The damaging wind, rain and storm surge from hurricanes Ian and Nicole have created an inordinate amount of stormwater filled with excess nutrients that have poured into our coastal waters. This has been a contributing factor to the early arrival of red tide in spots all along the Suncoast. In addition, the costly repairs of [...]
NOAA for years has been successfully building a Weather Ready Nation (WRN) which educates the public on weather events, risks, and ways to prepare. They now have a new agenda to build a Climate Ready Nation. This plan will aid in creating more jobs to create clean-energy, increase education on climate states, and ensure that [...]
If you live in Sarasota or Manatee County and your community’s stormwater ponds are suffering from unsightly algal blooms or costly eroding banks, you should contact us for a free assessment and a chance for a grant to help fund the cost of the native aquatic plants shown above that will improve the health of [...]
While the Suncoast was very fortunate to dodge the full brunt of IAN, many communities still experienced some major damage with downed trees and broken branches, wind-blown landscaping and some lost roof shingles and damaged lanai screens. As a result, START was very concerned about how the aquatic pond plants faired that we planted recently [...]
In October NOAA announced $18.9 million in funding for harmful algal bloom (HAB) research projects and monitoring activities throughout U.S. coastal and Great Lakes waters. NOAA states “Harmful Algal Blooms (HABS) occur when colonies of algae — simple plants that live in the sea and freshwater — grow out of control and produce toxic or [...]
Like most organizations along the Suncoast, START has experienced some setbacks from Ian’s devastating winds and storm surge. As a result, this October’s edition of our monthly E-Newsletter will be limited to an overview of the current status of our facilities and various field operations. With the shift of the projected path of the storm [...]
At the end of this month, the Healthy Pond Collaborative Sarasota will complete its fist year of a three-year grant from the Charles and Margery Barancik Foundation. As many of our regular readers will recall from previous articles in our Monthly E-Newsletter, this program grew out of a 2021 pond enhancement program initiated by START [...]