There is no doubt that Floridians want clean water. (Illustration: AI for Silverberg4Florida.com/ChatGPT)
April 22, 2026 by David Silverberg, candidate for Florida state Senate, District 28
Water isn’t Republican or Democratic, or conservative or liberal. It’s something essential to human life regardless of race, creed, religion or national origin. Clean, fresh water needs to be protected and cherished.
This is particularly true in Southwest Florida and state Senate District 28, consisting of Collier and Hendry counties and Lee County east of Rt. 75—which I am running to represent.
This is being published on Earth Day 2026, a day when we should all be particularly mindful of our relationship to the planet and the natural environment on which we depend.
If elected state senator representing this district, I am determined to protect Southwest Florida’s waters from depletion, pollution and destruction.
Why?
All of what we take for granted as modern human life here in Southwest Florida—our buildings, roads, businesses—are built on a thin layer of concrete and asphalt imposed on a foundation of sand and swamp.
Without human intervention, this is an environment hostile to human life. Without human order and technology, people simply could not live amidst the extreme temperatures, the swarms of mosquitos and ravenous wildlife, all of it drenched by tropical downpours when not baked by tropical heat.
A plentiful supply of clean, fresh, drinkable water makes possible our life in this “built” environment. Without it, not only would we have no form of hydration, the plants and animals of this region could not flourish. Southwest Florida would be an arid, burnt, desert and unlivable for humans and most anything else.
Our fresh, drinkable water comes primarily from underground aquifers. The aquifers are replenished by seasonal rains and tropical storms. It is absolutely essential that these aquifers be protected from pollution and depletion. If they’re polluted or degraded, there’s no going back.
Last year we had no major tropical storms to bring water from the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico to the aquifers. As a result, as this is written, Southwest Florida is in the midst of an intense, extreme drought. Wildfires are breaking out and no one can tell where they’ll flare next. Homes have been evacuated. To the north of the 28th District, the City of Cape Coral has imposed restrictions on water use and irrigation due to depletion of its Mid-Hawthorn Aquifer. Unless there’s replenishment the rest of the region could face the same constraints.
The aquifers are precious and must be kept pure.
But it’s not just aquifers that sustain life in Southwest Florida. The region’s lakes, streams and the massive wetlands of the Everglades are also critical to human and animal life. What is more, they’re foundational to the region’s economy, lifestyle and habitability.
Most people are vaguely aware of their presence. But it isn’t until something goes wrong that many people fully recognize the importance of these waters in their daily lives.
That’s what happened in the fall of 2017 and spring of 2018 when massive algal blooms occurred both in the Caloosahatchee River and the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve long called this incident “The Big Bloom” and it had a devastating effect on the region’s economy and local life. People were driven from their houses by toxic algae in the air. The economy, tourism, jobs, and property values took tremendous hits.
We have to fight the pollution that poisons our waters and gives rise to harmful algal blooms and that is what I intend to do as state Senator, based on the best scientific findings and clear, convincing evidence.
We also have to realize that pollution and degradation goes beyond just our region and extends throughout the state. Water quality needs to be addressed holistically and comprehensively. I look forward to working with senators and representatives across the state—and across the aisle—as we tackle these issues.
Obviously, protecting the purity of our waters is tied to the reality of climate change, federal action and oil exploitation. These are issues that I will be discussing in future statements.
Perhaps my intentions were best expressed by another Floridian:
“We will fight toxic blue-green algae, we will fight discharges from Lake Okeechobee, we will fight red tide, we will fight for our fishermen, we will fight for our beaches, we will fight to restore our Everglades and we will never ever quit, we won’t be cowed and we won’t let the foot draggers stand in our way.”
Those are great sentiments, I share them completely and they’re what I intend to do if elected to the Florida Senate.
By the way, those are words spoken by, of all people, Ron DeSantis, when he gave his inaugural speech as governor in 2019.
DeSantis certainly seems to have dropped the torch and lost the urgency of those words in the years since. I have not. He and his allies are now the “foot draggers” delaying progress.
But in November, with the votes of the people of Southwest Florida and my election, that foot dragging won’t continue. We will never ever quit, we won’t be cowed and we will always guard the purity of Florida’s precious water.
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See Silverberg4Florida.com for more positions and opportunities to volunteer.
To read other position papers:
Why I want to make Florida affordable again
Why I want to keep Florida’s local governments strong
Why I want to end Alligator Alcatraz
Why I am running for the Florida State Senate in District 28
© 2026 by David Silverberg