The best way to protect water is to conserve land. The more we develop our open space to accommodate a booming population, the more our water is negatively impacted. We must protect water at its source, which means we must protect the land.
On the November Ballot is a measure that would allow the county to borrow $50m to conserve land. We have a history of conservation in this county. Since 1903 and the formation of the Pelican Island National Wildlife Reserve and it's 5,376 acres of conservation land, Indian River County has been at the forefront of Land Conservation. It is in our blood, and we will continue to preserve environmentally significant lands for as long as we can.
Development is consuming our natural areas and impacting our water, our wildlife, and our quality of life. Water quality problems have only been increasing as we build more and more. Preserving natural lands for future generations is a responsibility of every generation. We need to protect Indian River County’s drinking water sources, the Indian River Lagoon, our natural areas and wildlife habitat for our children and grandchildren!
For only $44.00 a year, $3.66 a month for the average homeowner, we can protect that our water resources, natural areas, and wildlife habitat that help maintain our high quality of life.
REMEMBER TO LOOK FOR IT ON THE BACK OF YOUR BALLOT. You need to pass all the judges, all the politicians, and look at the back of the first page of your ballot, in the bottom right corner. You will be asked to vote For Bonds or Against Bonds.
The Language of the ballot measure is here:
To acquire and permanently preserve environmentally significant lands to restore the Indian River Lagoon, protect water resources, natural areas, wildlife habitat, drinking water resources, and construct public access improvements related thereto, shall Indian River County be authorized to issue general obligation bonds up to $50,000,000, maturing within 20 years from each issuance, not exceeding the legal maximum interest rate, payable from ad valorem taxes, with full public disclosure of all spending through annual independent audits?
Visit the website of the bond proponents, Indian River Forever, here. There is an extensive FAQ and much more information.
They are putting out a lot of great ads on Social Media and elsewhere you may have seen. Here's an example of one:
