http://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/Recent news items for Charlotte Harbor NEP Water Atlas60http://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13688<strong>The races will be part of this year's Sarasota Bay Water Festival</strong><br /><br /> SARASOTA &ndash; High Five Dragon Boat, LLC is seeking local teams from Sarasota and Manatee County to compete in the fun dragon boat races to be showcased at the 2013 Sarasota Bay Water Festival. The regional event will be held at City Island’s Ken Thompson Park on Saturday, November 2. <br /><br /> High Five provides registered teams with boats, paddles, life vests, a steerperson, and training prior to the event. Training includes practicing the proper paddling techniques and racing etiquette. Each dragon boat is 42-feet in length and coed teams consist of 20 paddlers with a minimum of 8 being female. Participants must be 14-years of age or older. The races involve three race heats during the day on a 350-meter course. Participants can enjoy activities at the Water Festival between the scheduled heats.<br /><br /> “This is a great way for local businesses and other organizations to encourage team-building while promoting their brand,” explained Christine Canevari with High Five. “We already have teams committed from the Tampa Bay area and our goal is to add additional new teams from Sarasota and Manatee County.”<br /><br /> Dragon boat racing is popular worldwide with hundreds of events each year throughout the U.S. and many other nations. Most participants race for fun, but there are also highly-competitive club level teams. The world championship was held in Tampa in 2011. Registration information and helpful guidelines is available at <a href="http://www.sarasotabaydragonboat.com" target="_blank">sarasotabaydragonboat.com</a>. <br /><br /> Other highlights for this year’s Water Festival include live music, fine artists selling unique gift items, workshops that promote Bay-friendly living, food trucks and local restaurants, vintage boats, activities for kids, and exhibits promoting recreational boating, fishing, kayaking, paddle board sports, scuba diving, cycling, birding, and other fun activities. <br /><br /> The Sarasota Bay Estuary Program (SBEP) is the Presenting Sponsor and HDR, Inc. is the Host Sponsor for 2013. Other sponsors include Sarasota County, Freedom Boat Club, City of Sarasota, Whole Foods Market, Manatee County, Sarasota Sailing Squadron, Mote Marine Laboratory, West Coast Inland Management District, Caldwell Trust Company, Southwest Florida Water Management District, Town of Longboat Key, Triple 3 Marketing, City of Bradenton, Gold Coast Eagle Distributing, Save Our Seabirds, Around the Bend Nature Tours, High Five Dragon Boat, Suncoast Waterkeeper, and Sun King Disc Sports. <br /><br /> Festival organizers are seeking additional sponsors and exhibitors. Sponsor donations support the festival and SBEP education and volunteer programs benefiting Sarasota Bay. Details about sponsorship and exhibiting are posted at <a href="http://www.sarasotabaywaterfestival.com" target="_blank">sarasotabaywaterfestival.com</a>. UnknownTue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13689TALLAHASSEE &ndash; Florida governor Rick Scott used his line-item veto authority to veto $368 million in spending from Florida's 2013-2014 budget, including a number of projects related to wastewater and stormwater infrastructure and water resource protection. These included: <ul style="list-style-position:outside;margin-left:2em;"> <li>Bonita Springs &#8208; Oak Creek Restoration &#8208; Sediment & Exotic Plant Removal, $250,000</li> <li>Charlotte County &#8208; Regional Reclaimed Water Expansion &#8208; Phase 2, $500,000</li> <li>DeSoto County &#8208; Lettuce Lake/Oak Haven MH Park Utility MCL Water Supply Improvement Projec,t $90,000</li> <li>DeSoto County &#8208; Lake Suzy Utility Wastewater Treatment Facility Improvements, $350,000</li> <li>LaBelle &#8208; Wastewater Recycle Project, $1,812,500</li> <li>Lake County &#8208; Umatilla Sewer System, $1,225,000</li> <li>Lakeland &#8208; Skyview Water and Wastewater System Modification, $3,750,000</li> <li>Manatee County &#8208; Wastewater Clarifier Retrofit &#8208; Southwest Water Reclamation Facility, $1,000,000</li> <li>St. Johns River Restoration and Economic Impact Study, $7,000,000</li> <li>Tampa &#8208; Met West Ditch Stormwater Project, $125,000</li> </ul> <br /> For a complete list of the approved and vetoed water projects, see the link below.UnknownTue, 21 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13671<strong>By Bruce Ritchie</strong><br /><br /> Florida TaxWatch spared local water projects totaling $59.4 million from its list of "turkeys" in Legislature's 2013-14 state budget.<br /><br /> The group each year lists projects that it says were placed in the budget without proper public review and debate. The group says it doesn't condemn the projects but it does request that the governor consider them for vetoes.<br /><br /> In 2011, Scott vetoed more than $600 million of what he described as "special interest earmarks" including $16.5 million in water projects. <br /><br /> Last year, Florida TaxWatch labeled as turkeys 23 local water projects totaling $19 million. Scott eventually vetoed $12.6 million in water projects.