News - Pinellas.WaterAtlas.orghttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/Recent news items for Pinellas County Water Atlas60Lake Okeechobee water is heading to Florida’s coasts. What that means for red tide.https://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22874<h4> The organism that causes red tide was found at trace levels in three counties last week.</h4> <p> It didn&rsquo;t take long for the aerial images to emerge.</p> <p> Just days after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said El Ni&ntilde;o rains meant it needed to release Lake Okeechobee water into Florida estuaries, clean water advocates took to the sky to document the damage.</p> <p> The images show plumes of murky lake water clashing with normally clear and sparkling waters. On the east coast, aerial imagery earlier this month showed lake water flowing out of the St. Lucie inlet and colliding with the Atlantic Ocean. On the west coast, the water poured out of the Caloosahatchee River and collided with the Gulf of Mexico.</p> <p> The short-term consequences of Lake Okeechobee discharges are already becoming clear: In the St. Lucie River, salinity levels have dropped, putting oysters and other marine life at risk. If high volumes of lake water continue into April, oyster and fish spawning in the Caloosahatchee could be harmed, environmental nonprofits worry.</p> WaterAtlas.orgThu, 28 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTA small leak is contained at the Piney Point phosphate planthttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22868<h4> The leak happened after an electrical circuit breaker tripped on a facility being used to pump polluted water deep under the drinking water aquifer.</h4> <p> About 6,000 gallons of industrial wastewater was accidentally released from the Piney Point phosphate plant last week.</p> <p> State environmental officials reported the leak happened Thursday, after electrical power was lost because of a tripped breaker switch. The accident was at a pretreatment facility used to send polluted water deep underground.</p> <p> Staffers turned the power back on after about 10 minutes. A report states the discharged wastewater soaked into the ground and did not leave the plant site. The report says an investigation is being held to determine why the backup power source did not switch on.</p> <p> About 270 millions of gallon of polluted water from a gypsum stack at the troubled plant is being pumped 3,000 feet below the surface.</p> <p> A leak in the earthen berm in 2021 resulted in more than 200 million gallons of polluted water being released into Tampa Bay. It was blamed for triggering a red tide event that killed untold numbers of fish and marine life in the bay shortly afterward.</p> WaterAtlas.orgMon, 25 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTSt. Pete City Council gives green light for flood relief in Shore Acreshttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22863<p> ST. PETERSBURG &ndash; St. Petersburg City Council members approved a $7.8 million grant Thursday to cover half the cost of a new stormwater pump system to help with flood damage in Shore Acres.</p> <p> &ldquo;This project is going to intercept that stormwater pipe or that big box before it exits and create a pump station so that we can pump over that sea level rise of high tide event,&rdquo; engineer at the City of St. Peterburg Brejesh Prayman said.</p> <p> The grant approved only covers half of what is needed for the project, and residents will have to cover the remainder of the $15 million project through stormwater fees.</p> <p> &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a relatively low neighborhood elevation-wise, but one of the other challenges is also sea level rise. By implementing this project, we are intercepting one of our main discharge points of stormwater and diverting it and changing the system into a pump system mitigating that impact of sea level rise,&rdquo; Prayman said.</p> WaterAtlas.orgFri, 22 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTFDEP invites public input on new water quality credit programhttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22859<p> Florida&rsquo;s Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) is inviting the public to a rulemaking workshop Thursday [March 21st] to share feedback on a proposed water quality credit trading program.</p> <p> The program would allow government entities to buy &ldquo;enhancement credits&rdquo; to compensate for negative impacts to water quality from development projects. An &ldquo;enhancement credit&rdquo; represents a quantity of pollutant removed as a standard unit of measurement, <a href="http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&amp;Search_String=&amp;URL=0300-0399/0373/Sections/0373.4134.html#:~:text=%E2%80%94As%20used%20in%20this%20section,a%20quantity%20of%20pollutant%20removed." target="_blank" title="FS 373.4134 (2023)">per Florida Statute</a>.</p> <p> Florida&rsquo;s existing <a href="https://floridadep.gov/water/submerged-lands-environmental-resources-coordination/content/mitigation-and-mitigation-banking" target="_blank" title="FDEP program webpage">mitigation banking program</a> relies on similar credits intended to offset negative wetland impacts from development. But Gabrielle Milch of St. Johns Riverkeeper has concerns about both programs, saying they&#39;re designed to prioritize speedy development approvals when environmental health should come first and foremost.</p> <p> &ldquo;It&#39;s easier to keep pollution out of the water than it is to take it out of the water,&rdquo; Milch said, also adding &ldquo;it&#39;s a lot cheaper.&rdquo;</p> <p> Milch previously worked for the St. Johns River Water Management District, where she says her role included helping oversee and enforce development permitting regulations.</p> <p> Back then, in the 1980s, Milch says development permitting in Florida wasn&rsquo;t perfect. But she thinks it&rsquo;s worse today: &ldquo;more generalized and more streamlined,&rdquo; allowing for rapid, potentially unvetted development.