Rare wood cut map of St Lucie River, ca. 1885, by Homer Hine Stuart. Image shows water depth in heart of St Lucie River near today’s Roosevelt Bridge at 20 feet. (Courtesy of historian, Sandra Henderson Thurlow)Homer Hine Stuart Jr., for whom Stuart, Florida is named. (Portrait courtesy of historian, Sandra Henderson Thurlow.)
Some days I get really lucky because people send me cool stuff based on what I wrote the previous day in my blog. Yesterday this happened with both my mother, Sandra Thurlow, Dr Gary Gorfoth and a slew of other comments . I will be sharing some of my mother and Dr Goforth’s insights today.
After reading my post on sediment loads in the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and how they have lessened the natural depths of the river/s, my historian mother, sent me the awesome image of a historic wood cut at the top of this post created around 1885 by Homer Hine Stuart Jr., for whom Stuart, Florida is named.
This historic wood cut shows the depth of the St Lucie River at 20 feet in the area of what would become the span for the Roosevelt Bridge. A contemporary navigation chart below, shows the depth of the water in this area at 11 feet. At least 9 feet of sediment and or —MUCK!
Contemporary St John’s waterway navigation map, public files, shows the depth of the St Lucie River at the Roosevelt Bridge at 11 feet.
“Jacqui, Your post about sediments made me think of this little map. Homer Hine Stuart, Jr. for whom Stuart is named, had a little wood cut map that was about 4 by 2 1/2 inches and looked like one of those address stamps we use today made. Maps made from the wood cut were used to show his the location of his property and his bungalow “Gator’s Nest” to his family in New York and Michigan. This image was made from a photograph of the wood cut. It is printed is reverse so the writing, etc., isn’t backward. You can see that there was 20 feet of water depth between the peninsulas that would later be connected by bridges. The date of the map would be around 1885.” –Mom
Dr Goforth also wrote. He tells a sad story mentioning that Stuart News editor and famed environmentalist Ernie Lyons wrote prolifically about the great fishing in the St Lucie prior to the construction of the St Lucie Canal (C-44) in 1923.
“… the St. Lucie River and Estuary was known as the “Giant Tarpon Kingdom” before the Lake Okeechobee discharges began in 1923; after the Lake Okeechobee discharges began the muck from the Lake despoiled the clear waters and drove the tarpon offshore, and the area was recast as the “Sailfish Capital of the World” (Lyons 1975: The Last Cracker Barrel).
Thankfully, Dr Goforth gives an idea to fix and or improve the accumulation of muck sediments into the St Lucie River:
One effective means of reducing the sediment/much discharges from the Lake would be the construction of a sediment trap just upstream of the St. Lucie Locks and Spillway. This simple approach has worked well in other areas, most recently in West Palm Beach on the C-51 Canal just upstream of the Lake Worth Lagoon (see attached fact sheet). By deepening and widening the C-44 canal just upstream of the locks/spillway, a large portion of the sediment would settle out of the water in a relatively contained area before entering the River; with routine dredging, the material can be removed and spread over adjacent lands… —(perhaps using lands along the canal purchased by Martin County and SFWMD?). —-Dr Gary Goforth
Muck Removal using sediment trap, Lake Worth Lagoon, C-51, shared by Dr Gary Goforth.
Kudos to Dr Goforth’s ideas. Kudos to my mother’s history! Let’s get Governor Rick Scott towork and get to work ourselves too! We can do it. Together, we can do anything. 🙂
___________________________
MUCK THEMED PHOTOS:
Muck coats the bottom of our beautiful river but determination coats our hearts. We and future generations will continue to fight to save our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!
Muck from St Lucie River, covering oysters, 2014.Jim Moir teaches Hannah Lucas about muck at the River Kidz GET THE MUCK OUT event, March 2014.Muck Buster, River Kidz 2014.My close up photo of front page Stuart News article where Kevin Powers of the SFWMD shows Gov. Rick Scott a shovel full of muck from around Power’s dock in Stuart. 2014. (Photo Stuart News)Mark Perry and I display our “muckstaches” for Florida Oceanographics fundraiser/awareness raiser, 2015.River Kidz GET THE MUCK OUT campaign and bumper sticker, 2014.
Mosquito County was formed from St Johns County in 1824; this was the era of the Indian Wars. Florida became a state in 1845. (Florida Works Progress Administration, courtesy of historian, Sandra Henderson Thurlow)Mosquito County ca. 1827. All maps here and below are from University of South Florida’s map website.Mosquito County early map. USF.Mosquito County early map. USF.
Since the Lost Summer of 2013 and the super bloom of 2011-2013, the counties from the south and to the north along the Indian River Lagoon have been “coming together.” The more unified we are, the better we can protect, improve, and negotiate with our legislature for our waters. The revamped National Estuary Program of the Indian River Lagoon, under the leadership of Martin County Commissioner Ed Fielding, is proof of this and a great hope for a better future. (http://itsyourlagoon.com)
Of course the irony of it all is that the counties along the Indian River were once “one,” under the flag of “Mosquito County…”
–Mosquito—Musquito—-
Such a fitting name….Too bad they exterminated the name for tourism. I like it.
I remember mosquitoes well. As I have written about before, one of our great joys as kids growing up in Stuart in the 1960s and 70s was riding our bikes behind the mosquito spray truck as it drove by just about every evening…. 🙂
Mosquito truck Hillsborough County archives.
Mosquito County was formed in 1824 and compromised most of east Florida including Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, St Lucie, Martin, Seminole, Osceola, Orange, Lake, and Polk counties.
Apparently from 1500 until 1844 the east coast of Florida was known as “Los Musquitos…”
I think it is important to remember we all have been connected for a long, long, time and that we are still connected today through our waterways, the St Lucie, the Indian River Lagoon, and really also the St Johns– if its headwaters had not been directed south through C-25…We must also recall that although during rainy times the native peoples and pioneers documented traveling through the St Johns into the Indian River —our waterways were never naturally connected to Lake Okeechobee…
Full counties evolution map, florida Works Progress Administration, courtesy Sandra Henderson Thurlow.
Canal C-25 at the top of this image is where the headwaters of the St John’s River– originally west of Vero and Sebastian– were redirected to go south through C-25 into the IRL and connecting canals that exit into the North Fork of the St Lucie River.
Contrast June 21, 2015 and June 28, 2013. St Lucie Inlet, Martin County, Fl. (Photos JTL and EL)
I hope you and your family had a happy Father’s Day. The water was beautiful this weekend, so I thought today I would compare some aerial photos my husband Ed and I took this weekend to some we took in June of 2013 during the “Lost Summer.” No wonder we all fight for clean water and fewer discharges from Lake Okeechobee and area canals. What a difference!
Of course other than “history,” rain has a lot to do with discharges into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, and it has not been raining too much lately— thus the blue waters rather than the ugly dark brown plumes. It is important for all of us to understand why our paradise sometimes turns into a disgusting toxic mess so we can keep working for policy to change this problem.
The first and worst part of the problem lies in southern Martin County—the C-44 canal built by the Flood Control District of the era and later the Army Corp of Engineers to connect Lake Okeechobee to the South Fork of the St Lucie River. This canal was connected in 1923 for agriculture and transportation. So now, not only is there the agricultural lands’ runoff from the C-44 basin that pours into the river, but also the periodic often huge releases from Lake Okeechobee. In spite of claims that this lake water is “only 30%” of total discharge water coming into the estuary, when it comes it is tremendous, filthy, and always a killer.
I think a decent metaphor would be that one could drink alcohol all time (from the C-23, C-24, C-25) and have problems like an alcoholic but function, however, if one downed two bottles of gin in a short period of time, one would kill oneself. Lake Okeechobee and its periodic huge slugs are death each time for our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
Canals in Stuart, C-23, C-24, C-25 built in the 40s, 50s and 60s. C-44 connected to Lake Okeechobee constructed in the 1920s.
Next we must recognize the other problem-part of our canal system in the northern region…
After a tremendous hurricane/storm and flooding (because we are a swamp….) in 1947 the state of Florida and the federal government worked to appropriate monies for the Central and South Florida Flood Project which created the plumbing system we know today for all South Florida.
The part “we got” was the building of canals C-25, C-24 and C-23. The state and federal government acted like this was “just for flooding” but it wasn’t. It was also to allow for more agriculture and development in the region by draining the lands. (Mostly citrus and development of Port St Lucie). These canals were built and “improved” throughout the 50s and 60s and expanded the water being drained into the St Lucie River by about five times!
So now water from Okeechobee and St Lucie counties, and even water that had been flowing north into the St Johns River, through Indian River County and beyond— drains into the St Lucie River! (The headwaters of the St Johns River started flowing north in the marshes west of Sebastian and Vero—they have been directed to the SLR…)
Crazy isn’t it?
You know these “guys” —these politicians and business people, knew they were killing the river. They were just so driven by the pay-off of citrus/agriculture and cheap lands to sell….that they didn’t care…The river dies slowly so many of them did not see the “close to total death” —what we see today…but they knew what they were doing.
There were those who objected trying to protect the river’s fishing industry and wildlife….But their voices were not enough to stop the train….sound familiar?
Drainage changes to the SLR. Green is the original, natural, watershed,. Yellow and pink show the expanded drainage to the SLR/IRL. St Lucie River Initiative, Letter to Congress 1994.
The map above shows the “expanded watershed” in yellow and pink going into the St Lucie River. This is why I very much object also when I hear “how 70-80%” of the water polluting the St Lucie “is from our local watershed.”
Like we are supposed to feel responsible? Most of it’s not local!!!!! Plus it is the SFWMD’s job to oversee these canals. FIX THEM!
The moral of the story though is that the “local watershed” does not exist anymore….
“Wealth (agriculture and development) at the expense of the environment….” The story of our state.
Of course the grand irony is that we all came here for the “environment” ….the water, the fishing, the wildlife, the beauty…..
So here we are in Martin County living in a world where the pendulum swings between “paradise and hell.”
Paradise is not what it used to be, but it is still here. We saw some of it this past weekend…And we could bring back more if we really tried….If we want it, our job is to get more of the water coming into the St Lucie River/IRL back onto the land, going south, and returned or held north, and not draining or being released into our watershed.
