The UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences launched a new website to teach Florida residents how to preserve, and possibly protect, the state’s quality of water.
The site, originally published in September for a trial period, was not available to the public until January. The website was created by a team of seven institute employees to help people learn about the institute’s water programs, said Kati Migliaccio, a UF agricultural and biological engineering professor and a member of the team who helped create the website.
“It is designed to help you find that set of information,” Migliaccio said.
The team wanted the website to teach different types of people how to be more efficient with their water usage, she said. Topics included water use in agriculture involving irrigation and fertilizers, water use in nature — like aquifers and wetlands — how homeowners and builders use water in urban settings and outreach programs.
Users can access more than 10 subcategories to assist them in finding more specific information, Migliaccio said.
She said the site only has information regarding the university institute’s programs.
The website was designed for users to find information as fast as possible, said Tatiana Borisova, a UF associate professor and extension specialist focusing on water economics and policy, who helped create the site.
“The goal was for the general public in Florida to have the most simple way to access information by clicking one or two times,” she said.
Borisova, who moved to Florida eight years ago and who works with UF’s Water Institute, said Florida residents should realize how their actions affect the state’s water.
“Water is the bloodstream of Florida. It’s important for the economy; it’s part of people’s world- view when they think about the state,” Borisova said.
The new site can be found at http://water.ifas.ufl.edu.
