A Look at Water in South Central Florida

If you stay abreast of water media you may be familiar with Dr. Mary Lusk from handy insight on reclaimed water in Florida and topical research on septic system pollutants. You may also recognize Dr. Lusk as the UF/IFAS Water Regional Specialized Agent for the South Central District. This spring during the Urban Landscape Summit, Dr. Lusk agreed to speak with IrriGator for our on-going series featuring Water RSAs and their districts.

What drew you to the Water RSA position?

ML: I really like that it combines science with communication to the public. To me Extension is just the perfect job because you’re taking scientific information and you’re conveying that to the public. I love that combination. It’s the best of all worlds to me: science and communication.

What are the critical water issues in the South Central District?

ML: My district is a mixed bag. We definitely have a lot of urban land with the Tampa/St. Pete area, and the Sarasota, Port Charlotte and Naples areas. We also have huge amounts of ag in this district. We have strawberry and vegetable row crops in the Hillsborough County area - all the row crops in the Immokalee area. I really have to wear two hats between the urban and ag world.

If you had to focus on one issue as being most important, it’s probably nutrient storage. We have a lot of water bodies that are impaired because of excess nutrients. What I focus a lot on is ways to get the message out of things we can do to reduce our nutrient footprint, reduce that transport of nutrients from land, whether it’s urban or agricultural, to the water.

Dr @UF_MaryLusk led a team to write longest article in "Critical Reviews in ES&T" on septic systems pollutants." https://t.co/n9YBw0YNLf

— Gurpal Toor (@ToorUMD) May 19, 2017

Do you consider your first year as an RSA a success?

ML: I feel like this past year has been a success. I’ve seen firsthand the issues. I know who the players are. I’ve met so many people at agencies like DEP, FDACS, the water management districts. I’ve learned who the people are and what they’re working on, what’s important to them and by default learned what’s important to Florida. Now that I have this information I feel that I’m ready to go, ready to start tackling some of those problems.

How do you feel having a digital presence on Twitter benefits you and your work?

ML: I really was looking for ways to just expand my reach, reach those folks that I don’t see face to face, perhaps I’ve never met, but folks who are out there looking for this information. Expand my reach. That to me is great. The more people we can get in touch with, all the better.

Read about Water RSAs Charles Barrett, James Fletcher and Lisa Krimsky.

Charles Barrett and Understanding the Importance of Water in Florida

This month marks a year for Dr. Charles Barrett as water regional specialized agent (RSA) for UF/IFAS Northeast District. This district spans Jacksonville, the Suwannee River Valley and the Nature Coast. I caught up with him during Urban Landscape Summit 2017 and he was kind enough to speak with IrriGator about his RSA experience thus far.

Dr. Charles Barrett - Regional Specialized Agent, water resources

What attracted you to the Water RSA position?

CB: I did my PhD research in agriculture (ag) irrigation and best management practices for water and nutrient management. That’s what got me interested in it. And being a Florida resident my whole life I understand the importance of water to Florida. If there’s something I can do to help out I’m excited to do that.

What are the most critical water issues in your district?

CB: We have some new basin management action plans coming into place. My role with IFAS extension is education about what this means for our residents in the district. It’s a very rural area, so I'm getting the message out to farmers and small communities so that they understand what the implication of a basin management action plan is and how they can get prepared for it.

Dr. Barrett (middle) presents at an irrigation demo

Also, out of the 31 listed Outstanding Florida Springs (OFS), we have 17 of them in my district. That’s a large majority. OFS in the new water bill got special attention so if you have an OFS in your basin management action plan you have even more stuff you have to pay attention to. There’s a lot coming down the pike and I feel there’s not a whole lot of education going on about that. This is where we step in and give the science and information. I feel we have to do a much better job of getting information out to people.

Being almost a year into this position are you satisfied with how the work is coming along?