Sounds reasonable doesn’t it? Well, the problem is we don’t have 30 years….or 50 years….like “the plan” (CERP) calls for now….(http://www.evergladesrestoration.gov)
There is alway hope we could do it faster. We must make hope a reality….all of us.
As newspaper man and famed environmentalist Ernie Lyons said: “What men do, they can undo…..and the hope for our river is in the hundreds of men and women in our communities who are resolved to save the St Lucie…” (Ernest Lyons, Editor and reporter, Stuart News)
This weekend I think we were all inspired! 🙂
Comparison 2015 and 2013 Atlantic shoreline with nearshore reefs, Jupiter Island south of St Lucie Inlet. (JTL)
_____________________________
September 2013–plume as it exits St Lucie Inlet.Another aerial from September 2013- plume along Jupiter Island that had exited the St Lucie Inlet.
Anyway, today I will once again to try to boil-down some fancy government terms to help you understand what our state is doing to try to fix the “impaired waters of the state…” such as our St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon. I will focus on a report about “what is impeding its progress.” This report will be discussed at the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council on 6-19-15.
“Impediments to Implementation of the Indian River Lagoon Basin Management Action Plans” by the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council and the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council was prepared with technical assistance from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, 5-27-15.
For a full copy of this report please contact Mr Michael Busha at mbusha@tcrpc.org
Here we go:
The Background section of the report notes:” …In the past century the IRL has been affected by many activities including the creation of inlets, dredging of navigational channels, impoundment of mangroves for mosquito control, shoreline development, and alteration of the watershed basins draining into the lagoon. Today water quality the single most important issue impacting the lagoon. The decline in water quality is attributed to an increase in nutrient input, sedimentation, turbidity, atmospheric deposition, nutrient releases from legacy muck deposits, and changes in salinity due to freshwater discharges. The issue is complex because the impact comes from a variety of sources, including non point sources of stromwater entering the lagoon through major canals systems as well as through smaller creeks, tributaries, and individual outfall structures.”
State BMAP 2015. TCRPC
Here I must state something not noted in the report in case you don’t know: Not until a water body is declared as “impaired” does it get the help of the state creating a Basin Management Action Plan through the implementation of TMDLs—-or the determination of Total Maximum Daily Loads.
I wrote something in the past about this and likened a “total maximum daily load” to a “maximum daily allowance of cigarettes that one is allowed to smoke before one gets cancer…..a “total daily maximum daily load” of phosphorus and or nitrogen is what the government is talking about with the river. How much it can take before it gets sick/impaired.
Phosphorus and nitrogen come from different sources; I always note fertilizer as an example because it is written right there on the bag, and fertilizer from farming and people’s yards is a huge source of the LOAD of phosphorus and nitrogen going into our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon….
Right now all our water bodies get too much nutrient pollution (too many cigarettes) so now the government is figuring out how to cut back slowly over time….the problem is the river may die while we are “trying to kick the habit…”
Now, back to the official document: There are currently 20 adopted BMAPs in Florida. Portions of the IRL are addressed by four of the adopted BMAPs. They are North IRL; Banana River: Central IRL; St Lucie River and Estuary.
IRL BMAPs 2015.
Each plan varies but has the same goal: to lessen nutrient pollution, to improve water quality, and whether the plan says it or not, to increase sea grasses….The plans outline specific project that are expected to provide load reductions of phosphorus and nitrogen. All plans are implemented in 5 year periods spread out over 15 years. Plans can be many things, turning dirt, holding water, implementing best management practices not to allow runoff….
Polluted runoff causes impairment…
The St Lucie River was determined as “impaired” in 2002. (Report at end of blog.)
The SLR/IRL BMAP was adopted in 2013. So to figure out how this plan will work….in 2018 the state will have a goal for load reduction; then again in 2023; and then again in 2028. Each time period the load numbers should be going down, and if they are not, cities, counties, and other stakeholders, like agriculture, and other polluters, should be in trouble if there is not a reduction in loads. DEP oversees all of this.
Kind of confusing isn’t it? And I am not sure my dates are correct, but hopefully you get the idea….Perfect science? No. But at least there is a plan…I just wish they’d get us off the cigarettes faster. Like make us go “cold turkey.”
The report list the following impediments the BMAPs.
1. Inadequate Funding….
2. Nutrient Load from Muck not Addressed. (Muck holds nutrients so when it get stirred up from winds or storms it is “re-released…” (Second hand smoke….)
3. Nutrient Loads from ground water are not being addressed. (Groundwater comes up from the ground as tides rise and bring nutrients like from septic tanks into the river and lagoon—gross.)
4. No Incentive for Stormwater Management. I am not really sure about this one but obviously it has to do with incentives; seems like the government could help create incentives if we would reward clean water….(inventions, lessen people’s taxes if they achieve clean water “loads.”) Hey doesn’t the Dept of Economic Opportunity do stuff like this?
5. Incomplete water quality data. Collecting data is expensive. Maybe high school kids could get credit if they did it…..and let’s face it: WE KNOW the WATER’S DIRTY. Focus on the source and stop acting like we don’t know where all this nutrient pollution is coming from!
6. Inadequate Water Quality Monitoring. Same thing as above. Figure it out. Guess….
7. Unequal treatment of public and private entities, agriculture, and water control. This is complicated, but basically in my opinion the Right to Farm Act puts less stringent standards on agriculture to prove they are lessening loads than on municipalities and counties. BMPs vs NPDS (Best Management Practices vs. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System…)This is a huge problem. Ag has to enter the 21st century. All ag. Best Management Practices are “voluntary.” This is not enough!
8. Onerous conditions attached to BMAP projects
9. Inadequate technology to meet TMDL goals
10. BMAPS are based on flawed TMDLs
11. Trends in nutrient loading from atmosphere not being considered. (Phosphorus and nitrogen come in from rains and winds from as far away as the Europe, Africa and other nations polluting too…
12. Legacy Loading in Lake Okeechobee. THIS IS MY FAVORITE. How can surrounding governments and stakeholders be held responsible for lowering loads when periodic releases from Lake O through the C-44 canal pollute the water as fast as we can clean it up? For instance this year the ACOE and SFWMD have released into the estuary since January 16th and just stopped three weeks ago…MAJOR SECOND HAND SMOKE!!!!!!
13. Lack of Operations Monitoring
14. Load allocation process is not consistent between BMAPs. This has to do with undeveloped land being removed from the maps as nutrient reductions are not required on those lands…
There is a lot more to the report but that is a summary.
This whole process of BMAPS and TMDLs is confusing, but I wanted to at least give you an idea of the report. We must remember not to be too negative for the state workers implementing the BMAP. Negativity will not inspire more work, it will inspire less. Also it is not their fault. Fault lies in leadership.
Rather that telling businesses, citizens, and most of all agriculture to QUIT SMOKING, leadership —-and this is going back many years and includes Democrats and Republicans—is basically paying for our rehab over a period of 15 to 35 years.
Florida’s waters do not have time for rehab. They must be fixed today. Tough love is really the only answer.
NASA aerial Lake Okeechobee, Florida, with text, JTL.
A tidal wave….always a scary thought, and usually associated with the ocean, however, tidal waves or “seiches,” can occur in enclosed bodies of water as well, such as a lake— like that of “big water,” or Lake Okeechobee.
As we have entered hurricane season and live in Florida, the most vulnerable state in the nation for strikes, it is important that all of us in the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon/Lake Okeechobee region know our evacuation plan should one be necessary….
A while back, I wrote about my frightening experience with a storm in the proximity of Lake Okeechobee and my friend, Dr Gary Goforth, wrote me back. Today I will share his thoughts on the subject of “tidal waves” in Lake Okeechobee.
Since “we” first walled the lake for agriculture in the 1920s, “white man” has changed the dynamics of both water and of storms….Recently, the ACOE has spent over 65 million dollars to repair the aging dike. As you know, nature evolved so Lake Okeechobee’s overflow waters would slowly flow south to the Everglades. This is no more, and her overflow waters are directed with great destruction through the Northern Estuaries…
So now about seiches…..or tidal waves…..
EAA A.K.A. Everglades Agricultural Area, below Lake Okeechobee, public image.S-308 as, the structure that allows water from Lake Okeechobee to enter the C-44 canal, SLR/IRL.(JTL, 2015)Lake Okeechobee is tremendous in size, 730 square miles. It was once closer to 1000 aware miles before it was diked for agriculture use around and south of the lake. When looking across, one cannot see across to the other side. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, S. Engebretsen pilot, 2014.)
Your comments on the “tidal waves” within the Lake inspired me to chart the fluctuations in water levels in the Lake resulting from the 2004 hurricanes Frances and Jeanne…
The attached images below show two charts and a reference map.
The first chart shows the fluctuation in Lake stage as Hurricane Frances slowly moved through the area and the 2nd is a similar chart for Hurricane Jeanne. An interesting feature is that as the storm approached the Lake, strong north winds blew the water to the southern rim against the HHDike (as reflected by the rising red line: water level along the south shore) and simultaneously moved water away from the northern sections of the Dike (as reflected by the descending blue line: water level along the north shore). This phenomenon contributed to the catastrophic flooding south of the Lake in the 1926 and 1928 storms as the muck dike failed. For Hurricane Frances, the water level along the south shore rose by more than 5 ft as the eye approached!
As the eye of the storms passed over the Lake, the wind quickly changed direction and the water that was piled up along the south shore moved to the north rim of the Dike (rising blue line). For Hurricane Frances, the water level along the north shore rose by 10 ft or more when the winds shifted! For Hurricane Jeanne, which was moving faster than Frances, the water level on the north shore rose by more than 4 ft per hour – I suspect it looked like a slow-moving tidal wave coming towards the Dike!
For both storms, the water levels overtopped the stage gauges at both stations – so the fluctuations were actually greater than depicted in the charts!
For more information, you can read up on Lake seiches (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiche) which are large waves sloshing back and forth in large bodies of water.
