Is Drinking Water Important to You?

An Editorial by Carmine Miranda

We are all aware that without this precious resource the human race wouldn’t last very long. The same can be said of animals and plants. H2O constitutes one of the building blocks necessary for life to thrive. Every so often the concern for Quality Drinking Water becomes a hot topic.

As quickly as it does it quietly gets put on the back burner. Developers, lobbyists, corporate America buy influence to circumvent regulations that threaten this precious resource.

All of the reasons given are only to protect their investments followed by the narrative that what they are doing is safe and in our best interests! We are at a crossroads here in Florida with thousands of people moving to this great State on a daily basis.

NOW is the time to put some teeth behind the House and Senate Bills advocating for the Governors Clean Water Act. The purpose and urgency of this writing is based on an article that appeared in the February 3-9 publication of the Charlotte County Florida Weekly.

The article is titled Flush With Power by Roger Williams https://charlottecounty.floridaweekly.com/ The article is based on how the legislature, 160 men and women (40 Senators and 120 Representatives), are tasked with how to allocate funding from this years record-setting state budget in Five (5) Weeks! Yes you read that right! Five (5) weeks to Allocate Funds from this years record- setting State Budget on the issues and challenges facing our State.

The clock already started in mid January so WE must act quickly to write , email and /or call our Senators and Representatives to give Water Quality top priority! I have attached the following links to help identify your senators/representatives based on your addresses.

These links can be used for the entire state of Florida so please share with friends and family throughout this great State. The bigger the response the better! https://flsenate.gov https://myfloridahouse.gov https://senate.gov Also, included below is a sample letter you can use. Just copy and paste, update with your Representative / Senator name and address as well as your name, address, phone and email. Please feel free to send a Letter, Email or Call. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sample letter February 9, 2022
The Honorable (Representatives Name) United States House of Representatives/Senate (The Representatives Address)

Dear (Representative/Senator Insert Name), I am writing this letter to request your support for the following issue that is of great importance to me and all Floridians. I have lived in your district/state for ( ) years and vote regularly in elections.

I refer to the February 3-9, 2022 article in the Charlotte County Florida Weekly Publication titled Flush with Power. In the State Legislature, 40 Senators and 120 Representatives are tasked with allocating funds from this years record-setting state budget within five weeks.

There are many challenges to be addressed in our State but one deserves our utmost attention and urgency. Water quality and the degradation of our environment are on the minds of many Floridians.

The future of Florida depends on clean water otherwise Florida can’t function or move forward especially with 1,000 people moving to our great state on a daily basis. I applaud the actions taken by Governor DeSantis for the major water policy reforms put in place.

The legislature this session has an unprecedented opportunity to back those reforms with this record-setting state budget. If not now then when?

I would greatly appreciate your consideration and support in making water quality a top priority and affording a commensurate budget to get this accomplished.

This is extremely important to me, my family and everyone in the great state of Florida. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Sincerely, (Your Name) (Your Phone, Email, or Address)