In 1986, Volusia voters approved a charter amendment which authorized the county to establish minimum standards for environmental protection. Supporters of the amendment criticized the haphazard way that the county and 16 cities protected natural resources, which are important to all of us who live here. Voters empowered the council with authority to set a minimum floor of environmental protection throughout the county. Those standards protect wetlands, trees, dunes, well fields and sea turtles, as well as promote water conservation.