Groundwater areas to be reviewed,
commissioners say
By DON RUANE, Fort Myers
News-Press
The water and mineral resources of Lee County’s designated groundwater
storage areas should be studied before a decision is made to allow mining
in those areas, county commissioners said Monday.
Once the study of present conditions and a review of earlier studies is
completed, the county can consider mining and other uses in the area,
Community Development Director Mary Gibbs said after the commission’s
monthly management and planning meeting.
Gibbs and her staff will prepare a scope of work for the study and bring
that back to the commission for approval in September or October. It could
be a year before the results are available. The cost could be $100,000,
Gibbs estimated.
Interest in the new study rose this year as Lee County amended the land
development code as it applied to mining. While mining regulations were
tightened, a staff-produced map showing where mining should be allowed was
dropped for lack of documentation. Residents opposed to mining operations
near their homes along Alico and Corkscrew roads and mining interests
called for fresh information.
On June 24, the commissioners agreed the first study in about 12 years
should be done.
Corkscrew Road resident Kevin Hill said the two-phase approach discussed
Monday was a good one. It should help to ensure that county policy is
based on sound science and that residents’ concerns are heard, Hill said.
County Commissioner Ray Judah pressed to include information about the
vegetative cover of the recharge areas. Some parts have been altered and
may not be as useful as recharge areas any longer, he said. The commission
might decide those areas are better suited now for residential
development, he said.
The proposed study doesn’t look far enough into other uses of the land,
according to Gary Davis, director of environmental policy for The
Conservancy of Southwest Florida. About 16 percent of the original
recharge area in southeast Lee County has been diverted to other uses,
such as mining and agriculture, he said. That affects wildlife, wetlands
and flowways, Davis said.
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