Whitney Ball’s sign appropriately read: “STOP THE BLAME.”

The Moore Haven High School senior’s makeshift poster was one of many on display during the much talked about, much attended, and much debated South Florida Water Management District meeting Wednesday. Ball hung this innovative sign on the wall in the Florida Gulf Coast University student union ballroom.

The “BLAME” in Ball’s sign overshadowed the word “MUCK” on the original sign. Ball said the “BLAME” also symbolized the fingerpointing in the Lake Okeechobee discharge controversy, which she feels has overshadowed the real issues.

Ball understands the Lake O discharges, which are causing the disconcerting “MUCK,” are polluting both the Caloosahatchee River to the west and the St. Lucie estuaries to the east. But she claims if the lake wasn’t in such poor shape this wouldn’t be an issue.

“We need to clean the lake,” Ball said. “That’s the big problem. People to the east and the west coast can complain all they want about the discharges, they can threaten lawsuits, they can point fingers but there wouldn’t be a problem if we had a clean lake.”

Ball, 18, showed that her wisdom exceeds her years.

She understands first-hand the problem with Lake O. She’s grown up on the lake. Her family lives on the lake. She couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

Yet, Ball hasn’t gone swimming in Lake O since she was a preschooler.

“It’s disgusting,” said Ball, who traveled by bus with her classmates to be seen and heard at the meeting. “There’s no way I would go swimming in it now. I wouldn’t even eat any of the fish. That’s if you could catch a fish.”

Ball is in Crystal Drake’s social studies class at Moore Haven High School. As part of a class project, Drake’s students studied the dilemmas facing Lake O and the surrounding areas and made a presentation to the SFWMD.

Jesse Capuzzi, a senior and the school’s first speaker, couldn’t control her emotions when she brought up the burning question of the day.

“What are we willing to do?” Capuzzi said. “Sue each other? Blame each other? Or flood our lands?”

The final proposal, which has been considered as a last ditch proposal, caused Capuzzi’s voice to crack.

“I’m emotional about this issue,” she said afterward. “This directly affects me and my family. Our future is at risk.”

Azuree Arias, 17, ended the Moore Haven presentation with one distinct win/win solution: “A cleaner lake bottom is good for the health of the Caloosahatchee and the St. Lucie estuaries and for the lake itself.”

The entire presentation received a loud round of applause from the packed room.

The 33 students in Drake’s class were only a fraction of the 400-plus overflow crowd concerned about Lake O and the releases.

A large contingent of the audience had traveled from across the state. They came from Martin County, St. Lucie County, Hendry County and beyond.

Kim Fielder, a junior at Clewiston High School, held a sign that read, “Don’t flood our town.”

This, too, is her biggest fear.

“Our family could lose everything that it has worked so hard for,” said Fielder, whose family has lived in Clewiston dating back to the 1800s.

Fielder, who wants to be a veterinarian, is planning to make Clewiston her lifelong home as long as it remains above water.

“I would love to live in Clewiston forever,” she said. “That’s if we have a town to live in.”

Bob Voisinet, 60, came for the kids, too. His kids. And his kids’ future kids.

Voisinet held up a sign that read, “SFWMD is Sugar Coating the dilemma.” He made the sign during the three-hour bus ride from Stuart.

The lifelong Martin County resident feels the solution to the problem is to create a water passageway through the sugar cane farms.

Voisinet worries he won’t live to see the problem fixed.

“It’s not about me. It’s about my children and grandchildren,” he said. “This argument is about preserving the future. And if we don’t address this problem now, Lake O and all of the other waterways won’t have a future.”

Voisinet, much like the rest of the audience, was impressed by the support of the young people on this issue.

Obviously, fixing Lake O’s problems isn’t child’s play. But leave it to a bunch of kids to point out that the adults need to grow up and stop blaming each other for the problems.

Mike DiTerlizzi, a commissioner from Martin County, best summed up the day’s proceedings.

“There’s a common theme here,” DiTerlizzi said. “Let’s play nice together. We all need to get along.”

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E-mail columnist Tom Hanson at tahanson@bonitanews.com

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