Last Saturday, August 3, with more than 5000 other Martin County residents, I participated in the rally at the Saint Lucie Locks. I had never been to Phipps Park or the locks before. It was a fun loving crowd but one with a purpose which was to stop the killing of the Saint Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon.

I overheard that the flow from the locks was not as great as on previous days and that there was no odor that had been present a few days before. I don’t know if this is true or not but there is no mistaking the quality of the water around Stuart where I live. You just know if you touch that water bad things will happen. Whether that is really true or not could be a matter of conjecture. The Health Department certainly believes so.

The crowd was composed of people of all ages and political persuasions. Young families, seniors, environmentalists, fishermen, boaters and people concerned with their quality of life. For when everything is said and done, we are all trying to prevent the death of a valued friend and economic resource. Where is the outrage from our public officials on the state and national levels? Have they really become so beholding to those who fill their coffers that they pay lip service to the public but do nothing concrete to stop the tragedy?

This killing of the river and lagoon began when we decided that nature needed taming and that man was the one to do it. We built the dike to tame the floods to provide the sugar fields and to build homes on a flood plain where no one should live.  As Floridians tend to do, we refuse to recognize the realities of living with the natural environment.  If the recreation and beauty provided by the flow of our rivers and the ecological health of our lagoon is no longer possible, Martin County will not have to worry whether we elect a slow growth or no growth or pro-growth commission, we will have negative growth.