The former director of the Environmental Protection Agency will deliver the keynote address at a symposium in Key West beginning Friday. Christine Todd Whitman will talk about dwindling fresh water resources.

Christine Todd Whitman, who directed the EPA from 2001 to 2003, kicks off the Fifth Annual Truman Legacy Symposium, a conference concentrating on one aspect of former President Harry S. Truman’s tenure as chief executive.

“Truman really took things to a level that raised the awareness of the American people on the importance of preserving land and preserving the precious resources, like water – something that we don’t make more and most people seem to not understand that. They think it’s a free commodity that doesn’t need help whatsoever. You look at Lake Okeechobee and see what’s happening to water there and water throughout Florida and translate that around the country and the world and you’ll see what an enormous issue it is.”

Titled "Harry S. Truman and the Environment: From Los Alamos to the Everglades," the symposium is at the Little White House in Key West where Truman spent 175 days during his 1945-1953 tenure in office. Its timing coincides with the 60th anniversary of Truman’s dedication of Everglades National Park.

Whitman also plans to discuss current U.S. environmental policy and the importance of leadership relationships at both government and grassroots levels.

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The Fifth Annual Truman Legacy Symposium kicks off in Key West Friday. This year’s theme is the environment, marking the 60th anniversary of President Harry S. Truman’s dedication of Everglades National Park. Christine Todd Whitman, who directed the EPA from 2001 to 2003 delivers the key note address. She says President Truman, who served from 1945 to 1953, was ahead of the curve.

“And it was very hard to be ahead. It always is hard in environmental issues to be ahead of the curve because it’s hard to convince people about a problem they may not be seeing. And yet that’s really what he did with his environmental legacy.”

Other presenters include Michael Grunwald of "The Washington Post," author of "The Swamp: The Everglades, Florida and the Politics of Paradise, one of Truman’s speechwriters as well as Truman’s grandson Clifton Truman Daniel.

The symposium takes place at the Little White House in Key West where Truman vacationed when he was President.