Monthly Archives: October 2023

The Dolphins are Jumping but no False Hope!

Ed and I just got off a seven day journey on “Finito.” We traveled along the Indian River Lagoon from Stuart to Cape Canaveral and only turned around due to a fuel leak that was heroically brought to our attention our eighty pound Belgium Shepherd, Luna.

Luna although a bit crippled walked to the front to bark and alert us to the smell of gas in the salon. Ed and I were upstairs in the pilot house.

The Lagoon has been through hell the past decade, especially in regards to algae blooms that began around 2010 and peaked in 2013. Over 90 percent of seagrasses in the 156 mile lagoon died off in those and the following years and FWC still reports issues including fish kills. I believe that the lagoon is improving in spite of continued difficulties. Just the past few days the water quality the length of the lagoon looked appealing and there were dolphins jumping in our wake the entire trip! Dozens of them, all along the way! These clever animals will always find a fish, in spite of crappy water, but nonetheless, their presence was inspiring.

Even though this was to be the “retirement cruise,” I couldn’t help myself from zooming into a Rivers Coalition meeting on October 26 and was impressed that for the second time in row since I was ditched by the Senate, South Florida Water Management District executive staff and a governing board member drove all the way from West Palm Beach to attend the meeting. Obviously this is done for their self preservation, but still!

The subject of the meeting was “Sending Water South,” and basically the theme, in line with my last blog post, was that the the high water in Water Conservation Areas south of Lake Okeechobee makes sending water south right now “impossible.” Staff said they were draining the WCAs now, the Storm Water Treatment Areas are restored, and they hope to send Lake Okeechobee water south in December. Of course no one mentions this bottleneck is caused by the Everglades Agricultural Area….

I found this possibility about sending water south in December misleading. In fact, it was False hope. Sure there is always a possibility that things will not turn out as science plans, but we should recognize science nonetheless. Especially as the District is based on science has its own scientific weather bureau that is so respected the ACOE relies on its data!

Two days prior to the Rivers Coalition meeting the District hosted a Water Resource Form. During this forum the high probability of above average rainfall December 2023 through February 2024 over the sixteen county South Florida Water Management District was noted. This is due to a weather condition known as El Nino. So back to the Rivers Coalition meeting, what if as science is revealing, we do not have a dry season and it rains over the Water Conservation Areas? Hmmm? Then the SFWMD probably wont be able to send water south in December, or January or February and tree islands and fur-bearing animals will continue to suffer as will we. This may have been mentioned in passing but it was not discussed.

Lake Okeechobee is discharged east and west when determined too high by the ACOE.

I rather be prepared for something that may happen than have my government spoon feed me false hope gliding over serious issues. A scientific agency has the responsibility to share science not hope.

TCPalm Article by Ed Killer

Concerns-Overfull WCAs & Lake O Discharges

Yesterday, I listened to the South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board meeting via Zoom. The overriding issue, besides the fact the St. Lucie River system’s C-44 Reservoir is not working, Lake O is over 16 feet and discharges could soon be imminent, was “high water in the Water Conservation Areas.”

What are WCAs anyway?

They were built as part of the giant drainage system of Florida that “over did it.”

The Water Conservation Areas were built to hold water because we had over-drained, but now sometimes they get too full…

https://eros.usgs.gov/media-gallery/earthshot/canals-and-levees

In 1947 there was “the great flood,” that destroyed lands and properties in the seventeen counties of the Everglades Drainage District. This led to the U.S. Army Corps building the monstrosity named the Central and Southern Florida Project for Flood Control and Other Purposes (C&SFP.) The S.F.W.M.D. is the local sponsor. The two agencies work together.

United States Geological Survey explains:

“Historically, water flowed slowly southward through the Everglades in a wide swath. Record floods in 1947 and 1948 led to the construction of a massive flood control project. It served to prevent flooding and store water during dry periods. It also allowed for further development of the growing urban area on the Atlantic coastal ridge.

The project established three Water Conservation Areas (WCAs), one of which is the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge. These areas are delineated in the Landsat images, clearly divided by the levees and canals. Also visible are the Big Cypress National Preserve, Everglades National Park, and Everglades Agricultural Area.Another part of the project is the 100-mile-long eastern perimeter levee, a 3- to 6-meter high earthen berm built to prevent flooding of farmland and urban areas. It runs along the eastern edge of the WCAs, marking a clear separation between the WCAs and urban areas such as Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and Coral Springs.

Along with facilitating the further growth of the urban areas of greater Miami, the other upshot of the project was that the natural flow of water was interrupted, changing the hydrology of the region. The gradual sheet flow of freshwater is diminished, and instead sudden pulses of water are delivered by the canals. These sudden releases caused decreases in the numbers of fish species.”

The bottom line is that when there has been significant rain, like now, the WCAs overfill and the fur bearing animals are seriously at risk, unnaturally surrounded by rising water with no access to their habitat. Deer and other mammals have to take refuge on sacred Native American tree islands or on levees. Often, many species are desperately standing together. Friend and foe. All stressed, all scared, and all hungry.

In 1982 there was a so called “mercy-killing” of over 700 deer that were “starving” in the flooded Water Conservation Area 3. There are concerns that this year a similar situation could arise. I recommend watching the SFMWD meeting under section 28 and all public comments and more if you have the time. This is a very serious issue and no way to treat God’s creatures. How we treat humans during Lake O discharge events is bad enough. It is time to undo the past.

Canadian Fire Smoke Over Florida, 10-3-23

A Thurlow family text for the history books…

9:22 am October 3, 2023

Brother Todd: “Did you guys see the sun this morning? I never stop on my morning run but I had to pause to take a picture. It looked like the moon.”

Jacqui: “Yeah, really something. When I drove over the bridge twenty minutes ago on my way from Sewall’s Point to Stuart, I said to myself ‘what is that?’ The sky looked like a huge fog bank coming from west to the east.”

Sister Jenny: “There is some weird haze in the air. Does anyone know what it is? I got an air quality alert on my radar and I saw it last night and this morning.”

Sister-in law Deanna: “My co-worker just said it is the Canadian wildfires.”

Jenny: “Crazy!”

Todd: “Looking at satellite imagery now. Unbelievable stream of smoke. I will try to compile and send.”

Deanna: “The article mentions Central Florida, but wondering is it is stretching more south towards us? Wouldn’t be surprised with all this crazy wind we’ve been having.”

Mom Sandy : “You guys amaze me.”

Todd: “Smoke being sucked down from south of Hudson Bay on September 28. If you zoom in you will see a little read dots Those are thermal anomalies (wildfires being picked up by the satellite.”

Jacqui: “Photo doesn’t do justice. Smoke is all around, more than Stuart. I am in Palm City now. You’d think the fire was burning nearby in Okeechobee, not Canada.”

Please link here to view the video “Canadian Fire Smoke over Florida” 10-3-23, Todd Thurlow or see below if You Tube is displayed.

“If you live in Florida, you may have noticed the smoke in the air on Tuesday morning, October, 3, 2023 This is a two-day loop of 276 GOES-East satellite images, 10-minute intervals from 10/2/2023 @ 9pm to 10/3/2023 @ 8pm. You can see a low pressure system in the northern Atlantic. That system pulls a stream of smoke from the northern Atlantic towards Florida on 10/2/2023. It arrives overnight and is over Florida on the morning of 10/3/2023. The north Atlantic smoke originated from wildfires near Hudson Bay in Canada. You can make the video loop by right-clicking the video and selecting “loop“. ~Todd Thurlow