CB: I feel like I’m starting to get the lay of the land which is the most critical part in any job. There was nobody before me to tell me what I needed to do - which is exciting but sometimes a challenge because you’re kind of making up your own road map as you go. You’ve got to do a needs assessment and figure out where the big fires are and start working on putting those fires out first. In my area, being that it’s predominantly ag, a lot of the identification of the nutrient loads in the rivers and in the springs has been identified as ag-related. That’s the big fire right now, to get those guys to understand how important best management practices are. How it’s not only important to enroll, but the rule has now changed that you have to verify your implementation of it. That means good record-keeping. It’s a lot of education on that.

Read Dr. Barrett's article on soil sensors & irrigation scheduling

If I can say anything is a success, it’s just making relationships right now – working with the water management district, working with FDACS, working with DEP and the Suwannee River Partnership has been huge up there. We meet regularly and we talk about these issues. We have a really tight-knit group. So I think the biggest success so far is that I’ve been able to get on board with those guys and to work hand-in-hand with the guys that are trying to get this information out. We’re all working together. I’d like to see more success on the side of getting things done, but that comes with time.

Before I met you I knew you from Twitter. Can you talk about why you joined Twitter and some benefits of maintaining a digital presence?

CB: I created an account on Twitter right when I first started as a water RSA. I went through the professional development academy, or new agent training, and it was brought to my attention how that media stream could be useful in your career. I figured like-minded people might find some of the stuff that I find interesting interesting to them. That’s why I got on it. I didn’t think anybody was looking at it! I see you on there with IrriGator and you’re always picking up stuff that I miss so it’s awesome. If I find something, or you guys find something, we can all share it along. I thought I’d never be on Twitter, I’m not a social media type of person. But it’s kind of cool.

Read profiles on Water RSAs James Fletcher and Dr. Lisa Krimsky.

UF/IFAS: Leading the State in Water Science

By Jack Payne

It can take two to three years from the time I decide new scientists are needed to focus on a Florida challenge to the time I can actually make them employees of the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

That’s why UF/IFAS got started years ago expanding our expertise in water. It has always been essential to our day-to-day lives, of course. In 2016, there was increased public focus on how critical it is to our future.

·       A survey of Floridians by the UF/IFAS Center for Public Issues Education found that more than 4 in 5 Floridians identified water as a highly or extremely important issue. Water ranked even higher than the economy.

·       The Water 2070 report concludes that without major efforts in conservation and compact development, we cannot support the agricultural productivity and population increases projected in the next 50 years.

·       The state legislature made water legislation the first item on its 2016 agenda. Regardless of the merits or faults of the approved law, it marked water as one of the state’s most prominent political issues.

Have you read the Water 2070 report?

And in 2016, UF/IFAS hired numerous water experts to make sure our response to the water challenge is guided by science.

·       We hired five regional specialized water Extension agents, who will work with state agencies to devise and communicate ways to protect the quality and quantity of our supply.

·       Our new state-funded faculty hires include experts such as Jorge Barrera, who will analyze large data sets from water utilities, urban water engineer Eban Bean, and geospatial analysis expert Basil Iannone.

You can meet Drs. Barrera and Bean, and some of the new Extension specialists at the 2017 Urban Landscape Summit on campus in Gainesville on March 16-17.

Let's Talk Summit

It’s the second annual summit, organized by Michael Dukes of the Center for Landscape Conservation and Ecology.

It brings many of our water experts together from across the state for discussions of irrigation, fertilizer bans, water-saving smartphone apps, consumer perceptions, reducing algal blooms, and more, all underpinned by an ethos of conservation.

You can register for the summit here

The summit is yet another example of how UF/IFAS continues to establish itself as the state’s leader in water science.

The Urban Landscape Summit also includes student lightning presentation sessions

Research-focused

Water is an issue so fraught with politics that good policy has to rely on neutral brokers of information. Public land-grant universities such as UF are positioned to serve in this role because we seek discovery, not profit. Our comprehensive expertise also enables us to assemble scientists from a wide variety of fields to focus on a single problem.

The summit won’t be a water-only affair, but water will flow through much of the agenda. It will also be a debut of sorts for our expanding water brain trust.

