Lake Okeechobee s level is slowly rising, which could mean discharges to the St. Lucie River will resume as South Florida heads into the summer rainy season.
The W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam floodgates will increase Lake O discharges west to the Caloosahatchee River again starting this week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Thursday. But discharges east to the St. Lucie River will not resume yet.
Highly toxic algae that s blooming at the Port Mayaca floodgates certainly factored into the decision to not send Lake O water east toward Stuart, said Col. Andrew Kelly, the Corps Florida commander. No doubt about it.
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VIDEO: FAU scientific divers Erin Shilling and Ryan Eckert are shown applying the antibiotic treatment (the white paste) into trenches created around disease lesions present at the edges of the coral. view more
Credit: Joshua Voss, Ph.D., FAU Harbor Branch, Coral Reef and Health Ecology Lab
Diseases continue to be a major threat to coral reef health. For example, a relatively recent outbreak termed stony coral tissue loss disease is an apparently infectious waterborne disease known to affect at least 20 stony coral species. First discovered in 2014 in Miami-Dade County, the disease has since spread throughout the majority of the Florida s Coral Reef and into multiple countries and territories in the Caribbean. Some reefs of the northern section of Florida s Coral Reef are experiencing as much as a 60 percent loss of living coral tissue area.
US Army Corps of Engineers to double Lake O releases to Caloosahatchee River
Published: April 22, 2021 4:34 PM EDT
Updated: April 22, 2021 5:01 PM EDT
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Jacksonville District will increase Lake Okeechobee releases at the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam (S-79) from the current 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 2,000 cfs beginning April 24.
The increase is intended to help restart the lake recession following heavy rains that caused the lake to rise by 0.02 feet in the past seven days. No lake releases are planned from the St. Lucie Lock and Dam (S-80). Local runoff in either estuary may cause higher flows than the targets as operators release water to manage canal levels. Thursday’s lake elevation is 14.25 feet, which is 0.03 feet higher than last week and 2.85 feet higher than last year on this date.
Largo settles wastewater lawsuit over concerns of pollution in Old Tampa Bay Zachary T. Sampson, Tampa Bay Times
Largo officials have committed to improving their wastewater system in a settlement with environmentalists who sued over concerns about the city polluting Tampa Bay.
The agreement aims to reduce the amount of contaminants, including nitrogen, released from the city to Old Tampa Bay around Feather Sound. Nitrogen is a nutrient that in excess can fuel algal blooms damaging to seagrass beds a crucial part of the estuary.
City officials are vowing to upgrade treatment systems, including a $53 million project at a local plant, and to make fixes that limit sewer overflows. Some work was planned before but could be accelerated or expanded under the settlement.
Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Major Milestone to Advance EAA Reservoir Project On April 22, 2021, in News Releases, by Staff
South Florida Water Management District Approves Final Agreement with U.S. Army Corps, Reservoir Component to Start Construction This Year
Wellington, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis was joined by Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Secretary Noah Valenstein and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) to announce significant progress on the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir Project.
The South Florida Water Management District Governing Board unanimously approved an agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers this morning that keeps the Corps on track to begin federal construction on the reservoir component this year. In April 2020, Governor DeSantis announced that the South Florida Water Management District began construction on the State of Florida’s component