Equinox Documentaries Blog

Will this be another “govt. solution” or are we willing to really examine what it means to take personal responsibility.  If you live in the basin,  will you take action? We’d like to hear …

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Orlando Sentinel
September 25 2009
By Kevin Spear

Will Wekiva Parkway’s first toll be $30,000 per septic tank?

Homeowners near Wekiva River fight upgrades that foes say cost too much, but state disagrees

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS — Central Florida’s most fought-over environmental issue this decade — building an expressway across the Wekiva River — appeared Thursday to be at the brink of a major battle that could scuttle plans for the road.

The fight is about how best to stop pollution from seeping out of household septic tanks into the river.

About 60 top environmental regulators, water managers, real-estate experts and homeowners met for several hours to resolve an impasse over proposed new requirements on household septic tanks thought to be steadily poisoning the springs flowing into the Wekiva River. [Read more...]

(reprinted from Florida Nature)

It was Sunday and I had the flatwoods to myself. No wonder: I’m guessing this may one of the most under-appreciated eco-systems in all of Florida.

Nonetheless, it’s one I’ve come to love. I beat a quick path from the grassy lot where I’ve parked, back beyond the shard of a longleaf forest, into and then out of the hardwoods of oak and maple, and finally, back to where the true natural world begins. That “quick path” usually takes about fifteen minutes and covers a half mile, maybe more. It allows me to leave the “edge” behind—those ragged places where our protected natural lands nudge up against heavily-traveled roads or busy plazas. Blue jays and starlings, which seem equipped to live almost anywhere, squawk at the edges; but the wrens and warblers sing their gentle songs deeper in. [Read more...]

We may not know who gets the water… but we’re getting an idea about who gets the money.

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Miami Herald
September 10 2009
by Curtis Morgan

Water district taking $25M hit for halted Glades reservoir work

Water managers are ready to pay a contractor $12 million not to build something.

And they consider it a really good deal.

“It’s the best we can do under the circumstances,” said Mike Collins, a member of the South Florida Water Management District’s governing board. “We were potentially on the hook for $26 million.”

The proposed settlement is part of a $25 million hit the district will take for halting construction of a reservoir the size of Boca Raton once touted as the keystone of Everglades restoration. That was before Gov. Charlie Crist announced his controversial land deal with the U.S. Sugar Corp. last year. [Read more...]