Florida Springs News Archive

Sep 16, 2018 - With a horrific red tide killing marine life and tourism on Florida's southwest coast, and with toxic green algae bringing misery to the Treasure Coast and Fort Myers area on a now-annual basis, it's understandable that Gov. Rick Scott would want to run away from his environmental record.

Aug 21, 2018 - Florida's natural environment is at an all-time low. Daily images of dead fish, turtles, manatees and even whale sharks, with a green-slime-icing for emphasis, leave no doubt that the political status quo has failed Florida and its animal and human inhabitants.

May 30, 2017 - Despite good work by our local delegation, the session was a failure by almost every measure. We give it the benefit of the doubt and award it a grade of D.

May 4, 2017 - Wednesday, the Florida House of Representatives joined the Florida Senate in passing implementing legislation for the pro-solar Amendment 4.

Mar 11, 2017 - The Senate is moving ahead with a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing, despite industry threats of a blizzard of lawsuits. But as Jim Ash reports, the House remains a big question mark.

Jan 11, 2017 - Members of the Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation grilled Department of Environmental Protection brass Tuesday on its handling of controversial new water pollution limits.

Oct 25, 2016 - The Florida DEP has awarded the St. Johns RWM District $1.5 million to help fund three springs restoration projects. Marion County will get $716,250 of that. The rest will go toward a Longwood Island Lake septic tank removal project.

Oct 17, 2016 - On Tuesday, the Florida Department of Transportation announced two segments of the Coastal Trail in Wakulla County would get design funding for 12 new miles of pathway.

Oct 3, 2016 - U. S. Rep. Gwen Graham on Saturday said Gov. Rick Scott had damaged bipartisan support for the environment and blamed him for weakening the state's water management districts.

Sep 17, 2016 - A Florida administrative law judge has dismissed the Seminole Tribe's petition against a new water rule, but the larger legal battle might be far from over, clean water advocates say.

Sep 1, 2016 - With water pollution already fueling toxic algae blooms in Florida, the state shouldn't allow more toxic chemicals to flow into waterways, South Florida officials warned Wednesday.

Jul 31, 2016 - They say the deck was stacked when the Department of Environmental Protection took the standards to the commission for approval, the latest step in a years-long effort to modernize out-of-date limits under the federal Clean Water Act.

Jul 31, 2016 - On a Workday at Wakulla Springs in North Florida, I saw firsthand what our state's water policy, or lack thereof, has done to our most valuable resource. The crystal-clear springs I remembered from my childhood are dark. Algae chokes the water of its oxygen. The glass bottom boats rarely run.

Jul 13, 2016 - Fifteen years after Jeb Bush and Bill Clinton reached a landmark accord to revive the Everglades, billions of dollars have been spent but not much marsh has been restored, and the River of Grass continues to cycle through the same familiar struggles.

Jun 9, 2016 - A $9,000 grant from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission Protect Florida Springs tag grant program will be used to buy media time for a water conservation television commercial as well as Facebook marketing to encourage low water and fertilizer use in landscapes.

Jun 3, 2016 - If you are pro-solar power, as are more than 90 percent of Floridians, then vote 'no' on solar amendment No. 1 in November. It is a devious move by Florida's regulated power monopolies to forever pocket future profits from solar power.

May 25, 2016 - The Florida Supreme Court ruled 6-1 last week that the Public Service Commission overstepped its authority when it allowed the state's largest utility to invest in natural gas production and use ratepayer money to cover the cost, the Miami Herald reports.

May 17, 2016 - Jackson Blue Springs draws in visitors both near and far. It is the main source of water for Merritt's Mill Pond. State agencies want to keep those bodies of waters clean with a restoration plan.

May 11, 2016 - Investment in renewables is going up. Government support, with some notable exceptions, is too. Prices are coming down. Though these trends are relatively new, it's a story we're getting used to.

Apr 26, 2016 - Cape Coral Mayor Marni Sawicki said she had not heard of the possible suit from city staff nor seen the notice of intent herself.

Apr 17, 2016 - TAMPA ' The federal proposal to scrub the West Indian manatee from the endangered species list received 22,606 emailed comments from the public, with more than 20,000 coming in the final two weeks of the comment period.

Mar 24, 2016 - Hydraulic and acidic fracturing "fracking" bill 318 has been highly controversial in Florida, with opponents fierce in their efforts to stop its passing in the Senate. On March 1, these activists got their win as Senate Bill 318 died in appropriations, having lost the committee vote 9-10.

Feb 18, 2016 - TALLAHASSEE - Each session of the Legislature is a tug of war between Florida lawmakers and local governments. The tension runs through many hot-button issues of the day, like outlaw local bans fracking and to pre-empt local efforts at regulating ride-hailing companies like Uber.

Feb 8, 2016 - Industry backed bills introduced by Southwest Florida legislators that would create regulations around fracking in Florida may have sailed through the House, but they're facing more scrutiny, if not outright opposition, in the Senate.

Jan 28, 2016 - Florida's manatees are among the world's animals most vulnerable to human activity. The three living species of manatees (also known as sea cows) are, along with the dugong of the Indian Ocean, the only surviving members of an ancient order of mammals known as sirenids, which are thought to be distant aquatic kin of the elephant.

Jan 26, 2016 - TALLAHASSEE - Money voters approved for land and water preservation could be used to buy pumps and pipes for water supply projects under a bill advancing in the Legislature. Conservation groups say that counters the will of voters who approved Amendment 1 in 2014.