—Gary, Dr Goforth 4/15
Chart 1 Dr Gary Goforth, 2015.Dr 2 Gary Goforth chart, 2015.Dr Gary Goforth, 3. 2015.
Thank you Dr Goforth for an interesting lesson. Let’s all be safe and smart this hurricane season.
My niece, Evie, stands at the edge of the east side of Lake Okeechobee at Port Mayaca. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch 2013)
If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may know that I prefer to write a “happy-Friday” St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon post…Sometimes though, the news of the day is too pressing, and it is more important to respond to the “question of the day.”
So here we go…
Early this morning, I get a call…
“Jacqui, did you sees the ad in the Stuart News? Who is “We”? Is the ad from the SFWMD?Did the South Florida Water Management District pay for this ad? That would be wrong!”
My husband had already placed the paper by my bedside; the ad’s headline read: WE DON”T NEED SUGAR’S LAND FOR EVERGLADES….With a foggy head, I recalled that there was a full-page ad in yesterday’s paper from US Sugar:
Ad 6-11-15 Stuart News.
Getting up, pouring a cup of coffee, and perusing the ad, I noted the right bottom corner: “Brought to you by: Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau.”
I am familiar with Farm Bureaus as my Grandfather Henderson, a soil scientist, UF teacher, Gainesville IFAS-Extension employee, and leader of the 1952-1969 “Agronomy Project,” was an active member throughout his lifetime. There are farm bureaus throughout Florida; they are key in education, and supporting the rights of farmers. They are powerful, historical entities.
Of course, the Western Palm Beach County Farm Bureau is the largest and most powerful of all… So going to the internet on my phone, I noted who was listed on their board.
I didn’t know anybody except Ms, Judy Sanchez, from US Sugar Corporation, Clewiston. I have met Ms Sanchez. She is really nice and an excellent PR lady; US Sugar is very lucky to have her. This is her job and she does it very well. I would imagine the others listed are also “in the business” of the Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee too…
Board of Directors WPBCFB 2015
So why is this ad in today’s paper with the headline WE DON’T NEED SUGAR’S LAND FOR EVERGLADES “dangerous?” Well, I think it is dangerous because to the public it could appear that the ad comes from the SFWMD as it uses information from an Op-Ed written by SFWMD Board Chair Dan O’keefe that ran in the Miami Herald but not here on the Treasure Coast. WE is next to Dan Okeefe’s head. Dan chairs the SFWMD Governing Board. The way the ad reads, it almost appears as if the ad is from the SFWMD itself. WE should be clearly referring to the West Palm Beach County Farm Bureau.
Thus mostly the reason for the early morning call….
In case you don’t know, the SFWMD is a “special taxing district.” If you look at your tax bill you will see we all pay taxes to the District. This money is not to be spent on “ads” but rather on their mission “to manage water and related resources for the benefit of the public: the key elements of the Mission are environmental protection and enhancement, water supply, flood protection and water quality protection.” (Data Directory 1999) Maybe their mission has altered since 1999 but I don’t have time to look for the 2015 version. This should be close enough…
Portion of my and Ed’s tax bill 2014 showing SFWMD assessments taken from our taxes: $150.73.
In information wars it is very important that players show no “questionable impropriety.” In my opinion, this ad does not achieve this goal.
“Be Floridian. Don’t Fertilize.” Photo adapted from “Beauty of Nature” photos sent to me by Anna Marie Wintercorn, 2015.*
The “Be Floridian” program was born over a decade ago of the Tampa Bay area. This program has many elements, but most noteworthy is that “strict” fertilizer ordinances evolved collaboratively along the counties and cities of Florida’s “southerly” east coast.
Today, Tampa Bay has more seagrass than it did in the 1940s. This is in spite of the area’s high population. Certainly, they have different issues than we, and “no Lake O,” but the goal is clear: “if they did it there; we can do it here…improve our waters.”
On Florida’s east coast, in 2010, the peninsular Town of Sewall’s Point, my community, was the first to implement in a strong fertilizer ordnance. With the 2011-2013 melt down of the Indian River Lagoon due to super-algae blooms killing approximately 60% of the northern/central lagoon’s seagrasses, and the toxic “Lost Summer” of excessive dumping from Lake Okeechobee and area canals along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, communities all along the Indian River pushed their governments to implement strong fertilizer ordinances. —Making a statement that they were “fed-up” with dead waters, and were willing themselves to put “skin in the game.”
In case you don’t know, there are variations, but basically a “strong fertilizer ordinance” is one that does not allow fertilization with phosphorus and nitrogen during the summer rainy/hurricane season.
Recently there was an article in the “Stuart News” asking the question of whether or not these strong fertilizer ordinances are “working” along the IRL. The expert on hand replied it is “too soon to tell…”
I beg to differ, and here is why.
Of course they are working.
A four-year old can tell you they are working.
Ad in Stuart News. Martin County has a strong fertilizer ordinance and is now promoting the BE FLORIDIAN program here in Martin County. Dianne Hughes and Deb Drum deserve applause for these great ads, 2015.
I use this analogy a lot when discussing Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades Agricultural Area’s 700,000 acres south of the lake blocking the natural flow of water from the northern estuaries to the Everglades.
In spite of the sugar and vegetable empires south of the lake trying to convince us that it is water from Orland and the Kissimmee River killing our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, any four-year old studying the River Kidz program will point to the area directly south of the lake as biggest problem forcing the water up and out the estuaries rather than allowing it to flow south as nature intended…We need a third outlet south of the lake. There is too much water to hold it all north. End of story. I don’t need a study to tell me this. I know it. A four-year old knows it. You know it.
Back to fertilizer….last night it rained hard here in Sewall’s Point. My rain gauge says two inches. Seemed like more than that. If my yard had been fertilized of course that fertilizer would have gone into the gutter and down the drain and into the Indian River Lagoon. You can go out and watch this from my driveway.
It must be noted that until the ACOE and SFWMD (collaborating at the direction of our government) stop dumping from the lake and out over expanded canals, we will never know our “area’s” levels of phosphorus and nitrogen.
For example, the ACOE began releasing into our SLR/IRL this January and just stopped a few weeks ago, so if a scientist had done her or her study recently, they would be measuring nutrients that came into our river from “other places” too.
But we, here, are doing our part and can feel good about this…keeping our house in order will help push order in the houses of the state and federal governments that are presently quite un-orderly.
Enforcement? Let’s focus on education. As we can see. It’s working! Five years ago people weren’t even aware that fertilizer was an “issue.”
As a sidebar before I close, I recently had the pleasure of meeting Mr Woody Woodraska who headed the SFWMD in the 1980s before it was under the anvil of the governor and the state legislature. The topic of visiting Cuba arose. My husband Ed and I will be visiting Cuba this fall with our church, St Mary’s.
Mr Woodraska said: “Oh, you are going to love it..”
In the course of telling his story visiting as a competitor in the Ernest Hemingway competition, he alluded to Cuba’s long repressed economy and how this kept fertilizers, via the agriculture industry, from ruining Cuba’s waters, fish and wildlife. Thus overall, Cuba’s waters are healthy and beautiful today.
We here in Florida, on the other hand, have developed every piece of land right up to edge of every river, some with septic tanks, and torn out the native plants and replaced with plants that we must fertilize; agriculture is a corporate producer going through literately tons of fertilizer every day; canals not only to drain our land, but we build houses along them; a turf grass industry flourishes in South Florida that sells 25% of all turf-grass in the WORLD; wonderful universities, like my alma mater and family connected University of Florida, do research and watch the industry’s back to “keeping our economy rolling!”
Yeah…rolling right over our fish, and our wildlife, and over ourselves as we see our own economy suffering from dirty waters.
Whew. I need a cup of coffee.
Sorry to be so opinionated, but I just can’t stand it. Fertilizer that is. In fact I have a file on my computer called DEATH BY FERTILIZER. Here are some pictures; thanks for reading my rant, have a good day, and I will not say “happy fertilizing!” 🙂
Grass going right over edge of canal….photo DEP.Ag runoff from fields into canals DEP photo.An ad from the west coast of Florida, 2014.When it rains a lot all runoff from yards goes into the SLR/IL taking fertilizer, pesticides and herbicides with it. This kills seagrasses by supporting algae blooms Animal and fish suffer. (JTL)Ad west coast near springs.Ad on bus west coast or Gainesville.River Kidz protest Florida legislature’s trying to outlaw local governments from creating stricter fertilizer ordinances than the states. 2012. (Nic Mader)
RK artwork 2011. Save the dolphins. Fertilizer is not good for their skin, or seagrasses needed by the fish they eat.
The National Research Council’s book “Clean Coastal Waters, Understanding and Reducing the Effects of Nutrient Pollution,” National Academy’s Press, 2000, is the best book I have read on this subject. It can be ordered on line.
“Everglades Drainage District Map, 1947, by Alfred Jackson and Kathyrn Hannah’s book “Lake Okeechobee” from the “Rivers of America” series. Note Township 40 Range 39 is within the District. That was just a section away from the Gomez Grant where the Ashley Gang lived”—-Sandra Henderson Thurlow, historian.“1920s map — Source: Leslie’s New World Atlas (New York, NY: Leslie-Judge Company, 1920) in Univ. of South Florida collection —- which shows that there was more swamp land than census notes…” Alice Luckhardt, historian.Historic map, ca. late 1800s, unknown source. Courtesy of Sandra H. Thurlow, historian.
Today our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon Region is referred to as the “Northern Everglades,” back then, it was all the “Everglades”….
Today’s historic photos were shared because of my last two days of blogging featuring my brother Todd’s flying video showing where the dreaded C-44 canal entered the South Fork of the St Lucie River in 1923 connected from Lake Okeechobee.
Alice Luckhardt, friend and local historian, has been trying to figure out where the Everglades actually “started” in Martin County as she is writing a history of Martin County’s infamous Ashley Gang. (They used to hide out in the Everglades.) Alice’s Leslie’s New World Atlas 1920s map, the second from the top of this page, kind of makes Martin County “look” pretty dry….as do the other two maps shared by my mother…
Viewed closely, the old maps show different “Everglades” boarders as seen most clearly in the 1949 Everglades Drainage District map at the top of this page. This map comes from my mother’s files and she notes that it shows “Township 40, Range 39, in Martin “in” the Everglades….
