On this week’s Florida NewsMakers program, Secretary Herschel Vinyard of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection sits down with Trimmel Gomes. Their discussion includes the state’s lawsuit against Georgia over water use, as well as ongoing efforts to improve Florida’s own water quality standards.

After 20 years of failed negotiations, the State of Florida has taken Georgia to court claiming the Peach State’s water use policies are putting the economic future of Apalachicola Bay and Northwest Florida in jeopardy. “We wouldn’t have filed this lawsuit if we didn’t think we were going to win,” Vinyard says of Georgia’s failure to share water that flows between the two states. Even as that court battle moves forward, Florida scored a major victory when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency approved Florida-proposed pollution rules to protect the state’s waterways. “EPA says we will now have the most comprehensive nutrient reduction program in the country,” Vinyard said. During his discussion, Vinyard also addresses springs protection and the state’s award winning park system.

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