TOGETHER WE
CAN PROTECT
OUR WATERS

TOGETHER WE
CAN PROTECT
OUR WATERS

Captains For Clean Water is on a mission to restore and protect aquatic ecosystems for the use and enjoyment of all.

Captains For Clean Water is on a mission to restore and protect aquatic ecosystems for the use and enjoyment of all.

DISCHARGES FROM LAKE O' ONGOING AS OF SAT, FEB 17THBe the first to receive updates and alerts for when we need your voice!

WATER QUALITY WINS2023 IMPACT REPORT

Informing and inspiring clean-water advocates at an unprecedented level.

ECONOMIC REPORTSTUDY CONFIRMS BILLION-DOLLAR IMPACT OF WATER QUALITY

Revealing the true cost of toxic algal blooms on Southwest Florida's economy

RESTORATION PROGRESSSTORMWATER TREATMENT AREA CELEBRATES COMPLETION

A Major ribbon cutting at the critical EAA Reservoir restoration project

MAKE A DIFFERENCEDONATE TODAY FOR CLEAN WATER TOMORROW

Help us continue fighting for our waters now and into the future by donating to our mission.

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We're stronger together

HELP SAVE THE EVERGLADESUrge Congress to invest boldly in Everglades restoration with $725 million in federal funding.

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ADVANCING WATER QUALITY SOLUTIONS WITH OUR ARMY OF CLEAN WATER ADVOCATES

Through our Awareness, Education, and Advocacy programs, we engage our supporters to advance science-based solutions that solve Florida’s water mismanagement and safeguard our way of life for future generations.

These programs directly support our 3 key areas of focus and encompass a variety of opportunities for supporters to make a difference in the fight for Florida’s water quality.

OUR FOCUS AREAS

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

Advancing improved water management and infrastructure that restore the Everglades, resolving water-quality issues throughout south Florida.

NUTRIENT
POLLUTION

Creating awareness around excess nutrient sources and their detrimental impact to our coastal estuaries, such as fueling red tide, blue green algae, and other harmful algal blooms (HABs).

WATER
POLICY

Activating our supporters to influence water policy and management outcomes through awareness campaigns and action opportunities.

WE NEED YOUR VOICESubscribe to our newsletter to stay informed and engaged on water quality issues we need your support on!

OUR PROGRAMS EXPEDITING CHANGE

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AWARENESS

A critical piece of our mission is generating awareness around the issues impacting Florida’s water quality. We are pulling the curtain back on the status quo and shining a light on special interest favoritism that has lead to exacerbated red tide blooms, increased blue green algae blooms, sea grass die offs and overall ecological collapse.

Issues you should be aware of:

Toxic Discharges from Lake Okeechobee

Current lake operations and limited infrastructure have cursed our coastal estuaries for decades, all-too-often leading to high-volume discharges that send nutrient-rich lake water carrying toxic blue-green algae to the east and west coasts of Florida. These discharges can fuel other harmful algal blooms, like red tide, and cause salinity imbalances that kill essential habitat, like seagrasses and oysters.

Send It South

The ‘Send It South’ campaign raises awareness on the need to send more water south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades and Florida Bay. Not doing so endangers these resources due to ecological imbalance from not receiving enough fresh water. The solution is to support improved operations, such as LOSOM, and new Everglades restoration infrastructure, like the EAA Reservoir.

EDUCATION

Our education programs encompass a variety of resources and relationships that enable us to put the ‘why’ and ‘how’ to the problems impacting our waters. Speaking engagements, discussions with key stakeholders, relationships with science partners, and digital education campaigns are a few of the initiatives that enable us to be effective.

Education programs:

Resource Impact Tours

Captains For Clean Water Impact Tours offer a field-trip style education program designed to cultivate leaders in the clean-water fight by increasing understanding of water-quality issues and generating engagement toward solutions. These unique experiences are tailored to get a firsthand look at the estuaries affected by water management and Everglades restoration.

Speaking Engagements

True to our grassroots beginnings, speaking engagements allow us to engage with the community and discuss the issues that impact our waters firsthand. We believe a boots-on-the-ground approach is critical to facilitating a deep understanding of our complex issues—and is also what makes Captains unique and successful.

Captains For Clean Water Merch
Captains For Clean Water Merch

EDUCATION

Our education programs encompass a variety of resources and relationships that enable us to put the ‘why’ and ‘how’ to the problems impacting our waters. Speaking engagements, discussions with key stakeholders, relationships with science partners, and digital education campaigns are a few of the initiatives that enable us to be effective.

Education programs:

Resource Impact Tours

Captains For Clean Water Impact Tours offer a field-trip style education program designed to cultivate leaders in the clean-water fight by increasing understanding of water-quality issues and generating engagement toward solutions. These unique experiences are tailored to get a firsthand look at the estuaries affected by water management and Everglades restoration.

Speaking Engagements

True to our grassroots beginnings, speaking engagements allow us to engage with the community and discuss the issues that impact our waters firsthand. We believe a boots-on-the-ground approach is critical to facilitating a deep understanding of our complex issues—and is also what makes Captains unique and successful.

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ADVOCACY

Building an army of clean-water advocates who are aware, educated, and ready to carry the Captains For Clean Water mission forward is how we, as an organization, are most impactful. Moving the needle on clean-water progress in Florida is a collective effort.

Our historic success stories:

Senate Bill 2508 - VETO

On February 4, 2022 the Florida Senate filed Senate Bill 2508, a dangerous piece of legislation that posed a major threat to Everglades restoration and clean-water progress. The bill would have undone years of progress and reverted water management back to an industry-serving system that prioritized water supply for special interests at the expense of everyone else. That would have guaranteed more harmful discharges to the coasts, more toxic algae, less water to the Everglades, and incalculable economic and environmental losses that harm all Floridians.

Thankfully, however, our supporters GOT LOUD, and there was an outpouring of public opposition to SB 2508—including that of Governor Ron DeSantis, who slammed the bill. Ultimately, the bill was vetoed in a landmark moment for clean water that sent a clear message about the importance of water quality. It was also a reminder of the power we have as individuals to influence change, because the precedent-setting moment would have never happened without every single person that did their part to oppose the bill—no matter how big or small.

LOSOM

The Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) is the manual with which the Army Corps of Engineers will manage Lake O’s water levels over the next 10 years. That’s a big deal for our coastal communities that receive toxic discharges that lead to ecological collapse. Throughout the three-year planning process, Captains stayed inserted in the conversations and development meetings to ensure the new manual would be balanced for all stakeholders, especially the estuaries, who had received the brunt of adversity for decades. 

And that’s exactly what happened. The support from our call to action campaigns secured a favorable outcome that will reduce damaging discharges to the east and west coasts of Florida and send more water south to the Everglades.

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