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Toxic Algae

‘Slime time’ on Lake O becomes national story

July 12, 2023

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…

Manatee deaths slowing, but could Lake O discharges change that?

June 29, 2023

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…

Call to action: Tell Gov. DeSantis we need this clean-water advocate back

June 22, 2023

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…

Toxic future: Why Lake O algae blooms will return every single year

June 14, 2023

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?…

Will technology save us from toxic algae?

February 23, 2023

In a frightening 2009 article titled “Re-Engineering the Earth,” The Atlantic magazine predicted that as the impacts of climate change worsened, mankind would turn to technology for salvation. Perhaps we’ll pump pollutants into the sky, turning it a reddish-orange, to…

Ready for a toxic algae ‘superbloom’ on Lake O this spring?

February 8, 2023

Toxic blue-green algae blooms on Lake Okeechobee are becoming a yearly occurrence. And this year’s bloom could be a doozy. Both federal and state officials are predicting a major bloom on the lake this spring, due in part to Hurricane…

Who’s to blame for Florida’s failure to fix the blue-green algae crisis?

August 5, 2022

We told you last month that toxic blue-green algae — cyanobacteria — is proliferating across the country, the globe — and across Florida. Dozens of health alerts have been issued across the Sunshine State; in Cape Coral earlier this week…

Blue-green algae: We know what to do. When are we going to do it?

July 7, 2022

Blue-green algae is everywhere this summer. In Colorado Springs, officials are adding enzymes to the water to clear up annual blooms. In Kansas, officials over the 4th of July weekend warned residents to steer clear of 10 impaired water bodies.…

Natural born killers, and why you need to Vote Water

July 5, 2022

The following is a column by VoteWater Board President and Florida Sportsman Publisher Blair Wickstrom which originally appeared in the July 1 edition of Florida Sportsman Magazine. By Blair Wickstrom In the 1870s Dr. Cesare Lombroso, founder of the Italian…

Florida doesn’t have a ‘culture of clean water.’ How do we get there from here?

June 30, 2022

In Florida our iconic waters are central to our quality of life; perhaps even our culture. But we do not have a “culture of clean water.” The phrase was coined by Dr. Paul Gray of Audubon Florida, speaking at a June…

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