As she approached 60 years old, Eleanor K. Sommer decided to dump her nine-to-five job and embark on an adventure. Rather than retire, she chose to attend graduate school and turn her 40 years of writing, editing, and publishing experience into an environmental journalism career. Her first effort on this path has been to enroll in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment at the University of Florida. Having previously eschewed the snow-covered hills of northwest New Jersey, Ms. Sommer had fled to the Florida sunshine to attend the University of South Florida in 1970. Subsequently, worked as a reporter and editor, and eventually published a monthly business magazine. She moved to Gainesville in 1994 and settled on 10 acres of “real” Florida near Paynes Prairie with her husband and 100-pound yellow Lab.
Florida is one of the states least ready to deal with water issues due to climate change, according to an April 5 report by the National Resources Defense Council. The ratings are based on a list of criteria including rainfall predictions, water supply challenges, extreme storm events sea leave rise, saltwater intrusion, and preparedness.
In her NRDC blog Rebecca Hammer discussed her take on some of the reasons Florida fared poorly in the report:
Florida lags far behind other states in preparing for climate change impacts. Under former Governor Charlie Crist, the state seemed well on its way to getting ready—statewide greenhouse gas pollution reduction goals were set, and the Florida Energy and Climate Commission was established to implement actions to reduce emissions of global warming pollution and prepare for climate impacts. However, under the administration of current Governor Rick Scott (who doesn’t believe in man-made climate change), the commission has been abolished and state agencies are doing very little to prepare for climate change.
Visit the NRDC Web page for an interactive map of the U.S. showing each state’s preparedness, a list and explanation of the criteria involved in creating the rankings as well as a pdf of the NRDC brief on the report.
Florida continues to experience low annual rainfall, the only source of water to replenish the Floridan aquifer. This deep underground storage tank supplies 90 percent of Floridians with fresh water for drinking, manufacturing, growing food, sprinkling on lush landscaping, washing cars and clothes, and filling swimming pools.
Is it in peril?
Floridians might take note of two Texas towns that have run out of water. More than 1000 towns in Texas have water restrictions and 17 are considered critical in terms of water supplies. A recent PBS News Hour story reported the following:
“Topping that list is the town of Spicewood Beach, a community of 500 homes on the shores of Lake Travis near Austin. Spicewood relies on wells fed by water from both the lake and the aquifer below the town. Too much water use and too little rainfall last year caused the water table to sink to historic lows. This January, Spicewood Beach became the first Texas town to run out of water.”
There are lots of ways to save water. Cities and counties all over Florida have materials and programs to help Floridians conserve water, fix leaks, and find water savings appliances. Check out information on Web pages for your local government or utility or go to the water management districts Web page to find a link to your district.
A New York Times article, published today in the Environment section presents the risks of climate change and sea level rise on coastal communities where nearly 3.7 million live, more than half of them in Florida. The Southeast is predicted to be the most adversely affected in the U.S. because of low lying coastal areas. Residents of Florida’s densely packed coastlines will see impacts of increased and more frequent flooding and salt water water intrusion. Source: The New York Times online, March 14, 2012.
The 18th Annual Public Interest Environmental Conference is convening at the University of Florida Levin College of Law this weekend. The topic? Water in Florida. While emphasizing a retrospective of the laws designed to protect Florida’s water resources, panels have also included current topics of water quantity, water quality, water change, private and public ownership of water, and water resource advocacy. The history behind the 1972 Florida Water Resources Act was discussed by a lively panel made up of those who participated in creating and implementing the Act. Former members of three water management districts offered their insights into what went right, what went wrong, and what can be improved.
Other panels included Florida Waterkeepers, charged with keeping Florida’s waterways fishable, swimmable, and drinkable; a panel of writers who have published books on water led by Cynthia Barnett, the editorial consultant for this journalism water project; and a look at how climate change will affect water issues in the Florida. (Check out the water bottles on this photo of the writers’ panel!)
Carol Browner, a graduate of the UF law school and former administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1993-2001) delivered the keynote address at the Friday night banquet. In addition she found time during the day to meet with a small group of students at the Bob Graham Center for Public Service who expressed interested in environmental issues and politics.
The sessions will continue on Saturday with the conference wrapping up on Saturday afternoon. The closing plenary session focuses on protecting Florida’s water for the next forty years.
Although the sun rarely peeked from behind the gray clouds, the weather was otherwise pleasant and Hannah and I enjoyed exploring the Silver River on Tuesday with four of John Hare’s advanced placement science students from Vanguard High School in Ocala. Lest you think we were just lazing away the day, Hannah will be uploading some clips or stills soon to show how the four students were working diligently to take measurements of water quality at 16 of the 120 springs in the Silver River. We meandered down the river at no-wake speed noting limpkins, cormorants, and anhingas, and many other birds. We saw alligators and plenty of turtles trying to get warm in the afternoon haze. We steered around a research team of divers investigating the world below the surface. And what a surprise to happen on a troop of monkeys peering at us from high in the trees along the river bank. Seems as if an entrepreneur in 1929 wanted to enhance his “jungle river cruise” with some non-native wild animals, but, as Captain Connie Neumann told us, “he didn’t know monkeys could swim.” And now there are hundreds of them all over the Florida, some as far away as Jacksonville and Tampa. The river bottom was mostly covered by eel grass with only tiny patches of the beautiful blue-silver sand for which the river was named. We also had an informative tour of the Silver River Museum, a great storehouse of Florida history complete with mastodon skeleton and other prehistoric wonders, pictorial history of native people, historical items from early European settlers, and lots of information about the river over the centuries. Stay tuned for visuals!
