Charlotte County solid waste facility now accepting hazardous waste and sharps

FEMA redraws SWFL flood zone maps

CAPE CORAL – You could be living in a flood zone right now and not even know it. That’s because FEMA has just drawn and released new flood zone maps.

You may think you’re out of reach of the flood waters, but the federal government may disagree.

FEMA redrew its maps on November 17, and many people are finding out they don’t have to live along the water in order to live in a flood zone.

Caryn Atkin of Cape Coral said prior to last month, she did not live in a flood zone.

However, the new maps now show Atkin, and many of her neighbors are at risk of flooding.

“Our mortgage company sent us a letter saying they needed a copy of our flood insurance. Even though we weren’t flooded…they wanted a copy of the flood insurance,” Atkin said.

The letters warning homeowners that flood insurance is now necessary are catching many by surprise.

Florida wildlife officials approve protections for endangered manatees

They include feeding lettuce for the second straight year, as poor water quality and algae blooms have depleted seagrass beds that provide a key food source for manatees in the Indian River Lagoon.

State wildlife officials Wednesday approved a seasonal no-entry zone in an area of Brevard County waters where manatees gather, while preparing for a second winter of feeding the sea cows to try to prevent deaths.

The approval came after the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission confirmed this month that it will again work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to feed lettuce to manatees. The agencies also took the unusual step last winter, as manatees starved because of a lack of seagrass, a key food source.

“We are poised and ready to manage our manatee situation in the Indian River Lagoon, much as we have, but with improvements based on what we have learned,” Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Eric Sutton said Wednesday during a meeting at the Bluegreen’s Bayside Resort and Spa in Panama City Beach.

Poor water quality and algae blooms have depleted seagrass beds that provide a key food source for manatees in the Indian River Lagoon.

“Water quality improvements and habitat restorations are ongoing,” Sutton said. “So, we are hoping that this will be a bridge to help us.”

Charlotte County boat ramp and fishing piers to undergo maintenance

FWC now accepting applications for newly created Vessel Turn-In Program

Expedition retraces a legendary explorer’s travels through the once-pristine Everglades

Changes in water quality will be an important facet of the expedition

In 1897, the explorer and amateur scientist Hugh de Laussat Willoughby climbed into a canoe and embarked on a coast-to-coast expedition of the Florida Everglades, a wilderness then nearly as vast as the peninsula itself and as unknown, he wrote, as the “heart of Africa.”

Willoughby and his guide were the first non-Native Americans to traverse the Everglades from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, and Willoughby’s meticulous notes, charts and water samples would form the basis of scientists’ historical understanding of the legendary “river of grass.”

Now a new expedition has retraced his trek, with the goal of measuring the impact of modern humanity on a watershed that today is among the most altered on Earth and responsible for the drinking water of some 12 million Floridians.

The expedition also commemorates the 75th anniversary of Everglades National Park, which was dedicated on Dec. 6, 1947.

“We think we will see the full spectrum, from one of the most remote parts of the continental United States to one of the most urbanized parts of the United States – all in one watershed, all in one trip,” said Harvey Oyer, co-leader of the four-member expedition and the author of a series of children’s books about the historical Florida frontier. “That, I think more than anything else, will illustrate humanity’s impact from the time of Willoughby to today.”

Willoughby’s thorough work provides a tantalizing opportunity to compare conditions in the Everglades then and now. Traveling the region’s rivers and canals over six days and some 130 miles, Oyer and the team drew water samples from the same spots as Willoughby, according to coordinates he documented, sometimes from some of the most remote and hard-to-reach parts of the subtropical region.

The water samples are being analyzed at the University of Florida for the same constituents that Willoughby examined, such as magnesium and sulfates, along with nutrients now known to affect the Everglades like phosphorus and nitrogen.

The samples are also being tested for modern pollutants like microplastics, perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), pesticides and pharmaceuticals. It will be a few months before the analysis is complete. The team wrapped u

How floating wetlands are helping to clean up urban waters

As cities around the world look to rid their waterways of remaining pollution, researchers are installing artificial islands brimming with grasses and sedges. The islands’ surfaces attract wildlife, while the underwater plant roots absorb contaminants and support aquatic life.

Floating wetlands were first tested in retention ponds, the kind often located near developments to hold stormwater, to see if they filtered pollution. “The front end of it was, ‘Will they work? How well do they work? And what plants should we recommend?’” says Sarah White, an environmental toxicologist and horticulturalist at Clemson University who has worked on floating wetlands since 2006. Partnering with researchers at Virginia Tech, White found that the wetland plants she tested not only did well in ponds with lots of nutrient pollution, but the adaptable, resilient plants actually thrived. She did not always choose native plants, opting instead for those that would make the islands more attractive, so that more urban planners would use them.

Lee County health officials issue Red Tide Alert for Lighthouse Beach Park

Federal funding for water storage north of Lake O delayed

Plans for water storage north of Lake Okeechobee have hit another snag.

At the Nov. 18 meeting of the South Florida Water Management District, SFWMD Executive Director Drew Bartlett said the Lake Okeechobee Watershed Restoration Plan (LORWP) will not be included in funding from the 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), which funds the federal portion of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) as well as other water projects across the country. Congress can pass a WRDA every two years, but in the past Congress has gone as long as seven years between WDRAs.

CERP is a federal-state partnership, to be funded 50-50.

LOWRP includes aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) wells as well as two wetlands restoration projects on the Kissimmee River. ASR wells pump clean freshwater about 1,000 feet below the surface into the Floridan aquifer. This is not the same aquifer used for water supply. Most wells dug for water supply are surficial wells dug about 100 feet deep.

