NOAA Says Florida’s Coral Reef Is Worth Billions | Keys Weekly
NOAA’s new report, “Ecosystem Services Valuation of U.S. Coral Reefs,” assigns a dollar figure to the shoreline protection, tourism, fisheries and cultural benefits delivered by Florida’s 350-mile reef tract, which generates an estimated $1.7 billion annually in tourism value and supports roughly 71,000 jobs. A USGS study cited in the report found continued reef degradation could add more than $400 million in annual flood damage, strengthening the case for treating restoration as an infrastructure investment.
Florida Hurricane Season Forecast: What’s Next After Edouard? | Tallahassee Democrat $
The Atlantic has yet to produce its first hurricane of 2026, though the season is still making itself felt as the remnants of Tropical Storm Edouard, the third storm to scrape the western Gulf Coast, bring locally significant flooding to east Texas. The climatologically most active three-week stretch of the season is now underway.
Scientists Want You to Keep an Eye Out for Florida Otters | Florida Today $
Biologists describe river otters as ecological indicator species much like dolphins, since they feed on the same Indian River Lagoon and St. Johns River fish that people eat. Relatively little is known about the animals, and researchers are asking Floridians to watch for and report otter sightings.
EPA Grants Target Cybersecurity, Extreme Weather Risks at Water Systems | WaterWorld
EPA is awarding $11.75 million to 10 midsize and large drinking water systems through its Midsize and Large Drinking Water System Infrastructure Resilience and Sustainability Grant Program, funding projects that address cyberattacks, hurricanes, wildfires, drought and flooding. Two Florida utilities are among the recipients, with Lake City funded for SCADA and pump control modernization and Orange City for hurricane resilience improvements, part of a broader push that identified cybersecurity vulnerabilities at 277 water systems in 2025.
Islamorada Considers Higher Sewer Rates, Breakwater Project | Keys News
A consultant recommended Islamorada raise monthly sewer rates 6% annually through fiscal 2031, lifting a typical single-family bill from $77.05 to $81.66 next year and to $103.13 by 2031, with about $20.7 million of a $38.3 million capital program requiring bank and State Revolving Fund financing. The Village Council also heard a Reef Starter proposal for a 330-foot hybrid reef-breakwater off Sea Oats Beach but took no action after fishing guides raised concerns about a tarpon migration area.
EPA Draft Guidance on PFAS in Biosolids Draws Mixed Reviews | Waste Dive
EPA extended the comment period by 30 days, to Oct. 5, on its July draft guidance for managing PFOA and PFOS contamination in biosolids, which surveys state monitoring requirements and land-application limits without endorsing them and criticizes a Biden-era risk assessment as disconnected from real-world conditions. Wastewater and farm groups welcomed the agency’s continued support for land application, while environmental advocates argued the guidance shifts the burden onto farmers and consumers.
EPA Proposes 2027 Construction General Permit for Public Comment | Beveridge & Diamond
EPA’s proposed 2027 NPDES Construction General Permit would replace the 2022 permit expiring in February 2027, removing the narrative requirement that discharges be controlled to meet water quality standards in response to City and County of San Francisco v. EPA, and requiring operators to submit SWPPP information with their Notice of Intent. Comments are due September 17, and states frequently model their own construction stormwater permits on the federal version.
PBSO: Man Took $50K South Florida Water Management Truck From Everglades Project Site | CW34
Palm Beach County deputies charged Alexander Anatole Yaskov, 24, of Hallandale Beach with grand theft of a motor vehicle and burglary of a conveyance after a South Florida Water Management District pickup valued at about $50,000 was taken from a fenced Everglades restoration site near Belle Glade. The truck was returned about 90 minutes later, and the affidavit says Yaskov told a deputy he acted on transmissions in his head from the military.
