State of Water - Latest Comments

Re: Return of the Hyacinth

susan Zimmer — Wed, 20 Jul 2016 13:02:13 -0000

Pickerel weed is native, takes up nutrients. I see it growing naturally in Crystal River.
Why not promote pickerel weed growth, instead of the invasive hyacinths?

Re: Women of the Ocklawaha: Erika Ritter

Milo Loveheart — Sun, 01 Nov 2015 10:12:33 -0000

such a stuck up, conceited, narcissistic bitch! F U Erika!

Re: Fountains of Life: A Look at Florida Springs from Sacred Waters to Green Slime

Duck Black — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 11:48:46 -0000

The springs are magical but white trash people are ruining them.

Re: Naked Ed: Keeper of Lilly Springs

Debra Shingary — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 16:55:24 -0000

I have much to say about this naked Ed! I have known him for many years and know for a fact he is a thief, a squatter and likes children too much! My husband and I lived on this site for many months, are good friends with the true owner of the property and find it a disgrace that naked Ed is protected by so many people. Look into his true background and you will find that I am right. He should be thrown off the land and thrown into jail, not praised as if he was someone important

Re: Naked Ed: Keeper of Lilly Springs

Armel — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 02:47:04 -0000

I love it!

Re: Paul Clark: One Man, Many Springs

George — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 20:31:33 -0000

I don't think I can say anything better than Aunt Clare, but thanks for all the pictures and information; you've obviously worked hard on this blog and it is appreciated..

Re: Return of the Hyacinth

Jason Rose — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 08:21:03 -0000

Yep....feeding the manatees, its like a salad bar out there. If feeding the manatees alters their reproduction as the experts attest to, then isnt this project doing just that. The manatees are in there eating it daily. Does this mean that the general public can bring with them water hyacinth and place it in the bay also...and it not be considered feeding the manatees. Without a barrier keeping the manatees away from the project then it is just a salad bar for them.

Re: Water Permits in Profile: The Adena Springs Controversy

Mark Nathan — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 11:12:08 -0000

all this for one greedy little man, and 100 low paying jobs. Amazing.

Re: Clean Water Act Turns 40

bubba — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:06:27 -0000

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Re: Fountains of Life: A Look at Florida Springs from Sacred Waters to Green Slime

Ryan Smart — Sun, 22 Jul 2012 18:34:54 -0000

Very well researched and informative. A serious contribution to the current debate over springs protection.

Re: Water Permits in Profile: The Adena Springs Controversy

Terry — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:56:28 -0000

How unbiased and reliant on science is the Water Management District when their representative says they will follow the rules for examining the permit and then is quoted as saying in the next breath he believes "the district has no choice but to grant the permit."

Re: Women of the Ocklawaha: Erika Ritter

ocklawahaman — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 13:41:18 -0000

Ocklawaha River striped bass fishing back in 1955!
Read this Fred Langworthy report that appeared in the Daytona Beach Sunday News-Journal newspaper (28 August 1955, page 14):http://news.google.com/news...

Re: Women of the Ocklawaha: Erika Ritter

ocklawahaman — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 11:10:32 -0000

Rodman Dam across the Ocklawaha River has negatively impacted the historical St. Johns River estuary to Silver River migration (back and forth) patterns of as many as eight large, native fish species: striped bass, striped mullet, American eel, American shad, channel catfish, white catfish, Atlantic sturgeon, and shortnose sturgeon. https://sites.google.com/si...

The St. Johns basin's endemic striped bass have suffered the most. Back in 1961 fishery biologists determined that only two river systems in Florida--the Apalachicola-Chipola and the St. Johns-Ocklawaha--contained naturally reproducing stocks of native striped bass. Stripers in Florida are riverine fish which require about 50 miles of cool, free and swift-flowing large streams for successful spawning. Adult striped bass, which can weigh beyond 30 lbs, also require closeby access to water temperatures no greater than 80 F (such as artesian springs and canopied streams) in the summertime. Rodman Dam reduced the spring-fed, swift-flowing Ocklawaha River upstream from the tidal St. Johns River estuary to a length unsuitable for striper spawning. Since 1970 the St. Johns River basin has been stocked with hatchery produced striped bass. No other tributary streams of the St. Johns River meet the stripers' strict spawning requirements.https://sites.google.com/site/ockla...

Re: Women of the Ocklawaha: Erika Ritter

ocklawahaman — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 11:29:18 -0000

That Ocklawaha River virgin bald-cypress tree (mentioned above in Ellie Sommer's article) has a girth of 30 feet when measured 4.5 feet above the ground. https://sites.google.com/si...

