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Build, drain, flood

Mark and Pam Teator walk by Common Ground Farm in DeLand, which often takes on floodwater, in late September. Hurricane Milton would later flood the Teators’ home, just a few months after they moved to Volusia County from out of state.
Molly Duerig
/
Central Florida Public Media
Mark and Pam Teator walk by Common Ground Farm in DeLand, which often takes on floodwater, in late September. Hurricane Milton would later flood the Teators’ home, just a few months after they moved to Volusia County from out of state.

In this second episode of Central Florida Seen & Heard: Rising Water Part Two, we dive into how Florida’s land and water are interconnected, and what that means for Central Floridians grappling with more frequent and severe flooding.

RELATED: After the storm: Kicking off Part 2 of our Seen & Heard series about Rising Water

Storms are getting stronger with climate change, leaving behind more rain and causing more serious inland flooding. But more rain isn’t the only contributing factor.

The way we develop and change the topography of land can and does influence where, and how, water flows in a given area. That area is called a watershed, or basin. Land and water are intrinsically connected, particularly in Florida, due to the state’s low elevation and seasonal wet/dry weather patterns.

Two weeks after Hurricane Milton, wetlands are still absorbing floodwaters, about 100 feet in from what is usually the dry shoreline on Lake Jesup's north shore.
Molly Duerig
/
Central Florida Public Media
Two weeks after Hurricane Milton, wetlands are still absorbing floodwaters, about 100 feet in from what is usually the dry shoreline on Lake Jesup's north shore.

RELATED: Here’s how wetlands help control flooding in Central Florida

Wetlands are an excellent water management tool: absorbing excess water after heavy rain events and helping filter out pollutants, they help illustrate how water quality and quantity are inherently connected.

Our next podcast episode will explore those water quality/quantity connections, and how flooding can exacerbate water quality concerns, including from wastewater contamination.

Rising Water
Molly is an award-winning reporter with a background in video production and investigative journalism, focused on covering environmental issues for Central Florida Public Media.
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