United States

The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board has declared a Modified Phase I Water Shortage due to ongoing dry conditions throughout the region and increasing water supply concerns. This will enforce restrictions in Citrus, DeSoto, Hardee, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, Sarasota and Sumter counties; portions of Charlotte, Highlands and Lake counties; the City of Dunnellon and The Villages in Marion County; and the portion of Gasparilla Island in Lee County from Nov. 21, 2023 through July 1, 2024. The District received lower than normal rainfall during its summer rainy season and currently has a 9.2-inch districtwide rainfall deficit compared to the average 12-month total. Water reserves are also decreasing. The order will not change allowable watering schedules for most counties, however it does prohibit “wasteful and unnecessary” water use and twice-per-week lawn watering schedules remain i...

Diver Matt Pressly broke the water’s surface with a cloud of bubbles and clipped a bag containing a single sea urchin to an orange buoy bobbing beside him in the water off San Diego. For more than 30 years, Pressly has been diving off the coast of California for sea urchins, sold in sushi restaurants as a delicacy called “uni.” Divers collect both red and purple varieties. In that time, he’s seen urchins move to deeper water in search of the kelp they feed off ‒ kelp that in some cases no longer grows the way it used to. Scientists say hotter water is rapidly changing the ecosystems of California coastal areas. Among the changes: less kelp in shallower areas. “It used to be that you’d be in deep, deep kelp by now,” Pressly said after catching his breath. “But it’s been gone for five years and hasn’t come back. So I’m having to go out deeper to find the kelp.” For 30 minutes, P...

A $73 million project is underway to create a more sustainable water system for part of northern El Paso County.  The Northern Water Delivery System will allow the Triview Metropolitan District in Monument to use renewable water rights to help replace its diminishing groundwater resources, according to District Manager Jim McGrady. “This project is something that brings renewable water into northern El Paso County in an area that is not blessed with a lot of Denver Basin groundwater,” he said. “The production levels in the Denver Basin Wells even today are not that great and it’s not going to get better. It’s only going to get worse. This project is something that will help mitigate the decline in production in those (wells).” Construction was recently completed on the system’s pipeline. Building a pump station is the next part of the project, which is planned for this winter. McGrady expects the system t...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WBMA) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service announced an alert for all forest visitors to be aware of specific fire restrictions placed in Alabama’s national forests. The lands include Bankhead, Conecuh, Talladega and Tuskegee National Forests. Degrading fire hazard conditions have prompted Acting Forest Supervisor Timothy Spivey to sign a forest closure order to restrict the public from using fire or building campfires on the national forests except those within developed recreation areas that are confined to receptacles designed for fires. The forest service said commercially available fuel stoves (camp stoves) and backpacking stoves are excluded from the restriction. Forest Service officials are also prohibiting possessing, discharging or using any kind of firework or pyrotechnic device. The following public restrictions are effective on Oct. 30, 2023, and will remain in effect until November 30, 2023, or...