Georgia's decision in February to ease outdoor-watering restrictions in metropolitan Atlanta undercuts its claims the federal government should continue limiting downstream flows out of that state, a Florida official says. ...more

May 9, 2008

TAMPA - The end of a grueling drought that started in 2006 with the state's third driest year on record could be in sight. ...more

May 7, 2008

LAKE BUENA VISTA - A vacation at SeaWorld Orlando ended with a real Florida wildlife experience for one tourist. ...more

February 20, 2008

The two-year drought gripping nearly all of Florida has extracted a toll in the hundreds of millions of dollars from the state's agriculture industry and people could begin seeing a pinch in the produce aisle next month. ...more

February 19, 2008

Fran Roy is growing green thumbs. As newly elected president of the Tampa Heights Civic Association, he wants to share his conversion. ...more

February 16, 2008

One of the state's leading experts comes to Brooksville to answer that immortal question: How much watering is enough? ...more

January 31, 2008

SEBRING — Last week's cold snap aside, Highlands County's temperatures were anything but winter-like since December. In fact, as we go through at least another three days of highs reaching 80 degrees, records from the National Weather Service indicated that Avon Park had the sixth warmest December since 1893. The average temperature in the City of Charm last month was 68.4 degrees, 5.8 degrees above the December average of 62.6. The mercury at the Archbold Biological Station south of Lake Placid did not stay as high up from the average mark, but still was 4.7 degrees higher at 67.1, above the station's 62.4 average. For Archbold, this is the fourth highest average since 1969. The NWS holds no data for Sebring. ...more

January 12, 2008

In the midst of such severe drought conditions as we are under in Highlands County, has anyone given any thought to how many gallons of water it will take to produce 47 tons of snow for simple entertainment purposes? ...more

January 10, 2008

Some say the state's severe drought conditions are good for business. "It's been great out on the water," said Rick Grassett, a Sarasota fishing guide. "Seagrass is thicker and more abundant. Fish are more plentiful." ...more

January 6, 2008

So how does one remember 2007 now that 2008 is officially upon us? Certainly not with great joy even though we in Florida did not have much of a hurricane season. Like the rest of the nation, Floridians convulsed under the grip of a tanking real-estate market, marked by record foreclosures. In Florida, high property taxes and insurance premiums made things worse for homeowners – and snowbirds, among some, promised to go elsewhere. ...more

January 1, 2008