Moving Water

A riveting story of environmental disaster and political intrigue, Moving Water exposes how Florida's clean water is threatened by dirty power players and the sugar cane industry.

Only a century ago, nearly all of South Florida was under water. The Everglades, one of the largest wetlands in the world, was a watery arc extending over 3 million acres. Today, that wetland ecosystem is half of its former self, supplanted by housing for the region's exploding population and over 700,000 acres of crops, including the nation's largest supply of sugar cane. Countless canals, dams, and pump stations keep the trickle flowing, but rarely address the cascade of environmental consequences, including dangerous threats to a crucial drinking water source for a full third of Florida's residents.

In Moving Water, environmental journalist Amy Green explores the story of unlikely conservation heroes George and Mary Barley, wealthy real estate developers and...