Before Disney World, Sea World and Busch Gardens, visitors flocked to Florida for a different kind of tourist experience, But Regan McCarthy reports as the stat’s springs face pollution and over pumping, that legacy is fading along with the local economies that depend on it.
Central Florida planners are grappling with a challenge: There’s not enough water for the people expected to live in the area 20 years from now. As Jessica Palombo reports, that realization has prompted unprecedented collaboration between local governments, private utilities and state agencies as they search for more water.
Finding out the source of a mysterious animal die off in the Indian River Lagoon is the goal of many researchers and scientists across the state. As Sascha Cordner reports, they’re searching for clues into the massive amount of unusual deaths of manatees, dolphins, and pelicans in what’s known as one of the nation’s most biologically diverse estuaries.
Too much water can be as harmful as too little water. What happens when it rains for more than a month? In Central Florida back in July, it meant an overflowing Lake Okeechobee and the dumping of millions of gallons of polluted runoff into the region’s rivers and estuaries. As Lynn Hatter reports, the rain also sparked the growth of toxic algae blooms that have some asking state lawmakers to fund a two-hundred million dollar water conservation and clean-up plan.