December 2023

Time and again, when putting together the stories that make up an individual H₂OZone, we highlight the importance of education when it comes to creating a generation committed to tackling the issues of climate change and sustainability. This education often takes the form of ad hoc groups of volunteers or community organizations coming together to focus on conservation, but this first story deals with a more formal mode of environmental education. It concerns Florida Atlantic University, which has opened a School of Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sustainability (ECOS), with the stated aim of mitigating the risks people face due to the changing environment. ECOS will pull together existing programs in Florida Atlantic’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Science and Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, to create a single hub dedicated to environmental research and study. Students attending the school will be able to gain qualifications up to master’s and doctoral level in disciplines such as biology, geosciences, urban planning, and marine science.

We’re sticking with the theme of education for our second story this month, which looks at efforts made by educators in Florida to arm themselves with the knowledge required to pass the message of sustainability on to their pupils. A group made up of dozens of teachers from across Palm beach County met at Manatee Lagoon, as part of the third annual Sustainability Symposium hosted in partnership with Florida Power and Light. The event as a whole focused on two things – reigniting the passion the teachers felt for the subject of sustainability, and providing them with hands-on experience of the ways in which that passion and inspiration could later be transmitted in their own classrooms. In addition to this, the event enabled teachers who otherwise might not have met to get together and exchange thoughts and ideas on ways of helping to drive a ‘culture change’ in terms of attitudes toward sustainability.

Here at Hoover we know all about strict irrigation rules in place across Florida and, more importantly, about how to ensure you comply with those rules. As well as noting the kind of restrictions often put in place, however, it makes a refreshing change to highlight a positive approach to water conservation, such as the South Tampa Community Water Wise Award. This is an annual competition, organized by the Tampa Water Department, Tampa Bay Water, and its regional partners, in collaboration with UF/IFAS Extension, and this year the award was won by Brian Bachleda and Daniel Hoeh. The judges felt that Brian and Daniel’s landscaping incorporated conservation friendly principles such as ‘right plant, right place, fertilize appropriately, mulch, attract wildlife, manage yard pests responsibly, recycle, reduce storm water runoff, and protect the waterfront.’ The efforts were so impressive that they managed to reduce water usage from the Florida average of 991 gallons per irrigation event to just 800 gallons over an entire month.

It’s all too easy to start looking on extreme weather conditions as the new normal across Florida, but it’s a temptation which should be resisted. Extreme weather events such as floods and hurricanes are emblematic of the climate changes we’re all experiencing, and in Southwest Florida the recent drought conditions have highlighted just how much of an impact extreme weather can have and how difficult it can be to predict the nature and location of particular events. The drought conditions led the South Florida Water Management District to issue a water shortage warning, following rainfall which was 13 inches less than is normal for the time of year. The most worrying aspect of this drought is the fact that it has occurred at the beginning of the usual dry season in Florida, which runs from November to May, with the lack of rain in Manatee and Sarasota counties being particularly severe.

The majority of stories featured in the H2O Zone tend to highlight human activity, whether it involves helping to trigger climate change or fighting to make the situation better. Every now and again, however, a story comes along which highlights the fact that nature is ultimately in control of the environment and its impacts. This is the case when it comes to the high water levels currently seen in the water conservation areas (WCAs) north of the Tamiami Trail. Levels are so high that wildlife in the Everglades is actually being endangered, and data published by South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) states that 70% of the water in question comes directly from rainfall. According to this data, the period from May to October 2023 saw 2.8 million acre feet of rain fell on the WCAs. Much of the problem is caused by the fact that flood prevention measures introduced since the 1940’s mean that water which once flowed to the ocean is now blocked by levees put in place to protect housing. 

We feel it’s important that, as well as highlighting the challenges faced in Florida when it comes to conservation, we use the H2O Zone to celebrate achievements in the fight for sustainability. That’s exactly what the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) did recently when Secretary Shawn Hamilton set out some of the major steps taken to protect the natural resources of Florida during 2023. We haven’t room to list them all here, but highlights include ongoing work on Everglades Restoration, legislation on water quality protections and the creation of an office dedicated to the resilience of Florida’s inland and coastal communities. You can find a full list of the achievements highlighted by the DEP here.

In the interests of balance it seems only right that a story celebrating positive action on the environment taken in Florida should be followed by one which, in the eyes of many Floridians, represents a much more negative approach. This is the news that Florida was the only state to have turned down funding from the $6.4 billion federal Carbon Reduction Program. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) declined $320 million in federal funds, stating that the federal government was overreaching and ‘politicizing roadways’. Many groups in Florida, however, feel that the risk posed to the state by issues such as rising sea levels and extreme weather means that the state has more need than most to do all it can to foster reduced carbon pollution. This is just one example of the current administration in Florida pushing back against federal climate change initiatives, and it’s safe to assume that the start of 2024 will see protests against this approach from a large number of grass roots organizations.

Alarming stories about extreme weather tend to focus on the impact these things  are having on either the natural world around us or on us as people living in that world. It’s easy to understand why this is so, but perhaps if we were to focus on the financial cost of extreme weather events and changes we've seen in the climate in recent years they might have more of an impact. Figures published by the National Climate Assessment on a five yearly basis stated that Florida is one the states most likely to be facing a big financial hit due to the impact of climate change. In the four years from 2018 to 2022 the state was forced to spend more than $90 billion dealing with extreme weather, with examples including Flagler County having to spend more than $18 million repairing the damage caused by Hurricane Ian. Figures like this are put into perspective by the fact that, in April this year, Fort Lauderdale was hit by a once in 1,000 years rainfall incident which saw 25 inches fall in a single day. 

The Florida Everglades are one of the most fertile areas in the state, if not the entire country, which is why, since the 1880’s farmers have been digging canals to drain water away and expose the highly fertile, organic peat. Today we have the Everglades Agricultural Area, which produces more sugar cane than any other part of the country as well as other crops including celery, corn and lettuce. Recent studies, however, have suggested that the practice of draining water and exposing peat has led to this particular part of the Everglades becoming a hotspot for the greenhouse gas emissions. Sugar growers in Florida have complained that the study which highlighted this phenomenon was based on faulty data, and pointed to the efforts farmers already make to minimize peat loss and greenhouse emissions. It will be interesting to follow this debate which seems set to run and run.