Too bad it’s not called “Smartmud.”
The name “Swiftmud”–the customized acronym for Southwest Florida Water Management District–appears to connote dispatch and expeditious enabling to its board members. That certainly seems the upshot as Swiftmud, which is responsible for granting state permits for filling wetlands in the 16-county region around Tampa Bay, is now saying it wants to take on the federal permitting process as well.
The reason: The feds–as in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers–are too slow. Too slow for developers, that is, who easily forget the genesis of the federal oversight: The Clean Water Act of 1972. Its unnuanced aim was to intentionally make it hard to get permits to destroy wetlands. In other words, the onus was on developers to make the case that the continued reduction in wetlands habitat was a price worth paying for more Florida sprawl.
Swiftmud Chairman Carlos Beruff, who sees the district as a “service industry” expediter for business, matter-of-factly notes the rationale for wanting to issue federal permits on wetlands: “So we don’t slow down the economic progress in the 16 counties that we say grace over.” Ironically, wetlands–in all their eco-system ramifications–play a vital role in the growth and economy of this region that Swiftmud so ardently champions.
Beruff’s day job, by the way, is Manatee County developer. He founded Bradenton-based Medallion Homes. He’s also politically active and was a delegate to the 2012 Republican National Convention.