About 50 people climbed aboard a bus at the Bert J. Harris Jr. Agriculture Center near Sebring on Jan. 31 to take a tour of the canals of Highlands County. The tour was designed to allow folks to look at issues related to lake management and learn how people who live on canals can help with water quality issues.

The tour was led by Clell Ford, Highlands County Lakes Manager for the Parks and Natural Resources Department and Randy Gornto, Livestock Agent for Highlands County Extension. Ford informed the audience about current projects on Highlands County’s lakes and water bodies, including the Lake Clay Stormwater Retrofit project and Gornto spoke on general agriculture, pasture and grazing lands.