<br /><br /> TaxWatch last year also called on the Legislature to establish a review process for water projects and the Legislature did so, said Kurt Wenner, the group's vice president for tax research.UnknownMon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13672<strong>By Bruce Ritchie</strong><br /><br /> Georgia's U.S. senators have stripped from a bill language apparently supported by Gov. Rick Scott to require congressional approval of water for the Lake Lanier reservoir north of Atlanta. <br /><br /> Alabama, Florida and Georgia have been fighting in federal court over water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River system since 1990. Cities, farmers and industry upstream depend on the water while Florida says it needs flow to support fish and wildlife in the Apalachicola River and the seafood industry in Apalachicola Bay.UnknownMon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13675<strong>By Bruce Ritchie</strong><br /><br /> Natural resource projects in Florida will receive $356 million from plea agreements in criminal cases involving the 2010 Gulf oil spill.<br /><br /> The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced the establishment of the Gulf Environmental Benefit Fund and allocations Monday to five Gulf states. The foundation, created by Congress and overseen by federal agencies, will administer and monitor $2.5 billion provided by plea agreements.<br /><br /> The foundation says on its website that it will consult with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection as well as with federal agencies identify projects in Florida.<br /><br /> Applications for projects are being accepted and those that have been submitted for other oil spill funds will automatically be considered, said Doc Kokol, a Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokesman.<br /><br />UnknownMon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13680March 2012 set records for warm temperatures that promoted early leafing and flowering across large areas of the United States. A team of scientists at the USA National Phenology Network, which is sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey, have published a study which shows that 2012 was the earliest spring over the 48 U.S. states since 1900 when systematic weather data began to be available for the entire area. <br /><br /> Phenology is the study of recurring plant and animal life cycle stages, especially their timing and relationships with weather and climate. Assessing the severity and impacts of such extreme climatic events, either in the past or as they happen, requires consistent indicators of variability and change that can be mapped both nationally and historically. <br /><br /> The USA National Phenology Network provides a suite of "spring indices" based on the accumulated warmth needed to end dormancy and initiate growth in many native and cultivated plants. These complex, evidence-based algorithms can be calculated for any weather station that records daily maximum and minimum temperatures. Spring indices are independently validated using historical observations of leafing and flowering in lilac and honeysuckle nationwide. <br /><br /> The historical trend of spring indices suggests that the 2012 growing season advanced as much as 20-30 days in the East and Midwest from the 1900-2012 long-term mean. <br /><br /> "The results of this study clearly demonstrate the great importance of long-term monitoring of natural processes. A long record allows us to identify patterns of change that we might otherwise miss," said Suzette Kimball, acting USGS Director. <br /><br /> Today the response of vegetation to temperature and precipitation can be readily observed across wide areas by Earth-observing satellites at intervals of only a few days. USGS scientist Julio Betancourt, a co-author of the study, noted, "Indicators such as spring indices and satellite-based evaluations of vegetation growth will become essential tools for assessing climate variability and change and their impacts." <br /><br /> Satellite data show that the cumulative effects of the unusually early 2012 spring were most pronounced across the Corn Belt, the western Great Lakes region, and the northeastern U.S. <br /><br /> The beneficial effects of spring's quick start in 2012 were subsequently offset by a late spring frost and summer drought. In fact, the unusually early spring combined with late frosts in April to produce a so-called "false spring" that damaged fruit trees across the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions. <br /><br /> The study appears in <em>EOS, Transactions of the American Geophysical Union</em>.UnknownMon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13681A new U.S. Geological Survey study documents that the Nation's aquifers are being drawn down at an accelerating rate. <br /><br /> Groundwater Depletion in the United States (1900-2008) comprehensively evaluates long-term cumulative depletion volumes in 40 separate aquifers (distinct underground water storage areas) in the United States, bringing together reliable information from previous references and from new analyses. <br /><br /> "Groundwater is one of the Nation's most important natural resources. It provides drinking water in both rural and urban communities. It supports irrigation and industry, sustains the flow of streams and rivers, and maintains ecosystems," said Suzette Kimball, acting USGS Director. "Because groundwater systems typically respond slowly to human actions, a long-term perspective is vital to manage this valuable resource in sustainable ways." <br /><br /> To outline the scale of groundwater depletion across the country, here are two startling facts drawn from the study's wealth of statistics. First, from 1900 to 2008, the Nation's aquifers, the natural stocks of water found under the land, decreased (were depleted) by more than twice the volume of water found in Lake Erie. Second, groundwater depletion in