Human Health and Safety
Our community event on the discharges from Lake Okeechobee filled the Sewall’s Point Town Hall last Thursday, with dozens of engaged citizens turning out to learn about the problem – and what they can do about it. Thanks to all…
Another day, another “technological” fix for Florida’s dirty water. Today’s news story comes to you from the Indian River Lagoon, where Florida Today recently reported on how attempts to “harvest” harmful algae via a floating barge could make the lagoon…
After several years of using an algaecide to kill blue-green algal blooms in Lake Okeechobee and the canals around it, the South Florida Water Management District now plans to test the chemical compound for possible damage to the environment. At…
Ten years ago today, we were in the eye of the storm. The discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers had begun May 8; by early August 2013 the “Lost Summer” was in full swing, with…
It doesn’t get more American than this. Leading up to the Fourth of July, Florida beaches and waterways were packed. Families in the sand, music and cold beverages on the boat, some fishing, some swimming — that’s why we live…
When the U.S. government last week banned sugar imports from a top Dominican producer owned in part by the Florida-based Fanjul brothers, the company could have shown a little contrition. After all, an investigation by the U.S. Customs and Border…
And now, flesh-eating bacteria. Media reports this week note that Florida has seen 65 Vibrio vulnificus so far this year; the bacteria can cause sepsis, intestinal infections and necrotizing fasciitis. It’s the highest number of cases ever recorded in Florida,…
Hurricane Ian was a monster, assaulting Florida’s west coast with winds of 150 mph and a cataclysmic storm surge. With rescuers struggling to reach those who tried to ride out the storm at home, we don’t yet know the human…
The following is a column by VoteWater Board President and Florida Sportsman Publisher Blair Wickstrom which originally appeared in the July 1 edition of Florida Sportsman Magazine. By Blair Wickstrom In the 1870s Dr. Cesare Lombroso, founder of the Italian…
In Florida our iconic waters are central to our quality of life; perhaps even our culture. But we do not have a “culture of clean water.” The phrase was coined by Dr. Paul Gray of Audubon Florida, speaking at a June…