Save the Water/Save the Land with Karen Marcus & Rob Robbins

Welcome to Season 2, episode 7 of the Jupiter Farms Residents Podcast. This month, joining Matt, Jillian and Kristen is the unstoppable Susan Kennedy. She guides us through all the history surrounding, saving and protecting the environmental resources with our amazing guests Commissioner Karen Marcus and Rob Robbins the former director of the Palm Beach County Department of Environmental Resources Management (ERM). 

We wanted them to come on to discuss some of Jupiter Farms environmental resource issues. In all of Susan’s time fighting for the land protections to keep Jupiter Farms’ character she realized that all those issues were tied to water management issues. You can’t separate the two. 

04:49 – Rob and Karen explain some of the protections they have historically (in the 2000’s) worked on and the current issues that demand our attention and efforts. 

12:50 – We get into how people like Karen, Susan and Rob were able to communicate the problem to local officials and to actually get the funding to solve the issues of the day.  

17:37 – While the work 20 years ago was significant, there is a lot more to do. 

23:20 – The wet season is getting wetter and the dry season is getting drier – what needs to be done to make sure we have fresh drinking water all year long (and protections against sea level rise). 

33:49 – Where does the 20-year, $150-million bond to support environmental projects stand as of now?

38:29 – Why it’s important to have a county-wide perspective on water/land issues even if you care mostly about what happens in Jupiter Farms. 

42:21 – If we want to improve our water quality, we can’t rely on the Federal Government – we have to act locally. 

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