the U.S. in the years 2000-2008 can explain more than 2 percent of the observed global sea-level rise during that period. <br /><br /> Since 1950, the use of groundwater resources for agricultural, industrial, and municipal purposes has greatly expanded in the United States. When groundwater is withdrawn from subsurface storage faster than it is recharged by precipitation or other water sources, the result is groundwater depletion. The depletion of groundwater has many negative consequences, including land subsidence, reduced well yields, and diminished spring and stream flows. <br /><br /> While the rate of groundwater depletion across the country has increased markedly since about 1950, the maximum rates have occurred during the most recent period of the study (2000–2008), when the depletion rate averaged almost 25 cubic kilometers per year. For comparison, 9.2 cubic kilometers per year is the historical average calculated over the 1900–2008 timespan of the study. <br /><br /> One of the best known and most investigated aquifers in the U.S. is the High Plains (or Ogallala) aquifer. It underlies more than 170,000 square miles of the Nation's midsection and represents the principal source of water for irrigation and drinking in this major agricultural area. Substantial pumping of the High Plains aquifer for irrigation since the 1940s has resulted in large water-table declines that exceed 160 feet in places. <br /><br /> The study shows that, since 2000, depletion of the High Plains aquifer appears to be continuing at a high rate. The depletion during the last 8 years of record (2001–2008, inclusive) is about 32 percent of the cumulative depletion in this aquifer during the entire 20th century. The annual rate of depletion during this recent period averaged about 10.2 cubic kilometers, roughly 2 percent of the volume of water in Lake Erie.UnknownMon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13682ESTERO &ndash; Lee County’s Conservation 20/20 program and the Lee County Extension Office are both on the chopping block, as county commissioners grapple with budgetary woes.<br /><br /> Two of the five scenarios presented by staff at a recent budget workshop would divert C2020 funds to the General Fund, and one would eliminate funding for the Extension Office, which provides agricultural resources, marine education, home and garden education and administers the Florida Yards and Neighborhoods program.<br /><br /> More than 100 Extension volunteers stretch the annual budget of about $750,000 to operate a myriad of services, including educating landscapers on the county’s fertilizer and irrigation ordinances, aimed at reducing impact to local waterways. Extension master gardeners and 4-H volunteers contribute enough free hours to equal 14 full-time employees, according to Master Gardener Marlene Rodak.UnknownMon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13686Students, established HAB researchers and policy makers, managers and scientists from NGO, academic institutions, and local, state and federal agencies are invited to participate in the 7th Symposium on Harmful Algae in the U.S., in Sarasota. Everyone who works on HAB issues should attend the only national conference focused exclusively on HABs. Whether your focus is freshwater or saltwater, microalgae or macroalgae, basic research or policy and management, this conference is relevant to your work.<br /><br /> <strong>Important Dates & Info</strong><br /> <ul style="list-style-position:outside;margin-left:2em;"> <li>Early registration and abstract submission closes at midnight EDT May 24. Please make sure all co-authors have reviewed your abstract prior to submission.</li> <li>Your abstract WILL NOT be reviewed if you are not registered for the meeting by May 24.</li> <li>Registration ends Sept. 6.</li> <li>The Symposium will be held at the Hyatt Regency, Sarasota. Book your room early to guarantee the special conference rate of $132 per night for non-government employees or $87 per night for government employees.</li> <li>While Symposium registration ends Sept. 6, you may still book your hotel at the special rate if rooms are still available through Sept. 27.</li> </ul>UnknownMon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 GMThttp://www.chnep.wateratlas.usf.edu/news/newsviewall.asp?newsid=13667<strong>By Craig Pittman</strong><br /><br /> Creating three phosphate mines and expanding a fourth will destroy nearly 10,000 acres of wetlands and 50 miles of streams, causing a "significant impact," according to a study prepared to guide permitting by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.<br /><br /> But the two-year study —- prepared for the corps by a consultant paid by the phosphate industry — contends the miners would do such a good job of making up for the damage, through a process called mitigation, that the impact will not be all that noticeable.<br /><br /> "Without mitigation, a lot of the effects would be significant — on wetlands, on groundwater, on surface water," said corps senior project manager John Fellows, who works in the Tampa office. "No question about it, mining is an impactive industry."<br /><br /> The report is so vague about just what kind of mitigation would make up for such widespread destruction in Hillsborough, Hardee, Manatee, Polk and De Soto counties that Fellows called it "a hand-wave" at the subject. He said that was all the law required.<br /><br /> Both Mosaic and CF Industries, the two phosphate companies that want federal permits for about 42,000 acres of new and expanded mining, issued statements saying they welcomed the report.UnknownFri, 10 May 2013 00:00:00 GMT