Lake Okeechobee
“Listen to the Science,” screamed the headline of the flyer that showed up in Martin County mailboxes (and perhaps elsewhere) last week. “SEWAGE is Killing Our Local Waterways.” The ALARMING WORDS were framed in multiple pictures of blue-green algae. Flipping…
As Hurricane Idalia makes its way toward landfall near Florida’s Big Bend, here are some key links for those in the path of the storm: For a comprehensive look at resources available, shelters open by county, evacuation info and more…
After several years of using an algaecide to kill blue-green algal blooms in Lake Okeechobee and the canals around it, the South Florida Water Management District now plans to test the chemical compound for possible damage to the environment. At…
Ten years ago today, we were in the eye of the storm. The discharges from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers had begun May 8; by early August 2013 the “Lost Summer” was in full swing, with…
In southern lagoon new seagrass is sprouting; in northern lagoon progress is slower. But Lake O discharges and impacts from development could ruin it all. Lorae Simpson is seeing an unusual sight in the Indian River Lagoon this summer. “When…
The “Gray Lady” has noticed the blue-green gunk on Lake Okeechobee. The world may soon notice, too. On its website last weekend — and on the front page of the print edition Monday, July 10 — the New York Times…
First the good news: The record pace of manatee deaths in Florida has slowed. Two years ago Florida saw a record 1,100 manatee deaths. The primary cause of this “unusual mortality event” was starvation due to the loss of seagrass…
One of the most passionate clean-water advocates in South Florida just got kicked to the curb. As we detailed last week, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch had been a member of the South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board since 2019. The Sewall’s…
You know those massive algal blooms that cover much of Lake Okeechobee each spring and summer? The ones that threaten the St. Lucie River and Caloosahatchee River estuaries, and everyone who lives around or spends time on them, with toxins?…
The mood at the Rivers Coalition meeting in Stuart Jan. 19 was upbeat, almost triumphant. Gov. Ron DeSantis had issued an executive order earlier in the week, promising more money for Everglades restoration and the Indian River Lagoon. Lake Okeechobee…