South Florida Water Management District

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced $350 million in state-funded grants during the last two months alone for water-quality improvement initiatives throughout Florida to keep signs like this one from summer 2023 appearing on the nightly network TV news

DeSantis spending heavily on water-quality improvements throughout Florida

Tom Bayles

DeSantis has announced more than $340 million in grants to cities and counties throughout Florida in recent months to mitigate the effects and impacts of red tide and blue-green algae.

Free of harmful algae in this photo, 2018's blue-green algae outbreak on the Caloosahatchee River created by an influx of nutrient-rich water from Lake Okeechobee coupled with warm temperatures brought calls from residents and lawmakers to address both the immediate threats and the underlying causes of the river's deteriorating health

Environment

Millions more earmarked to combat blue-green algae in Caloosahatchee River

Tom Bayles

DeSantis has earmarked $30 million to pay for efforts to reduce blue-green algae in Caloosahatchee River and increase water quality

The greater Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary during its better, wetter times

Environment

Grants available to help pay for water-saving measures

Tom Bayles

The South Florida Water Management District is offering grants to pay up to half the cost to develop alternative water supplies that will help meet the growing demand

Environment

Celebrated finish of pump station to divert polluted water from Caloosahatchee to sit idle for now

Tom Bayles

A massive pump station to retrieve polluted water released from Lake Okeechobee into the headwaters of the Caloosahatchee River is completed — now it will sit idle

Lawn watering uses the most water in Southwest Florida, thus ensuring that sprinklers are working correctly and not running during banned hours is especially important during drought conditions

Top Story

Tom Bayles

Residents of Sanibel, and north Cape Coral, are being reminded about the drought unfolding in coastal Southwest Florida and to stick to the water restrictions.

The U.S. Drought Monitor shows coastal Southwest Florida has drought levels between abnormal and extreme, which is leading area water managers to askresidentst to followvoluntaryy water conservation measures or they will bemandatedd

Weather

Drought gripping Southwest Florida; record-setting likely in Sarasota, Venice, Bradenton

Tom Bayles

Southwest Florida is in the midst of an abnormally dry to moderate drought.

The Earth's poles have tilted since pumping water from underground has upset the planet's internal equilibrium more than it already is by a host of other factors

Environment

Water Quality Report: How much H2O does it take to change the Earth's poles?

Tom Bayles

By pumping water out of the ground humans have redistributed so much water from beneath the surface we’ve tilted the Earth's poles. It is perhaps the second-largest contributor to sea-level rise

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke ground on a reservoir in western Palm Beach County on Wednesday. The reservoir is aimed at reducing polluted discharges to coastal estuaries during the wet season and providing water for the southern Everglades in dry conditions. But it's far smaller than originally planned and questions remain over whether Florida can meet water quality requirements.

Environment

Everglades reservoir underway, but there's new concerns over whether it will work

Jenny Staletovich

In its most recent progress report on Everglades restoration, the National Academies of Sciences warned Florida that cleaning water remains a 'significant challenge.'

The water that comes from Lake Okeechobee is still cause for debate over who gets to use how much, with a bill introduced in Tallahassee this session that would put into law that big agriculture would continue to receive healthy amounts while environmentalists want more of the water cleaned by Everglades restoration efforts to go to The River of Grass and nearby communities

Environment

Power of Google's cloud helping South Florida water consumers

Tom Bayles

The power of Google's cloud computing is helping the South Florida Water Management District with collection, analysis and processing of data linked to water quality improvement efforts.

The National Park Service is reopening the Gulf Coast Visitor Center and marina, here seen from Chokoloskee Bay, after damage from Hurricane Ian was repaired

Environment

National park reopening after Hurricane Ian; other parks closing before Tropical Storm Nicole

Tom Bayles

Just when some national parks reopen after Hurricane Ian, other public lands are shuttering due to Tropical Storm Nicole.Everglades National Park will reopen the Gulf Coast region in Everglades City on Friday. Restrooms, parking and the canoe and kayak launch will be available once again to allow paddlers to explore Ten Thousand Islands and the wilderness camping sites.