It is important to know how to “speak the language” of the ACOE and SFWMD.
The St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon is once again under siege. The Army Corp of Engineers and the South Florida Water Management District are doing the will of the reigning powers and discharging tremendous amounts of water and pollutants from Lake Okeechobee and altered surrounding lands (basins) into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
We must learn how to interpret this destruction and how to use their language of “cubic feet per second,” (cfs), when talking about discharge amounts from Lake Okeechobee and area canals into the SLR/IRL.
I am not good at this interpretation, but someone I know is….
As in most families, each chid in my family was born with different talents. My brother, Todd Thurlow, got all the number and sharp analytical skills that I did not. I am very thankful to him for helping with my St Lucie/Indian River Lagoon educational efforts.
Todd has created a VERY EASY way to convert cubic feet per second (the language of the ACOE/SFWMD discharges) into gallons. All you have to do is click on this link below and put in the numbers. Seriously.
For instance if you click on the link today, it will show that S-80 is last reported to be releasing approximately 6800 (cfs) cubic per second, down from just under 7600. Just enter 6800 in the top box and it will be converted to 1. gallons per second; 2. gallons per day; and 3. “olympic size swimming pools” (in honor of Stuart News reporter Tyler Treadway’s common example for communicating with the public.)
Go to this link now, and try it! You will be amazed at how east this is. To win this war, we must be able to speak “their” language and to understand.
Click on chart below to get started. Save the link to have it handy for this year. It is going to be a difficult one and we are going to need to know what we are talking about in order to negotiate and to communicate.
Conversation chart “cfs to Gallons:” http://www.thurlowpa.com/C44RealTimeData.htm
Examples: (but go to live link above.)
*Conversation Chart “cfs to Gallons:” http://www.thurlowpa.com/C44RealTimeData.htm
ACOE live pictures: http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/cam/s80.htm
SFWMD/ACOE visual report: http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/reports/StatusDaily_files/slide0178.htm
Todd’s firm page with all information:http://www.thurlowpa.com/news.htm
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Videos by Ed Lippisch of discharges 2-6/2-7 2016.
2-6-16 3PM:Video of discharges: St Lucie Inlet area: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoO0dj6f_zs
2-7-16 11AM: Video of discharges St Lucie Inlet area: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44NeEeFnkoQ
IT IS NOT JUST THE FRESH WATER AND FERTILIZER; WHEN THE CORPS RELEASES THE LAKE WATER, BILLIONS OF GALLONS AT A TIME, THE TORRENT BRINGS WITH IT TONS OF MUD AND MUCK FROM THE LAKE, FULL OF ORGANIC MATTER AND TOXINS WHICH MAKE OUR RIVER LOOK LIKE BLACK COFFEE AND SMOTHERS THE SEA GRASSES AND OYSTER BEDS. YOU CAN SEE A BLACK STRIPE FAR OUT INTO THE OCEAN AT ST. LUCIE INLET, SO IT IS SMOTHERING THE REEFS TOO. IF THEY REDESIGNED THE LOCKS, SO THE MUCK WAS FILTERED AND TRAPPED AND THE FLOW WAS SLOWED WAY DOWN, THE ESTUARY AND ITS CREATURES WOULD HAVE MORE TIME TO ADJUST TO THE FRESH WATER FLOW. LITTLE THINGS COULD MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE. THEN WE COULD START GRADUALLY DREDGING OUT THE SEVERAL FEET OF MUCK ALREADY IN THE RIVER BED AND SEND IT BACK TO THE AGRICULTURAL BUSINESSES FOR FERTILIZER. IT IS THE SAME STUFF WHICH MAKES THEIR CROPS GROW SO WELL-BECAUSE THEY ARE ACTUALLY GROWING THEIR CROPS ON THE OLD LAKE BED. THEY MIGHT EVEN HELP PAY FOR THE PROCESS BY BUYING IT FROM THE DREDGING COMPANY.
