Public health

Large algae bloom forms on Lake Okeechobee, could repeat 2016

(Above) A diagram from 2016 shows water flow in South Florida. (Allen Eyestone / The Palm Beach Post)

Florida’s freshwater heart is choking on nutrient-laden inflows from the north, south and east this summer, but Treasure Coast waterways have so far been spared the damaging Lake Okeechobee discharges that seeded 2016’s widespread algae bloom. In a move that hasn’t been made since 2014, the Army Corps of Engineers is letting Martin County’s St. Lucie Canal run into Lake Okeechobee to increase lake levels lowered by spring drought.

Water from the canal, also called the C-44, comes from the east. It’s a reverse of what happened last summer where water from the lake went through the canal into the St. Lucie estuary. Trickling through row crops, golf courses and some residential areas, the canal water has contained as much as two times the amount of phosphorous this month than what is considered normal, according to the South Florida Water Management District. The corps estimates 386 million gallons per day of canal water went into the lake during a 52-day period beginning June 5. At the same time, Kissimmee […]

More about Florida, Lake Okeechobee, agal blooms, and chemical herbicides:

Florida: FWC to suspend aquatic spraying

NOAA: 40% of Lake Okeechobee covered in harmful algae

Petition against spraying herbicide to be heard by FWC

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich on water releases from Lake Okeechobee

Recent Posts

Scathing report released detailing Navy’s handling of Red Hill fuel spill

The Inspector General of the Department of Defense released some scathing reports Thursday over the…

6 days ago

Growing Food Instead of Grass Lawns in California Front Yards

Photo: Morgan Boone, a volunteer with Crop Swap LA, harvested lettuce at the La Salle…

2 weeks ago

LA River restoration connects us back to ‘the life force of our city’

Los Angeles residents at a section of the Los Angeles River cleanup in Los Angeles,…

3 weeks ago

LAist: New study raises questions about heavy metals in fire retardants

Over the past decade, about 67 million gallons of fire retardant have been dropped on…

3 weeks ago

Meadow and watershed restoration in the Golden Trout Wilderness

Photo: Golden Trout Wilderness Seeking blue, seeing gold The Kern Plateau features a chain of…

3 weeks ago

First sighting of salmon in 100 years marks key milestone for California dam removal

For the first time in more than a century, a salmon was observed swimming through Klamath…

4 weeks ago