They sound like environmental superheroes.
"These teams are the planet's best hope to solve this problem," said Eric Eikenberg, CEO of the Everglades Foundation, describing finalists in the foundation's $10 million competition for technology to remove phosphorus from water.
"We have toxic algae that's choking communities. It's impacting local economies, the environment, public health. It has to be dealt with," said Eikenberg.
At a ceremony in Chicago on Thursday, the foundation announced which 10 competitors from its initial field of 104 may have the best technology to knock out villainous phosphorus runoff and the algae blooms it fuels in the greater Everglades ecosystem. All 10 teams advance to stage three of the four-year competition, and the top three finalists earned monetary awards totaling $80,000.
"We have to innovate and that's what this prize is doing. ... It's highlighting innovation," Eikenberg said.
The finalists hail from the United States, the Netherlands and Canada, and their diverse origins reflect the devastation algae blooms have wrought on communities worldwide.
In recent years, massive blooms have choked wildlife and local economies in places from Lake Erie and the Chesapeake Bay to the Arabian Sea. And, of course, Florida's coasts: In the summer of 2016, an eruption of blue-green algae devastated tourism and fishing in coastal communities.
The outbreak prompted Florida Senate President Joe Negron to champion a water storage reservoir intended to reduce discharges of phosphorus-heavy water that contribute to the algae. Negron's bill ultimately passed despite controversy over the reservoir's possible location, and on Thursday, the South Florida Water Management District held the second of at least three public meetings to discuss progress.
Read more: What We Talk About When We Talk About Everglades Restoration
Eikenberg said the goal of the Barley Water Prize is to encourage private sector solutions to the algae problem.
"We can't regulate, we can't litigate, we can't legislate -- there's no time for that," he said.
The competition is co-sponsored by Scott’s Miracle-Gro, a major fertilizer manufacturer that removed phosphorus from its products in 2011.
In the third stage of competition, finalists will go to Ontario for several months to test their technologies in cold weather.
