Making sense of conflicting environmental messages
Bob Knight
Last Sunday’s opinion pages celebrating the 51st Earth Day were appropriately filled with messages about the importance of protecting our environment. But what was interesting to me was the juxtaposition of conflicting claims by environmentalists, agricultural representatives and state officials.
Interested readers of The Sun may be trying to make sense out of their divergent views. Here is my take.
The first piece I read was written by Dr. Ann Shortelle, executive director of the St. Johns River Water Management District. In her column, “Make water conservation part of your regular routine,” she reiterated her oft-repeated message that homeowners need to do more to reduce their personal uses of water.
/ The Fellowship of the Springs take viewers into the wonder and beauty of Florida s unique but troubled springs. Florida has the largest and highest concentration of fresh water springs on earth, and the fight to save them is raging.
Many of Florida’s springs are at risk, largely from a combination of reduced water flow and increased pollution.
Thomas Greenhalgh risked his job and career in 2019 when he sued his own employer, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, to challenge the state’s plans to protect Florida’s imperiled springs from increasing pollution.
Greenhalgh, a veteran hydrogeologist and expert on the underground flows that feed North Florida’s springs, argued that the sandy soils and porous rock of the region made them especially vulnerable a position supported by other springs advocates and independent scientists in a long-running lawsuit seeking tougher state restrictions on how surrounding farms and other industries use fertilizer.
To The Fellowship of the Springs, Florida is selling out an environmental treasure | WGCU PBS & NPR for Southwest Florida wgcu.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wgcu.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Around the state today
“Some Floridians who don’t entirely meet the state’s requirements for the COVID-19 vaccine are scouring the internet to get inoculated. One Facebook group calls itself ‘Florida Vaccine Hunters.’ It’s a group in which people share where there are extra doses of the vaccine available.”
“Just hours after Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office released the draft report Thursday by Chief Inspector General Melinda Miguel, attorneys for the plaintiffs filed a copy of the report in their lawsuit against the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity and Deloitte Consulting, a contractor that helped put in place the state’s CONNECT online unemployment system in 2013.”
The Santa Fe River is fed by four tributaries, or freshwater streams that feed into a larger stream or river, located in New River, Olustee Creek, Cow Creek and the Ichetucknee River. The river also extends through seven counties in North Florida and is home to over 36 springs. (Photo courtesy of Hilary Skowronski/Florida Springs Institute) Home/Environment/Plan To Restore Springs In The Santa Fe River Shows A Promising But Challenging Year Ahead
Plan To Restore Springs In The Santa Fe River Shows A Promising But Challenging Year Ahead
By Valerie Izquierdo
March 8, 2021
The Florida Springs Institute recently revealed the results of its three-year project along with a new blueprint that seeks to restore the springs surrounding the Santa Fe River. These were the results.