Lake Okeechobee

Army Corps to lower Lake Okeechobee by 4 feet; algae blooms could follow

Tom Bayles

Despite strong indications that billions of gallons of water would not gush down the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers from months on end when the new management plan for the big lake was finalized earlier this year that's exactly what is poised to occur

From space, it doesn't look like Lake Okeechobee causes any problems at all. If only.

Environment

A hydrological paradox: Lake O's new plan reins in the water going out, yet empties the lake the same?

Tom Bayles

The new LOSOM touts improvements in water quality, protection of ecosystems in the Everglades, and better management of water resources.to prevent harmful algal blooms in the Caloosahatchee River. Is all that possible at the same time?

New guidelines regulating when polluted water can flow from Lake Okeechobee through this spillway in Moore Haven and into the Caloosahatchee River, and other waterways leading from the lake to the Atlantic Ocean, are now official after years in the Army Corps of Engineers pipeline

Environment

The when, where, and how of water releases from Lake Okeechobee now official

Tom Bayles

The Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual — LOSOM , a set of guidelines on how, when, and where water will be released from Lake Okeechobee — was made official this week

Soon, the only thing traveling through the Port Mayaca Lock and Dam will be boats, as releases of water from Lake Okeechobee through Port Mayaca into the St. Lucie Canal will all but cease under the new management plan for distributing excess water from the lake

Environment

Moving how much water, where, when: A new guide for Lake O

Tom Bayles

The new plan to manage the water flow from Lake Okeechobee throughout the Everglades is making its final rounds among various higher-ups before expected approval in the fall.

Environment

Water Quality Report: Blue-green algae -- learn it, live it, but you don't have to love it

Tom Bayles

It’s the time of year when warnings about blue-green algae outbreaks will be a regular part of life and this space and the department of Health in Lee County issued its sixth health advisory this year due to blue-green algae in the Caloosahatchee River.

A postcard from 1910, picturing the dredge named the Everglade working to drain the Everglades, shows the activity that was the catalyst for many of today's problems involving the environmental health of the Caloosahtachee River

Environment

Water Quality Report: Concerns for the Caloosahatchee River created a century ago

Tom Bayles

Controversy surrounds the Army Corps’ decisions when to release how much water from Lake Okeechobee, slowly, quickly, during the wet season or dry

The releases of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River empty very visibly into the Gulf of Mexico off Southwest Florida

Environment

Water Quality Report: Spillways spouting water pollution closed; mouths hurling criticism remain open

Tom Bayles

There is no better word than “blistering” to describe the reaction of local water-quality nonprofits to how the Army Corps has managed the level in Lake Okeechobee. But Col. James Booth has a tough job.

When the Army Corps stopped releasing millions of gallons of water down the Caloosahatchee River to lower the level of Lake Okeechobee, weather conditions changed, leaving the waterway nearly stagnant without water flowing from the lake toward the Gulf of Mexico; so the releases have resumed, but at a lesser rate

Environment

Smaller releases of polluted Lake O water before hurricane season OK with conservation group

Tom Bayles

There has been a change of heart that releases of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River are no longer a near-apocalypse happening but rather a beneficial event

The Army Corps has closed floodgates like this one, shown open during the release of tens of billions of gallons of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee during the past six weeks, to allow the environment to recover; whether the gates will reopen will be decided later this week

Environment

Army Corps puts two-week hold on polluted Lake O water flowing into Caloosahatchee

Tom Bayles

The Army Corps of Engineers has stopped releasing 3.5 million gallons of water every day from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River for two weeks to allow the environment to recover

Finding ways to keep the Caloosahatchee River clean with the triple threats of stormwater runoff from nearby roads and parking lots, releases of polluted water from Lake Okeechobee, and phosphorus and nitrogen from over-fertilizing lawns is just one of the many solutions Calusa Waterkeeper's 400 volunteers and staff must come up with to clean up Southwest Florida's rivers and streams for future generations

Environment

Calusa Waterkeeper names Ramos-Williams new director

Tom Bayles

Connie Ramos-Williams is the new director of Calusa Waterkeeper in Southwest Florida