BC Water News

 

Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016

Cleanup tax passes

Indian River Lagoon plan easily wins in a landslide

Wikimedia Commons

Florida Today

The 1/2-cent sales tax for Indian River Lagoon cleanup cruised to an easy victory Tuesday night in Florida. The measure passed 190,404 to 115,010, or by 62.3 percent. The tax is to pay for a $302 million, 10-year plan to clean up the lagoon. The cleanup plan focuses mainly on removing nitrogen and phosphorus from the lagoon. The lagoon has been plagued in the past five years with severe algae blooms and dieoffs of seagrass and marine life.

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Birmingham: 'Extreme drought emergency'

AL.com

The Birmingham Water Works initiated stage four of its drought management plan, indicating an "extreme drought emergency," and paving the way for 400 percent surcharges for excess water use and encouraging municipalities within their service area to implement drought ordinances. The stage four measures are designed to decrease water use five percent beyond stage three measures.

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Water testing comes to your smartphone

Phys.org

Ever wondered what's in the neighborhood pond? Technology developed by researchers at the University of Houston will allow you to test for waterborne pathogens by using your smartphone. The system initially will test for two types of pathogen: Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum, both of which can enter the body through the nose and mouth and cause intestinal infection.

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