Reef Relief Urges Keys-Wide Wastewater Reuse Plan / Adamant That Laws Be Obeyed During Planning, Permitting, and Construction

Reef Relief continues our work of using the best available science to educate the public and policymakers to achieve conservation, protection, and restoration of coral reef ecosystems.

The most critical issue facing all of us today is water quality. We fight to combat pollution in our oceans and negative effects of climate change, but without clean water, all of our work with regard to restoration and conservation are only delaying the loss of our coral reef ecosystems.

This is why Reef Relief, along with many other local, state, federal and private entities, have worked so hard toward creating a Keys-wide sewer system. We should all be proud of the work we have accomplished in this matter. Reef Relief would like to thank everyone involved in the implementation of the Keys-wide sewer system. It is imperative that our inefficient septic tanks are no longer allowed to leach human waste into our near shore waters. We would also like to thank all homeowners for cooperating with this process, as we are well aware of the financial burden.

So here we are, almost to the finish line of what once seemed a daunting task. With this said, we would like to state our position regarding the issue of shallow injection wells located at the Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility on Cudjoe Key and all construction and development within the Florida Keys Barrier Reef Ecosystem.

1. Reef Relief supports the timely completion and activation of the AWT facility planned for Cudjoe Key. Every delay in the completion and activation of the AWT facility is counterproductive to the goal we have all worked so tirelessly to accomplish. It is extremely important that we cross the finish line of providing sewer service to all the Florida Keys.

2. Reef Relief strongly supports the implementation of a Keys-wide plan for reuse of AWT water. We encourage policy makers, government agencies and NGO’s at all levels to promote and fund reuse systems for all discharges from all the AWT facilities in the Florida Keys Barrier Reef Ecosystem. Water conservation is the foundation to meeting the challenges of the future on our planet. These issues challenge our community and our world today and will continue to do so long into our future. Reef Relief is committed to creating and supporting water reuse/sustainable practice infrastructure throughout the Florida Keys Barrier Reef Ecosystem and our planet.

3. Post-processing water quality monitoring infrastructure must be installed at all sewage treatment facilities throughout the Florida Keys Barrier Reef Ecosystem in addition to baseline data collection. Without continued monitoring there will be no scientifically valid, method or adequate data to determine the true impact of this project on our ecosystem or make recommendations for adaptive management in the future.

4. Reef Relief remains adamant and unwavering in its core belief that Contractors, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority, Local Agencies and Governing Boards comply by obeying and enforcing existing laws and regulations during the planning, permitting and construction of not just the sewer and AWT project, injection disposal wells and reuse projects, but all construction and development throughout the Florida Keys Barrier Reef Ecosystem and beyond.

Reef Relief is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to improving and protecting our coral reef ecosystem.

Check us out at reefrelief.org