Give before year's end to protect Florida's waters

As 2025 comes to a close, your support for VoteWater can make a real difference for Florida’s waters. This year, we exposed polluters, challenged special interests and helped voters see how water policy shows up on the ballot — but the fight isn’t over.

Please give before December 31 and help us head into 2026 ready to push harder for clean, protected waters.

How a changing climate is supercharging Vibrio vilnuficus

One day — Monday, Feb. 27, 2023, to be exact — Steve Zelenski was in a boat checking stone crab traps on the Indian River Lagoon just west of the House of Refuge near Stuart.

Four days later, the 68-year-old Palm City resident was fighting for his life at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville.

Officially, Zelenski — who survived but lost four fingertips on his left hand — was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, a medical catch-all term for what’s more commonly called “flesh-eating disease.”

Unofficially, and more specifically, Zelenski is convinced he was infected with Vibrio vulnificus, a potentially deadly type of flesh-eating bacterium found naturally in warm, brackish water. And with waters getting warmer from climate change — the infections are becoming more common.

Over the last 10 years, Florida averaged about 48 cases and 11 deaths per year, according to FDOH data. In 2024, Florida had a record 82 cases and 19 deaths, a surge health officials linked to flooding caused by back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton.

The numbers dropped in 2025, but Vibrio will remain a problem because the bacteria are a natural part of the coastal ecosystem, there’s no way to get rid of them. Said one expert: “It’s more about mitigating infections by increasing awareness and improving education about the risk.”

Click the box below to read the full story.

ICYMI: Wetlands under threat at changes to 'WOTUS' rules loom

As you know, wetlands are crucial to the environment; but on the heels of a U.S. Supreme Court decision on wetlands protections, the federal Environmental Protection Agency is revising its rules for what is and isn't conidered "Waters of the United States." And that rule change could put up to 70 million acres of wetlands nationwide at risk, with Florida would be particularly hard hit; nearly 7.7 million acres of the state's total 10 million acres could be impacted if the proposed new EPA rule takes effect.

Our recent "Deep Dive" into the topic takes an in-depth look at the threat, what it means to Florida, and what you can do about it.

As we head into 2026, Florida’s waters face growing threats — and your support has never mattered more. With your continued help, VoteWater will keep exposing special interests, educating voters, and fighting for leaders who put clean water first.

Become a WaveMaker!