WATER WOES WORKSHOP - OVERVIEW

Water can be applied to every aspect of your life – from bathing and brushing your teeth to watering your garden to fisheries and global warming. Water is the basis of all life. The human body is 65% water and needs to be replenished daily. About 70% of the earth's surface is covered in water, but water also exists in the air as vapor and in aquifers and soil, as groundwater. However, only 1% of the earth's water is available for drinking water and 2% is currently frozen. As you can see, without water, we would not be here. This is why conservation, management, and protection of this valuable resource are important.

THE WORKSHOP

Photo Credit: Captain Les Lezak

Although the topics and debates over water are endless, the resource itself is not. This is why the focus of the second Southwest Florida Gulf Alliance community workshop is on water. Centering our panel discussions will be the topic of Climate Change and how it relates to these three topics: Flood Control and Stormwater Management, Water for Natural Systems, and Water for Human Use. These three uses of freshwater will ultimately connect the land to the sea and address each of the five priority issues of the Alliance.

FIVE PRIORITY ISSUES

• Improvement in Gulf water quality, with an emphasis on healthy beaches and shellfish beds.
• Restoration and conservation of coastal wetlands.
• Environmental education.
• Identification and characterization of Gulf habitats to inform management decisions.
• Reductions in nutrient loading.

QUICK FACTS

Florida Watershed
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