There is no debate that water is fascinating; it supports life in all of its forms, and that in itself makes it worthy of further study. Water is in the air we breathe, in the limestone beneath our feet, in the soda and juice and coffee we drink, in the fields that grow our food, in the power plants that generate our electricity, and of course in our bodies! Not only is water everywhere, but people are everywhere too. And as much as we like to “leave no trace”, when it comes to water, we often do, and sometimes in ways that we can’t even see. When we purchase food, we are not only supporting that grocery store, but the truck driver that delivered the food, the processing plant that packages the food, and down the line the farmer that grew that food. Food doesn’t just happen without inputs like water, herbicides and fertilizers; we need these to grow the food we need to support the over 7 billion people on this earth. While we often point fingers at agriculture for many of the water quality problems we face, we must step back and look at the bigger picture. To help do this and much more, I have partnered with some incredible people to design the Florida Waters Stewardship Program (FWSP) which I will be piloting in February 2016.

This program follows a similar format to other “Master” programs UF/IFAS offers such as Master Gardener and Master Naturalist, but FWSP focuses entirely on water. And you can’t discuss water without talking about people, so the program also incorporates discussion of stewardship and leadership as well as background information of the water issues we face today. The class consists of six different sessions, each at a different location to highlight various water resources and people managing those resources in Pinellas County. It is one thing to learn about local water resources, but another to become a steward of those resources, and this program is designed to teach both.

Are you interested in learning more about our local water resources? If so, the Florida Waters Stewardship Program is for you! To find out more about the program and to register visit: https://fwsp.eventbrite.com

“Individually we are one drop, but together we are an ocean.”

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