Florida Department of Environmental Protection

This week on The Florida Roundup, we addressed the controversial park plan, how to interpret political polls, and got the latest fact-checks from PolitiFact.

A draft update to the state's water quality rules omits a recommendation to set stricter limits on turbidity that can damage imperiled reefs.

"This is the only issue I can remember that united Republicans and Democrats and Independents,” said former DEP director Eric Draper. "No matter what your political beliefs are, you think this is a bad idea.

The Department of Environmental Protection confirmed in an email that one group is no longer pursuing golf courses at pristine Jonathan Dickinson State Park in southeast Florida.

They decried the announcement of a plan to add pickleball courts and golf courses to several state parks. Honeymoon Island and Hillsborough River State Park would be impacted.

The meetings to offer your thoughts on the plans for Honeymoon Island and Hillsborough River State Park are now expected next week. There's also now a webpage where you can send written comments.

The proposal to add golf courses and pickleball courts to Florida state parks drew harsh response from Republican lawmakers and subscribers to WUSF's Wake Up Call morning newsletter.

The data was used to distribute federal money to states to replace the pipes. An advocate thinks Florida's numbers were likely inflated. Florida's DEP says the feds' methodology is flawed.

The move comes after a U.S. district judge rejected a 2020 decision by the federal government to shift permitting authority to the state for projects that affect wetlands.

A new 25-year lease will allow longer, wider ships with a deeper drafts at the harbor just inside Florida's reef tract. The deal comes amid growing evidence that sediment churned up by ships damages reefs.

A Florida Senate committee advanced a wide-sweeping bill that would require someone who loses an environmental court case to cover the winner's legal fees. “This bill will shut down my nonprofit,” one environmental group leader told the committee.

Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson is seeking $300 million for a program designed to keep swaths of rural land from commercial and residential development, triple the amount vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis this year.