&rdquo;</p> <p> FDEP&rsquo;s move to establish the new program follows state lawmakers&rsquo; unanimous approval of HB 965 in 2022, authorizing the creation of water quality enhancement areas (WQEAs), for which credits may be used to compensate for a lack of water quality treatment available onsite.</p> WaterAtlas.orgThu, 21 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTState seeks to speed up decision in wetlands permitting casehttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22843<p> TALLAHASSEE &ndash; Florida is asking a federal judge to speed up a final ruling in a high-stakes case about permitting authority for projects that affect wetlands, as the state sets the stage for a likely appeal.</p> <p> U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss on Feb. 15 ruled that federal officials did not follow required steps in 2020 before transferring wetlands-related permitting authority from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to the state. Moss vacated the shift but said the state and the federal government could seek a stay of his ruling. He also did not decide certain legal issues in the case.</p> <p> In a filing Monday, attorneys for the state urged Moss to issue a final judgment, which would help clear the way for an appeal. The filing said Moss&rsquo; Feb. 15 decision has effectively resolved the case&rsquo;s key issues in favor of environmental groups that challenged the shift.</p> <p> &ldquo;This single judicial ruling, which gave complete relief to plaintiffs, immediately placed over 1,000 projects across Florida (including permit applications for environmental restoration, roads and bridges, hospitals, schools, affordable housing, senior living facilities, and grid reliability, among many others) in regulatory limbo with no clear timeline or expectation for a permit decision,&rdquo; the state&rsquo;s 21-page filing said. &ldquo;The situation was immediately urgent and becomes more so with each passing day.&rdquo;</p> <p> The state on Feb. 26 also filed a motion for a stay of Moss&rsquo; decision. The judge has not ruled on the motion and has scheduled an April 4 conference in Washington, D.C. The plaintiffs have opposed a stay.</p> <p> The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved the transfer of the permitting authority to the state in December 2020, about a month before former President Donald Trump&rsquo;s administration ended. Florida became the third state, after Michigan and New Jersey, to receive the permitting authority.</p> WaterAtlas.orgWed, 13 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTFlorida Waters Stewardship to be offered in fully online versionhttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22838<p> <img alt="FWSP logo" src="https://cdn.wateratlas.org/img/news/FWSP-logo.jpg" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;width:150px;" /></p> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p> <em><strong>Now you can become a Florida Water Steward without leaving home!</strong></em></p> <p> The Florida Waters Stewardship Program will be taught in a fully online format beginning on April 16th. The classes will be online Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 10 a.m. until noon.</p> <p> During this 11-session course, participants will explore state and local water resources, learn about emerging water issues, and hear from local experts. The program uses expert presentations, online explorations, experiential learning, and communication skills training to foster a greater understanding of these interactions and provide the tools necessary to become stewards of our water resources.</p> <p> Cost for the course is $79 and online registration is now open. The course is taught by UF/IFAS Pinellas County Extension.</p> <p> For more information, contact Lara Milligan: <a href="mailto:lmilligan@pinellascounty.org">lmilligan@pinellascounty.org</a>. To sign up, follow the link below.</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>WaterAtlas.orgTue, 12 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTEnvironmental groups oppose a stay in the fight over wetlands permitting in Floridahttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22829<p> Environmental groups Thursday pushed back against a request by Florida for a partial stay of a ruling in a legal battle about a 2020 decision that shifted permitting authority from the federal government to the state for projects that affect wetlands.</p> <p> U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss on Feb. 15 ruled that actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in approving the shift violated the Endangered Species Act.</p> <p> Moss issued an order vacating the approval of the shift.</p> <p> Such permitting authority is usually held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.</p> <p> Saying permits were in &ldquo;regulatory limbo,&rdquo; the state filed a motion for a limited stay of Moss&rsquo; ruling to keep the &ldquo;bulk&rdquo; of Florida&rsquo;s permitting program in place until a new plan can be put in place or until further court decisions.</p> <p> But in a 22-page filing Thursday, environmental groups argued the state&rsquo;s request would &ldquo;create confusion and perpetuate violations&rdquo; of the Endangered Species Act.</p> <p> &ldquo;The least disruptive path forward, which would also serve developers&rsquo; interest in clarity &hellip; is therefore to deny a limited stay, leave permitting authority with the (Army) Corps, and allow Florida to propose a new program subject to EPA approval,&rdquo; Thursday&rsquo;s filing said.</p> <p> The Center for Biological Diversity, Defenders of Wildlife, the Sierra Club, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation, Miami Waterkeeper and St. Johns Riverkeeper filed the lawsuit in January 2021 against the federal government.