Re: Naked Ed: Keeper of Lilly Springs

Diona Bidwell — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 19:48:00 -0000

I met Ed several years ago, far to long ago to mention here. While he came across as someone that was about ready to get a shot gun out and run us off, we talked with him a while (my buddy and I) and asked if it was ok to hang out and rest and cool off a bit. "As long as you aren't going to tear things up and throw your trash around, it would be ok.", he said watching us with a hawk eye to see if we meant what we said when we assured him that we picked up more trash than we ever left behind. We rested the kayaks and had a nice little swim and a snack..picked up every inch of our leave behinds and talked with Ed for a while about his life at Lilly Spring. Lovely place that is, and I hope to go through *that* experience a few more times!

Re: Water Permits in Profile: The Adena Springs Controversy

Seestraight — Thu, 17 May 2012 13:27:08 -0000

You pay for the cost to pump, treat, and pipe it to your door. The water is free. Adena will have to pay to pump and distribute their water too.

Re: Fountains of Life: A Look at Florida Springs from Sacred Waters to Green Slime

Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson — Mon, 14 May 2012 08:32:54 -0000

This is very comprehensive and well written. A must read for anyone and everyone. Our Florida Springs demand our attention!

Re: Water Permits in Profile: The Adena Springs Controversy

Angelwilco — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:02:47 -0000

Money talks and reason will walk- So sad Florida is doomed and no one can stop it. The rich Northeners came a long time ago and had their way with Florida.- The Army corps of engineers drained her swamps in the name of progress and the final destruction is near. If you live in a home that was built in the last 10 years in Florida, you too are too blame. Oh look Ma at this beautiful property, let's mow it down and build us a house,,,,,then a driveway...then a strip mall so we can purchase shit from China to fill the landfills.............

Re: Fountains of Life: A Look at Florida Springs from Sacred Waters to Green Slime

AnnetteLong — Sun, 06 May 2012 16:21:43 -0000

This is amazing reporting. I have been advocating for the springs for 15 years and have never seen such comprehensive, understandable reporting on this issue. You folks are wonderful.

Re: Fountains of Life: A Look at Florida Springs from Sacred Waters to Green Slime

Jeanene Arrington — Fri, 04 May 2012 14:39:28 -0000

Well written and Informative - Thanks for all the hard work put into this!

Re: Fountains of Life: A Look at Florida Springs from Sacred Waters to Green Slime

Guest — Thu, 03 May 2012 12:52:19 -0000

Beautiful, informative, necessary.
Well done, folks!

Re: Paul Clark: One Man, Many Springs

Sunny — Wed, 02 May 2012 15:17:25 -0000

GREAT JOB PAUL.... LOVE, AUNT CLARE

Re: Agriculture vs. Water: Bottling the Consumptive Question

Kurt Kopt — Wed, 02 May 2012 13:20:41 -0000

Sorry Gbloopr but I can't agree with you there; who are you to tell me or anyone else, for that matter, what we should or shouldn't eat and drink? Drink tap water if you want - I do when I'm sure it's safe and when I like the taste of it, but lot's of municipal systems (particularly in parts of Europe and most third world countries) are questionable at best in terms of quality management and the water often tastes terrible. Whole house and point of use filters are fine if you maintain them, but most people don't.

You can do a net search and find cases of "boil water" alerts for municipal systems everyday in this country. Hundreds of thousands of people come down with water-borne illnesses every year in the USA from drinking municipal water; there are very few documented cases of people getting sick from bottled water.

Refill your water bottle as often as you want - that's great if your confident in your ability to keep it sanitary between fillings. Me, I'll recycle my bottles along with all of my other plastic waste; PET is the most valuable recyclable commodity on the market. If more people took responsibility for their own waste, we could move a lot farther in a tangible positive direction in terms of reducing our footprint.

Re: Agriculture vs. Water: Bottling the Consumptive Question

Gbloopr — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:11:30 -0000

We should all be eating less meat; and why do people have to drink bottled water when we have fresh water from out taps. We can re-use our plastic bottles and fill them with healthy, filtered water from our own taps to take on trips and to sporting events, etc. Everyone should be more aware of the shortages we face and try and conserve in everyway possible. Life is very different from 60 years ago when we weren't nearly so over-populated. As the population continues to grow and water becomes more and more scarce, bottling it will seem very foolish. People will soon have water shortages throughtout the world. We need oranges, we need some agriculture but we need to conserve on luxury items.

Re: The Future of Building: Inside a Net-Zero Water School

Gbloopr — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:02:39 -0000

What a wonderful dedicated community school. Why can't people learn from the organizations that do so much good. Congratulations. Georgia Rolfe