Paraclete_1&2-2024 | Page 22

Florida ’ s Proposed Clean Water Amendment : Mni Wichoni

By William D . Slicker
JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2024
22
To many indigenous peoples , water is sacred . The Lakota phrase “ Mni wichoni ” meaning “ water is life ” is being chanted by Native Americans protesting the depletion of water across the United States . 1 In Canada , the First Nation peoples are actively working with the Canadian Government in advocating concerns about maintaining water systems . 2 In New Zealand , the Maori were successful in having the Whanganui River recognized as a legal person . 3 In Colombia in 2016 , the Constitutional Court declared the Atrato River a legal subject entitled to protection under Colombia ’ s Constitution . Other courts in Colombia have since recognized

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For more information , contact Kevin Hennessy 727.245.0820 • khennessy @ llw-law . com 100 Second Avenue South , Suite 501-S , St . Petersburg , Florida 33701 other ecosystems as legal subjects entitled to constitutional protection . 4 In 2020 , the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh upheld a lower court decision that declared the Turag River and all other rivers in the country are living entities with the rights as legal persons . 5
Here in the United States , there are increasing shortages of clean water . The seven states that share the Colorado River are having difficulty agreeing on usage reductions . 6 In the south , Florida ’ s freshwater aquifers are increasingly susceptible to saltwater intrusion due to over-extraction . 7 Tampa Bay has lost 12 % of its seagrass in the last two years and Sarasota Bay has lost 26 % of its seagrass in the last six years . 8 The seagrass is necessary for acting as a nursery for baby fish and invertebrates . 9
Some Floridians have taken the lead in trying to place legal rights of waterways into the Florida Constitution . Several Florida environmental protection groups are trying to collect enough signatures to add a “ right to clean water ” provision to the Florida Constitution . 10 , 11 The proposed amendment is based on an Orange County “ Right to Clean Water ” initiative that passed in November , 2020 by an 89 % majority . 12 “ The amendment would recognize the legally enforceable rights of all waterways across Florida to ‘ exist , flow , be free of pollution , and maintain a healthy ecosystem .’ The amendment then provides that any Floridian or Florida organization can file a legal action on behalf of those waterways to require their protection , repair , and restoration .” 13
Blair Wickstrom , senior editor of Florida Sportsman magazine addressed why such an amendment is necessary : “ And right now we have water quality issues statewide . We have fish kills in Southwest Florida , polluted springs in the Northwest , seagrass die-offs in East Central and Southeast Florida , and a starving Everglades and over-salty Florida Bay .” 14
Gil Smart , executive director of VoteWater lamented that the sugar and phosphate industries have “ spent over $ 11 million on campaign contributions for the 2022 election