June 24, 2009

On June 23, 2009, the District Governing Board voted to extend Phase III water restrictions for Charlotte, DeSoto, Manatee, and Sarasota counties through July 31, 2009. Click here to view the entire June 23, 2009 SWFWMD news release.

Please see the Phase III fact sheet for the list of restrictions.

Charlotte County has a special once-per-week schedule in effect. View it here. If you have any questions regarding these county water regulations, please contact Charlotte County Utilities at (941)764-4300 and remember that we are experiencing serious drought conditions. Your cooperation is needed to conserve our water supply.

Because there appears to still be some confusion about the watering regulations instituted by Charlotte County Utilities (CCU) effective February 1, 2008, this is a reminder that the current water restrictions — detailed below — apply to all residents and all water sources including public and private utilities, wells, canals, lakes, rivers, streams, and ponds.

Lawn & Landscape Watering For Rotonda Residents:

• If your address (house number) ends in:
  0 or 1 -- Water only on Monday
  2 or 3 -- Water only on Tuesday
  4 or 5 -- Water only on Wednesday
  6 or 7 -- Water only on Thursday
  8 or 9 -- Water only on Friday
• Only water once per week before 8 a.m. or after 6 p.m.
• Handwatering or microirrigation of non-lawn landscape is allowed.
• Certain exemptions are available, such as allowances for new plant material.

Please Note These Substantial CCU Charges for Unauthorized Water Use:
Under Phase III Water Shortage Conditions, as directed by SWFWMD, CCU will not issue written warnings to its customers for first-time water restriction violations. The first offense will result in a $250 Unauthorized Water Use Charge; the second and subsequent offenses will result in a $500 Unauthorized Water Use Charge.

To report a suspected violation of watering restrictions, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., please call CCU at 941-764-4300. CCU staff will be dispatched to observe and document the incident. The violation must be observed and documented by CCU staff in order to issue an Unauthorized Use Charge. Outside of regular business hours, please contact the Sheriff's Office at 941-639-2101.

If you have additional questions please email: water.restrictions@watermatters.org.

Mike Billington column
Englewood Sun
June 20, 2009

The battle began a few months ago when Belinda Olsen saw a couple of men in a boat laying long drag lines in the canals near her Rotonda West home.

She wondered about that and soon discovered that the men, commercial fishermen from Okeechobee or thereabouts, were using the lines to catch freshwater turtles -- and anything and everything else that might get hooked, including diving birds and fish.

She also discovered that the turtles they caught would be shipped off to Asia to be used for food and in various folk remedies. Intrigued, she did some more research and learned that American freshwater turtles are just about as precious as gold when it comes to Asian markets. The reason: Asia's freshwater turtle population is almost nonexistent, the result of persistent harvesting without regard to the future.

It struck Belinda as wrong that fishermen from central Florida would show up in Rotonda's canal system and callously strip it of its turtle population. It struck her as wrong that these same fishermen would then sell of their plundered turtles for fat profits to Asian markets.

The more she learned, the madder she got. The madder she got, the more determined she grew to stop this barbaric practice. It wasn't long before she and her husband Don had gotten in touch with a lot of their friends and neighbors. They started pushing state officials, right up to Gov. Charlie Crist, to put an end to it.

Their weapons of choice: Letters, e-mails and phone calls.

Lots of them.

And although fighting city hall can be a time-consuming and frustrating exercise in futility, it turned out to be something quite different in this case.

They won.

Earlier this week, Florida wildlife officials approved some of the strongest freshwater turtle protection laws in the country. Crist had urged them to do that after reading some of the many cards, letters and e-mails that had been sent to his office urging a ban on the essentially unlimited harvesting of freshwater turtles.

(Yes, there were some regulations against "strip mining" freshwater turtles from Florida's waterways, but way too few wildlife officials to do anything more than a few cursory inspections. The result: Some turtle harvesters broke the law with impunity.)

Belinda pointed out in an e-mail she sent out Thursday that although the battle has been won, the need for constant vigilance remains.

"If," she wrote, "you should see any activity in our canals or lakes that are suspicious, please call Florida Fish and Wildlife at (888-404-3922)."

Vigilance will be important in the weeks and months to come. The fact is that because of Florida's tighter regulations, and the tightening of similar regulations in Texas and South Carolina, the price of freshwater turtles bound for Asian markets will increase because the supply is going to decrease.

That means some people will risk a fine or even a little jail time to harvest as many turtles as they can in hopes of making some easy money.

So be vigilant.

Because now that you've won the battle, it would be a shame to lose the war.

June 9, 2009

The increase in unemployment in our area has lead to a spike in burglaries in homes and cars. For your own safety and well-being, Rotonda West Neighborhood Watch urges that you exercise heightened awareness.

• Be on the look out for strangers in your neighborhood and slow moving cars. They may be looking for
  unoccupied homes for break-ins.
• Keep doors and windows locked.
• Lock sliding glass doors on the lanai.
• Close garage doors when not needed.
• Lock cars parked outdoors.

If you follow these simple precautions, you may save yourself serious anxieties.

If you happen to see any suspicious activity, call the Sheriff’s Office at 475-9005, or 911 in an emergency.