Lake Okeechobee

The Florida Department of Health in Lee County issued a health advisory Friday warning people and their pets to stay away from the area due to “the presence of harmful blue-green algal toxins,” the agency wrote. “The public should exercise caution in and around Franklin Lock.”The tropical system was taking aim at Fort Myers on Friday evening, gaining strength, and was expected to become the first named tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season.The Army Corps was closing all its locks and dams on Lake Okeechobee to secure the 142-mile-long dike ringing the lake. The South Florida Water Management District was doing the same with the locks and dams it controls.

That humans contribute to making red tides stronger and last longer has been anecdotal. Now, researchers in Southwest Florida have explained that it's really true. Environmental researchers led by the University of Florida’s Center for Coastal Solutions documented the link after studying a decade of red tide data from the Caloosahatchee River, Charlotte Harbor, and the surrounding watersheds including the coasts of Charlotte and Lee counties. The findings are published in the June issue of Science of the Total Environment.

Right now there is a box-shaped, metal contraption sliding along the surface of Lake Okeechobee. It’s called a boat, but it resembles an aluminum scooper that doesn’t look like it should float. It moves with paddlewheels and sports a pitchfork. The smelly, messy endeavor is the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission’s latest stab at ways to rid Lake Okeechobee of the invasive species.

Environmental groups working to restore the Florida Everglades were elated to learn Wednesday that $1.1 billion from the federal infrastructure package has been earmarked to help pay for the massive, multi-decade restoration. The money will be used to hasten the efforts to undo the extensive environmental damage the Everglades suffered in the early 1900s, when the Army Corps built canals, locks and levees in a massive water management and flood control plan before the damaging environmental impacts of such efforts were fully known. Improving water quality and quantity is the Everglades is a top priority.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.

The Chairman of the Lee County Board of Commissioners Kevin Ruane is sounding the alarm about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers new plan for Lake Okeechobee.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.

While Florida’s endangered snail kite has rebounded a bit, the native species of snail it lives off has not. So the snail kite is changing its diet and moving on from its long-time habitat in the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee.

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.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.