You can chalk up a huge victory for Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, though you may have heard little or nothing about it.

Some call it a historic decision with far-reaching ramifications for the environment.

It went down like this:

Big Sugar, the long controversial and destructive occupant of the Everglades Agricultural Area, was preparing recently to backpump its dirty water back into Lake O just as it has done for decades.

After all, sugarcane farmers, enjoying cozy cooperation with the government drainage team, use the lake as their own reservoir to defile at will.

But suddenly there came a big NO.

No?

Yep, out of the blue, just days ago, the governing board of the South Florida Water Management District voted to deny permission for the pernicious backpumping that has agonized environmental leaders for so long.

The decisive four votes came from new board members appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist.

It seemed to signal that a new day is dawning in the sordid affairs of the District, which some consider to be a wholly owned subsidiary of Big Sugar.

Cane growers, as expected, were furious. We can be sure that maneuverings to get around the board decision already are being planned, partly with public relations disinformation financed by our own tax money.

At any rate, we’ve got a strong feeling the decision will stick. Special thanks and praise to Chair Eric Buermann, Charles Dauray, Shannon Estinoz and Melissa Meeker.

Pro-backpumping votes came from Nicolas Gutierrez, long associated professionally with cane growers, Harkley Thornton and Patrick Rooney. Rooney, to his credit, expressed strong reservations about voting for backpumping in the future.

Malcolm (Bubba) Wade, a U.S. Sugar executive who, incredibly, serves on the board, abstained from the vote but was kind enough to talk at great length about why backpumping is desirable.

Another member and known supporter of backpumping, Mike Collins, was absent.

The District’s vote against backpumping for Big Sugar ties in nicely with a federal court ruling requiring the District to obtain federal permission before backpumping. The District is, so far, appealing that decision but would do well to drop the appeal.

Finally, a suggestion: The newly constituted and conservation-conscious District should call for a fresh and accurate analysis of Plan Six, which is an alternative proposed way to send excess water from the lake south through a storage flowway. Instead, hundreds of billions of gallons are gushed into the east and west estuaries in order to keep sugarcane roots dry and toasty at all times, while the estuaries are severely degraded.

Plan Six was originated by none other than the Army Corps itself, in ‘94, and endorsed by top scientists, but, alas, the interesting influence of cane money snuffed out the flowway concept, leaving us with a restoration program that won’t restore much.

--Karl Wickstrom