THE DIKE SHOULD HAVE BEEN BUILT TWO MILES FARTHER OUT FROM THE LOW WATER MARK OF THE LAKE, WHERE THE FLOOD PLAIN ACTUALLY WAS, AND WE WOULD NEVER HAVE HAD TO WORRY ABOUT DUMPING THE LAKE TO PREVENT FLOODS AND PROTECT LIVES. ALSO, THE DIKE WOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO BE NEARLY AS HIGH. NOW THE ONLY SOLUTION IS TO TAKE SEVEN MILES OF THE SOUTH END OF THE DIKE DOWN TO 14 FEET AND LET THE WATER, AS IT RISES FROM STORMWATER, GRADUALLY FLOW OVER A SPILLWAY AND RUN SOUTH IN A 7 MILE WIDE FLOWWAY TO FLORIDA BAY. ALL THE IMPURITIES WILL SETTLE OUT IN THE SLOW FLOW, AND A LARGE PERCENTAGE OF THE LOST EVERGLADES WATER WOULD BE RESTORED. REMEMBER, THE EVERGLADES RAN ALL THE WAY FROM DISNEY WORLD TO FLORIDA BAY. DAMMING UP THE LAKE AND DIGGING DRAINAGE CANALS ALREADY ELIMINATED 2/3 OF THE EVERGLADE NEVER TO BE RETURNED. THE LEAST WE CAN DO IS HELP RESTORE WHAT IS LEFT SOUTH OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE. WATER FARMING IS NOT THE ANSWER. THEY ARE JUST A CONCENTRATED SOURCE OF POLLUTION WHICH CAN NEVER BE TREATED ENOUGH TO RELEASE SOUTH. THEY CAN ONLY BE EMPTIED BY EVAPORATION; ONLY A NATURAL FLOW WILL PERMANENTLY CREATE A SELF-SUSTAINING ECOSYSTEM AND RECHARGE THE AQUIFERS TO THE SOUTH, REVERSING SOME OF THE SALT WATER INTRUSION. IT WOULD ALSO MAKE SURROUNDING PROPERTY VALUES BOOM AND CREATE THOUSANDS OF NEW JOBS. SOMEBODY WHO KNOWS GOVERNOR SCOTT SHOULD TAKE HIS HEAD OUT OF THE MUCK AND MAKE HIM SEE THIS MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR NEW JOBS AND MORE REVENUE WITHOUT RAISING TAX RATES OR CREATING NEW TAXES. MOVING ANY AGRICULTURAL AREAS OUTSIDE THE FLOWWAY COULD BE FINANCED BY THE GOVERNMENT AND ACTUALLY GIVE THE FARMERS BETTER LAND. THIS IS A NO-BRAINER. AGRICULTURE AND EVERGLADES RESTORATION CAN BOTH BENEFIT AND BE SUSTAINABLE FOR THE FUTURE, ELIMINATING THE CONSTANT FIGHTING BETWEEN THE FACTIONS. WE REALLY DO HAVE COMPATIBLE INTERESTS IF WE COULD JUST SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES AND COME UP WITH A COMPREHENSIVE PLAN WHICH LEAVES EVERYONE DEPENDENT ON A CLEAN AND SUSTAINABLE SOURCE OF WATER FOR AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES BETTER OFF.
You are right. I added pollutants.
Every plant creates its own chemical pesticide, There is only one way to bring back the environment that so many creatures have evolved to live in, and that is to put the sea shells back on the shore where they have been for thousands of years before they were removed by Henry Flagler and others for coquina cement and to pave roads, This will provide food and oxygen on a scale that could litterly feed the world, Every day you read in the papers that someone was murdered, I am sure the first thing a detective does is look for those who have a motive, I believe our lagoon was killed and there are many special interest groups with big bank accounts who have a motive, Big Oil being just one of them, No fish would mean no fishermen would complain about drilling