So what determines “the Everglades?”
Of that I am not certain but in my mind it is a swamp. But swamps in Florida “come and go” with the rains. Also the Everglades has many different faces/landscapes that are part of a greater whole–different kinds of micro environments like pine forest, hardwood hammocks, mangroves forests, endless sawgrass prairies, tall ancient cypress forests, marshlands, wetlands, ponds, some higher ridges separating rivulets and standing water, little creeks that come and go, shallow clean fresh water flowing ever so slowly across white sugar sands…Aggg! Did I just say that! 🙂
So anyway, I then went to the US Government maps my brother showed me awhile back and here one can see the “little ponds “of the Everglades right there in Stuart, Jensen Beach, and of course in what is today’s Palm City. They were in today’s St Lucie County too. Wouldn’t this be the “everglades?”
In fact, when I was a kid, there was a large pond near our family home on East Ocean Boulevard across from today’s Fresh Market. Now it’s gone…and the road goes through…”They” moved it….
I think we have really moved just about “everything.” Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean we can’t put some of it back, or start draining and saving water in a new way. Studying old maps and aerials is a good place to start!
US Government 1940s aerials show little ponds all over Martin County. (UF)
*Thank you to historians Alice Luckhardt and Sandra Thurlow and Todd Thurlow for sharing their cool old maps!
This 1914 advertisement for St Lucie Inlet Farms shows and artist rendition of the proposed St Lucie Canal at the time going to the Manatee Pocket rather than the South Fork of the St Lucie River. (Courtesy of Sandra Henderson Thurlow historic archives.)Port Salerno canal advertisement in booklet with photo. (Thurlow archives)
The saga continues!
In yesterday’s blog, I quoted a Department of Environmental Protection document stating that the St Lucie Canal, now known as “C-44,” was originally proposed in the early 1900s to connect Lake Okeechobee to the Manatee Pocket in Port Salerno, rather than the South Fork of the St Lucie River…
So after reading my blog, my mother sends me this awesome historic real estate ad above. Can you believe it? I had heard the tales of “urban legend” for years, but now there is a visual of this historical record!
She wrote: “This was the centerfold for a booklet “Little Journeys to Salerno and the Famous St. Lucie Inlet Farms, 1914.”
Centerfold?
Funny.
I just blows my mind that those old timers were trying to turn Stuart into Miami. If the 1926 depression had not hit, they just may have been successful…
In any case there was a fight for the now dreaded C-44 canal between Stuart and Port Salerno. Stuart “won” to lose…
The historic ad above reads:
“The bird’s-eye view printed here shows the position of the tract as to transportation–the magnificent and picturesque water of the St Lucie River—the Indian River—the St Lucie Inlet where the United States Government has appropriated one-hundred thousand dollars toward the construction of a deep water harbor–the Atlantic Ocean–the automobile thoroughfare, which connects Jacksonville to Miami–and the location of the town of Port Salerno which is clearly destined to become the commercial city and the great shipping point for the products of the winter gardens of the Everglades—the most logical route for the proposed state ship and drainage canal, which is to empty into the St Lucie Inlet and will deliver most of the products from the vast Everglades, for distribution and shipment, at tis point the proposed shore road and bridge connecting the mainland with Sewall’s Point and many other features which go to prove the enviable location of Port Salerno and the St Lucie lnlet Farms.”
Thanks mom, for another amazing piece of history!
Video showing where the C-44 did connect to the South Fork of the St Lucie River: video Todd Thurlow:
Image created of structure S-80 along C-44 canal. ACOE web cam and Doc Snook, 2013.Ca. 1920s, looking west one sees the straight C-44 canal then known as the St Lucie Canal, and its connection to the South Fork of the St Lucie River. (Aerial Thurlow Archives)Looking west towards Lake Okeechobee above the C-44 canal over S-80 structure, St Lucie Locks and Dam, connecting Lake Okeechobee to the South Fork of the St Lucie River. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch and Ed Lippisch, 2013.)
I share a video today that I believe to be my most “insightful” blog post since I began writing in 2013. The video above by my brother, Todd, who is an expert in historic map overlays merged with images from today’s Google Earth, communicates and educates in a manner no one map or document could do independently.
The video’s journey shows exactly where the C-44 canal was connected to the South Fork of the St Lucie River. An historic Hanson Grant map reveals the “Halpatiokee River, meaning “alligator river;” with a basis in multiple Indian languages. Because the St Lucie Inlet was not opened, the forks and river were “fresh,” thus alligators lived there. Then flying over a 1910 plat map of St Lucie Inlet Farms, you will see the South Fork of the St Lucie River mapped out. As the image changes over “time” you will see the construction of the C-44 canal, and how it was built right through the middle of South Fork’s north-western prong. In fact, those prongs today on the northerly side, are “gone” as sections 32 and 33 show. Those lands today are agriculture fields. As the journey continues, in the developed areas of St Lucie Farms you will see a very large lake “disappear” near section 25. I find all of this fascinating and kind of depressing… My brother said it best: “Wealth created at the expense of the environment…” Maybe we could create more wealth today going in the opposite direction?
The canal was built by the Everglades Flood Control District and later the Army Corp of Engineers, at the request of the state of Florida and Stuart Chamber of Commerce head Capt. Stanley Kitching and other “leaders.” (From conversation with historian Sandra Thurlow).
According to the Department of Environmental Protection’s Eco-Summary from 2000, the C-44 canal was begun in 1916 and completed in 1924. The document states:
“Next to the permanent opening of the St Lucie Inlet which changed the St Lucie River from a freshwater river to a brackish estuary, the construction of the C-44 has had the greatest impact on the St Lucie Estuary….Records show people have been complaining since the 1950s and there are numerous problem associated with the C-44 Canal…
UThe article discusses the prevalence of fish lesions due to too much fresh water, sediment smothering benthic communities, seagrass destruction, and the continued heavy nutrient and pesticide loading from agriculture and development in light of a tremendously enlarged basin coupled with massive periodic releases from Lake Okeechobee. (http://www.dep.state.fl.us/southeast/ecosum/ecosums/C-44%20Canal%20.pdf)
The DEP Eco Summary also states: The canal..“was originally designed to enter Manatee Pocket instead of the South Fork of the St Lucie River. ”
Hmmm?
IInteresting isn’t it… to ponder what would have been different if the canal had gone through the Manatee Pocket instead? Certainly the St Lucie River would have been spared but the Pocket, near shore reefs, and inlet surrounding perhaps full of even more contaminated silt and high impact nutrients. Best of all the canal would have never been built but that reality we cannot change…or can we?
Most important today is to know where we have come from so we can redirect where we are. Please take a look at the very short video, put your thinking cap on, and let’s get the state, federal and local governments delivering on what they have documented as problematic for Florida’s waters since the 1970s. Only the people will change this problem, not the government.
Left side of map shows C-44 canal’s abrupt diversion north towards a branch of the South Fork of the SLR. Original plans had the canal continuing its easterly direction to connect with the Manatee Pocket. (DEP Eco Summary/Google Maps 2015.)Another aerial, ca 1920s, looking at the area of connection of C-44 and South Fork. (Thurlow Archives.)
The J.J. Pichford Family camping at Cane Slough ca. 1918. (Archives, historian, Sandra Thurlow.)1909-11 ACOE Drainage map Kissimmee and Caloosahatchee Rivers. (Courtesy of Stephen Dutcher and historian Sandra Henderson Thurlow.)Google Map image includes much of what was “Cane Slough” in the historic map.
In these parts” it’s very important to know the definition of “cane!”
Yesterday’s blog referred to “Cane Slough”on the historic 1909 map by the Army Corp of Engineers. I made a joke about “cane” not meaning “sugarcane” as one may first think when hearing the word “cane” today. After publishing the post, I learned even more about “cane” from a long time family friend and wanted to share this with you today.
Fred Taylor informed me that “cane” is referring to “maidencane,” and that there are still places where maidencane grows today, it is great for wildlife and also the cows eat it. I think I had thought that MAIDENCANE was a hard-rock band…According to the Florida Wildlife Commission:
Maidencane: This vaulable and common native can form large stands in the water or even on dry banks. It may be confused with torpedo grass, para grass, cupscale grass or blue maidencane. It provides food, protection and nesting materials for wildlife.
Maidencane is a grass. rhizomes extensive; stems to 6 ft. long, narrow, leaning or erect; leaf blades flat or folded, wide, to 1 in. wide, to 12 in. long, tips pointed, usually smooth; sheaths loose, hairless to hairy; inflorescence erect, narrow, spike-like, closed, 4-12 in. long, ascending branches pressed to main axis; spikelets stalked, flowers to 1/8 in. long, green, pressed against branches. ( FWC:http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/306)
Who is the woman with the rifle in the classic historic photo above? She is Mrs J.J. Pichford.
Mrs J. J. Pichford has just shot a wild turkey for dinner. She is camping at “Cane Slough” around 1918. Her young son nearby, they stand in what is a now developed portion of our St Lucie/Martin County region.
On the back of the photo, my mother wrote: Wagon Wheel Hammock–Would travel by wagon through White City to the back country where there were no roads. Young Robert would always fear his family would get lost in the wilderness…
Well that wilderness is gone today, and my husband Ed is lucky if I’ve had time to stop by Publix! Times have changed as has our treasured St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon Region, but apparently there is still some maidencane left if you know where to look. 🙂
Maidencane, public photo.Maidencane public photo.The J.J. Pichford Family camping at Cane Slough ca. 1918.
1909-11 ACOE Drainage map Kissimmee, Caloosahatchee Rivers and Lake Okeechobee. (Courtesy historian Sandra Henderson Thurlow.)Full map…
It seems like every time I visit my parents, my mother has another cool map for me to look at. Recently she shared this map, a 1909-11 “Drainage Map of the Kissimmee and Calosahatachee Rivers and Lake Okeechobee, Florida.” The map was prepared under the direction of Captain J.R. Slattery, Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army. You can see at the bottom right of the map the document is listed as “House Doc. No. 137; 63rd Congress, 1st Session”.
