Resolution 160-1992
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Conmissioner A. Earl Cheal
RESOLUTION NO. 160 -1992
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A RESOLt1l'ICN OF THE OOARD OF COONTY e<:MMISSIONERS
OF MONIDE COUNTY, FLORIDA OPPOSIN:; THE PROPOSED
REVISIONS TO THE FEDERAL WETLANDS DELINEATION
MANUAL AND TO PROPOSED WErLANDS LEGISIATION,
~1330 AND S-1463
WHEREAS, the potable water supply for Monroe County and the
Florida Keys is drawn fran the aquifer beneath the southeast Florida
mainland; and
WHEREAS, the wetlands of south Florida provide the storage area
for the recharging of this aquifer; and
WHEREAS, the storage of rainfall in the wetlands, together with
, the Everglades sheetflow, provide a hydraulic head to hold back
salt water intrusion into the underground freshwater supply; and
WHEREAS, the proposed revisions to the Federal Wetlands
Delineation Manual ~uld declassify, and open to developrent, 41
percent of the Everglades region east of Everglades National Park
that is privately owned, thereby drastically reducing the storage
area; and
WHEREAS, the draining and/or dredging and filling of a wetlands,
as a result of l~ring water levels, degrades adjacent wetlands
which, in this case, are also an integral part of the sheetflow and
water storage of south Florida, causing greater loss to the
Everglades system; and
WHEREAS, this freshwater system is necessary to feed freshwater
to Florida Bay, which is already suffering fran high salinity in the
estuaries and shallow regions in the north; and
WHEREAS, Florida Bay is a huge feeding and nursery ground for
important CCIIIlercial and recreational fisheries, including shrimp and
spiny lobster; and
WHEREAS, threatened wading birds also depend on a healthy
Florida Bay for their focx1 supply, and they are a critical part of
the cultural and natural scene of south Florida and the Florida Keys,
and'
WHEREAS, the new hydrology defini tionof wetlands 'iNOuld
declassify inportant water b~ foraging areas which are d.:ry for long
periods and, though wet many times, may never be flooded for 15
consecutive days or saturated at the surface for 21 consecutive days
in a given year; and
WHERFJ\S, the local Soil Conservation Service has not prepared
lists of hydric soil map un! ts for ~nroe Cotmty as stated in the
manual (see Federal Register Vol. 56, No. 157, Part II, County Jtrdric
Soil Map unit Lists, pg. 40456); and
WHERFJ\S, the new hydric soil requirements \\lOuld declassify
Florida Keys caprock limestone wetlands which are an integral
c<::nponent of the Keys I Coral Reef ecosystem and that this fact is
recognized but not dealt with in the proposed revisions to the manual
(see Federal Register Vol. 56, No. 157, Appendix 6. Problem
wetlands, wetlands on Glacial Till or in Ibcky Areas, pg. 40475); and
WHEREAS, true persistent and non-persistent freshwater wetlands
recognized by both U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and ~nroe County
as absolutely essential to wildlife survival in the Florida Keys may
be declassified as wetlands due to lack of groundwater wells, annual
aerial Iilotographs and other such data required by the proposed
revisions to the manual (see Federal Register, Vol. 56, No. 157, Part
II, wetland Hydrology Criterion, pg. 40452); and
WHEREAS, the State of Florida has already suffered loss of 9.3
million acres (over 46%) of its wetlands, substantially in south
Florida and ~nroe Cormty; nCM, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE OOARD OF COONTY CCM-1ISSIONERS OF MONROE
COUNTY, FIDRIDA, that ~nroe County canmunicate to its Senators and
Congressman and to the President and his Executive Branch staff that
it opposes:
1. the revised Federal wetlands Delineation Manual
2. HR-1330 which repeals the Environrrental Protection
agency I s review authority of proposals to develop wetlands and which
ranks wetlands into good, nedium, and poor, with no county having
more than 20% good quality wetlands
3. S-1463, a canpanion bill and that it supports a scientific
basis for defining wetlands and a strengthening of Section 404 of the
Clean Water Act to best protect the nation IS, Florida's, and M::>nroe
Cormty I s wetlands.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of County Commissioners of
M::>nroe Cotmty, Florida, at a regular neeting of said Board held on
the 11 th day of March , A.D., 1992.
Mayor Harvey Yes
Mayor Pro tem London Yes
Comnissioner Cheal Yes
Conmissioner Jones Yes
Comnissioner Stonront Yes
BOARD OF COONTY ca.1MISSIONERS
OF IDNIDE COUNTY, FLORIDA
BY: ~'.II~~..J .......:~~~
MAYOR/CHAI~ /
(Seal) 1 k
Attest:DANNY L. ~OLHAGE, C er
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By
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