Scientists have high hopes for some small plants growing in the shadow of a Citrus County power plant.
The special type of eelgrass, with an unusual name, could be the answer to helping improve water quality around the state.
You can call it an eelgrass nursery. It doesn't look like much, but scientists believe the eelgrass will do a lot of good when it's grown up.
"this projecgt has been a long time in the making," said Chris Anastasiou of the Southwest Florida Water Management District, which is heading up the project.
The grass is being grown in a pond at Duke Energy's power plant in Crystal River. It's a special eelgrass selected by the University of Florida and it's nickname is rock star eelgrass.
"It is a fantastic performer," said University of Florida's Dr. Lyn Gettys, who came up with the nickname. "It does well under a wide range of conditions."
The plan is to plant the grass into Hunter Springs in Kings Bay this summer as part of a pilot program. The overall goal is to restore Kings Bay, and scientists are hoping this eelgrass will help do that by improving water quality and more.
"It is great for settlement stabilization, and it is great habitat for fish and other wildlife," Gettys said.
Scientists are hoping that rock star quality that's being nurtured will help them for years to come. They say if the pilot program goes well, they'll use the eelgrass to help improve water quality in other spring systems around the state.