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Deep Dive: As STA costs go up, Big Sugar’s share of the bill goes down

May 22, 2024

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…

Toxic algae could overtake Lake O; and that’s good news?

May 16, 2024

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…

Martin County favors developers (again). But you can vote for change

May 9, 2024

Last week the Martin County Board of County Commissioners sided with a developer over clean water and constituents, approving a project known as “The Ranch” (formerly “Calusa Creek”) which will be some 6,000 feet — that is, more than a…

In this Congressional race, clean water will be a big issue

May 2, 2024

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…

We need more STA capacity to clean and store water, period

April 27, 2024

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…

Who’s running for office this year? We’ve got the list

April 25, 2024

The Aug. 20 Florida primary election is coming up fast. So we’ve compiled the list of candidates running at the federal, state and county level for our eight-county south Florida region; it includes congressional candidates, candidates for the Florida state…

Discharges to the Caloosahatchee – good or bad?

April 18, 2024

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…

Is our discharge crisis over?

April 11, 2024

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…

Deep Dive: If the STAs were reserved for lake water, Lake O might be below 13 feet now

April 4, 2024

As billions of gallons of polluted water poured out of Lake Okeechobee and into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee River estuaries and Lake Worth Lagoon, a familiar question kept being raised: Why isn’t that water going south? And a familiar…

Great turnout for VoteWater town hall in Sewall’s Point

March 25, 2024

Our community event on the discharges from Lake Okeechobee filled the Sewall’s Point Town Hall last Thursday, with dozens of engaged citizens turning out to learn about the problem – and what they can do about it. Thanks to all…

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