For ASR wells, water is treated to drinking water standards – as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency – before it is pumped into the aquifer, where the freshwater creates a bubble in the slightly brackish water of the Floridan aquifer. That same freshwater can be pumped out of the ASR bubble when needed for water supply.

FWC Harmful Algal Bloom Grant Program funds three projects

Here, there, everywhere: Red tide plagues SWFL after Hurricane Ian

Florida Department of Health officials in Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties are issuing health alerts daily warning of the real and present danger to human and animals.

Red tide is everywhere.

From Tampa Bay south to Ten Thousand Islands, local groups and state agencies that test for and track red tide are warning that the harmful algae that kills fish, sickens dogs, and whose acrid air chase people off the beach is here.

And there. And there. And there.

Red tide was detected at every beach in Sarasota County soon after Hurricane Ian made landfall near Fort Myers in late September. Earlier this month, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, in nearly 100 samples throughout Southwest Florida. v Florida Department of Health officials in Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties, taken as a group, are issuing health alerts daily warning of the real and present danger to human and animals.

The red tide is so prevalent, so pungent, and so potentially poisonous that the authors of the health advisories ignored the long-established practice of softening the language to avoid scaring away tourists.

“Stay away from the water,” a Charlotte County health advisory warned. “Do not swim in waters with dead fish. Wash your skin and clothing with soap and fresh water if you have had recent contact with red tide. Those with chronic respiratory problems should be especially cautious and stay away … as red tide can affect your breathing. Keep pets and livestock away and out of the water, sea foam and dead sea life. If your pet swims in waters with red tide, wash it as soon as possible. Do not harvest or eat molluscan shellfish or distressed or dead fish from this location. Residents may want to wear masks.”

Petition urges USFWS protect Florida manatees as endangered

Calling declines in Florida's manatee population “dramatic” a coalition of groups have petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to increase protections for the aquatic mammal.

The Center for Biological Diversity, Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Miami Waterkeeper, Save the Manatee Club and Frank S. González García filed the petition Monday. The petition urges the federal wildlife agency to reclassify the species from threatened to endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

"Since the service prematurely reduced protections in 2017, the species has declined dramatically," a release from the groups about the petition said.

According to information provided by the groups, pollution-fueled algae blooms sparked an ongoing mortality event that killed more than 1,110 Florida manatees in 2021 alone -- 19 percent of the Atlantic population and 13 percent of all manatees in Florida.

The deaths continued this year, the groups said, with 726 manatees dying through October. Manatee experts predict that the high levels of malnourished and starving manatees will continue throughout the winter.

“West Indian manatees from Florida to the Caribbean are facing drastic threats from habitat loss, boat strikes, pollution, climate change and toxic algae blooms," said Ben Rankin, a student attorney at the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Clinic. “The restoration of full Endangered Species Act protections is an essential first step in conserving this species everywhere it is found.”

Lake Okeechobee water levels seem to have peaked following Ian and Nicole

The water level now stands at 16.25 feet. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' goal has always been to keep releases from the lake "at a minimum."

The Army Corps of Engineers gave a briefing Wednesday in Stuart to the environmental group “The Rivers Coalition.” The goal is to stop discharges into the St. Lucie River from Lake Okeechobee, discharges which often in the past have lead to algae outbreaks polluting the St. Lucie River, and the Indian River Lagoon.

The Army Corps manages Lake Okeechobee and the subject of the briefing was the high water level which has risen above 16 feet following hurricanes Ian and Nicole

USACE Lt. Col. Todd Polk told the Coalition members that the Corps' goal has always been "to keep releases at a minimum, so that we don’t affect the ecological balance on the Lake, as well as that of the estuaries. We’re taking that into account now, unlike we did before.”

The lake level has risen 3 feet since early September, before Ian and before Nicole. But, barring another storm, Polk says it appears that the rising water level has now peaked. “Bottom line we’re starting to see that peak on the lake. And that’s important. That’s one of the biggest things we’ve been waiting to see. Avoiding the fears and concerns of us going over 16.5 or even higher. That was probably our biggest, number one concern as Nicole came in.”

Red tide is drifting north and is now at the mouth of Tampa Bay

High concentrations of the organism that causes red tide has been found in Southwest Florida since Hurricane Ian made landfall. Now, it's slowly moving north.

Red tide is drifting north along the Gulf coast from Southwest Florida and is now being found at the mouth of Tampa Bay.

Red tide, which has been found off the coast of Manatee and Sarasota counties, is inching north. Water samples taken this week by state environmental officials show very low concentrations of the organism that causes red tide was detected along the Sunshine Skyway and the northern tip of Anna Maria Island, where Tampa Bay meets the Gulf of Mexico.

Medium to high concentrations were found along every beach in southern Manatee and Sarasota counties. State officials had issued a health advisory warning last week for all beaches in Sarasota, warning people about respiratory irritation and dead fish.

This week, that warning was extended to beaches in Manatee County, including Bayfront Park, Coquina Beach South, Longboat Pass/Coquina Boat Ramp and the Rod and Reel Pier on Anna Maria Island.

High concentrations have been found south of Sarasota since Hurricane Ian struck in September.

People with respiratory problems should stay away from the water. Residents living along the beach should close their windows and run air conditioning.

Lee County Health Department issues additional red tide Health Alerts

UPDATE: FWC extends derelict vessel waiver to Dec. 31st

Fort Myers applies for FEMA funding to mitigate canal erosion