Jan 20, 2016 - FORT WHITE, Fla. -- A retired park ranger is raising concerns that the state is looking to change the way the Ichetucknee Springs State Park is operating.

Jan 18, 2016 - In his 2016 State of the Union address, President Barack Obama made the case that job growth is once more on the rise. Nowhere is that more true than in the domestic solar energy industry, which grew nearly 12 times faster than the overall economy in 2015.

Jan 18, 2016 - This session the Florida Legislature is considering bills to regulate fracking. This week the Senate Environmental Protection and Conservation Committee advanced a bill that prohibits local governments from banning the controversial oil and natural gas drilling technique.

Jan 15, 2016 - TALLAHASSEE - As the prospect of oil drilling inches closer to the Everglades, a Senate committee passed a measure to prohibit local governments from banning the controversial practice of drilling for natural gas, known as hydraulic fracturing or fracking.

Jan 14, 2016 - In response to one landowner's request to drill an "exploratory well" in the Everglades, the Broward County Commission has proposed a blanket ban on fracking throughout the county. The ordinance, which was sponsored by Commissioner Beam Furr, moved forward in today's commission meeting and is now set for a public hearing on January 26.

Jan 13, 2016 - State legislators have reached a hard-fought compromise on comprehensive bills to try to clean up and protect some of Florida's most precious waterways, but expect to see much debate over other environmental issues, especially how to divvy up the nearly $1 billion in Amendment 1 money for land and water conservation.

Jan 12, 2016 - Eric Draper from the Florida Audubon Society continues to support the bill which makes the state Department of Environmental Protection conduct annual reviews, protects the northern parts of the Everglades and changes water quality laws.

Jan 10, 2016 - Florida has some serious water woes: spreading nutrient pollution, the algae-choked springs and, in the Indian River Lagoon, massive sea grass and wildlife die-offs. Yet for the past two years, the Legislature has failed to deal with the problem. Politics got in the way.

Jan 6, 2016 - TAVARES - Lake County commissioners today unanimously voted to oppose bills moving quickly through the Legislature that would strip counties of the right to regulate or ban fracking.

Jan 6, 2016 - The council will pursue legislation, legal options and public education on behalf of cleaning up and protecting one of the world's richest collections of springs. Many of them, including Wekiwa Springs near Orlando, are ailing from pollution related to sewage, street runoff and fertilizers.

Jan 6, 2016 - TALLAHASSEE (NSF) - An advocacy group for Florida's natural springs has outlined concerns with a major water-policy bill that is expected to be quickly approved during the upcoming 2016 legislative session.

Jan 5, 2016 - In a letter sent Tuesday to State Senate President Andy Gardiner R-Orlando and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli R-Merritt Island, the Gainesville-based environmental group reiterated its objection to the current water policy bills expected to go to a vote in both houses early in the session and again urged a slew of amendments

Jan 5, 2016 - TAVARES ' Lake County commissioners are expected to consider two resolutions Tuesday against fracking in the state.

One resolution would support a statewide ban on fracking and another opposes legislation pending in the Florida Legislature to prevent counties from regulating fracking.

Jan 3, 2016 - Legislators are pushing through SB 318 and HB 191, fracking bills that allow chemical trade secrets to remain undisclosed to the public, also voiding and barring local bans or regulation of fracking stripping local municipalities and our counties of their right to govern local fracking activities, including business, nuisance and land use.

Dec 30, 2015 - Florida legislators are poised to pass sweeping changes to rules governing the state's water quality and quantity in January. Depending on who you ask, the legislation could be either the greatest in 40 years or the worst.

Nov 24, 2015 - TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Rick Scott's top environmental agency helped block a scathing federal report outlining environmental concerns from being submitted as part of a challenge to a controversial natural gas pipeline that would run across some of Florida's most "environmentally sensitive areas."

Nov 19, 2015 - The controversial, Scott nominated, head of the Florida DEP, Jon Steverson, is like a "bird on a wire" at the moment. He has previously failed to be confirmed for this appointment by the Governor and if he is rejected, or fails to be confirmed the next vote, it is over. So why the controversy you may ask...

Nov 16, 2015 - Crystal River, Florida - The feds are looking to further crack down on swimmers at a popular tourist destination to help our manatees. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wants to go from a 29-swimmer limit to 13, including required guides, at Three Sisters Springs.

Nov 5, 2015 - The state certainly permitted excessive groundwater pumping and pollution long before Scott took office. Yet rather than reverse that trend, the governor has given regulators fewer resources and more reason to fear retribution if they deny permits.

Nov 4, 2015 - TALLAHASSEE - A bill that would create a new regulatory structure in Florida for oil and gas drilling, including the controversial practice known as "fracking," easily passed a House panel Tuesday despite roughly 50 environmentalists on hand to oppose the measure.

Oct 29, 2015 - As the amendment to annex around 1,200 acres into the city of Hawthorne moves forward, Alachua County staff are raising concerns over the potential impact on the county's water resources.

Oct 28, 2015 - TALLAHASSEE - For the second time in two years, the boss of Florida's state lands division has quit amid questions about oversight of the state Department of Environmental Protection and its state parks system under Gov. Rick Scott.

Oct 21, 2015 - Palm Beach County commissioners Tuesday voted 6-1 to approve a resolution calling for a statewide ban on "fracking" for oil and natural gas - but not necessarily forever. The process of hydraulic fracturing injects water, along with acid or other chemicals, underground to extract oil or natural gas.

Oct 16, 2015 - Florida, along with a gaggle of 31 other states, has temporarily fended off the implementation of a new set of government regulations dictating the protection of the country's waterways.