WATER QUALITY REPORT FOR FEB. 12, 2024
Last week I mentioned that Lake Okeechobee was getting mighty full. This week, the Army Corps decided it was time to start lowering the lake level for safety’s sake.
One had nothing to do with the other. I don’t carry that much sway. Not even close.
What caused the Army Corps to decide that now is the time to lower the level of a lake that holds at least one trillion gallons of water is Florida’s wet, dry season.
“EL Nino conditions have resulted in an above average rainfall this dry season," said Corey Bell, an Army Corps major said in the every-Friday conference call with journalists. “Currently, Lake Okeechobee is high for this time of year so we must consider higher releases to lower water levels before the wet and hurricane seasons."
Bell said no date to open the floodgates to lower the lake levels has been determined — or has it?
Col. Bell said the release starting Monday of A LOT of water from the lake down the Caloosahatchee River is not part of the lake lowering effort, no, but part of an ongoing sediment study by the South Florida Water Management District and the U.S. Geological Survey designed to better understand how nutrient-filled sediment move from the lake down the Caloosahatchee River.
Nearly 862 million gallons will flow from the lake down the Caloosahatchee River during the “test.”
The first release is expected in Moore Haven where the lock that lets water from Lake O into the river will be opened for up to eight hours as researchers sample the things that researchers do to discover such obscure, but important, things as sediment transport.
I have asked the question many times to Army Corps folks: Why do the releases of the polluted lake water so often go into the Caloosahatchee River when there is an equally viable outlet to the east called the St. Lucie River?
The answer is something like “well, Tom, there are both qualitative and quantitative decisions being made by the USACE and the SFWMD on both the CFS at S77 vis-à-vis S80 depending on whether it’s pulse or constant or whether destined to a WCA or STA, so it just going to hit the spillway at OH-five-hundred.”
By the time I have attempted to process what I just heard and realize I have no idea what was just said, those in the know are gone.
The Army Corps wants everyone to know that no impacts are expected in the Caloosahatchee River estuary due to “the short duration of the study” (Eight hours = 861,696,000 gallons released.) No impacts from just short of one billion gallons of nutrient-polluted fresh water flowing down the half-fresh, half-saltwater river? Ah, OK.
Much more believable is that the Army Corps actually said it wants us to know that no downstream impacts are expected in the St. Lucie estuary – because no water is expected to be released down the St. Lucie estuary.
Now that I can understand.
RED TIDE
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sampled for the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, and it was not observed in samples collected statewide over the past week.
No reports of fish kills suspected to be related to red tide were received over the past week, nor was there any respiratory Irritation reported in Florida over the past week related to the harmful algae bloom.
BLUE-GREEN ALGAE
The Florida Department of Health’s warning for blue-green algae near the Midpoint Bridge leading into Cape Coral remains in effect for the canals by Southeast 23rd Street and Southeast 11th Place after testing found the conditions ripe for a bloom.
The agency reminds residents that winds and tides tend to push the components of blue-green algae around, so people in that region should be watchful for the potentially toxic bloom.
Florida Department of Environmental Protection assessed satellite imagery of the Caloosahatchee River and found nothing notable.
Lake Okeechobee shows low bloom potential on approximately 20% of the lake, primarily in western portion, but that with the cooler weather the bloom was minimal.
What is red tide?
Red tide is one type of harmful algal bloom caused by high concentrations of the toxic dinoflagellate K. brevis, which is a type of microscopic algae found in the Gulf of Mexico.
Red tide typically forms naturally offshore, commonly in late summer or early fall, and is carried into coastal waters by winds and currents. Once inshore, these opportunistic organisms can use nearshore nutrient sources to fuel their growth.
Blooms typically last into winter or spring, but in some cases, can endure for more than one year.
Is red tide harmful?
K. brevis produces potent neurotoxins that can be harmful to the health of both wildlife and people. Wind and wave action can break open K. brevis cells and release toxins into the air. This is why you should monitor conditions and stay away from beaches where red tide is in bloom.
People in coastal areas can experience varying degrees of eye, nose and throat irritation during a red tide bloom. Some individuals with chronic respiratory conditions like asthma or chronic lung disease might experience more severe symptoms.
Red tide toxins can also affect the central nervous system of fish and other marine life, which can lead to fish kills.
What causes red tide?
A red tide bloom develops naturally, but recent studies have discovered mankind's infusion of other nutrients into the mix can make the red tide last longer or get stronger. But biology (the organisms), chemistry (natural or man-made nutrients for growth) and physics (concentrating and transport mechanisms) interact to produce the algal bloom. No one factor causes the development of a red tide bloom.
What is blue-green algae?
Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, are a group of organisms that can live in freshwater, saltwater or brackish water.
Large concentrations, called blooms, can change the water color to blue, green, brown, orange or red. Some cyanobacterial blooms can look like foam, scum, or mats on the surface of freshwater lakes and ponds. As algae in a cyanobacterial bloom die, the water may smell like something with a naturally unpleasant odor has now started to rot, too.
Is blue-green algae harmful?
Different types of blue-green algal bloom species can look different and have different impacts. However, regardless of species, many types of blue-green algae can produce toxins that can make you or your pets sick if swallowed or possibly cause skin and eye irritation.
The FDEP advises staying out of water where algae is visibly present as specks or mats or where water is discolored. Pets or livestock should not come into contact with algal bloom-impacted water or with algal bloom material or fish on the shoreline. If they do, wash the animals right away.
What causes blue-green algae?
Blue-green algae blooms occur when the algae that are typically present grow in numbers more than normal. Within a few days, a bloom can cause clear water to become cloudy.
Winds tend to push the floating blooms to the shore where they become more noticeable. Cyanobacterial blooms can form in warm, slow-moving waters that are rich in nutrients. Blooms can occur at any time, but most often occur in late summer or early fall.
If any major type of water quality alert is issued, you can find the details here in WGCU’s Water Quality Report.
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