The governor’s executive order will allow state and local governments to take action in managing the spread of the algae blooms be redirecting water flow in and out of Lake Okeechobee.
The Weather Channel reports that in a statement, Governor Scott said: “I am also asking [the Department of Environmental Protection and [the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission] to take actions to address the issues caused by algal blooms in South Florida waterways, including developing a hotline for residents to report algal blooms and deploying teams of additional staff to more rapidly survey and sample areas impacted by blooms.”
Scott has also called on the federal government to go forward with permits for Florida’s dispersed water management programs. The water management district will “start holding back water north of the lake first thing in the morning,” Executive Director Peter Antonacci said Wednesday night, and the Army Corps of Engineers said they would announce plans for how much water will be released from Lake Okeechobee next week on Thursday.
Treasure Coast Beaches and waterways affected
The counties of St. Lucie, Martin and Indian River comprise Florida’s Treasure Coast, a beautiful region on the state’s Atlantic Coast from Palm Beach County northward to the Space Coast. The Treasure Coast is shielded from the ocean by sandbars and barrier islands that protect the shallow lagoons, rivers, and bays.
There are numerous lakes and rivers in the Treasure Coast, most notably being the Indian River, a part of the Indian River Lagoon. Readers might remember that in March this year, Digital Journal ran a story on the massive fish-kill in the Indian River Lagoon.
Here's video of #algae near Lighthouse Point in #PalmCity #Florida #StLucieRiver @MeghanWPTV has story on @WPTV @ 11 pic.twitter.com/GwGtqhQ8pa
— EricP_WPTV (@EricPasquarelli) June 21, 2016
The problem facing Governor Scott today is nothing more than an extension of the problem he was facing in March, all stemming from his actions in February of 2016. Scott had to declare a “state of emergency” in communities along the state’s east and west coasts because of pollution from the ongoing discharges of Lake Okeechobee water to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers
U.S. Sugar Corp. and its owner, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, headquartered in Flint, Michigan, was blamed for the pollution emergency. The sugar corporation has not been taken to task about their pollution of Lake Okeechobee, and they are still allowed to let fertilizer runoff from their cane fields wash into the lake.
Cartoon: @FLGovScott takes Big Sugar's cash while blaming feds for #Florida water woes pic.twitter.com/NwLB0xHVfv via @AndyMarlette
— Craig Pittman (@craigtimes) June 30, 2016
So now we are on the cusp of the Fourth of July weekend and already, a number of beaches have been closed along the Treasure Coast. The thick, noxious algae has been spotted in waterways and canals all across southern Florida.
“It’s just been incubating and growing and growing,” Matt Athan, who lives near the St. Lucie River in Stuart, told reporters. “And you can see how thick it is. And the smell is just atrocious.”
