Our governor Ron DeSantis has appointed another task force to “study” the algae problem in Florida. The governor is doing this not because he cares about the water but because he has to in order to pretend to be a leader and in order to get re-elected.
His previous task force had some good people with some good ideas, but their recommendations were rejected by the governor and the Legislature. Their chair, Tom Fraser from USF, along with our then-DEP leader Noah Valenstein, supported a useless water bill written by polluters, and by doing this Fraser undercut the hard work by his task force and just wasted all the money and time put into their work.
Our new task force again has some good people, but already they are off the wall by proposing anything but the problem source–too many nutrients in the water caused by mostly fertilizer and also septic tanks. Bringing in foreign experts to tell them what they already know but won’t act on is foolish and a waste. But it will make DeSantis look good for his re-election bid.
Of course attacking the source would upset polluters– agriculture, industry, developers– so they don’t go there.
Read the complete article with photos here at TC Palm.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
jim.tatum@oursantaferiver.org
– A river is like a life: once taken,
it cannot be brought back © Jim Tatum
Florida Algae Task Force Wants to Tap Experts From U.S., China, Other Nations
FORT PIERCE — The Blue-Green Algae Task Force Wednesday proposed tapping U.S. and international experts to better inform Florida’s response to toxic algal blooms.
The statewide task force suggested hosting a Florida-based symposium and inviting experts from states bordering Lake Erie — including Ohio, Michigan and New York — where the intensity of harmful cyanobacteria blooms has spiked in the past decade.
The panel also proposed bringing in international scientists studying Lake Taihu, one of China’s largest freshwater lakes, where ongoing cyanobacteria problems mirror what’s plaguing Florida’s Lake Okeechobee and its surrounding waterways.
“We need to collaborate, and we don’t want to repeat the work that someone else has already done,” said James Sullivan, a task force member and executive director of Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Fort Pierce, where the meeting was held.
>”Where is the science right now? Who’s using what? What research direction is everybody going in?” Sullivan said. “I do believe Florida can be the leader on this.”
Despite a recent influx of satellite data and water-quality monitoring technology, not much is known about what’s driving the rotten-smelling, slimy cyanobacteria blooms that spike on Lake O in the hot summer months, Sullivan told TCPalm.
Fertilizer runoff from nearby farms — rich in nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus — are known catalysts to spark blooms, but questions still remain.
Evelyn Gaiser, a task force member, was the first to suggest bringing in international experts from China, whose advanced technology — particularly in modeling and forecasting algal blooms — she witnessed on a trip to Lake Taihu’s modeling center.
“They have these crazy big screens that are showing forecasts of blooms three days, two weeks out,” Gaiser said. “It was really an incredible array of tools that they developed there.”
To better prepare for an interstate meeting, the task force floated the idea of first hosting a “meeting of the minds” at the state level, including environment agencies such as the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
But where’s the policy changes?
The proposal to tap into out-of-state expertise comes at a time when the SFWMD is expanding its water-quality monitoring network. The district spends $572,000 annually to study the water, including sending scientists into the field 13 times per month, according to Lawrence Glenn, director of the agency’s water resources division.
The decision to use outside experts would be beneficial, Sullivan said, but it’s not a rigid policy change and doesn’t fix the root causes of Florida’s environmental crisis.
“In a perfect world, I’d like the Legislature to take the recommendations we make and immediately change policy. But that’s not the way it works,” Sullivan said. “It’s potentially millions of dollars just to do (water quality) monitoring correctly. When you start to have to mitigate, it gets a lot more expensive.”
Who’s on the task force?
The five scientists on the Blue-Green Algae Task Force, formed in 2019 with members appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, are:
- Wendy Graham: The Carl S. Swisher eminent scholar in water resources in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and director of the Water Institute at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
- Evelyn Gaiser: Executive director of the School of Environment, Arts and Society and a professor of biology at Florida International University in Miami.
- Michael Parsons: Professor of marine science at Florida Gulf Coast University and director of the Coastal Watershed Institute and Vester Field Station in Fort Myers.
- James Sullivan: Executive director of Florida Atlantic University’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce and an expert on marine ecosystem health.
- Valerie Paul: Director of the Smithsonian Marine Station in Fort Pierce
For more news, follow Max Chesnes on Twitter.
Max Chesnes is a TCPalm environment reporter focusing on issues facing the Indian River Lagoon, St. Lucie River and Lake Okeechobee. You can keep up with Max on Twitter @MaxChesnes, email him at max.chesnes@tcpalm.com and give him a call at 772-978-2224.
