Water is Life

John M. Dunn is a journalist, educator, and water advocate. He is the author of several books and has written for Sierra, Florida Trend, the St. Petersburg Times, and other publications. His most recent book, Drying Up (University Press of Florida) is a wake-up call and a hard look at what the future holds for those who call Florida home. America’s wettest state is running out of water. Florida―with its swamps, lakes, extensive coastlines, and legions of life-giving springs―faces a drinking water crisis.  Drainage projects, construction, and urbanization, especially in the fragile wetlands of South Florida, have changed and shrunk natural water systems. Pollution, failing infrastructure, increasing outbreaks of toxic algae blooms, and pharmaceutical contamination are worsening water quality. Climate change, sea level rise, and groundwater pumping are spoiling freshwater resources with saltwater intrusion. Because of shortages, fights have broken out over rights to the Apalachicola River, Lake Okeechobee, the Everglades, and other important watersheds. As millions of new residents are expected to arrive in Florida in the coming decades, this book is a timely introduction to a problem that will escalate dramatically―and not just in Florida. Dunn cautions that freshwater scarcity is a worldwide trend that can only be tackled effectively with cooperation and single-minded focus by all stakeholders involved―local and federal government, private enterprise, and citizens. He challenges readers to rethink their relationship with water and adopt a new philosophy that compels them to protect the planet’s most precious resource.

Lynne Buchanan’s photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including at the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, Fogartyville Arts and Media Center in Sarasota, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Brickworks Gallery in Atlanta, Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, Massachusetts, and 516 Arts in Albuquerque. She has been affiliated with the Waterkeeper Alliance since 2013. She is the author of Florida’s Changing Waters: A Beautiful World in Peril (George F Thompson Publishing). Lynne Buchanan began photographing Florida’s inland waters to create artistic records of her connection with those. The more time she spent photographing waterways in her native Florida, the more she noticed what was being damaged and lost due to human impact. She resolved to draw attention to the situation through her photography and to work with water-quality and environmental advocates, from members of the Waterkeeper Alliance to Native American citizens fighting to preserve the integrity of their ancestral lands and drinking water. The result is Florida’s Changing Waters, which not only showcases the beauty, diversity, and complexity of Florida’s waters, but also documents the negative effects of agricultural and industrial pollution, a growing population with its urban growth and land development, and climate change on Florida’s inland and coastal waters and springs. Buchanan’s photographs invite viewers to consider their personal relationship to water and encourage better stewardship of this vital––and finite––resource.