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Water quality awareness event planned for Nov. 8

By Staff | Oct 28, 2015

To the editor:

People have been standing on top of the FMB bridge everyday for 50 days straight now as a stand for clean water as a basic human right and to raise awareness about the harmful Lake Okeechobee releases. Demonstrators have been asking of our own town leadership to provide educational material about our water quality to be posted publicly for our residents and visitors alike to have instant access to information about our waterways through QR codes on local beach access signs of which would direct all people with smart phones to the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation website.

We are now planning a major community act of awareness on Nov. 8, at 11 a.m., where people from all over the state and local area will plan to line the bridge with a voice for our waterways protection as a collective idea. That idea cannot and will not stop with information for the protection of our waterways as well as to inform the public of our water quality levels.

Did you know presently our current bacterial levels are at two times the harmful amount? If you did not then chances are because no one is supporting the idea to tell you. Until now! We invite all to attend this day to demonstrate to educate. Without information how will you ever know if our water is indeed safe or not safe? A man just perished in our Estero Bay from bacteria-driven flesh-eating disease. Another lost his leg from this same thing this year while walking in our beachfront water during sunset. We all have an obligation to be good stewards to our environment, and we all actually share the same responsibility to inform each other of anything harmful to any of us as human beings, including our local waterways. Let’s make a change collectively for what’s right. Take a stand with and for your community. Join us on Saturday. Nov. 8, at 11 a.m. ?If we choose to do nothing then we too are a part of this problem!

John G Heim

Fort Myers Beach