Florida Department of Environmental Protection

A federal judge ordered a series of steps aimed at protecting manatees in the northern Indian River Lagoon, including temporarily preventing new septic tanks in the area.

A U.S. district judge last month ruled that the state has violated the Endangered Species Act as manatees face threats in the Indian River Lagoon

Nearly 2,000 manatees died in the state in 2021 and 2022, a two-year record. Widespread water quality problems and seagrass losses left the sea cows starving.

The judge said the Florida Department of Environmental Protection needs to seek what is known as an “incidental take permit” from federal wildlife officials to help minimize the effects of discharges on manatees.

The nonprofit citizens action group Friends of the Wekiva River is hopeful the new pilot reservation program at the park will mitigate overcrowding while helping preserve the river system.

The state has been slow to adopt rules to protect Florida's endangered springs. A boom in residential construction has increased the amount of groundwater being taken from the aquifers.

Freshwater springs advocates are skeptical of the state agency’s proposed rules for pumping springs, saying the rules as currently written wouldn’t change anything from the current status quo.

The citizen group Apalachicola Riverkeeper has challenged the Department of Environmental Protection to prevent drilling in the floodplain.

As major dams are taken down in other parts of the country, Florida holds tight to its dams and reservoirs, some aging and putting nearby residents and homes at risk.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has OK'd a draft permit in Calhoun County. But Apalachicola Riverkeeper, a citizens group, contends there is a 100% failure rate of wells drilled there.

The long-awaited move comes nearly nine years after a state law mandated the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to propose more protective rules for pumping springs.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved a draft permit, but the citizen group Apalachicola Riverkeeper has challenged it.