Lake O

The Florida Department of Health in Palm Beach County has issued a Health Alert for the presence of harmful blue-green algal toxins in the Lake Okeechobee.

The Herbert Hoover Dike project overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was completed three years ahead of schedule and at a savings of $300 million over the original cost estimate, officials said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on the lake’s shore in Clewiston.

Red tide is everywhere.From Tampa Bay south to Ten Thousand Islands, local groups and state agencies that test for and track red tide are warning that the harmful algae bloom that kills fish and sickens dogs, and whose acrid air chases people off the beach, is here.And there. And there. And there.Red tide was detected at every beach in Sarasota County soon after Hurricane Ian made landfall near Fort Myers in late September. Earlier this month, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission found the red tide organism, Karenia brevis, in nearly 100 samples throughout Southwest Florida.Florida Department of Health officials in Manatee, Sarasota, Charlotte, Lee, and Collier counties are issuing health alerts daily warning of the real and present danger to human and animals.The red tide is so prevalent, so pungent, and so potentially poisonous that the authors of the health advisories ignored the long-established practice of softening the language to avoid scaring away tourists.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reevaluating its operation plan managing Lake Okeechobee water levels and water releases from the lake.Known as the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual, the Corps is hoping to approve a new plan by August 4 that will determine when and how much water is discharged from Lake Okeechobee, and where that water will go.All of the proposals so far would raise the lake by at least a 1.5 feet, once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes nearly $2 billion in much-needed repairs to the aging Herbert Hoover Dike. Yet keeping the Lake’s elevation at 17 feet or higher has some in Lee County concerned. Others want more time to properly evaluate the plans.

As of Monday morning, the Army Corps of Engineers had halted releases of water from Lake Okeechobee to the west coast. This came after the decision to…

The infrastructure that prevents Lake Okeechobee from spilling over is old. And that's why Congress allocated $49.6 million to help repair it this fiscal…

The ACLU of Florida has wrapped up a months-long investigation into how the state handled last year’s toxic algal blooms; the result of discharges from…

South Florida's clean water crisis often focuses on large-scale topics like Lake Okeechobee, but Southwest Florida water watchers say the conversation…