FOWR Member Spotlight- Mike Cliburn!
Mike shared some of his background and hopes for the Wekiva Basin and answered a few other fun questions for us. Enjoy!
Mike is a retired environmental engineer who worked for over 40 years as a project manager to plan, design, and construct water supply and water reclamation facilities, mostly here in central Florida. His most memorable projects include OUC’s Lake Highland Water Treatment Plant (WTP) in downtown Orlando, Seminole County’s Markham Road WTP, Orange County’s Eastern and South Water Reclamation Facilities (WTF), and the Northwest WTP and Parkway WRF for the Toho Water Authority.
Mike grew up in a small town in south-central Kentucky, and started college at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN, where he met his wife, Rosemary. After earning a B.S. at the University of Tennessee, he and Rosemary moved to Gainesville so Mike could obtain a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Florida (however, his blood is still Orange & White). Although reluctant to admit this because it dates him, Mike says he became interested in environmental engineering right about the time the U.S. EPA was formed, following the fire on the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland.
Before retiring, Mike was recruited by Jay Exum to help FOWR address the impacts of septic tanks on springs water quality. He served as FOWR’s representative on FDEP’s Advisory Committee for the Wekiwa & Rock Springs Basin Management Action Plan. He is also Secretary of the Florida Springs Council.
What do you like to do for fun?
After her retirement from teaching elementary school, Rosemary became a volunteer puppy raiser for Southeastern Guide Dogs and raised ten puppies for them. Rosemary and I adopted two of the puppies who didn’t make it as guide dogs, and they recently adopted a retired guide dog that they had raised as a puppy. So we now have three Labrador Retrievers who keep our house fully supplied with dog hair. Rosemary has gotten all three certified as therapy dogs, so they go to schools and libraries where kids read to them, and sometimes to court where they comfort kids who have to testify.
What's your earliest memory of the Wekiva River?
My earliest and fondest memories of the Wekiva River are from taking my kids canoeing on the river and Rock Springs Run when they were in Indian Princesses and Indian Guides in the early 1980’s. At the time, I didn’t realize how unique Wekiwa and Rock Springs were. I was focused on trying to make it down the river or Rock Springs Run without tipping!
What do you wish people knew about the river and why did you get involved with FOWR??
I wish more people, especially the locally elected officials, understood how the flow and water quality in the springs and river are threatened by withdrawals of groundwater and activities in the Wekiva Basin. I believe that volunteer groups like FOWR and the Florida Springs Council must be active in educating the public and elected officials about these challenges because governments often don’t act until a crisis or emergency arises. I am optimistic that FOWR can help protect the springs and river because of our organization’s history of successes over the past 40 years! The Wekiva River Protection Act and the designation of the Wekiva as a Wild & Scenic River and Outstanding Florida Waterway are great examples of how FOWR can make a difference.