Of course, Dr. Dukes and our other established leaders in conservation will participate in the summit as well.

Dr. Saqib Mukhtar judges a student poster at Urban Landscape Summit 2016

I’m proud that Dr. Dukes has invited me to open the summit. It gives me the opportunity to reemphasize the UF/IFAS commitment to conservation. It will also be an opportunity to talk about what Water 2070 recommends – more support for Florida-Friendly Landscaping™ to get us off the unsustainable course of our state’s growing thirst.

Jack Payne is the University of Florida’s senior vice president for agriculture and natural resources and leader of the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Collaboration and Expansion: A Q & A with South District Water RSA Lisa Krimsky

This month all of UF/IFAS’ regional specialized agents (RSA) for water gathered in Gainesville to meet with each other and an assortment of state specialists. Water RSAs are a recent advent in IFAS that many of us water pros are excited to see in action. Unlike a typical extension agent, an RSA is assigned a state region in which to exercise his/her insight and expertise.

A Gainesville Gathering (courtesy: Michael Dukes)

Regional Assets

In Florida, water quality and quantity are major concerns. Having five RSAs in the mix across the state is an asset. “I see the RSAs as a tremendous opportunity in connecting IFAS resources with water issues that cross political boundaries and water users,” said IFAS water specialist Dr. Kati Migliaccio. “Water issues are not typically one well or one stream, they are watershed size or aquifer size.”

IFAS water RSAs work within and overlapping the water management districts 

Banner Year

2016 has been a noteworthy year for water quality in South Florida. Fish kills and algal blooms, symptoms of long term management issues, made national headlines during spring and summer. Water experts and policymakers have a significant role to play in the region’s future. Newly minted South District RSA Lisa Krimsky talked to IrriGator about South Florida’s water challenges and the regional agent concept.

South District Water RSA Lisa Krimsky earlier this year in Miami-Dade

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What are you most excited about working on in this new position?

Since I started this position in July, I’ve been spending my time getting to know the whole South District region and understanding both the broad overarching issues and the unique local problems that impact South Florida’s water resources. I have met with local stakeholders, attended numerous meetings and visited with county Extension offices to learn about the great water programming efforts that Extension agents are currently doing. There is a lot of enthusiasm and support for this position, and I am most excited about continuing to work with and facilitate partnerships with each of these entities so that we can meet the challenges and have a greater impact in our existing efforts.

A recent article mentioned your interest in the Indian River Lagoon, can you talk about what the situation is there and what role you hope to play?

Fish kill in Indian River Lagoon (courtesy: WMFE)

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is a large and complex system that spans the length of 5 counties and recent algal bloom events have led to national attention. The northern part of the lagoon has been experiencing patchy blooms of Pyrodinium algae or “brown tides”. These high concentrations of algae plus summer’s high water temperatures have led to declining levels of dissolved oxygen which have resulted in localized fish kills. The southern part of the lagoon has also been experiencing algal blooms, although the type and cause are different from that in the northern IRL. Blue-green, Mycrocystis algae bloomed in the St. Lucie Estuary earlier this summer. This event is the result from high-nutrient, freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee as well as localized runoff from local watersheds. Immediately, one of the roles I hope to play is to help fill in the gaps in communication between scientists, resource managers and citizenry. I want to assist in understanding the causes, impacts, and current research and monitoring efforts surrounding these blooms which will hopefully lead to support and implementation of nutrient reduction (stormwater and wastewater) and restoration efforts.

Stuart, FL: algae in full bloom (courtesy: AP)

A year from today what would you characterize as a good start for the RSA position in South Florida? 

A year from now I simply hope to have a good grasp on all the complexities surrounding water resource issues in South Florida! Kidding aside, I think a successful first year for me would be to increase our collaborations with local partners and work together to expand successful localized projects on a larger scale so that they can be applied throughout the greater region rather than stay siloed within county-boundaries.

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As a platform focusing on water quality and quantity, IrriGator will be doing our best to follow and feature the work of all the water RSAs in the months/years to come. Stay tuned!