palm Beach will serve until 2027, pending Florida Senate confirmation, of course.

Will their words in opposition to SB 2508 be held against them? We'll see.

The governor is doing a disservice to a largely Republican territory. In Martin County, Republicans make up 52% of voters and they're 34% of St. Lucie County voters. DeSantis may be surprised how many of these voters place clean water as their top platform.

Appointing a resident of Palm Beach, Monroe or Miami-Dade counties to this seat also would not serve this community that has endured the deluges from the lake far too many times.

I know the SFWMD board member who replaces Thurlow-Lippisch won't stop the discharges, but if they fight against the status quo of lopsided water policy, that's the least we can ask.

Ed Killer is a columnist for TCPalm. This is his opinion. Email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: DeSantis should appoint SFWMD board member from Martin County ASAP