water quality

From the coronavirus pandemic, standardized testing schools and the environment, here are some issues that the legislature will take up this year.

Gov. Ron DeSantis will ask legislators to consider $960 million in funds for the 2022-23 fiscal year to support resiliency efforts across the state.

As red tide continues to plague Florida’s west coast, it also seems to continue expanding north.

Communities receiving program grants hope improvements to their infrastructure will attract more businesses to their area.

The beaches along Pinellas County should be mostly clear this weekend, officials reported, but a health alert was issued for Picnic Island and Davis Islands in Hillsborough.

State wildlife officials say in their mid-week report that toxic red tide blooms, which originally started in Southwest Florida, continue to spread north.

Even though recent water quality tests have not been detecting nutrients of the Piney Point wastewater spill, researchers believe current red tide and cyanobacteria blooms across Tampa Bay are likely being exacerbated by the nutrients which still exist in the bay's ecosystems.

During a two-year study to investigate water quality and algae, University of Florida researchers found dense concentrations of microplastics in southern Biscayne Bay and northeastern Florida Bay.

Many of Florida’s springs are at risk, largely from a combination of reduced water flow and increased pollution.

Data on nitrates and phosphate will be important when determining the spill’s effect on Tampa Bay.

Officials say the wastewater being released into Tampa Bay is not radioactive, but it does contain a lot of nutrients that can fuel algal blooms. Scientists say it will take time to see if damage occurred.

The main concern at Piney Point right now is to stop the south pond from collapsing, according to one expert. If it does, that could potentially release heavy metals and slightly radioactive material from two surrounding ponds into Tampa Bay.