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Florida Water & Climate Alliance Workshop scheduled for December 20th in Orlando, FL ,

The Florida Water and Climate Alliance (FloridaWCA), a longstanding stakeholder-scientist network coordinated by the UF Water Institute, will hold its next workshop on December 20th at Orlando Utilities Commission, including topics of sea level rise, red tide, land use, as well as social impacts and adaptations. Please contact lstaal@ufl.edu if you are interested in participating or would like additional information.

FloridaWCA grew out of Florida’s public water supply Utilities’ interest in using location-specific climate information to reduce risk and increase resilience in their operations. Established in 2010, FloridaWCA, provides a venue for shared science, interactive dialogue, and collaborative learning between Florida water management practitioners, hydrologic scientists, climate scientists, and science communications experts. Collaborators include six major public water supply utilities, three water management districts in Florida, local government representatives and several academic organizations.

Florida WCA workshops and collaborative efforts have helped shape the development and implementation of science-based climate information for operational and longer-term water resource planning and management decisions Florida. Its members hope to expand the network’s shared learning, access to resources, and potential for defining further research of specific interest to the stakeholders throughout the Southeast USA. Currently, FloridaWCA is challenging itself to explore the broader social, policy, and communication issues involved with planning and ultimate implementation of climate adaptation approaches, methods and tools. This includes branching into ecology and interfacing with ecosystem managers (US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) to explore shared concerns to resource managers, potential science-based management actions, and land use change adaptation decisions.

Visit the FloridaWCA website for information on activities and resources. For additional information on the FloridaWCA or to register to attend the December 20th workshop, contact Lisette Staal (lstaal@ufl.edu).