×
×
homepage logo
STORE

Cassani to discuss water quality issues

By Staff | Feb 7, 2019

The public will have an opportunity Monday afternoon to hear from one of the leading experts on water quality in Southwest Florida.

The League of Women Voters of Lee County Environmental Committee will host John Cassani, The Calusa Waterkeeper, at the Cape Coral Library from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Feb 11. as He will give a PowerPoint presentation on water quality issues of the Caloosahatchee River as well as Southwest Florida.

“We are asking him to enlighten us,” said LWV Environmental Committee Chair, Patty Duncan. “We want him to apprise the public of all this entails.”

Cassani, a career scientist, has been committed to community involvement with land and water conservation for decades.

He is retired from Lee County Hyacinth Control District where, as a biologist, he led a range of programs including the regional grass carp breeding program.

Cassani also founded the Southwest Florida Watershed Council.

“If you were affected by the blue green algae, or not, chances are your property values were. You need to hear what he has to say on how we all can be proactive on what we can do protect our water,” said Duncan.

The LWV Environmental Committee likes to get involved in things that can make a difference, no matter how big or small, said Duncan.

Cassani is a speaker the group has wanted to bring in for some time now, as they believe they can assist him in spreading the word of his mission of protecting Florida’s greatest resource.

Recently, Cassani announced, “The public needs to weigh in on the Lake Okeechobee Operating Manual. Southwest Florida residents will be the first to weigh in on the Army Corps of Engineers’ public scoping process for the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM). This is the most direct and immediate way we can have a say in how water discharges to the Caloosahatchee River are managed.”

Though the meeting in Lee County has since passed, residents can submit their comments via email by March 31, at LakeOComments@usace.army.mil.

The LWV Environmental Committee meets once a month, and Duncan said that water has always been at the top of the priority list for the group.

“We have a venue that can accommodate lots of people, we hope they come out and hear this important and vital information,” she said.

Calusa Waterkeeper is a member of the international Waterkeeper Alliance, touted as the “largest and fastest-growing non-profit solely focused on clean water, with more than 300 Waterkeeper organizations and affiliates on the front-lines of the global water crisis, patrolling and protecting more than 2.5 million square miles of rivers, lakes and coastal waterways on six continents.”

For more information on Calusaa Waterkeeper, visit www.calusawaterkeeper.org.

For more information on LWV, visit www.LWVLee.org.

The Cape Coral Library is at 921 Southwest 39th Terrace.

-Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj