Water qualilty
It’s been quite a year. It began with the battle over the future of Florida’s state parks and Big Sugar’s proposed rock mine in the Everglades Agricultural Area. It concludes, now, with a new EPA proposal to eliminate crucial wetlands…
Some people think we clean-water types are in it for the aesthetics. That water ought to be clean like Mother Nature made it, so it can support all sorts of wildlife and other living things. That’s part of it. But…
The subject of offshore drilling is once again in the news. According to Politico: The Interior Department has removed the federal waters off the Atlantic coast from President Donald Trump’s upcoming offshore drilling plan after Republicans in the region pressed to…
Since 2020, when the state authorized the use of “innovative technologies” to combat harmful blue-green algal blooms, the South Florida Water Management District has added chemicals known as algaecides to its toolbox — and to the water. Over the past…
VoteWater, a South Florida clean-water advocacy group, has endorsed Omar Jimenez for Miami Beach Commission Group 1. “Omar Jimenez puts clean water at the top of his agenda — because he’s seen first-hand the effect dirty water can have on…
The Florida Legislature is soon in session, and we’d like to think clean water will be atop the 2026 agenda. We’re not putting money on it, though, so we’ll be watching our lawmakers very closely this session – and we…
Last week we reported on a new study showing Lake O is the dirtiest lake in America; we had our doubts about the methodology but agree that the lake has big problems — which are going to require big fixes. Now, “official”…
Just how dirty is Lake Okeechobee? Rental company Lake.com thinks it may be the dirtiest in the nation. Using federal chemical data from 2020 through July 2025, the study ranked 46 of the nation’s biggest lakes on their “total pollution…
At the May 10 South Florida Water Management District Governing Board meeting, member Ben Butler said he’s heard “numerous concerns” about the district’s use of herbicides. Butler, manager of the family-owned dairy farm Butler Oaks Farm north of Lake Okeechobee,…
The water in the Indian River Lagoon just south of the Ernest Lyons Bridge and Stuart Causeway in Martin County should be clear, with a sandy or seagrass-covered bottom. But recently, as he’s been collecting water samples for the Florida…