Environmentalist Knowledge of

Everglades Law Benjamin C. Garelick

Teresa E. Thornton, Ph.D.

Oxbridge Academy, West Palm Beach

Purpose

Kissimmee River, Okeechobee Watershed contaminated by agriculture

Sugar, cattle, citrus

Florida government creates laws, BMPs to reduce pollution

To impact these regulations, stakeholders must understand them

How knowledgeable are self-reported environmentalists?

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(Miller, 2010)

Models of Environmentalism

Early model of environmentalism from the 1970s (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002)

Still used by NGOs

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Models of Environmentalism

Modern model of environmentalism (Kollmuss and Agyeman, 2002)

Knowledge leads to environmentalism

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Interest, Knowledge, and Action

Theory 1: Action does NOT equal interest, knowledge

University science majors were neither more knowledgeable nor more interested in specific environmental issues (McClinchie, 2014)

Theory 2: Action, knowledge, interest align

Survey of drivers: correlation between pro-environmental attitudes and knowledge of the environmental effects of car usage

Concerned and knowledgeable drove fewer miles (Flamm, 2006)

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5

(Miller, 2010)

How do these theories relate to the Everglades watershed?

Best Management Practices (BMPs)

Agriculture guidelines “reduce the amount of fertilizers, pesticides, animal waste, and other pollutants entering our water resources”

(Morgan, n.d.)

Not necessarily mandatory

Increased efficiency, reduce cost

Will help satisfy WMD permitting requirements

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BMPs for Runoff

Caused by storm water and irrigation

Caries sediment and fertilizers into waterbodies

Prevention:

Leveling fields reduces slope and prevents erosion

Herbaceous cover crops

Raised berms prevent runoff from entering canals

Vegetation on the edge of canals

Field ditches (heavier sediments) 7

BMPs for Removing Contaminants from Canals

Previous BMPs are not expected to be fully prevent runoff

Canal sumps and traps

Deepening or widening canal, upstream of the pump

Slows water, traps sediments

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BMPs for Removing Aquatic Weeds from Canals

Aquatic weeds are the largest source of Phosphorus contamination

(Stuck, Izuno, Campbell, Bottcher, Rice, 2001)

Weed retention booms block flow of weeds

Leave water unrestricted

Removal:

Mechanical harvester (expensive)

Chemical herbicide (most common, state recommended)

Biocontrol Agents (experimental)

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BMPs for Cattle Feces

Cattle Operations require additional regulations

Cows excrete 60-85% of the phosphorus they ingest

Rancher should try to avoid “concentrated accumulation of waste”

Likely to leach into groundwater because of the sandy Spodosol soil

Covers half of the Okeechobee Watershed

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BMPs for Cattle and Waterbodies

Fences are used to keep cows away from water bodies

Reduces P loading by 10% (Shukla, Graham, Hodges, and Knowles 2014)

Waste accumulation is inevitable in High Intensity Areas

200 feet from water bodies

Runoff blocked by berms

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Cattle BMPs

Cattle overgrazing causes erosion

Regulated with fences

Bury dead cattle 200 feet away from waterbodies

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BMPs for Citrus Orchards

Farmers are required to construct conservation buffer

Grove borders (strips of permanent vegetation) prevent erosion

Riparian buffers (forested or herbaceous areas near streams) reduces the amount of sediment in surface water sheet flow

Filter strips and grassed waterways (areas of permanent vegetation) remove sediments from water before it enters surface waters

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Senate Bill 552

First Bill passed in 2016 legislative session

Phase One:

Two storm water treatment areas (STAs) will be created

Phase Two:

Allows for creation of additional STAs in the Okeechobee Watershed

Reduce estuary discharge with “voluntary water storage and quality improvements on private land”

Investigate the Upper Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and Lake Istokpoga as sources of phosphorus contribution

Short term measures or new BMPs

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Survey Overview

Distributed the survey to members of environmental organizations

Forwarded along email lists

226 Respondents

Questions were skippable, to prevent respondents from exiting

Skipped may indicate ignorance, apathy, confusion, etc.

Couper (2008) recommends allowing respondents to skip questions

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Results: Environmentalism

“I am an environmentalist”: 96.65% agree or strongly agree

(92.9% responded, n = 210/226)

”I act in ways that protect the environment”

10.49% respondents didn’t know what a BMP was (71.7% responded, n = 162/226)

More knowledgeable about the effects of agriculture than the BMPs that regulate it

Agronomic, cattle, citrus

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Results: Agriculture BMPs

Which of the following measures are taken to prevent fertilizer and sediment runoff? (69.4% responded, n = 157/ 226)

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Results: Agriculture BMPs

Which of the following measures are taken to remove contaminants, sediments, and aquatic weeds from the water? (63.7% responded, n = 144/ 226)

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Results: Cattle BMPs

Which of the following water quality concerns come with farming cattle?

(70.8% responded, n= 160 / 226)

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Results: Citrus BMPs

Citrus groves that border on wetlands or streams require a conservation buffer. Which of the following qualify as conservation buffers?

(63.7% responded, n = 144 /226)

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Results: Senate Bill 552

77.5% (70.8% responded, n = 160/226): Phosphorus is greatest Lake Okeechobee concern

75.19% (58.8% responded, n = 133/226) didn’t know the Bill would create two new STAs

60.62% (70.8% responded, 160/226) unaware that Lake Okeechobee is discharged into estuaries

Canals 58.75%

68.42% (70.8% responded, n = 133/ 226) unaware that Bill proposes discharge into voluntary water storage on private property

Publicly funded retention ponds 60.9%

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Conclusion

Concerning gaps in self-reported environmentalists’ knowledge

BMPS: no strong correlation between perceived knowledge and actual knowledge

Senate Bill 552 showed correlation

Future research:

National regulations, CERP

Cause of environmentalism

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Thank You

Benjamin C. Garelick

bgarelick@oapb.org

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Questions?