Bob Knight. Published in the Gainesville Sun on February 19, 2021 It was Voltaire’s “Candide” that reminded us to tend to one’s own garden. Whether he meant taking care of the Garden of Eden, or the small portion of the world that is closest and dearest to each of us, we are drawn to the importance of helping to make the world healthier and safer in our relatively small local area of personal influence. In that regard,…
Bob Knight Tallahasee Democrat. October 14, 2020 Re: "A watery enigma: Wakulla Springs now producing more water than 20 years ago," Sept. 8, 2020 Florida’s governmental leaders wish to proclaim success with springs protection. However, the recent article citing Northwest Florida Water Management District staff needs to be placed in proper context. The article’s premise is that, in light of recent increases in spring flow at Wakulla Springs, there is still more groundwater to pump. The fact is that…
For too many families, North Florida’s once pristine groundwater may be unsafe to drink. One nasty pollutant is nitrate, a principal ingredient in synthetic agricultural and urban fertilizers, and in animal manure and human waste. In the past 100 years of rapid development, the ambient concentration of nitrate throughout the Floridan Aquifer has risen from a baseline concentration of less than 0.05 parts per million (ppm) to 1 ppm, a 20-fold increase. As with most environmental variables,…
