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On Wednesday May 8, East County Water Control District (ECWCD) hosted the first in a series of four community presentations in honor of its 55th\u00a0Anniversary.<\/p>\nOn Wednesday May 8, East County Water Control District (ECWCD) hosted the first in a series of four community presentations in honor of its 55th\u00a0Anniversary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe speaker series is an opportunity to explore the history of our area and help residents better understand the issues facing southwest Florida\u2019s environment and the function of the District,\u201d said ECWCD Commissioner Michael Bonacolta.<\/p>\n
ECWCD preserves and protects water resources through drainage, conservation, mitigation, navigation and water best management practices in 70,000 acres of land in both Lehigh Acres and the western portion of Hendry County.<\/p>\n
The District began as part of the Lehigh Corporation and has long history with the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cCommunity members are embracing this educational series and filled every seat in the room for the first session,\u201d said David E. Lindsay, ECWCD manager.<\/p>\n
The first session covered the early life in Southwest Florida from the 1800\u2019s \u2013 1930\u2019s and examined the environmental impacts on the area.<\/p>\n
Audience members took a journey through Fort Myers history with author Amy Bennett Williams\u00a0as she shared knowledge learned from compiling her pictorial history book, \u201cAlong the Caloosahatchee River.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams shared the importance that the river played in the early life of Southwest Florida. The historically winding river became a center of commerce for Southwest Florida with business popping up along piers.<\/p>\n
Commissioner J. Nathan Stout\u2019s family settled in Fort Myers in the 1880\u2019s and for a number of years ran the Fort Myers newspaper.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was truly wonderful to see the photographs of places I had only heard of as a child,\u201d said Stout.<\/p>\n
Presenter James Hull, is a\u00a0descendant of one of Southwest Florida’s pioneer families and CEO of AIM Engineering and Surveying. As a native southwest Floridian, Hull has a passion for the area\u2019s rich history and has deep roots in the cattle industry.<\/p>\n
Hull shared with guests the important roots of the original Florida cowboys and his personal accounts of growing up in the area.<\/p>\n
\u201cSouthwest Florida can be likened to the Lonesome Dove series,\u201d said Hull. \u201cHistorically, Florida was the largest producer of cattle and was responsible for restocking the Great Plains with approximately 18,000,000 head of cattle after the demise of Buffalo herds in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Hull, cattle were driven from central Florida through what is now Lehigh Acres before heading to Punta Rasa to be shipped. The Mirror Lakes\/Halfway Pond area of Lehigh Acres played an integral role in the cattle industry as it was a favored stopping point of the early cowboys.<\/p>\n
Presenter Kevin Erwin\u00a0is a certified ecosystem ecologist specializing in large-scale wetland restoration, biodiversity conservation, watershed evaluation and management.\u00a0 His work typically relates to improving the functional capacity of wetlands, and large landscapes and mitigating the impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n
Erwin helped paint a picture of how the Florida\u2019s wetlands and waterways used to work before the area was developed.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil about the 1980\u2019s water was seen as a common enemy of the state of Florida, \u201csaid Stout. \u201cThe historic purpose of water districts was to focus on simply the drainage of land to prepare it for development. Now water districts operating on a water management plan to try and restore some balance to the natural ecosystem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erwin showed an aerial of a segment of Lehigh Acres from 1953 and made a side-by-side comparison to that same cross-section in 2007. The 1953 aerial showed deep wetlands and ponds covering a vast area while the 2007 photo showed the wetlands overtaken sprawling development.<\/p>\n
\u201cHistorically, Southwest Florida and particularly Lehigh Acres, used to have water year round, said Erwin.\u201d \u201cIt is the unplanned development that drained the area, changed the natural flow of water ways and lessened our storage capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erwin noted that Lehigh Acres is headwaters, the literal area that feeds a river, and historically water used to flow both north and south from Lehigh Acres. Development caused the redirecting of water solely to the north which exhausts both the Orange River and Caloosahatchee Rivers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is up to the residents to make a different and change the path we are on in regards to water management, said Erwin. \u201cTo make a change you must be willing to support your water management districts, pay taxes and get involved so you understand our water situation better.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Erwin, it is a reality that Lehigh Acres needs more water storage and infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a truly eye opening presentation,\u201d said Gayle Sheets, community member. \u201cI don\u2019t think many people are aware of the damage development has done to the area or how much we have changed the natural landscape. I think the District is doing a fabulous job at trying to educate people and manage the stormwater needs, but there is more we as citizens can be doing to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
The free speaker series will continue to run Wednesdays, from\u00a0May 15 \u2013 May 29\u00a0at 601 East County Lane, Lehigh Acres, 33936. Refreshments and check-in begin at\u00a012:30 p.m.\u00a0and the presentations run from\u00a01 \u2013 3 p.m.\u00a0 Seating is limited and reservations are required. Light lunch is provided. To reserve your seat, please contact Carla Ulakovic at\u00a0239-368-0044 x17<\/a>\u00a0orcarlau@ecwcd.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Southwest Florida \u2013 A Look Through the Ages<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wednesday, May 15\u00a0\u2013\u00a01 \u2013 3 p.m.\u00a0\u2013 A Corporation Town is Born (1940\u2019s \u2013 1970\u2019s)\u2013\u00a0\u00a0Take a look at the impact of Buckingham Airfield on southwest Florida and visit the roots of the Lehigh Acres Community.\u00a0 Local experts and enthusiasts will share their knowledge of the town\u2019s early development.\u00a0\u00a0Speakers Include: Matt Johnson, author of the Buckingham Army Airfield; ECWCD Commissioner David Deetscreek; Ruth Anglickis,Vice President of Landex<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wednesday, May 22\u00a0\u2013\u00a01 \u2013 3 p.m.\u00a0 \u2013 A Growing Community (1980\u2019s \u2013 2000\u2019s)-\u00a0This session will take a look at the growth and development of Lehigh Acres after the exit of the Lehigh Corporation.\u00a0Speakers Include: Lee County Commissioner Frank Mann, ECWCD Commissioner J. Nathan Stout; Bob Howard, former ECWCD manager\/engineer; Wayne Daltry former director of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Wednesday, May 29\u00a0\u2013\u00a01 \u2013 3 p.m.\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Lehigh, A Look Forward –\u00a0This session will take a look at the future potential for Lehigh Acres.\u00a0 Local government and agency representatives will share insights and their efforts to improving the local community.\u00a0Speakers include: Representative Matthew Caldwell, ECWCD Manager David E. Lindsay, Interim Fire Chief John Wayne, LCSO Captain John Haberman<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On Wednesday May 8, East County Water Control District (ECWCD) hosted the first in a series of four community presentations in honor of its 55th\u00a0Anniversary. \u201cThe speaker series is an… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23149\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}