To me what is interesting about the map other than the fact that the ACOE and our government were already planning and draining South Florida so long ago is the section to the east of Lake Okeechobee going towards the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. It shows a “slough, “a pine forest, a prairie, topography, the Allapattah Flats, and other interesting features no longer around today… I think part of the “swamp” became Port St Lucie and parts of western Martin County…it show the elevations obviously taken for engineering future drainage, and it shows a “cane slough,” very close to the South Fork of the St Lucie River. How ironic with all the sugar cane around here today!
“Cane” according to my mother, meant tall/grassy swamp….not sugar cane. There is actually a road in Port St Lucie named “Cane Sough” that looks more like a concrete interchange than a swampy, grassy area. The cars roar by, and it seems like its been this way “forever”…it has not….
Also interesting on the map are the lake levels noted in Lake Okeechobee: 20.6 for “ordinary lake water” and 24.4 for “extreme high water,” as measured from the Atlantic Ocean. Today we measure from NGVD which is changing or changed to NAVD which is an entirely different story. Nonetheless, today the ACOE and SFWMD “keep”Lake O ideally between 12.5 and 15.5 feet so the man-made, ACOE-dike does not break and flood all of the agriculture and development south and around the lake.
What does the Bible say? “The wise man built his house upon a rock?” Well, we built ours upon a swamp!
Lake LevelsRight corner of map.
_________________________
Thank you to family friend, Stephen Dutcher, who shared this map with my mother.
The St Lucie Canal, or C-44, was built beginning in 1915 and connected to St Lucie River in 1923.
The C-23, C-24 and C-25 canals were built in the late 1940s through the 50s as part of the Central and South Florida Flood Project. Google each canal along with DEP for a good history and explantion.
If there is one thing I have learned in my seven-year stint in local government, it is that for the public, the structure of government and how it works is unclear. In my opinion, this happens due to many reasons, but first and foremost is because government as a whole is terrible at being open and explaining itself, perhaps preferring to function behind a shroud of confusion. Also, governments’ sense of responsibility to communicate with the public is often nonexistent or skewed at best… plus communicating is expensive…This situation is compounded by the fact that every year there are new laws, and every few years new elected officials coming in….so the public is constantly having to “catch up.”
To make a point, let me give a simple example from the Town of Sewall’s Point, where I live and am a town commissioner. Prior to 2006 the town did not have a full-time town manager. In 2006 the town charter was amended by the commission creating a manager/commission form of government as opposed to commissioners being in charge of different departments. I was elected in 2008. For years, many citizens did not know this change had occurred, and their expectations were functioning off the old system and their expectations were not met. They came into the commission meetings very upset. The town did not “advertise” the charter changes. I was too new to really understand what was going on….it took me a year or so to figure it out, and the public—
People are too busy trying to live their lives, raise their children, and “put bread on the table,” to follow every move of government be it local, state or federal. Add to this that government itself is a terrible communicator, and what happens? The mechanisms are not in place for government to work….This is how I see it anyway. The answer? Better communication and learning to understand how things work.
A few months ago when the South Florida Water Management District was ignoring a desperate and pleading public that had come before them begging for the purchase of the US Sugar Option Lands through Amendment 1 monies, to help save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and Calooshatchee, I drove to West Palm Beach and met with high level officials. They were very nice but it was a frustrating meeting. Basically I asked them, “What are you doing?” “Why are you acting like this?”
The answer?
“Commissioner, you know the power isn’t in our hands anymore anyway…”
“What do you mean?” I inquired.
A conversation around the table ensured:
SFWMD: “Well after the debacle that occurred 2008-2010 with then Governor Charlie Christ, the recession, and the attempted buyout of all of US Sugar’s lands, basically a water district was trying to purchase a corporation…..the Florida Legislature got fed up. So later, in section 373.556 of Florida Statutes, the Florida Legislature made sure the District would never be in a position to do that again….Significant legislative changes have occurred related to water management budgeting with substantial ramification for Water Management District land transactions. In 2013, Senate Bill 1986 provided that certain District land transaction should be subject to the scrutiny of the Legislative Budget Commission. As this bill renewed the authority of the Governor to approve or disapprove the SFWMD budget, as with all water management budgets of the state, we can no longer do things we have done in the past like oversee giant land purchases using the monies from our ad-valorem taxes…There is a lot more to it but that’s the main difference now. You are talking to the wrong people….”
I stood there just staring…..”I didn’t know this gentlemen, so how do you expect the public to know this ? Are you telling me, the SFWMD has no power to purchase those Sugar Lands?”
“I am telling you the legislature is in charge of the budget and we don’t have enough money to buy the lands, and couldn’t without their approval….”
“So why don’t you explain that to the public?” I asked.
Stares….
Long awkward silence….
The reply was more or less: “It’s best not to get involved in such a discussion…..”
I lectured them on the importance of communication and education and said they certainly still have influence even if they say they “do not” …..but this did go over particularly well… the meeting ended. I shook their hands. I felt like an idiot. I drove home.
Since that time I have been trying to learn more…..So I read about the history of the Water Management Districts in Florida.
Florida’s five water managements districts map DEP.
To me it seems that originally when the water management districts were created in the 1970s they were allowed to levy taxes from the public in order to be an independent entity of water knowledgeable citizens advising the governor as to how best manage water resources. Also, the Dept of Environmental Protection was just evolving at this time so when the water districts were formed they did not work “under” or “beside” the DEP like today.
Over time, the laws have changed and our water management districts have become an arm of the governor and his or her people in the state legislature. The SFWMD is and has been losing its power. Especially since 2013. This loss of influence has politicized the structure of Florida’s water management districts to a level that “the people” no longer have a voice locally with their districts, and they don’t know they are now expected to go to their state legislature; and even if they did, their local delegation is one in hundreds in that structure that would need to be convinced to change water policy (for land purchase south of Lake Okeechobee for the health of the estuaries, for instance.)
I have learned too through this journey that really today about ten people run our state: Right now it is our governor, Rick Scott: cabinet members, Adam Putnam, Dept of Agriculture; Pam Bondi, Attorney General; Jeff Atwater, Chief Financial Officer; “leadership,” Speaker of the House: Steve Crisafulli; President of the Senate, Andy Gardiner; and the committee heads of the senate and the house which are only a few “tapped” people. (People who have agreed to conform or are smart enough to walk the razors’ edge.)”Leadership” keeps all elected officials in line by allowing them, or not allowing them, to be on, or to chair, certain committees, or by allowing, or not allowing their bills “to be heard”… also by discouraging new candidates from running for office if this is against “leaderships’ master-plan.” This behavior is worse in the republican party than the democratic party, but they are all encouraging conformity rather than leadership.
So how can we best communicate with our government?
Hmmmm?
Let’s keep educating ourselves, and can anyone say “revolution?”
The most rewarding part of my St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon journey is working with young people. Today I share a video created by Geoffrey Smith Jr., a graduating senior at the Pine School in Hobe Sound.
Many of you may have viewed this video on Facebook as it has been a big hit and already has over 500 views, but in case you are not the “Facebook type, “today, I am sharing it through my blog. The video production is part of Geoffrey’s Capstone Project for graduation.
I commend Geoffrey for his interest on the topic of water and pollution issues in Florida. His video required many hours and includes interviews those below. I especially was impressed that Geoffrey interviewed Mr. Sonny Stein, president of Stein Sugar Farms, and multi-generational farmer in the Everglades Agricultural Area. Both sides must always be represented at the table of judgment…
As you will see, Geoffrey also had a chance to interview Michael Grunwald, author of “The Swamp.”
I know my part chosen for the video is very hard on the agriculture industry…as you’ll hear later, I am doing my best to clean up my own yard…
How does the saying go?
“Shine the light, and the people will find their way….
“Thank you Geoffrey for shining the light, may we all find our way, good luck with graduation this week, and we all look forward to seeing more of your work in the future!
Nathaniel Osborn author of “Oranges and Inlets, An Environmental History of the Indian River Lagoon”Mark Perry, Executive Director of Florida OceanographicSonny Stein, long time sugar family farmerJacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, commissioner, Town of Sewall’s Point, Martin CountyMarty Baum, Indian RiverkeeperNic Mader, Dolphin Ecology ProjectMichael Grunwald, author of “The Swamp”Geoffrey Smith and I at Town Hall during interview. Geoffrey is a senior at the Pine School.Roseate Spoonbill…according to Florida Audubon, since the early 1900s, the bird population of Florida’s Everglades is down 95% due to the over-drainage of South Florida and the agriculture and development of the state.
Section of Everglades mural painted by artist, Joy Postle in 1962. Women’s Club of Stuart. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow Lippisch)Western Martin County used to be full of Cypress tress around and beyond Lake Okeechobee. This part of the mural shows cypress trees, lilies and native hibiscus.Section of mural showing doves and irises.
As a kid, I spent numerous hours at the Women’s Club of Stuart. What made the biggest impression on me was a beautiful mural featuring birds of the Everglades— of which Stuart is part through the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. This mural has resided on the back wall of the Women’s Club since 1962.
My fondest memories of the building itself where when my parents enrolled me in cotillion classes in 1974. I can still see all of us kids in the metal folding chairs, dressed up to the hilt. Girls with hats and gloves, and boys in suits! Awkwardly dancing the fox-trot, the Cha-Cha-Cha, and the waltz while slipping on the terrazzo floors. I remember Dave Harman, and how cute he was and how I wished he’d ask me to dance….I remember there were rumors that Tracy Chase and Cabot Lord kissed on the porch! We were in 5th grade! Hysterical!
Section of Mural.
So anyway, there is this wonderful mural at the back of the women’s club and all my life really, I have wondered about it and finally I have learned. My mother shared a 2009 “Reflections” magazine, a publication for members of the Historical Society of Central Florida. In this magazine, there is an article about artist, Joy Postle. Joy Postle is the artist who created the mural at the back of the Stuart Women’s Club, and in many other famous places across our state and our nation. She is so cool I want to share her story.
