The following is slightly adapted from a talk I gave Thursday in Sarasota during a Water Alliance Forum: Since I’ve covered and commented on water issues, first as a reporter and then as an editorial editor at the Herald-Tribune, for almost 35 years now, Pat Lehman (executive director of the Peace River Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority) asked me to provide a "Historical Perspective of Water Supply in our Region." I won't start at the beginning but will note that October 1958, the month I was born at Manatee Veterans Memorial Hospital, was a watershed moment for our region. A consultant hired by the Manatee County Commission (a bunch of progressive good ol’ boys; now,...
↧