Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried looking for more solutions to improving water quality

TAMPA, Fla. - Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried met with environmental experts Thursday at ZooTampa at Lowry Park to discuss ways to improve water quality across the state, as the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission continues to detect low to high concentrations of red tide off our region’s coastline.

"It’s been a ticking time bomb," said Fried.  "We are seeing such a drastic impact on our environment, on our marine life, on our business communities, and our fishermen who are out there, that count, that’s your living, that’s their livelihood and then all of the local businesses that are here on the coastlines."

Commissioner Fried says she enacted changes to the water policy in Florida, does routine on-site inspections, and since taking office, she has reported 6,600 cases to the Department of Environmental Protection of people or companies not complying with water quality standards.  She says, before taking office, there were zero reports of violations to the DEP.

Fried says more needs to be done, so environmental experts chimed in during a roundtable discussion at ZooTampa.  The spill at the Piney Point in April, was mentioned repeatedly.

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"We have to take this seriously. Of course, I called for a state of emergency because I believe that it is an emergency," Commissioner Fried said.

At the time, Governor Ron DeSantis said there is enough money available to help with the red tide crisis, without declaring a state of emergency.

READ: 150 sea turtles killed by red tide so far this year, FWC says