Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s gulf coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with the Florida Farm Bureau as well as local agricultural producers, farmers, and growers to discuss the storm’s impact. Photos are courtesy of...
Following Hurricane Helene’s catastrophic damage throughout Florida’s Gulf Coast, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) met with local officials and volunteers from the barrier islands to discuss the storm’s impact and current recovery efforts. Photos are courtesy of...
Hurricane Helene made landfall as a Category 4 storm, causing catastrophic damage along Florida’s Gulf Coast. It’s crucial for the federal government to expedite state-requested resources and authorize key policy flexibilities in order for Floridians to make a swift...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host two in-person events to assist constituents affected by Hurricane Helene and help navigate applications for FEMA assistance. Food, water, and additional resources will be available at the events. Event...
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office will host in-person and virtual Mobile Office Hours next week to assist constituents with federal casework issues in their respective local communities. These office hours offer constituents who do not live close to one of...
Following the impacts of Hurricanes Helene and Debby, some local governments in Florida face looming budget shortfalls that could disrupt disaster recovery efforts. If these local governments receive reimbursements for past hurricanes from the Federal Emergency...
Rubio: “The Apalachicola Bay region that produces 90 percent of Florida’s oysters and 10 percent of the oysters supplied to the entire country has reached a breaking point, and the issue deserves the full attention of Florida’s elected leaders. We need a positive resolution to this crisis that ensures the basin receives the water it needs. After decades of disagreement, it is time for this issue to be resolved once and for all.”
Florida Oyster Crisis At A Breaking Point
By Senator Marco Rubio
Tampa Bay Times
August 23, 2013
http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/columns/column-florida-oyster-crisis-at-a-breaking-point/2137788
Earlier this year, a lot of people had a good laugh when I reached for a drink of water in the middle of a nationally televised speech. But a much more serious water-related issue has only just begun to receive the national attention it deserves.
For years, the water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint water basin has been and continues to be mismanaged by the state of Georgia and the Army Corps of Engineers. Freshwater supplies that have flowed for hundreds of years down the basin and emptied into the Apalachicola Bay have since been diverted. This water is now stored in so many different reservoirs that a once-vibrant oyster fishery, dependent on these flows to keep out saltwater predators, is now on the verge of collapse, and the livelihood of many fishermen is at stake. The situation has become so dire that the U.S. Commerce Department recently declared a disaster for the oyster fishery.
The fight over water is nothing new in our country. But most of our water supplies are now managed according to state compacts, or agreements between state governors on how water is allocated in any specific region. A tri-state compact is exactly what we need in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin — an agreement among Georgia, Alabama and Florida that recognizes the unique needs of each state and allocates our limited water resources accordingly.
Unfortunately, such an agreement remains elusive. The result is a status quo where Georgia takes an unfair share of the water to the detriment of hard-working Floridians in and around the Apalachicola Bay area. Last week, we brought Congress to our state, holding a committee field hearing to highlight how the poor management of water has impacted our citizens. It was heartbreaking to listen to Floridians who have worked these shores for generations and are now finding their source of income suddenly and inexplicably pulled out from under them.
During the hearing they expressed an understandable frustration at the fact that their livelihoods have been shattered by a purely man-made disaster. Their message was loud and clear: Apalachicola Bay simply cannot wait any longer for a solution.
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