Artist, Joy Postle performing “Glamour Birds” and portrait, Photos from “Reflections Magazine” of the Historical Society of Central Florida, 2009.
She must have been an iconoclast of her era. Way ahead of her time. She was not only an artist but dancer as well. Today I believe we would call her a “performance artist. According to the article written by Denise Hall:
“Postle combined her artistic abilities, her musical talents, and her love for Florida bird life in performances she called “Glamour Birds of the Americas.” She would describe the birds she loved and paint them in the presence of an audience, with her husband, Bob, accompanying her with music and recordings of bird calls he had recorded himself…She would even mimic the fascinating mating dances the egrets and herons would perform for each other. Even in old age, Joy could still mime these dances…”
Mrs Postle performed for adults and well as for school children and well into “advanced age.” Apparently the children absolutely loved her!
“By reinterpreting nature with her own artistic flair. Postle turned a spotlight on the natural Florida that was carelessly threatened and destroyed during her life time.”
Although I never saw Joy Postle perform, she was an inspiration to me. She helped me appreciate Stuart for what it really is, part of the Everglades…
If you get a chance while driving along East Ocean Boulevard, stick your head inside the Women’s Club, or take a closer look at the mural if you are a regular there. You just may see the ghost of Joy Postle dancing and be inspired!
Mrs Stanley Kitching sponsored Joy Postle’s mural. Pioneers in Stuart’s business community the Kitching family encouraged the connection of the St Lucie Canal, today known as C-44, to the South Fork of the St Lucie River. They did not realize this would eventually lead to the destruction of their beautiful estuary. (Based on conversations with my mother, historian, Sandra Thurlow.)Janice Norman before the mural in 2013 for a Women’s of Distinction event speaking as president. (Photo JTL)
Martin Health Systems, formerly known as Martin Memorial Hospital, sits on the St Lucie River in Stuart, Florida. (Public photo.)Martin Memorial Hospital, ca. 1940s. Photo courtesy of Sandra Thurlow’s presentation at Stuart Heritage 2014.
Martin Health Systems has sat like a sentinel along the St Lucie River for 75 years….Doctors, nurses, administrators, employees, and patients have over the years watched the degradation of health of Martin County’s beautiful river along with its once remarkable fish and wildlife.
But today, the hospital’s voice is getting louder as they “speak up” for the river and its health. (http://www.martinhealth.org)
In 2014, Robert Lord, a long time attorney for the organization, was a featured speaker at the “Clean Water Rally” sharing his memories of growing up in Stuart and enjoying its waters. Rob made a public call to push for clean water to our state legislature on behalf of Martin Health Systems. A huge step in our river movement!
Rob Lord speaks at the Clean Water Rally, Phipps Park, St Lucie Lock and Dam, 2014, Photo JTL.
This year, since mid-March, the Martin Systems Auxiliary will pass out a total of 450 “River Kidz Second Edition Workbooks,” featuring Marty the Manatee to children that come into the hospital for emergencies or alongside family. Yes, that’s 450 workbooks, and they plan on passing out more! (http://www.martinhealth.org/mhs-auxiliary)
Mr Bill Michaud, president, has been a champion for children and for our river. I thank him and all members of the Auxiliary. At this time, I would like to include a portion of a letter written to me:
“Jacqui,
…Martin Health employs 3,600 local folks and the Auxiliary peaks in Season around 900 serving three hospitals, Emergency Center, and 59 other assorted medical related offices. I feel that our influence would be strongest with middle age children in educating them to the realities of current and future conditions thusly our placement of River Kidz in the areas where they would have greatest access…We share River Kidz’ goals and stand willing to help in any way that we can. With your group’s permission we would like to mention our participation in the River Kidz program in our April edition of Martin Health Systems Auxiliary Highlight’s magazine… “—–Mr Bill Michaud, President MHS Aux, 3-6-15.
MS Auxiliary chair, Barbara Bush with Bill Michaud, president, displaying River Kidz workbooks. (Photo Martin Health Systems Auxiliary, 2015.)CEO MHS Mark Robitaille, 2015.
Most recently, in an article by Darcy Flierl in “Luminaries,” about the “Dirty River Keeper Jam” this Saturday at Terra Fermata, Mark Robitaille, president and chief executive officer, stated: “We are concerned about the destruction of our estuaries and its diverse marine ecosystems. As a health care system, we are also deeply worried about the impact to the health of our community.”
Wow! Thank you Mr Robitaille!
Martin Health Systems and Jensen Beach Plumbing come together May 30th from noon to 11PM to host Martin County’s first “Dirty River Jam” to benefit Mr Marty Baum, our Indiana Riverkeeper. For information call 772-486-9109. Hope to see you there!
We all know It’s time for our state legislature, our federal government, and our all of local politicians, to be brave and put laws in place to stop the feeding of toxic algae blooms (Cyanobacteria) in Lake Okeechobee and thus our local waterways, as well as overcoming the difficulties of cleaning, storing, and sending water south to the Everglades, through the sugar-lands, to alleviate the burden of destruction of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. Martin Health Systems will help make this happen; they carry a lot of weight.
Dirty River Jam!
______________________________________________
I must note my sister, Jenny Flaugh, has worked for MHS for over 16 years and her husband Mike is involved with the event! Thank you all who are involved.
It is an amazing thing to fly through time and space, and this is exactly what I did yesterday with my brother, Todd. He took me on a “flight” over a 1958/Today St Lucie River, North Fork, and Ten Mile Creek. All the while, the images flashing in and out of past and present….Please watch this short video yourself by clicking the link or image above.
At one point along our armchair journey, I said to myself, “Wow, I don’t feel so great,” –just like sometimes when I am with Ed, my husband, in the airplane. I actually got motion sickness having plastered my face right up to the screen to see every moving detail!
A few deep breathing exercises put the feeling off, but next time I’ll take my Dramamine!
Google Earth image at the northern reaches of what was Ten Mile Creek in St Lucie County. Algae in agriculture canals is very visible.
This flight, as the others you may have experienced on my blog with Todd, is amazing. It allows one to really see what the lands were originally like and how they have been developed as residential homes and endless agriculture fields.
Towards the end of the video, you can even see algae growing in the agriculture canals, off of Ten Mile Creek, St Lucie County–“bright green,” for all to see on Google Earth. I have witnessed these green canals too from an airplane.
Due to drainage canals— leading to drainage canals—leading to drainage canals, this water from the ag fields, and from all of our yards, ends up in the now sickly St Lucie River. This problem is exacerbated by ACOE/SFWMD releases from Lake Okeechobee and the basin area of C-44 in Southern Martin County. These canals and the expanded engineered runoff from the lands is what is killing our river.
It is my hope that with visuals like the video above, future generations will find a way, and want to be a part of a new water and land management generation “seeing” how to improve St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. Our generation seems stuck in a quagmire….
Like they say: “seeing is believing,” and seeing provides insight for change.
*Thank you to my brother Todd, for this incredible journey using overlays of aerial photographs taken in 1958 by the United States Government, and marrying these aerials over images from today’s Google Earth. (http://thurlowpa.com)
Northern reaches of the North Fork of St Lucie River, Ten Mile Creek in St Lucie County, 1958. Wetlands showing multiple small ponds are visible. These lands were drained in the 1950s by canals C-24, and further south C-23 and further north by C-25. These canals were part of the USACOE and SFWMD’s effort for more flood control and to expand agriculture and development: These canals are part of the Central and South Florida Flood Control Project of the 1950s which allowed more non flooding development and agriculture, but also destroyed our valuable south Florida waterways.
Topographical 1823 U.S. Army map, courtesy of Todd Thurlow.Map in transition/overlay showing today’s I-95 and Turnpike in yellow. (Todd Thurlow)
Link to short video journey showing the former swamp “Alpatiokee” juxtaposed to today’s agriculture and development– Post St Lucie and western Martin County,
The first map in the video is a 1823 U.S. Army Map showing “Al-pa-ti-o-kee Swamp,” as it was known. The second is a 1846 map by Bruff. We then fly in to view Green Ridge, and the ridge just east of Indiantown. Next, we then overlay the 1983 Topo maps to view Green Ridge again, fly up, and around, Ten-mile Creek, and then back down the North Fork of the St. Lucie River. —-Todd Thurlow
Not only was the city of Port St Lucie a swamp, but western Martin County was too. Please view the above video and “see” for yourself! It must have been a fabulous place, now long gone, know as “Alpatiokee,” or “Halpatiokee Swamp.”
Meaning “alligator waters” by the Seminoles, these lands/waterways were traversed for centuries in hand-made canoes. The native people and the Seminoles traveled many miles through the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, and during rainy season they could travel all the way up into the St Johns River. How? Because these lands, when flooded, were “connected.” Now they are not only no longer connected but water that flowed north into the St John’s flows south into the St Lucie River….
Back to Port St Lucie…..
Recently, I kept noticing that the 1856 “Everglades” Military Map I like so much showed an expansive swamp close to where Port St Lucie and western Martin County are located today.
“This is weird,” I thought. “What happened to the old swamp?”
So, I contacted my brother, Todd, who loves maps and can combine them together with technology. (See link/video above.)
Below you’ll find an edited version of Todd’s notes to me.
I find all of this absolutely fascinating, and sometimes a bit unsettling….The natural ridges in the land we seem to ignore; how we blew canals through them; how the water USED to flow; how humans have developed and built agricultural empires, and changed everything….Maybe one day with visual tools like these, future land planners, and water district employees can change back some of our landscape to it’s former glory, and maybe even return a few gators to the landscape, since it’s named after them.
That would be nice, something more to look at while driving the Turnpike than “concrete.” 🙂
Halpatiokee or Alpatiokee translates as “alligator water” in the Seminole language. (Public photo.)
———————-
TODD’S NOTES REGARDING VIDEO:
THE OLD MAPS: The old maps are not necessarily accurate, but they give an idea… They show basically what was known as the “Hal-pa-ti-o-kee Swamp.” On some other maps it is labeled the “Al-pa-ti-o-kee Swamp.” On almost all old maps, it would cover the area that is labeled Allapattah Flats on the modern topographical maps — but Hal-pa-ti-o-kee was probably more to the east.
