Posted on May 13, 2021
After taking a helicopter trip over the algae-spattered Lake Okeechobee Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis made it clear how he thinks the federal government should manage it.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should keep Lake O’s level lower in the dry winter season to reduce harmful discharges that can carry toxic algae to coastal estuaries, DeSantis said from Jonathan Dickinson State Park in Hobe Sound Monday afternoon.
The agency also should increase the amount of lake water it moves south, he said.
“When you have this sheer quantity of water that can be dumped into these estuaries, it’s just something that really overwhelms the state’s ability to mitigate,” DeSantis said.
Lake O discharges would carry toxic algae to St. Lucie River
As the Corps rewrites its lake management operations manual for the first time since 2008, the new rules should mirror the approach taken in 2019 and 2020, when the Corps kept the lake level lower than usual heading into the summer, DeSantis said.
Lake O’s level was nearly 13 feet, 9 inches Monday, about 2½ feet higher than this time last year, according to the latest Corps data.
DeSantis said he saw “patches” of cyanobacteria, more commonly called “blue-green algae,” when he choppered to the Treasure Coast Monday.
“At the end of the day, it’s only going to get hotter, and we know that it’s more primed for algae,” DeSantis said.
Toxic algae is accumulating around the closed Port Mayaca Lock & Dam floodgates.
If the Corps decides to lower Lake O’s level by opening the floodgates at Port Mayaca and the St. Lucie Lock & Dam, that toxic algae will flow into the St. Lucie River. In previous years, it also has flowed to the Indian River Lagoon and Atlantic Ocean, closing Martin County beaches on the July 4th holiday weekend in 2018.
Mast opposes sugar industry’s new lake management proposal
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City, urged the Corps to reject the Florida Sugar Cane League’s proposal for the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM).
The team tasked with selecting the new lake management plan, which will be used for the next decade, has whittled the options down to five and a final selection is expected in July.
The five plans includes one Mast claims was written by two sugar lobbyists. Thomas K. MacVicar and William Baker are registered lobbyists for the Florida Sugar Cane League, which Mast said “represents” and is funded by U.S. Sugar Corp.
U.S. Sugar spokespeople did not respond to multiple requests for comment Monday.
Last year, Mast asked the Corps to remove MacVicar and Baker from the LOSOM team, which are supposed to be government agency representatives, Mast wrote to Corps Florida commander Col. Andrew Kelly.
The league’s proposal was “written to continue the failed status quo by lobbyists for the sugar industry, and as a result, would continue to punish the communities who have been abused for decades by toxic discharges,” Mast wrote to Kelly.
Environmental groups urge governor to impose emergency order
A coalition of 14 environmental groups delivered a letter to DeSantis’ office Monday urging him to issue a state of emergency to address the rising threat of toxic algae on Lake O as well as the red tide in the Gulf of Mexico.
“These co-occurring toxic blooms present the potential for a calamitous event that are likely to cause lasting damage to local economies and ecosystems throughout much of South Florida,” wrote the coalition, which included signatures from Friends of the Everglades, the Center for Biological Diversity and a dozen others.
The emergency order would, among other things, improve collaboration between the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, South Florida Water Management District and other agencies to store more water south of Lake O. It also would provide relief for homeowners and businesses affected by blooms, the coalition letter says.
The group cited a highly toxic algae bloom at the Pahokee Marina, where microcystin was over 100 times more toxic than what the federal government deems unsafe, according to DEP data as of April 28.
Algae in the marina contained 860 parts per billion of the toxin microsystin. At 8 parts per billion, microsystin makes water too hazardous to touch, ingest or inhale for people, pets and wildlife, the EPA says.
A toxic algae bloom near the Port Mayaca Lock & Dam that contained 120 parts per billon of microcystin last month also prompted the coalition’s letter to DeSantis.
“Lake Okeechobee has become the Florida epicenter of algal blooms,” the group wrote. “Discharge of these toxic blooms from the lake is contaminating the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers and associated waterways.”
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Max Chesnes is a TCPalm environment reporter covering issues facing the Indian River Lagoon, St. Lucie River and Lake Okeechobee. You can keep up with Max on Twitter @MaxChesnes, email him at max.chesnes@tcpalm.com and give him a call at 772-978-2224.
