SCCF has long supported the effort to grant Floridians a right to clean and healthy water, which is currently collecting signatures to become a state constitutional amendment through a 2026 ballot initiative.

The Florida Right to Clean Water ballot initiative was originally proposed for the 2024 ballot, but ultimately fell short of the 900,000 signatures necessary for review by the Florida Supreme Court. However, the initiative is back with revised language and an energized group of professionals and volunteers. 

Because petitions must be delivered to the state as paper copies, Florida Right to Clean Water organizers are enlisting volunteers to gather petitions at polling stations on Election Day (Nov. 5, 2024) and during early voting (Oct. 26 – Nov. 2, 2024).

SCCF supports this call to action and asks interested members and followers to click here to sign up to collect signatures at the polls.

The Right to Clean and Healthy Waters amendment would grant Floridians standing to sue state executive agencies who are tasked with ensuring that Florida’s water is clean when these efforts are falling short, explained Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis. 

“Many of Florida’s waterways are impaired, and under the Clean Water Act, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is tasked with crafting plans to clean the water,” DePaolis said. “Currently, there is little the average Floridian can do to hold their leaders accountable if no progress is being made. This initiative would change that.”

Here in South Florida, our environment, our economy, and our way of life requires clean water, as shown by the results of the water quality economic study SCCF released in January alongside Captains for Clean Water and the Conservancy of Southwest Florida. This report showed that another significant harmful algal bloom in Charlotte, Lee, and Collier Counties similar to the red tide events in 2005-06 and 2017-18 could cause economic losses including:

• Over $460 million in commercial and recreational fishing
• Over 43,000 jobs
• $5.2 billion in local economic output
• $17.8 billion in property values with an associated $60 million in property tax revenue
• $8.1 billion in the value of outdoor recreation (or, quality of life)

With ongoing nutrient pollution from watershed runoff and damaging Lake Okeechobee discharges, securing a right to clean water for Floridians is more important than ever.

“This amendment would be a great tool to ensuring that our water is clean for generations to come,” DePaolis said.

If you already signed the Florida Right Clean Water petition, you will have to do so again to be counted for the 2026 initiative. If you are a Lee county resident who signed, you can expect to receive a petition in the mail, along with additional petitions to hand out to your friends and neighbors.

Earlier this year, SCCF Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis joined the Friends of the Everglades’ live panel to discuss the Florida Right to Clean Water movement.

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