———————-
Google Earth image 2015, Todd Thurlow.
TOPOGRAPHY AND RIDGES: There are two distinct ridges in western Martin County. Green Ridge is about 4.6 miles west of the turnpike, (12.5 miles west of the ocean), and can be seen on aerials. The western edge of Allapattah flats is a ridge where the elevation goes quickly from about 30 fee to 40 feet. This ridge (an obvious ancient ocean shoreline) can be seen running all the way to Cape Canaveral parallel to the coast. This ridge is about 12.5 miles west of the turnpike (20 miles from the ocean). Indiantown sits on the high side of the ridge. This Hal-pa-ti-o-kee Swamp on those old maps would be the we area east of the Indiantown ridge – so it is basically all of western Martin and St. Lucie County.
FORMER WATER FLOW: Probably everything east of the Green Ridge flowed east into the St. Lucie. Everything between the two ridges flowed north to the St. Johns watershed and everything West of the Indiantown ridge (not much) flowed west into Lake Okeechobee via the little creeks on the east bank of the
….Somewhere between the St. Johns and the St. Lucie so everything between the two ridges, but north of that point, went north to the St. Johns River. Everything south would have gotten picked up by Ten-mile creek in the extreme North Fork of the St. Lucie River, which actually flowed north-east before turning back south to the St. Lucie.
CONCLUSION: There are academics that would know this stuff for sure and all the proper names. These ridges are like little continental divides, separating water flows into separate directions like the Rocky Mountains. When they busted all these canals through the ridges they changed the direction of all the water flows from mostly north/south to east/west. But that was the goal — get it to sea level as quickly as possible and drain the swamps…
Become a toxic algae detective!Dirty Water Kills. River Kidz art archives.DEP Algal bloom report to agencies and elected officials. (5-18-15, DEP 2015)
WRITTEN FOR THE RIVER KIDZ, but FOR ADULTS TOO!
I do love government, or I wouldn’t be involved in it, nonetheless, it has many faults. One of its greatest, in my opinion, is making information easy and accessible to the public. Whether this is a strategy, or just a failure of most government-systems, is up for debate.
Anyway, today, in the world of “government information on toxic algae,” I wanted to cut through the plethora of information found layers-down-inside-websites you probably don’t even know about and share are few links in case you have any interest in becoming a toxic algae detective. I believe through documenting toxic algae blooms, we will eventually be able to trace them back to their owners….those who dump high levels of nutrients into our waterways while fertilizing their fields and lawns, either not using “high-standard best management practices” or simply just not really caring about water quality like they should….
River Kidz toxic algae deceives track down algae blooms and report them. (River Kidz art)
HOW TO BECOME A TOXIC ALGAE DETECTIVE
Tell your parents what you want to do….. 🙂 Then—-
1. Be on the lookout flourescnent green in the water. But it could be also brown, red, or blue yucky or strange looking water, usually in found during summer when its hot.
2. If you see something suspicious, take a photograph on your phone and post it to the River Kidz or Rivers Coalition Facebook pages or my Facebook page; these pages are public.
3. Don’t touch it! It could be toxic!
4. Because you are dealing with “old people,” its best to call, not text…. 🙂 It’s worth it!
For local documentation call Dr. Vincent Ecomio at Florida Oeanographic: 772-225-0505 or email him at vencomio@floridaocean.org. Be sure to tell whoever answers the phone how important it is that they take a message, documenting your name, detailed location of bloom, your phone, and email address. Ask for someone to call you back and tell you what the level of toxicity was, if it was, after a sample is taken and tested by the state. Ask if they can help you to interpret the data. Write down your findings. Keep a record. (http://www.floridaocean.org)
5. For state documentation, call the Department of Environmental Protection too. Trying to find the right number to call is like trying to find a needle in a haystack so let’s use one in nearby Ft Pierce: 772-467-5500.
6. Wait for a call back if you leave a message…again, tell your parents what you are doing.
7. If no one calls you back in two hours, call again and repeat the process. Once they talk to you, ask how you can find out how the testing went for the bloom to find out how toxic it was…
8. Go back and check on the bloom; report and post your findings. Did it move? Change color? What do you think could have caused this? Go on line and read about what can happen to algae blooms over time.
Maybe you want to start your own neighborhood website? Or share your clues and findings with at school or a community meeting? Whatever you do—-
NOW YOU ARE NOW A TOXIC ALGAE DETECTIVE! Pat yourself on the back. You are helping to create a better water future for our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!
The links below are very helpful.
The first one is from the Florida Department of Health and is informational. The second allows you to trace the history of blooms reported anywhere in the state. Just enter “St Lucie River…” The third is a DEP informational piece that in my opinion “waters down” toxic algae blooms and their sources, but does provide excellent information and contact numbers.
Congratulations, thanks again for helping to save our river, for us, the fish, the birds, and the animals; hope to see you detectives on the water!
Artist Julia Kelly’s beautiful artwork in the River Kidz workbooks features the animals of the SLR/IRL staring Marty the Manatee, 2014/15.River Kidz art archives.
Toxic algae bloom at the gates of S-308 Port Mayaca, Lake Okeechobee, 4-28-15.(JTL)
The word is out. There have been sightings of bright green, toxic-looking algae in Palm City, just two weeks after the Army Corp of Engineers, with the blessing of state agencies, began releasing toxic waters from Lake Okeechobee. Such has been the fate for many years for our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, but now we’re “on it.”
As we continue to document this issue, we can draw the line on abuses from Lake Okeechobee, and promote change within the law.
What is the procedure for our government to “dump toxic algae” anyway?
Well, at this point according to my research, the process goes something like this:
–the South Florida Water Management District test water quality at various locations in Lake Okeechobee; if they see a substantial algae bloom, they contact the Department of Environmental Protection, DEP, a state agency, who then test for toxins; if the bloom is toxic, the DEP then contacts the Florida Department of Health who together with DEP is responsible for communicating with others such as the Florida Wildlife Commission, local governments, the public and the Army Corp of Engineers. Then if the bloom is not too much of a health hazard…the blessing is given to the ACOE to dump.
How quaint…what teamwork, don’t you think?
I think our state and federal agencies have dumped many times with out us really understanding what was happening and we thought the algae was coming just from our own watershed….certainly the problems of our own, over-enlarged watershed exacerbate the situation, but there is no question the microcystis species of algae comes from the lake and that the lake has poisoned our estuary over the years so the bacteria/algae is latent in the fresher areas of our river now, at all times….
Anyway, as we have seen this round of releases, the ACOE and the state agencies decided on May 1st to release the toxic algae into the St Lucie River even after a call regarding the toxic algae from Senator Joe Negron, and inquiries from Congressman Patrick Murphy’s office. After great study, and determining the bloom was toxic, but not “too toxic,” the various state agencies determined the salinity in the St Lucie River would “break up the bloom,” a freshwater bloom known as microcystis that can only grow in the lake. So then the ACOE opened the gates.
For two weeks the fresh waters of Lake Okeechobee have flowed through S-308 and S-80 into the C-44 canal into the St Lucie River….
S-80 at St Lucie Locks and Dam, photo by Dr Scott Kunhs, 2013.
And as our estuary becomes fresh, losing salinity due to these freshwater releases, the microcystis species of algae can now grow and reproduce in the river. In 2013, the river was so fresh that even at the Crossroads of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, off of south Sewall’s Point, toxic microcystis blooms blossomed from shore to 40 feet off the peninsula– a peninsula that basically sits inside the mouth of the St Lucie Inlet!
We must remember as mad as we are, not to kill the messenger….
Our state and federal agencies are the “messenger,” as well as the “executioner,” in this scenario. The guiltily who created this poison water of Lake Okeechobee, and how they are protected is a story for another blog, and one we all actually know quite well.
Kenny Hinkle’s photo of toxic algae near S-308 in lake Okeechobee 4-24-15.Algae photo shared on Facebook, Rivers Coalition, Diana Pegrum, Palm City 5-18-15.Photo Ch 12 reporter Jana Eschbach shared on Facebook 5-18-15.
Since the SFWMD killed the 46,800 acre EAA US Sugar option, where do we go from here? (Map Everglades Foundation, River of Grass 2008.)Foot stepping on a roach, stock photo, internet.
I likened it to watching someone step on a roach. It was terrible. With the a motion from Kevin Powers, the South Florida Water Management District just squashed it.
Last Thursday, on May 14th 2015, the SFWMD, with absolutely no mercy at all, killed the option land contract to purchase 46,800 acres from US Sugar Corporation. This option land purchase has been the greatest hope for local environmentalists, the River Warriors, the Everglades Foundation, and many others to lay ground for a future that would not discharge so much fresh, polluted, water from Lake Okeechobee into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
The hope was that a reservoir could be built on this land to then store, clean and convey water south to the Everglades.
Well, it’s dead. No use bemoaning the situation. Let’s brush ourselves off and keep going. Even though the SFWMD killed this option, there are still others.
The best thing to do now is to “read up” and get smart about at what is “on the books” because a reservoir in the EAA is on the books as part of the Central Everglades Restoration Plan known as CERP. It may not be as good as the 46,800 acre option, but it would be something… And we must enlist Senator Joe Negron as he is our only Indian guide. ((http://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s32)) To include a land purchase for this reservoir, whether it be in the Everglades Agricultural Area or not, through bonding of Amendment 1 monies is our war plan.
Negron’s idea is to crank up talking to scientists and experts on the best property currently available to build a reservoir. We need about 50 to 60,000 acres, as set out in the 2000 CERP…
The dysfunctional 2015 Florida State Legislature is not a great horse to bet on, but we have no other choice. Let’s saddle up and move on.
Darice, Ed’s neice is graduating from University of Miami!Graduation day!
Jimmy Buffett was the speaker at Darcie’s graduation from UM.
My conservative attorney father loves listening to singer/songwriter, Jimmy Buffett, and a “Margaritaville state of mind” was certainly part of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon lifestyle throughout much of my youth.
