These aerial photos were taken around 4PM by my husband, Ed Lippisch, this past Sunday, 2-21-16. They show the Lake Okeechobee/area canals’ plume moving south along Jupiter Island over nearshore reefs. There are photos of the exclusive neighborhood, Sailfish Point, at the mouth of the St Lucie Inlet as well.
High levels of Lake Okeechobee and canal discharge water (7000 cfs +/- at S-80) continue to decimate the seagrasses, oysters, fish, and bird life of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. Our reef communities and property values are also affected.
Unfortunately, even with unprecedented state and federal actions of the South Florida Water Management District and the Army Corp of Engineers to “move water south” from the Water Conservation Areas to Everglades National Park, there is presently no end in sight for the northern estuaries.
There has to be a better way. “Finishing the projects” is not enough….
Over the weekend at my niece Julia’s lacrosse game I ran into a former fellow commissioner, and long time Martin County resident, Dr Paul Schoppe.
“Hey Jacqui,” he said. “I was just thinking about you…”
“Oh really, ” I replied.
“Yes. I was thinking about you when I went down to my dock and saw a dead Snook floating in the foamy dark water….. What are we doing about this river…..?”
Yesterday, I received a call from a Sewall’s Point resident informing me of a phone call he got from a friend in real estate. The friend was photographing the water at his listing on the St Lucie River and forwarding the photos saying: “I hope the buyers don’t cancel when they see the water. They are doing their walk through today.”
At Publix, that evening, I ran into an old-timer of Stuart. He said to me: “Jacqui of course there have been releases from the lake for years…the difference now is that the water is so polluted….”
There has to be a better way.
Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Update on Lake Okeechobee as seen on Vacation Rentals site: http://vacationrentalscoop.com/sanibel-rentals/sanibel-local-news/daily-update-on-lake-okeechobee-2-22-16/
The ACOE has been releasing into the SLR/IRL since January 30th, 2016, http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/reports.htm
The difference is NOT that the Lake O water is more polluted than ever; Those people out there say the Lake water is Class A waters of the state. The difference is that we didn’t notice the accumulating degradation for the first 30 years, because the muck had not built up on the bottom so much; now the cumulative effect is obvious. The new water is muddier all the way down the canal and the river, and all the way out into the ocean, because there is 60+ years of accumulation. The discharges need to stop forever, and the estuary can slowly biodegrade the muck and toxins and begin to heal. Even if they only discharge ever 2 or 3 years, that will not help. It has to stop forever.
Mac Stuckey
Mac thank you and I am sure you are correct. This was a true comment given to me in the course of my day so I was just sharing.
They are dredgeing muck from Turkey Creek in Palm Bay (where I live ) I assure you it is NOT going to fix anything, Our state government has tried to FORCE(spending billions) our lagoon into what they think it should be like and dammed near killed everything off in the process, Most construction workers are out door type of people and love to fish. Everyday I tell more how to fix the lagoon, I am now in your area,
Great Brent. In Stuart? Yes the government is a mess.
I recently watched on TV a young lady lied and received 20,000$ in free child care when she had a job, They said other people who had no job could have used this money for free child care. Her punishment was gong to be 18 years of probation and pay $100 a month until the money is paid back, Our state government lies and steals billions of OUR money and what is their punishment—they give themselves raises? Could all OUR money not have been better spent had WE not be allowed to vote on how it is spent, Every day I talk to people whose jobs have been changed with modern technology, How is it politics remain the same—ROTTEN to the core,
Agreed
Which is heavier, fresh water or salt water? Is there fresh pollute water beneath the blue salt water, or salt water beneath the fresh? Or, does the color go all the way to the bottom?
I think salt water is heavier. It is layered.
For what it’s worth, St. Lucie County is still in the soup; bacteria levels have been in the ‘poor’ range since 1-11-2016. Samples are tested every two weeks. The latest results are still poor.
On Tue, Feb 23, 2016 at 7:19 AM, Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch wrote:
> Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch posted: ” These aerial photos were taken around > 4PM by my husband, Ed Lippisch, this past Sunday, 2-21-16. They show the > Lake Okeechobee/area canals’ plume moving south along Jupiter Island over > nearshore reefs. There are photos of the exclusive neighborhoo” >
Thank you for the update. Always worth a lot.