ENGLEWOOD, Fla. -- Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Friday the revival of the dormant Red Tide Task Force to study the cause of the toxic algal blooms.
Gov. DeSantis said there will be a reorganization of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's task force, which has been inactive and unfunded for 15 years.
He says Florida legistature has approved $4.8 million to get the task force in gear again to study whether nutrients released from Lake Okeechobee contributes to red tide.
The task force will be comprised of the following:
-Donald Anderson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
-Duane DeFreese of the Indian River Lagoon Council
-Quay Dortch of NOAA
-Leanne Flewelling of FWC
-Charles Jacoby of St. Johns River Water Management District
-Barbara Kirkpatrick of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Oceanographic Institute
-Sherry Larkin of the University of Florida
-Andrew Raich of the Florida Department of Health
-Rhonda Watkins of Collier County Pollution Control
-David Whiting of Florida Department of Environmental Protection
