Restoring an ecosystem is a delicate balancing act. Experts say government agencies and environmental groups must make tough decisions this year to return the Hillsborough River to a state of health and beauty.
Published: Jan. 14, 2007
TAMPA - The Hillsborough River is sick.
Sparkling waters that dazzled early explorers are now fouled by oxygen-destroying nutrients and harmful bacteria. Described by a 19th-century traveler as “fresh down to its mouth,” the lower river is now salty much of the year.
Restoring the river will require tough choices, some of which will be made this year. In the next few months, state water authorities will try to address the lack of fresh water flow into the lower 10 miles of the river. This summer, the state will roll out the first of several river cleanup initiatives.
Published: Jan. 15, 2007
TAMPA - Hundreds of years ago, a pristine Hillsborough River poured fresh water into salty Tampa Bay. That magical mix of fresh water and saltwater formed an estuary where juvenile fish grew and crabs and oysters were bountiful.
“The river is fresh down to its mouth and abounds with fish innumerable,” wrote S.S. Seymour, an American adventurer who visited the area in the 1820s.
Today, oysters are mostly gone from Hillsborough Bay, where the river empties into Tampa Bay. Fish and crabs still live there but are no longer abundant. A big reason for that is the diminished flow of fresh water to the lower river and out into the Bay.
Published: Jan. 16, 2007
TAMPA - The Hillsborough River should have been cleaned up years ago.
The federal Clean Water Act of 1972 called for states to identify their polluted waterways, then develop cleanup plans.
But Florida and other states ignored the law. The task was too big, too expensive and politically unpalatable. Making rivers and bays safe for swimming and fishing again meant cracking down on politically powerful polluters such as paper mills, municipal sewer plants and factory farms.