Last week we reported on a new study showing Lake O is the dirtiest lake in America; we had our doubts about the methodology but agree that the lake has big problems — which are going to require big fixes.

Now, “official” Florida is responding to the study and denying its findings.

The South Florida Water Management District said the study, by vacation rental company Lake.com, misinterpreted some data, and that lead levels in the lake meet approved EPA water quality standards. And, the district said, the study “incorrectly summarized pH data.”

But then, according to ABC 25 WPBF News, “the district highlighted decades of restoration projects designed to reduce pollution entering and leaving the lake. Those efforts include new stormwater treatment areas and water storage reservoirs that help limit harmful discharges. Officials say more than 75 Everglades restoration milestones have been reached since 2019.”

Hoooold the phone:

This is where we go wrong, when public officials cite money spent or projects started as “proof” things are getting better.

Pollution entering the lake is in many cases still well above the targets set by the state. As we and others have noted, the state’s “Basin Management Action Plans” are failing — the Lake O BMAP shows the amount of phosphorus flowing into the lake is still way too high, and “reductions sufficient to meet the TMDL (total maximum daily loads) are not expected within 20 years.”

Likewise, some of the projects that are supposed to help with water quality, like the EAA Reservoir, won’t be finished for years.

So yes; the study declaring Lake O the “dirtiest” is flawed and nowhere near definitive. And yes, we’re making some progress.

But no, that doesn’t prove the lake is getting better. And it mustn’t be used to justify business as usual — because business as usual on Lake O creates complacency, and that really COULD make it the dirtiest in the U.S.