</p> <p> The state later intervened.</p> <p> The U.S. Department of Justice has opposed the state&rsquo;s request for a partial stay of Moss&rsquo; ruling, but Florida business groups have supported the request.</p> WaterAtlas.orgMon, 11 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTSeagrasses in the Gulf of Mexico could be overgrazed by migrating herbivores due to warming watershttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22831<h4> &quot;If we don&#39;t manage them properly, then those seagrasses will be less resilient, and we could potentially degrade a very, very valuable habitat,&quot; said Tom Frazer of USF.</h4> <p> As oceans warm and organisms that feed on seagrasses move north, they could overgraze parts of the Gulf of Mexico, including areas in the greater Tampa Bay region.</p> <p> This finding comes from a peer-reviewed study recently published in the journal Nature Ecology &amp; Evolution.</p> <p> Tom Frazer, the dean of the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida, was one of dozens of other scientists who researched areas off Florida&#39;s Gulf Coast, the Florida Keys, the Cayman Islands, and parts of Panama.</p> <p> They focused on turtle grass, which is the predominant structural habitat in the Gulf and the broader Caribbean region. It provides foraging areas for many animals that are important both ecologically and economically.</p> <p> &quot;In Florida, for example, probably about 85% of the fishes that we exploit either recreationally or commercially spend some part of their life history in seagrass beds,&quot; Frazer said.</p> <p> The researchers observed the effects on how grazing and nutrient pollution might alter the growth characteristics or the productivity of seagrass beds.</p> WaterAtlas.orgMon, 11 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTTampa Bay Water asks residents to curb water use by 5% during dry spring monthshttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22825<p> <img alt="Tampa Bay Water logo" src="https://cdn.wateratlas.org/img/logos/TBW.jpg" style="float:left;margin-right:10px;width:150px;" /></p> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td> <p> CLEARWATER &ndash; Despite a rainy winter, Tampa Bay Water asks residents to continue water-saving habits as the region heads into its spring dry season.</p> <p> El Ni&ntilde;o rainfall, cooler weather and watering restrictions have helped thwart overwatering in the Tampa Bay area; however, regional water demands in February averaged about 189 million gallons per day &ndash; nearly two million gallons per day higher than in January.</p> <p> The region remains in a 5.4-inch rainfall deficit averaged over the past 12 months, and average river flows are in a 4.4-million gallons per day deficit over the same period. It&rsquo;s this scenario when Tampa Bay Water relies on its water savings account &ndash; the C.W. Bill Young Regional Reservoir, which holds 15.5 billion gallons of water when full.</p> <p> Last October, the regional utility forecasted it would have around 10 billion gallons of water stored in its reservoir at this time. Mother Nature had other plans.</p> <p> &ldquo;We hoped to have more water in our reservoir going into the driest months of year &ndash; March, April and May,&rdquo; said Warren Hogg, chief science officer for Tampa Bay Water. Instead, the reservoir sits at 7.2 billion gallons.</p> <p> &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not going to run out of water for residents,&rdquo; said Hogg. &ldquo;But saving water during dry times leaves more water in the environment when it needs it most.&rdquo;</p> <p> Tampa Bay Water is asking residents to cut water use by 5%. &ldquo;This is attainable considering up to 50% of water used at home during the dry season is for watering lawns,&rdquo; Hogg added.</p> <p> Outdoor watering in Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties is limited to one-day-per-week per the Southwest Florida Water Management District water shortage order that runs through July 1, 2024. Residents can find their watering day by simply entering their zip codes at <a href="https://MyWaterDay.org" target="_blank" title="My Water Day website">MyWaterDay.org</a>.</p> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>WaterAtlas.orgFri, 08 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMTSpring break beachgoers should know about the dangers of rip currentshttps://pinellas.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=22823<p> After a 17-year-old Canadian swimmer was swept out to sea and later found dead, the National Weather Service is warning visitors and residents about the hazards.</p> <p> William Zhang, a 17-year-old Canadian swimmer, was swept out to sea off Indian Shores on Wednesday. Pinellas County deputies later located his body.</p> <p> While it&rsquo;s not exactly clear how he drowned, one possibility is rip currents.</p> <p> They form when waves break near the shoreline, piling up water between the breaking waves and the beach. They can increase to dangerous speeds, dragging swimmers out to sea.</p> <p> According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, rip currents are the greatest surf-zone hazard to all beachgoers.</p> <p> As the Tampa Bay area prepares for a record-breaking spring break, the National Weather Service is warning both visitors and residents about the dangers of rip currents.</p> <p> Jennifer Hubbard is a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service Tampa office.</p> <p> She said it&#39;s important not to panic if you ever get caught in a rip current.</p> <p> &ldquo;That rip current isn&#39;t going to pull you an extreme amount offshore as long as you don&#39;t fight it,&rdquo; Hubbard said. &ldquo;You need to relax if you feel that pull. You can try to swim parallel to the coast to get out of that channel, and once you do release from the channel, you would swim to shore.&rdquo;</p> WaterAtlas.orgFri, 08 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT