SFWMD to host 4th annual "16-County Ecosystem Summit" Dec. 6th

The County Coalition is a multiple County based advisory group organized primarily for the purpose of providing the general public, the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Legislature, and various groups and committees with a body which will present a variety of issues dealing with the health and welfare of the lakes, estuaries, and riverine systems consisting of Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries, and Lake Worth Lagoon, and all of the bodies of water connected thereto.

For the past three years in December, the County Coalition has hosted the "16 County Ecosystem Summit" (the 16 counties which comprise the South Florida Water Management District), during which representatives from each of the 16 counties gathered to discuss and adopt shared legislative priorities associated with the health and welfare of South Florida's ecosystem. In October, representatives from the 16 Counties worked together at their first ever lobby day in Washington, D.C.

This year's 16 County Ecosystem Summit will be held on Friday, December 6 at 10:00 a.m. at the Judge William L. Hendry Courtroom, located at 304 NW 2nd Street in Okeechobee. At the meeting, the counties will establish this year's state and federal legislative priorities. Colonel Alan M. Dodd, District Commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District and Blake C. Guillory, Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District will provide updates on the progress of the priorities of the 16 counties and an outlook of agency priorities in 2014.