New director appointed for water authority

Jacque Rippe, 43, is now the director of the South Florida Water Management District's Lower West Coast Service Center. The center is in Fort Myers and serves Lee County and parts of Collier and Charlotte counties.

Although Rippe is the fourth center director in just longer than two years, outside groups and district governing board members say they're confident that this latest change won't be to the detriment of Southwest Florida.

Rippe oversees more than 50 employees in an office that reviews and issues water use permits and also manages flood control and environmental restoration projects for this region. Prior to taking over the West Coast Service Center, Rippe was the project manager for the East Bonita buyout.

"I plan to focus on trying to restore a lot of the natural systems while working with private groups and developers to bring everybody together," Rippe said.

Rippe has worked for the Water Management District for 12 years and has a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Ohio Northern University.

John Cassani with the Southwest Florida Watershed Council said the recent change shouldn't harm the district's ability to serve the southwest coast.

"If it were an outsider, I'd probably say yes," Cassani said when asked if he were concerned about the latest change. "But since Jacque has been here and knows the lay of the land and knows the stakeholders, I think she's a good choice."

Rippe met with members of the Watershed Council on Thursday.

"This is the fastest growing area in the U.S.," Rippe told the group. "We know there are property rights out there, but we want to keep this as the Southwest Florida coast we all love. I want to try to reconnect the natural system and not have as many canals and structures as they do on the east coast."

Water Management District governing board member Trudi Williams, who represents Southwest Florida, said she's confident that Rippe will do well as center director.

"She's one of the only directors we've had recently with a long institutional memory," Williams said. "She's so calm, she's so level headed, and she's a great engineer. I think she'll do a great job."