The discharge of polluted water that began early this year from Lake Okeechobee into the surrounding estuaries is finally slowing, according to an article in today's Fishing Wire.
An unusually rainy dry season, in combination with the long delay in fully implementing the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (which includes purchasing land south of Lake Okeechobee), resulted in the Army Corps of Engineers discharging massive amounts of fresh water into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers in an effort to alleviate the strain on the Herbert Hoover Dike that surrounds the lake, a dike considered to be at high-risk of failure.
With Okeechobee's waters now at safer levels, the discharges to the east have been halted and discharges to the west have been slowed to a relative trickle compared to the hundreds of billions of gallons that had been dumped out since January.
Still, the true measure of the massive discharges remains to be seen. Algae blooms, fish kills, the death of manatees, dolphins, and other mammals, and water that was deemed too dangerous for humans to go anywhere near were among the after effects.
The financial impact has been significant as well, affecting fishermen along with the local retail and tourism industries.
To learn more, visit www.btt.org/fixourwater.
