St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon Aerials 4-24-22

Today I share recent photos of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon taken by my husband, Ed, yesterday, April 24, at 2:30pm. The water remains a lovey shade of turquoise blue but there is a visible plume exiting south of the St Lucie Inlet. As there has been no documented discharges from C-23, C-24, C-44, or Lake Okeechobee of late, this must be the effect of recent rains and local runoff.

I am also sharing the SFWMD’s weather site; it is full of information, including scientific predictions. You can access through this link here or type in “SFWMD weather” as a search. As June approaches it is very important for us to keep our eye on rains and weather systems that will affect the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee’s level. 

As we know the St Lucie was once just a small river running in to the longer Indian River Lagoon, but the today she is connected to canals and Lake Okeechobee and it is killing her. The state and federal government are well funded and continue working  to improve the situation every day. We too can help: Don’t fertilize! Plant your yard with native and Florida Friendly plants. Conserve water! It’s simple, like they said in the old days,“give a hoot, don’t pollute!”

-Peck’s Lake of Jupiter Narrows and Atlantic Ocean -visible plume but water still pretty. Happy sailing!  -Below:  St Lucie Inlet -one can see small plume from local runoff. The water near the St Lucie Inlet and offshore still looks good. There have been no major discharges in three years. Nonetheless seagrass is not lush and there is a UME for manatees in the IRL. We all must work for better water quality.

SFWMD canal and basin map. C-44 canal, attached to Lake Okeechobee,  is the canal “most southerly” in the image.