Photo provided by R. Garrity
Dr. Richard Garrity will be discussing the value of Florida’s wetlands and all things water at a free Oct. 31 event sponsored by the SCC Audubon Club. He is the former director of the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission who now chairs the Hillsborough League of Women Voters Natural Resource Committee.
We all know that Florida’s wetlands are important. Want to learn more about how valuable they really are? Then you need to put this special Oct. 31 event on your calendar: “What you didn’t know about Florida — Hydrology,” sponsored by the Sun City Center Audubon Club. It is free for Sun City Community Association members and their guests.
The event will be held in the Artium Building’s Florida Room on the Central Campus at 945-D N. Course Lane, from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Dr. Richard Garrity, former director of the Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission, will be the featured speaker, and his presentation will begin at 10 a.m.
Garrity achieved unquestionable environmental victories over his 15 years leading the EPC. One notable achievement was returning sea grass levels in Tampa Bay to their highest point since the 1950s — an indicator of improved water quality.
When he retired in 2015, he indicated that he wanted to remain active in environmental causes, writing op-eds and advocating issues. “I don’t want to fade into the shadows,” Garrity said at that time. And he hasn’t. He now chairs the Hillsborough League of Women Voters Natural Resource Committee and speaks at various functions throughout the Tampa Bay area.
Although the event is free and walk-ins are welcome, to help with planning, organizers are requesting that attendees register online at: tinyurl.com/y7dscywz. For more information, email melaniephiggins@gmail.com.
This is the second in a series of three workshops sponsored by the SCC Audubon Club. The next one — covering Florida ecology — will be held in April 2018.