The recent resignation of the South Florida Water Management District’s executive director, Melissa Meeker leaves some big shoes for the district to fill. Her departure is among a number of recent leadership changes at the helm of the state’s largest water control district.
Months before announcing her resignation Meeker appointed former governing board member Dan Delisi of Estero Chief of Staff at the District. Delisi, formerly a partner with a land use and civil engineering consulting firm said implementing district policies with a focus on greater engagement with the community is what attracted him to the position. “It’s a non-stop job,” said Delisi.
“We have 16 counties that stretch from the Keys all the way up to Orlando on the East coast and Central Florida and then Southwest Florida. So there’s constantly things to do, people to talk to and a message to bring to different communities.”
Then in March, another Southwest Florida resident joined the district’s leadership when Governor Rick Scott appointed Fort Myers Land planner Mitch Hutchcraft to the district’s governing board. Hutchcraft is Vice President of real estate for King Ranch/Consolidated Citrus LP, a large juice orange producer. These appointments are increasing the SFWMD’s representation from the west coast which could be a boon for the area.
“When I was on the governing board, the representation from the West coast was one governing board member and really no one on the executive team over in West Palm Beach,” said Delisi. “Now, I’m over in West Palm Beach and we have two representatives on the governing board from Southwest Florida. We have Mitch Hutchcraft and we have Rick Barber. So, the representation from the west coast is more now than it’s been at any time that I can remember.”
With his background working for agriculture and land management Hutchcraft said he brings a unique point of view to the governing board. “My life in Southwest Florida, I’ve been on the receiving end of the district,” said Hutchcraft. “And so I have a different perspective about the rules and the regulations and how easy it is to mesh with the district. And how can we jointly achieve positive outcomes.” Hutchcraft says one way is to explore greater opportunities for partnering with large landowners to disperse water storage. “Sometimes building the big basins is very expensive to do on a per unit of water stored,” said Hutchcraft. “And maybe there’s an opportunity to augment that with other projects where we store water shallow on property that you’re partnering with landowners and that cost per unit stored is very low.”
Windermere real estate attorney and governing board member Dan O’Keefe was appointment Chair of the South Florida Water Management District this year. He says competing interests for water remains a challenge he feels every day. “It’s always a struggle. There’s only so much water to go around and you’ve got the needs of agriculture, you’ve got the needs of utilities that want to make sure that when you turn on your sink or shower, that there’s water there,” said O’Keefe. “And you’ve got the needs of the natural system in the environment and it’s a balancing act.”
To that end, Delisi, says he’s working with water consumers to build consensus for future water management projects impacting the Caloosahatchee River. “Agriculture interests pointing fingers at environmentalists, environmentalists pointing fingers at agriculture, under that climate, how do you get an appropriation to fund something?” said Delisi. “So, strategically we need a process that can bring people together and focus in on something they can all agree on to move us forward over the next ten years together.”
Later this month, district officials will bring together a variety of agricultural, government, environmental, and business interests at a workshop in Fort Myers. The date for that workshop and others that will take place throughout the district over the next year have not yet been announced.
