Orange County Commissioner Nicole Wilson is bringing together a congressman, two state lawmakers, and some of Florida's sharpest water-policy attorneys for a two-day symposium in Orlando this week, built around a blunt warning: the state that feels soaked in rain and springs may be closer to a water crisis than most residents realize. The event, titled Water, Water, Everywhere, But Not a Drop to Drink, runs Friday, October 16 from 9am to 5:30pm and continues Saturday, October 17 from 9am to 1pm.
The gathering is co-hosted by Orange County Florida and Barry University's Center for Earth Jurisprudence, a Barry University initiative housed at Barry University School of Law in Orlando, according to Barry University. Wilson tied her campaign for county commissioner to the county's Right to Clean Water charter amendment and won an upset; the amendment passed with 89 percent voter approval and made Orange County the most populous U.S. jurisdiction to recognize legal rights for nature, per the Sierra Club. Details of the symposium's schedule were shared in a Facebook post from Orange County, Florida Government.
Lawmakers Tackle Water at Every Level
The symposium opens Friday at 10:15am with a panel called Water at Every Level: Planning, Funding, and Protecting Florida's Future, featuring Wilson alongside U.S. Representative Maxwell Frost of Florida's 10th district, state Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith of District 17, and state Representative Rita Harris of District 44. The discussion takes place amid a water-shortage order issued by the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
That backdrop tracks with conditions on the ground in Florida this fall. The Southwest Florida Water Management District extended its Modified Phase III Extreme Water Shortage Order through March 31, 2027, citing a 15.4-inch regional 12-month rainfall deficit that has severely reduced water levels in aquifers, rivers, and storage reservoirs, according to the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Outdoor watering remains limited to once per week under that order. The panel will be moderated by Jason Garcia, founder and expert reporter of Seeking Rents.
AI Data Centers and the Fight Over Florida's Water Supply
At 2:30pm Friday, the symposium turns to The Expanding Footprint of AI: Data Centers, Water, Climate, and Equity, a panel featuring Sten Vermund, dean of public health at USF; Dan Myers, a professor of computer science; and Christina Reichert, a senior attorney at Earthjustice. The session description says it will explore how AI data centers affect water consumption and climate change, along with their disproportionate effects on low-income, rural, and communities of color, with Garcia again moderating.
Larger data centers can require up to 5 million gallons of water daily, an amount comparable to a city of 50,000 people, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Florida hosted roughly 120 active data centers as of July 2026, and utilities including Duke Energy Florida have reported developers requesting individual site power connections of up to 1,400 megawatts in Central Florida, Hoodline previously reported in its coverage of Orange County's proposed data center pause.
That tension between economic development and local water concerns has already reshaped state and local policy this year. Governor Ron DeSantis signed Senate Bill 484 into law in May, creating new water-use permitting requirements and utility tariff rules for large-scale data centers with a monthly peak load of 50 megawatts or more, while preserving local land-use authority, per Florida Politics. The law took effect July 1. By July 2026, 14 to 20 Florida counties and municipalities had moratoriums or bans on data centers.
Keynote Speaker on Springs Protection
The symposium's keynote arrives at 3:45pm Friday with Ryan Smart, executive director and first employee of the Florida Springs Council, who has helped build the organization into one of Florida's leading voices for protecting springs and water resources.
That victory took concrete shape in September, when the Florida Springs Council and FDEP reached a settlement establishing new restrictions on conventional septic systems on lots of 10 acres or fewer in the Wekiwa and Rock springshed, along with at least 16 new water-quality monitoring stations, according to Inside Climate News. Septic systems contribute more than 52 percent of the nitrogen pollution entering Wekiwa and Rock Springs, making residential wastewater infrastructure the central target of the new restrictions, the outlet reports. The settlement builds on a February 2023 ruling by Florida's First District Court of Appeal, which invalidated FDEP's 2018 springs cleanup plans for failing to allocate specific pollutant load reductions to individual pollution sources, as reported by WTSP.
The symposium includes a complimentary lunch, and organizers are asking attendees to reserve a spot in advance at bit.ly/EnvironmentalSymposium26.
