The Estero Bay is in Trouble: What Residents Can Do to Help
Cela Tega 2020
To identify and discuss resiliency and adaptation planning for climate change and
sea level rise in the Estero Bay Region
Saturday, January 25th 2020
Cohen Student Union Ballroom
8AM to 8PM(map)
Florida Gulf Coast University
Fort Myers, FL 33965
The program is one which should be of interest to all residents of Southwest Florida, especially to our residents who want to help effect positive change in the health of the Estero Bay Region. We have long been aware of the problems of excess nutrients in out waters. The red tide and cyanobacteria blooms of 2018 brought the issue to the forefront of our collective minds. Our beaches were littered with dead sea life; our rivers were full of a blue-green algae bloom that was releasing toxins into the environment, and likely fueling red tide even further. The economic vitality of the region is based on a healthy environment for visitors and residents alike. The need to address these problems has never been more immediate. Attendees to this conference will hear from experts in science, policy and civic engagement. Our goal is to help residents obtain the knowledge, information and skills to be a positive influence in addressing these issues.
Agenda:
- Speaker: Jim Beever, Planner for the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council:
Estero Bay Agency on Bay Management State of the Bay 2019Jim Beever Bio
- Session I - What We Can Do to Reduce Harmful Algae Blooms
- Jennifer Hecker, Executive Director for Coastal and Heartland National Estuary Partnership (CHNEP):
Tracking and Reducing the Nutrient Pollution that fuelsHABsJennifer Hecker Bio
- Ernesto de la Vega, Lee County Hyacinth Control District (LCHCD):
Unintended Consequences of the Fertilizer Ordinance on Lee County Storm Water Ponds
Dr. Ernesto Lasso de la Vega Bio
- Serge Thomas, Aquatic Ecologist, Florida Gulf Coast University:
Storm water retention ponds- research and managementDr. Serge Thomas Bio
- Marisa Carrozzo, Conservancy of Southwest Florida:
Making the case for a statewide stormwater rule
- Q&A for panel
- Session II - Moving Water to Help Our Wetlands, Estuaries, and Habitat Restoration
- Dr. Bill Mitsch, Kapnick Everglades Wetlands Research Park[BROKEN LINK]:
Troubled Waters: Sea turtles, plastics, red tide, Everglades, wetlands,wetlaculture and misguided policies in south FloridaDr. Bill Mitsch Bio
- Dr. Shawn Clem, Research Director for Audubon Florida:
The increasingly important role of inland wetlands in a developed landscapeDr. Shawn Clem Bio
- Brad Cornell, Southwest Florida Policy Associate, Audubon Florida:
South Lee County Watershed Initiative
Brad Cornell bio
- Nicole Iadevaia, Coastal and Heartland National Estuary Program (CHNEP):
CHNEP Habitat Restoration Needs Plan for Estero Bay
Nicole Iadevaia Bio
- Q&A for panel
Technical Session II - Adaptation and Resiliency Plans 1
- Keynote speaker, Mr Ralf Brooks, JD:
"We are all in the same boat"*
* Jacque Cousteau "The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before, the old phrase has a literal meaning: we are all in the same boat."
- Session III - Policy
- Phil Flood, Legislative Liaison, Regional Representative Ft. Myers Service Center of SFWMD:
Public Input to the South Florida Water Management District
- Wayne Daltry, former Smart Growth and Regional Planning Council Director:
The Role of the Citizen in Upholding and Improving Public Environmental Policy,SWF - Haley Busch for Jane West 1,000 Friends of Florida:
Managing Growth: The Land-Use and Water-Quality Nexus
Panel Q & A
- Session IV- Public Participation
Craig Pittman, Author, Investigative Journalist
Oh Florida! Wacky Florida Weather and other stories
- Clara Anne Graham, League of Women Voters:
Turning Information into Action - Maggy Hurchalla, Miz Lioness the aging icon:
Can You be Sued for Trying to Save the World? - Nora Demers, Advisory Board(s) member:
Public participation on advisory boards, Opportunities and experiencesDr. Nora Demers Bio
- Savannah Lacy, P.E. Lake Okeechobee Basin Manager US Army Corps of Engineers (Jacksonville Division):
Public participation with the Army Corps of EngineersView Savanah Lacy Bio
- Panel Q & A
- Time: 10:30-10:55 AM - Networking Break
- Time: 3:00-3:15 - Networking Break
- Networking/cash bar (CC214)
- 6:00-6:20: Dinner fundraiser (Cohen Ballroom)
- 6:30-7:30: Keynote Speaker: Craig Pittman author and investigative journalist: Cat Tails in the Estero Bay
Craig Pittman Bio
Jan 26th 12:30-4:00 PM M/V River Queen Caloosahatchee River Tour
Sponsors:
Resources:
- Beever III, J.W. 2008. Growth Management Regulation, Public Investment and Resource Implications for the Estero Bay Watershed 2006-2007– Southwest Lee County, Florida. SWFRPC
- Beever, III, J.W., W. Gray, D. Trescott, D. Cobb, J. Utley and L. B. Beever 2009. Comprehensive Southwest Florida/Charlotte Harbor Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, Technical Report 09-3, 298 pages.
- Beever, III, J.W., W. Gray, D. Trescott, D. Cobb, J. Utley David Hutchinson, John Gibbons, Moji Abimbola and L. B. Beever, Judy Ott 2009. Adaptation Plan for the City of Punta Gorda. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council and Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program, Technical Report 09-4, 406 pages. Adopted by the City of Punta Gorda on November 18, 2009.
- Gray, Whitney, J.W. Beever III, and L.B. Beever. 2009 Estero Bay State of the Bay Update. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council. 93 pp.
- Beever III, J.W., W. Gray, D. Trescott, D. Cobb, J. Utley, D. Crawford, and D. Hutchinson 2010. Lee County Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council. 226 pp.
- Beever III, J.W., W. Gray, D. Trescott, J. Utley, D. Hutchinson, Tim Walker, D. Cobb 2010. Lee County Climate Change Resiliency Strategy. Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council. 163 pp.
- Beever III, J.W., W. Gray, L. Beever, D. Cobb 2011. A Watershed Analysis of Permitted Coastal Wetland Impacts and Mitigation Methods within the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program Study Area. 391 pp.
- Beever III, J.W., W. Gray, L. Beever, Beever, Lisa, B., D. Cobb, Walker, Tim 2011. Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Opportunities for Salt Marsh Types in Southwest Florida. 379 pp.
- Beever III, J.W., Walker, Tim 2013. Estimating and Forecasting Ecosystem Services within Pine Island Sound, Sanibel Island, Captiva Island, North Captiva Island, Cayo Costa Island, Useppa Island, Other Islands of the Sound, and the Nearshore Gulf of Mexico. 46 pp.
- Beever III, J.W. 2013. Estimate of the Ecosystem Services of Existing Conservation 2020 Lands in Lee County Florida. 18 pp.
- Beever III, J.W., D. Cobb, W. Gray, L. Van Houdt, and T. Walker, 2015. A rapid functional assessment method for designed freshwater and brackish water filter marsh ecosystems used for water quality treatment (FMFAM). 151 pp.
- Beever III, J.W., L. Van Houdt, L. Beever, W. Gray, and T. Walker, 2015. Filter Marsh Functional Assessment Method (FMFAM) Plant Identification Guide 65 pp.
- Beever III, J.W. and T. Walker, 2016. Spring Creek Restoration Plan 121 pp.
- 2014 State of the Bay
- Dr. Nora Demers
