fbpx

News

Manatee County decision to gut wetlands protections shows the need to “Vote Water”

August 25, 2023

VoteWater’s Gil Smart makes the case in this video:

VoteWater Deep Dive: Chemical treatments can kill toxic algae – but are they safe?

August 23, 2023

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…

Should we really roll the dice and roll back fertilizer bans?

August 16, 2023

Summertime fertilizer bans are common throughout Florida. Statewide, 18 counties and more than 100 municipalities have a “strong” fertilizer ordinance that, among other things, include strict, no-exemption rainy season bans. Two reasons for that: first, many fertilizers include nitrogen and…

Introducing the Dirty Money Project: Because dirty money = dirty water

August 10, 2023

As a VoteWater supporter, you’ve long known that dirty money = dirty water. Campaign cash from polluting industries buys influence in Tallahassee, Washington, D.C., even your local county commission chambers. This results in laws that protect polluters and prevent progress…

Special Report: 10 years after the ‘Lost Summer’ of 2013, what’s changed?

August 1, 2023

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…

VoteWater Deep Dive: Seagrass is returning to the Indian River Lagoon! … Or is it?

July 25, 2023

In southern lagoon new seagrass is sprouting; in northern lagoon progress is slower. But Lake O discharges and impacts from development could ruin it all. Lorae Simpson is seeing an unusual sight in the Indian River Lagoon this summer. “When…

Dirty money alert: Next Florida Senate President gets thousands from Big Sugar

July 18, 2023

Update: Sen. Albritton got even MORE sugar money than we realized! Below, we report on a $25,000 contribution from U.S. Sugar to Florida Sen. Ben Albritton’s campaign committee, Friends of Ben Albritton. The report is true and correct. But the…

‘Slime time’ on Lake O becomes national story

July 12, 2023

The “Gray Lady” has noticed the blue-green gunk on Lake Okeechobee. The world may soon notice, too. On its website last weekend — and on the front page of the print edition Monday, July 10 — the New York Times…

Why we fight

July 5, 2023

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…

Manatee deaths slowing, but could Lake O discharges change that?

June 29, 2023

First the good news: The record pace of manatee deaths in Florida has slowed. Two years ago Florida saw a record 1,100 manatee deaths. The primary cause of this “unusual mortality event” was starvation due to the loss of seagrass…

Archives