The final presentation of Water/Ways lecture series took place the evening of Aug. 24, 2016 at the High Springs New Century Woman’s Club. The program was the PowerPoint program “Water Works: Stand Up and Act Now,” by the Suwannee-St. Johns Group Sierra Club’s Tri-County Working Group, which includes Marion, Citrus and Levy Counties.
Developed by a Sierra Club Task Force from a variety of scientific and governmental resources, “Water Works: Stand Up and Act Now” also describes the impact of population growth and development in the next 15 years upon current and future water resources in the tri-county area as well as specific things individuals can do to help.
“This program differs because it makes difficult things easy to understand,” says Whitey Markle, Conservation Chair for the Suwannee-St. Johns Sierra Club. “Water Works translates scientific facts into common language, detailing the specific impact of Florida’s and the tri-county’s water problems on jobs, property values, lifestyles, ecotourism and most importantly, our drinking water,” further states Markle.
“Programs of this type generally discuss broader issues in scientific terms,” says Gary Green, Water Works Task Force leader. “Our team translated the facts into understandable language specific to Marion, Citrus and Levy counties, telling people specifically why we should care about what’s happening to our local springs, rivers, and drinking water, and what we can do about it.”
Presenters were Jon Brainard (SSJ Environmental Education Chair) and Connie and Gordon Hart. Local Sierra Club organizer representative and OSFR member Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson also spoke.
The “Water Works” presentation is available to civic and environmental groups for showing by contacting Sierra Club any of the following representatives: Nancy Kost, nkost@tampabay.rr.com or 352.628.0698; Whitey Markle, WHMarkle@gmail.com or 352.595.5131; Gary Green, garryegreen@centurylink.net or 352.817.8077.
OSFR commends Kristina Young for her tireless work in presenting the highly popular Water/Ways series. Three of the eight lectures had involvement by OSFR members, who were Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, Jim Gross and Jim Tatum. Many other members contributed to the exhibits in the museum, and our congratulations and thanks go to them for enriching our community via the Smithsonian experience.
Comments by OSFR historian Jim Tatum.
-A river is like a life: once taken, it cannot be brought back-
