~The Congressman’s amendment gets included in the Interior Appropriations Bill~
WASHINGTON D.C. – In the wake of ecological disasters like the algae bloom which has killed countless fish in the central coast of Florida, Congressman Alan Grayson (FL-09) has passed an important amendment to the Department of Interior, Environment, and Related Appropriations Act, 2017 (H.R. 5538) to increase funding for the National Estuary Program and Coastal Waterways. Rep. Grayson’s amendment led the House to match the request President Obama made for estuary funding, reversing planned cuts. The increase was 2 percent for 2017, in addition to a 9 percent increase that Rep. Grayson already won for 2016. This extra money will flow to the Indian River Lagoon and three other Florida estuaries, helping to combat fish kill and other “dangerous conditions.”
We must take action to make Florida’s shores and beaches beautiful and show our love and respect for Mother Nature,” said Rep. Grayson.
Estuary regions of the United States comprise just 12 percent of land area of the United States, but they contain 43 percent of the U.S. population, and provide 49 percent of all U.S. economic output. NOAA has conservatively estimated the economic value of coastal recreation alone in the United States--beach going, fishing, bird watching, snorkeling, diving, and so on—to be between $20 billion and $60 billion annually.
“My increase in funding for the National Estuary Program and coastal waterways will result in real returns for the American economy, enhanced quality of life for the American people, and a healthy ecosystem which supports and sustains endangered and threatened species,” said Mr. Grayson.
This estuary program remedies ocean acidification, furthers restoration goals, and implements of the very important Gulf of Mexico hypoxia “action plan” to bring life back to the oxygen-starved coastal waters.
Florida has four estuaries programs, the most in the nation. There are 28 around the country.
The Indian River Lagoon, has been part of the National Estuary Program since 1990. This past March, in Central Florida, it experienced the worst fish kill in the history of the watershed. This fish kill is the result of hypoxia, caused by a recent algae blooming in the lagoon. Countless fish died. No one yet understands how the “brown tide,” the algae which caused the hypoxia, and is typically found in salty water, intruded into the Indian River Lagoon. With ecological disasters like this, we should be moving to fund the President’s request, as Rep. Grayson’s amendment does.
This funding will be used to try to overcome the hypoxia that has arisen in the Indian River Lagoon, while learning what happened, and how to prevent it from happening again.
