Lake Okeechobee

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

Water released from Lake Okeechobee flows through spillways at Port Myaca before heading east down the St. Lucie River before emptying into the Atlantic OCean through the Indian River Lagoon. This process is part of the broader water management system in South Florida, which is designed to manage flood control and water quality, among other objectives. However, these water releases have been a subject of concern for their environmental impacts, particularly regarding water quality issues in the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon on the east coast and the Caloosahatchee River on the west coast

Environment

Water Quality Report: Lowering Lake Okeechobee underway

Tom Bayles

Lake O is so polluted with centuries-worth of phosphorous and nitrogen from agriculture runoff that water released from the lake down our Caloosahatchee River, or to the east down the St. Lucie River, carries bad stuff with it.

Spillways from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers will look like this on Saturday morning when the Army Corps of Engineers open the floodgates on the spillways to the east and west, and to Lake Worth Lagoon to the south

Environment

Lowering Lake Okeechobee before the rainy season is going to be a rush

Tom Bayles

The Army Corps of Engineers is planning to open three spillways in the dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee this weekend

Floodgates will be opened this week allowing nearly 900 million gallons of water to spill from Lake Okeechobeee into the Caloosahatchee River, but call it "sedimentary science" not "lowering the level of the lake."

Water Quality Report: Releases to lower water level in Lake Okeechobee starting, whatever it's called

Tom Bayles

Lake Okeechobee is high for this time of year so we must consider releases to lower water levels before the wet and hurricane seasons no date to open the floodgates has been determined — or has it?

Environment

Water Quality Report: Lake Okeechobee is rather full these days

Tom Bayles

Lake Okeechobee is nearing the high-water level mark that the Army Corps is comfortable with, but a strengthened Herbert Hoover Dike and better management seem to be alleviating fears to this point

Environment

SWFL environmental groups say economic damage from next major algae bloom will total billions

Tom Bayles

Southwest Florida's most influential environmentalists share a report warning the next massive red tide or blue-green algae outbreak will be a multi-billion-dollar disaster.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has announced $350 million in state-funded grants during the last two months alone for water-quality improvement initiatives throughout Florida to keep signs like this one from summer 2023 appearing on the nightly network TV news

Environment

DeSantis spending heavily on water-quality improvements throughout Florida

Tom Bayles

DeSantis has announced more than $340 million in grants to cities and counties throughout Florida in recent months to mitigate the effects and impacts of red tide and blue-green algae.

Free of harmful algae in this photo, 2018's blue-green algae outbreak on the Caloosahatchee River created by an influx of nutrient-rich water from Lake Okeechobee coupled with warm temperatures brought calls from residents and lawmakers to address both the immediate threats and the underlying causes of the river's deteriorating health

Environment

Millions more earmarked to combat blue-green algae in Caloosahatchee River

Tom Bayles

DeSantis has earmarked $30 million to pay for efforts to reduce blue-green algae in Caloosahatchee River and increase water quality