Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried issued the following statement in recognition of World Water Week 2020:
“Water is the lifeblood of our state, and crucial to our ecology, our economy, and our way of life. It’s critically important that we do all we can to remediate and restore Florida’s treasured waters for years to come, from our springs and estuaries to our lakes, rivers, and coasts. As we celebrate World Water Week 2020, I’m grateful to the Florida Legislature for providing important resources this year to help our department protect Florida’s waters, including funding for water restoration in the Lake Okeechobee watershed, for cost-sharing on water quality projects in the greater Lake Okeechobee basin, and for our Office of Agricultural Water Policy to help farmers and ranchers implement water-conscious practices. I’m proud of our efforts towards the continued improvement of the waters on which all Floridians rely.”
Background: The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and its Office of Agricultural Water Policy undertake efforts to strengthen Florida’s waters. This includes committing $1 million for water infrastructure restoration in Hurricane Michael-damaged areas, revising best management practices manuals for the first time in over a decade to emphasize water conservation and efficiency, increasing enrollment and implementation verification of best management practices to beneift water quality, utilizing mobile irrigation labs to identify water efficiency improvements in agriculture, and collection of nutrient data to better inform water quality analysis by FDACS, state agencies, and water management districts.
