Leading water quality experts have a message for the more than 3 million people who have settled along the shores of Florida’s largest open-water estuary:

Go out and experience the waters of Tampa Bay. Get your feet wet. Fall in love with it.

Because when you love something, you’ll want to protect it.

That lesson was among the messages from the free community conversation Thursday night on the future of Tampa Bay’s water quality and supply, hosted by the Tampa Bay Times in partnership with Tampa Electric.

About 275 people convened at the Shanna and Bryan Glazer Jewish Community Center in Tampa for a temperature check on the myriad water quality problems plaguing Tampa Bay — and what we can do about them.

Five experts, including scientists and government officials, met onstage for the discussion:

• Ed Sherwood, executive director of the Tampa Bay Estuary Program.

• Peter Clark, president and founder of Tampa Bay Watch.

• Margaret Mars Brisbin, assistant professor of biological oceanography at the USF College of Marine Science.

• Santino Provenzano, senior environmental director at The Mosaic Co.

• Warren Hogg, chief science officer at Tampa Bay Water.

In a conversation moderated by Tampa Bay Times economy and health editor Justine Griffin, panelists outlined the state of the bay, hitting on topics like seagrass loss, over-development and red tide.

In case you missed it, here are five takeaways.

Old Tampa Bay almost beyond ‘the tipping point’

The northern section of Tampa Bay — the water beneath bridges like the Gandy and the Howard Frankland — is facing a historic low amount of seagrass. Why that matters: Seagrass houses tiny marine life, sucks in carbon dioxide and creates a natural deterrent to storm surge.

A 2023 survey showed Old Tampa Bay lost more than 2,500 acres of its seagrass in recent years, or nearly 40% of its coverage.

Old Tampa Bay, experts warned, is almost beyond a tipping point.

“There’s places in Old Tampa Bay where there were lush seagrass beds for a number of years, and now it’s barren,” Sherwood told the crowd. “That’s scary to me, because that is a significant area of Tampa Bay that has struggled in the past, but we’ve never lost the amount of seagrass that we have in the past few years.”

Sherwood said conditions in the northern bay are similar to the embattled Indian River Lagoon, where years of seagrass loss contributed to a record 1,100 manatee deaths in 2021 as many sea cows struggled to find food.

There’s not one main pollution culprit in Old Tampa Bay. Poor circulation, nutrient pollution from runoff and tailpipe emissions are some of the main threats. More nature-based infrastructure and better circulation is needed to bring Old Tampa Bay back into health.

“We need to get real about it,” Sherwood said.

Tampa Bay area might run out of ‘cheap water’

With no signs of development in the bay area slowing down, could Tampa Bay run out of clean drinking water over the next decade?

The region is projected to need up to 38 million gallons of new water supply by 2043, according to Tampa Bay Water projections.

“We will not run out of water — but what we might run out of is cheap water,” Hogg told the audience.

With miles of coastline nestled against the Gulf of Mexico, there is sea water available that could eventually be desalinated for drinking. But the problem with that, Hogg explained, is that it’s expensive.

Hogg also explained that as the region’s wholesale water utility, Tampa Bay Water is expanding its ability to treat river water for drinking, which should help the agency meet the region’s demand through the next eight or so years. It’s also eyeing Lake Tarpon, the region’s largest freshwater lake, and considering reclaimed water as a possible source down the line.

“Reclaimed water is a very large possible source, but it’s not at the point where we can turn a project into drinking water. We need to do more research, and we need to do a lot of public engagement to make sure that the community is receptive of those projects,” Hogg said.

Mosaic weighs in on injecting wastewater underground

For roughly the past year, The Mosaic Co. has applied to either test or begin injecting its phosphate wastewater underground at four of its facilities, including two in Hillsborough County. That has made some environmental advocacy groups worried about possible leaks or aquifer contamination.

On Tuesday, Mosaic and state regulators will hold a public meeting about the Fortune 500 mining company’s plans to begin testing underground injection at its Plant City facility.

Provenzano said sending the company’s wastewater underground could be a responsible way to deal with the byproduct of fertilizer production.

“The reason we’re looking at that as an option for disposal is we are sensitive to the fact that we want to try and find other ways to keep nutrients out of surface water,” Provenzano said.

Provenzano also said that the biggest controversy around a 2016 incident in which more than 200 million gallons of Mosaic’s contaminated water drained into the aquifer was around disclosure and transparency.

“I think our company learned a really important lesson there that led to some regulatory changes around reporting the pollution incidents all across the state,” Provenzano said.

Not just one pollution ‘smoking gun’

For Tampa Bay, pollution comes in many forms — and that’s why solutions for tackling each source are complex.

Griffin asked each panelist what they consider the largest threat facing the region’s water quality.

Brisbin said the rapid conversion of costal habitats into condominiums, roads and sidewalks has led to more polluted runoff entering Tampa Bay. More concrete means fewer natural barriers to slow and filter the flow before it dumps into the bay.

“While it’s really important for all of us to act as individuals and make the best choices that we can, in order to make really big changes … policymakers and regulators need to also be on board,” Brisbin said.

Brisbin also underscored the importance of federal environmental regulators like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency at a time when the Trump administration is making sweeping cuts to the federal workforce.

Provenzano also said there needs to be more political will from elected leaders around water quality. Clark said while the region has seen big improvements to curbing stormwater runoff entering the bay, the recent seagrass losses are evidence that more needs to be done.

Get outside and enjoy the bay

Getting the public to become immersed in the bay’s nature is perhaps one of the most effective ways to spur action, the experts agreed.

“As the next generation comes to take our place, how do we expect them to protect the things that we’ve already started if they don’t love the bay?” said Clark. “So get your family out, get your kids out, talk to your schoolteachers, organize programs.”

Sherwood put it this way: “Get out on the bay — experience it,” he said. “See how (the bay) changes through time. If you see things changing in the negative, raise awareness in the community about what the issue is and find solutions.”