Podcast - Lakes Education / Action Drive

Show Your Lakes Appreciation Challenge

July is Lakes Appreciation Month! Polk County, our 17 Municipalities, along with the Lakes Education Action Drive Board of Directors would like to encourage our residents and visitors to get involved and appreciate our beautiful lakes. LEAD is taking the lead (pun intended) here in Polk County to host a Lakes Appreciation Challenge. We want to invite you to participate in the “Show Your Lakes Appreciation Challenge”, social media lake selfie photo contest.

Between now and July 31^st take a selfie while cleaning on one of Polk County’s lakes, tag the Lakes Education Action Drive on Instagram and use the hashtag #PolkLakeSelfie. One lucky winner will receive a $100 Gift Card from the Andy Thornal Company provided by Watson Clinic. Other entries may receive a gift card from Fred’s Market Restaurant and additional outdoor gift cards from Andy Thornal Company. For more information Follow Us on Instagram.

And, for more information on the origin of Lakes Appreciation Month, listen to our latest podcast on Podbean. On this podcast, we speak with Steve Lundt, the Senior Water Quality Scientist for Metro Water Recovery. Formed in 1961, Metro Water Recovery is the largest wastewater treatment provider in the Rocky Mountain West.

Steve has worked on lakes and reservoirs for the past 25 years as a Certified Lakes Manager. He has been on the board of the North American Lakes Management Society (NALMS), CLRMA, Barr/Milton Watershed Association, and other lake related organizations. Besides a background in lake monitoring, Steve has a long background in watershed management, public education, and outreach about water quality topics.

NALMS mission is simple, but a powerful one: to forge partnerships among citizens, scientists, and professionals to foster the management and protection of lakes and reservoirs, for today and tomorrow. NALMS does not focus on professionals, academic researchers, or any small interest group alone; rather, NALMS is a melting pot, welcoming anyone interested in lakes.

Danny Kushmer, Executive Director

June 2, 2022/by lead-executive-director

Partner Projects

Direct Potable Reuse

join us for our February Podcast as we discuss “Direct Potable Reuse” in Polk County. Our guest is Polk County Utilities Director Tamara Richardson. Ms. Richardson is a Professional Engineer and has served as Director of Polk County Utilities since December 2017. As director, She and her team are responsible for all functions of the Utilities Division, including water production and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, reclaimed water production and distribution, compliance and capacity, capital investments, maintenance and repairs, customer service and billing, and the financial management of these efforts.

Before coming to Polk County, Ms. Richardson served as the City Engineer and Utilities Director for a medium-sized Central Florida city with similar utility services for 15 years. Prior to that, she was a consulting engineer for a design firm specializing in municipal water and wastewater infrastructure. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering.

This is a fascinating conversation about Direct Potable Reuse and for more information, check out the links below.

LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE HERE

Polk County Utilities

Department of Environmental Protection, “One Water Florida”

Thank you Florida’s Horizon and the “Off-Bryan Studios” for your generous support!

February 4, 2022/by lead-executive-director

Uncategorized

The LEAD’r is now on Podbean & Apple

The Lakes Education Action Drive is happy to announce, the LEAD’r (our podcast) is now on Podbean. After seven episodes on our free site on SoundCloud it was time to upgrade to a professional presence.

Please follow us on Podbean and/or Apple today.

March 22, 2021/by lead-executive-director

Uncategorized

World Water Day 2021

Water means different things to different people. Join Danny Kushmer as he and his daughter, Kaylie Kushmer have a conversation about water around the world on #WorldWaterDay. The Lakes Education Action Drive Podcast is designed to inform our members, residents, and visitors of Polk County the importance of our most precious resource, water.

Kaylie is a 5^th Generation Floridian with a passion for water. In her early 20’s Kaylie went on her first mission to bring clean water to the people of the Amazon. As Kaylie say’s “This trip changed my life”. Kaylie continued her journeys to the Amazon, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Nepal gaining a better understanding of the global clean water crisis.

Now, sit back and learn how we, in Polk County can apply Kaylie’s experiences to our everyday life protecting our most precious resource, water.

Podcast, Click Here: World Water Day 2021

Kaylie in the Amazon and Nepal…………