Lake Okeechobee discharges
The rationale behind the damaging discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers and Lake Worth Lagoon goes like this: Army Corps officials say the goal of “Recovery Operations” is to give Lake O a break. For six years in…
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed in a press release Friday that it will begin “Recovery Operations” – discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers along with the Lake Worth Lagoon – on Saturday, Dec. 7. According to…
Lake Okeechobee is in rough shape. The lake as of this writing remains over 16 feet, and it’s been high for a long time. Submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) has died off; South Florida Water Management District officials say they like…
Welcome to “Meet VoteWater,” an occasional feature spotlighting the people behind the advocacy. VoteWater Executive Director Gil Smart always wanted to live at the beach. But when the Pennsylvania native moved his family to Martin County during the algae-clogged “Lost…
In our last “Deep Dive,” we noted how the stormwater treatment areas (STAs) — 62,000-acres of man-made wetlands south of Lake Okeechobee designed to clean water headed to the Everglades — could be used to help mitigate harmful Lake O…
It’s toxic algae season — the least wonderful time of the year! At last week’s South Florida Water Management District Governing Board meeting, District Director of Water Resources Lawrence Glenn reported that algae blooms on Lake Okeechobee are beginning to…
Here’s something we’d like to see a whole lot more of. Congressman Brian Mast is a Republican who represents the 21st District communities perpetually at risk for discharges from Lake Okeechobee. He’s been a loud and sometimes lonely voice when…
In recent weeks we and our friends at Friends of the Everglades have been highlighting the need to fix Florida’s “rigged” system of water management which favors Big Sugar over all other stakeholders. Part of that has been our campaign…
After last week’s newsletter asking if our discharge crisis was over, we got lots of feedback from readers along the Gulf coast who said the answer was “no.” While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers halted discharges from Lake Okeechobee…
We may need to retire our “discharges ticker.” For the moment, anyway. Last week the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that once the two-week “pause” in discharges to the St. Lucie, Caloosahatchee and Lake Worth Lagoon ended April 13, the…