The Clean Water Network of Florida released a report Thursday that says the state is polluting the Gulf of Mexico through Wastewater treatment facilities. The report alleges the state’s Department of Environmental Protection is allowing these facilities to operate with expired permits, or with permits that don’t protect Florida’s groundwater. Lynn Hatter reports.

Florida’s congressional delegation is warning federal officials that it will resist a new plan to drop water flows to the Apalachicola River. Margie Menzel reports.

Groups fighting two proposed developments on the edge of the Everglades took a 60 foot long piece of paper to Governor Charlie Crist’s office Thursday. Gina Jordan reports.

Naples Bay has one of the highest levels of copper contamination in the
U-S…that’s according to a new report by the National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration. Recent water sampling has found Naples Bay regularly violates the state’s copper standards…but the fact that it’s the third highest in the nation came as a surprise to local biologists. Studies have found water in most parts of coastal Southwest Florida with copper levels of about 200 parts per million. According to this report, Naples Bay had about 14-hundred parts per million in 2005, the most current year available. Aswani Volety is a professor of marine science at FGCU and chair of the department of marine and ecological sciences. He told WGCU’s Mike Kiniry there are two primary ways this natural element winds up in the water at such unnaturally high levels…

The chairman of the Congressional House Committee with jurisdiction over the country’s transportation infrastructure, including waterways, was in Labelle yesterday to hear from local interests about the need for more federal funding for water quality and transportation projects. And to see the Caloosahatchee River, Lake Okeechobee and the dike surrounding it up close. WGCU’s Mike Kiniry reports.

The South Florida Water Management District has plans to build a 40-acre filter marsh in south Fort Myers to improve the quality of water flowing into Estero Bay. WGCU’s John Davis has more.

Lee County Health Officials are warning beachgoers to stay out of the water at Bowditch Beach on the northern end of Estero Island because of high bacteria levels in the water. WGCU’s Mike Kiniry reports.

February was a good month for rain in south Florida - but water management officials warn the coming months could be drier than usual. WGCU’s Luis Hernandez reports.

People who live in Collier County are being asked to “Count Every Drop” for the next day or so. It’s in the spirit of competition, aimed at increasing awareness of the need for water conservation. WGCU’s Valerie Alker reports.

Former Director of the National Hurricane Center Max Mayfield is now doing some volunteer work for the South Florida Water Management District. WGCU's Valerie Alker prepared this report.