Fw: Palm Beach Soil and Water Eva Webb

[Hillary Keyes]

------ Original Message ------
Received: Sat, 01 Nov 2014 03:58:58 PM EDT
From: Tom Conboy <tco...@live.com>
To: Hillary Keyes <spide...@usa.net>
Subject: Fw: Palm Beach Soil and Water Eva Webb

Hillary,

Please Forward widely!

Tom

Sent from Windows Mail

From: Drew Martin
Sent: ‎Friday‎, ‎October‎ ‎31‎, ‎2014 ‎6‎:‎26‎ ‎PM
To: tco...@live.com

We need to preserve our Soil and Water Conservation Districts

Right now our environment is more important than ever to Florida’s economy.  Soil and Water Conservation Districts provide environmental benefits to protect water quality.  The Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation District has provided three main functions.  The first is monitoring of county owned agricultural land to protect our coastal waters.  We do this work by instituting and maintain agricultural best practices.  This means using the optimal amount of water and chemicals while limiting the amount of runoff into or coastal estuaries.  The second function is the analysis and promotion of efficient sprinkler systems.  We have a mobile irrigation lab to prevent water waste.  This saves everyone money.  The third focus is on education of our youth on the importance of protecting our environment.  We have run the local Envirothon Contest and our county has sent teams to the national Envriothon Contest where they competed for college scholarships.  We also support a poster contest and a state wide speech contest for students.

The Soil and Water Conservation District does not duplicate other agencies.  We were created by an act of the legislature and are the only agency in our county dedicated solely to land, soil and water protection.  We are not a permitting agency or a taxing authority.  We work with the state and county to provide services.  Our board members receive no reimbursement.  We have a very limited staff and a small budget.  We are the type of small government that the public is asking for today.

Yet, the Libertarian Party wishes to eliminate our services and shift them to other agencies at a much higher cost. Because our elected board members get no reimbursement and don’t make decisions that impact wealthy developers Libertarians have run for these boards with sole purpose of abolishing these districts. Agriculture is the second largest industry in Florida.  We work directly with the National Resource Conservation Service to protect and enhance agricultural lands.  It does not make sense to abolish or defund a board that works for free.  When you vote please vote for candidates who support the continued work of the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Eva Webb is the long time chair of the Soil and Water Conservation District.  She is on the ballot county wide.

Drew Martin, Vice Chair, Soil and Water Conservation District of Palm Beach County