As he climbed to fame and fortune, Jimmy Buffett always had time to stand up for Florida’s environment. Just this spring, he headlined a rally petitioning the Florida Legislature to buy U.S. Sugar land for Everglades’ restoration; years ago he helped found the Save the Manatee Club with U.S. Senator and former Governor, Bob Graham. Buffett is a Florida “conservationist hero.” Thus it was a welcomed surprise to learn that Mr Buffett would be receiving an honorary doctorate degree of music, and be the commencement speaker for Ed’s niece, Darcie’s, University of Miami graduation last Friday.
Ed with his sister Lupi surround her three children Stanley, Ben, and Darcie. Ben’s wife Kelly and their baby daughter, Capri, also pictured.
It was a day of celebration but the signs were everywhere: “Miami needs more clean water!” “Send the water south!”
The city of Miami was under great construction and cranes filled the horizon. Around the corner, in Coral Gables, there were other signs.
As Darcie and I made our way to the auditorium, we walked past the large pond I had enjoyed so much during Ed and my last visit: “Wow, what happened to the water here?” I asked…
“I know,” she said, “It used to be so clear. Since they built the new Ratskeller and student center, it is all cloudy and brown….runoff maybe?” She inquired.
“What happened to all the fish?” I asked.
Darcie shook her head.
Symbolic of things to come? Jimmy Buffett the speaker…Hmmmm….
Darcie’s generation, more than ever, knows the pressures of a growing world population, the need for more clean water, and the importance of saving and restoring the environment the best we can…
Darcie’s generation also knows that just through south Florida canals, the state of Florida is dumping 1.7 billion gallons of fresh water into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico every day because US Sugar and other multi-trillion dollar agri-businesses block that flow.
The area south of Lake Okeechobee, known as the EEA or Everglades Agricultural Area, blocks the natural flow of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades thus this water goes to tide destroying the northern estuaries of St Lucie and Caloosahatchee, a waste!
We and earlier generations have to admit that when it comes to Florida and water, we have messed things up. Perhaps we were driven by “hunger and money,” but today, we all recognize the value of clean water and a healthy environment for the survival of our children. It is time that water again makes its way from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades…
Why don’t we try to help these young people with this issue rather than leaving them with the full burden? It’s time to buy the land.
I will be taking a week’s break to focus on family, but I wanted to leave you with my audio tape of Jimmy Buffett’s commencement speech below; it does not focus on the poor state of Florida’s environment, but rather on life lessons to help: 1. Moderation; 🙂 2. Make your avocation your vocation; 3. Travel this world; and 4. be Santa Clause when you can! Good advice for all us, young or old. Let’s make Jimmy Buffett proud and keep working to save our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!
JIMMY BUFFETT’S UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI COMMENCEMENT SPEECH, 2015.
Jimmy Buffett’s biography in the UM program, 2015.
University of Miami program cover, commencement 2015.
The Great Southern Butterfly, Flicker photo by Christina Reiman, 2013.My attempt to capture an image of a Great Southern Butterfly in Sewall’s Point Park stopping to eat along the way….
You may have noticed them recently, hundreds, if not thousands, of white traveling butterflies moving south along our St Lucie River/ Indian River Lagoon?
I’ve noticed them, and was so amazed that I actually got out of my car and tried to video tape them. Standing at the Sewall’s Point Town Hall as they darted past, I thought to myself: “Who are these butterflies? I wonder where they are going? What a sense of purpose!”
Flying low, cars zooming past, drafts pushing their slight weight up over vehicles, and sometimes getting hit, they fall like white petals onto the street. Resembling a slow moving army of the American Civil War, they are unfazed by their opposition and keep moving in a formation invisible to the human eye.
So brave. So together—they know where they are going.
Known as the “Great Southern Butterfly,” this pretty, “aquamarined-antennaed” insect breeds in the remaining salt marshes of the Indian River Lagoon, laying eggs commonly on saltwort and reproducing after rains.
During the 1930s and beyond, tremendous percentages of the Indian River Lagoon’s salt marshes were flooded for mosquito control purposes; thus certainly our present army of butterflies is much fewer today than in the past.
These hardy little butterflies can travel more than 40 miles in two days! Can you imagine? I admire their stamina, natural intelligence, and determination. They are a metaphor for our goals and for our lives as we try to save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
In honor of their efforts, and the lessons they are teaching, I have determined to temporarily drop my speed while driving, I hope you will too. 🙂
Cyanobacteria in the St Lucie River, 2013. Photo Jenny Flaugh.
I prefer not to focus on negative topics in my blog, however, it is important we learn about cyanobacteria or “toxic algae” while it is a hot topic as it has it is being released into our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon by the Army Corp of Engineers, as I compose this blog post.
I am going to provide “bullet points,” as I think this will be most effective. I have provided reading material at the end of the post should you be interested in pursuing the topic.
Toxic algae bloom S-308, 2015, Lake Okeechobee. (Photo JTL)
Here we go; as no expert, I will do my best:
CYANOBACTERIA
-Cyanobacteria has characteristics of both bacteria and algae; it is not a “true algae”
-It is referred to as “blue-green algae”
– It is ancient, the oldest form of life on our planet, perhaps 3.5 billion years old
– It is believed to have created the oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere thus defining life on Earth
-It can live in both fresh and salt water environments and in-between
-It exists worldwide in inland and coastal waters (salt and fresh)
-There are “different” cynobacteria in different water environments; they adapt
– 46 species show toxic effects (World Health Organization, 1999)
-The most common FRESHWATER species is microcystis (species found in Lake O)
-The other “most common” species is neuotoxin
-Some species contain both microcysis and neuotoxins
-The World Health Organization recommends governments recognize the “presumption” that all cyanobacteria can be toxic
-Cyanobacteria is buoyant but some can also adjust where they live in the water column to attain the right amount of sunlight
-Buoyancy leads to floating on the water’s surface where winds drive them to shore and they accumulate in a “scum” that is even more “toxic” (concentrated) (Like Lake O)
-Cyanobacteria blooms are a threat to public health and wildlife
Cyanobacteria is encouraged by heavy “nutrients” like phosphorus and nitrogen to “bloom” (grow)
-The present warming trend of the Earth, compounded with human “waste” from agricultural fertilizer, septic and sewer, and “stromwater” from roadways (how we have designed all water to run off into our rivers and lakes) is “feeding” cyanobacteria blooms
-Cyanobacteria blooms are increasing worldwide
-Cyanobacteria can be “controlled” through lessening nutrient pollution from fertilizer and other nutrient producers
Sandsprit Park 2013, (Photo: Bob Voisenet.)
About four years ago, I was at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute attending a lecture on “nutrient pollution and our waterways.” At the event, I spoke to Dr Margaret Leinen who is now director of Scripps Research Institution of Oceanography in California. In the course of conversation, she told me she testified before Congress for the National Reasearch Council’s publication, “Clean Coastal Waters, Understanding and Reducing the Effects of Nutrient Pollution, 2000” of which I had just read, and had been discussed at the lecture.
I asked her, why the US Congressional committee wasn’t “stricter” in passing laws to reduce agribusiness fertilizer runoff, and other sources since the scientists “knew” why our waters including the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, and especially Lake Okeechobee were experiencing these toxic blooms.
She, being a lady, just looked at me and said something to the effect of, “Jacqui they don’t always listen….”
Her words have rung in my ears for four years.
No they don’t always listen. Most politicians wait until a crisis ensues as is happening now. We will have to make them listen…all of them: US politicians, state politicians, and local politicians. It is not fun, enforcing laws on polluters, especially if they are campaign donors, but now there is no choice; it is a health issue. We, the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, are a voice for all the world.
_______________________________________________
The sample of toxic algae taken by DEP and reported from Martin County on 4-24-15 from Lake O read as follows: “Toxin analysis showed 8.4 µg of microcystin-LR per liter in the sample.” ( I do not know how to read this or how to compare it but it was “toxic.” )
“Toxic Flag,” SLR/IRL 2015. Yellow represents hope; red represents blood; and blue represents truth.
Toxic algae at S-308 Lake Okeechobee west side of structure. 5-3-15. Photo by Toby Overdorf.Toxic algae at CS-308 on 5-3-15, east side of structure. Photo by Toby Overdorf.Toxic algae and dead fish also east side of structure. Photo Toby Overdorf, 5-3-15.
I have decided that we need a flag. The first flags were used to assist military co-ordination on battlefields, and flags have since evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signalling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging.
Thus, I have created the “Toxic Flag”of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
I would like to thank friend Toby Overdorf and his father for going to Port Mayaca yesterday around 4:30 PM and taking photos of the toxic algae bloom still there at the gates both east and west S-308, Port Mayaca, Lake Okeechobee. I have used one of Toby’s photos to create the flag. A dead fish floats in the toxic bloom that was sent into river this morning at 7AM.
I would also like to thank Even Miller and all those who attended the BUY THE LAND and toxic algae protest yesterday at St Lucie Locks and Dam. Also thank you to Katy Lewey for her rally this morning. It is necessary to make a statement against these toxic discharges.
The “flag” I have created in the first image of this blog post is based on the Gadsden flag, one of the original American flags that in sprite of its many associations stands for every American in that we as Americans are not afraid to fight tyranny. That toxic waters are dumped into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon is a form of tyranny. It is a practice that is now understood and must be changed.
Below are the webcams as kindly sent by the Army Corp of “Engineers and the Environmental Conditions Report” from the South Florida Water Management District that I could not find the other day. The links to the web cams allow one to see a photo every five minutes from S-80 and S-308. S-308 is at Lake Okeechobee and S-80 is located in the C-44 canal at St Lucie Locks and Dam. I do appreciate these links being sent and I must state that I understand that it is not the individual people of the ACOE and SFWMD that purposefully dump on our waters. It is the bureaucracy of these institutions that have morphed such over the years that they no longer respond to the people or to the voters. Time for a change.
Fly this flag with pride and remember: “Don’t Dump on Me.”
Gadsden Flag.
From the ACOE: As promised, following is the URL’s for Environmental Conditions Report of SFWMD (see right bottom under Operational Reports)
This image shows that an algae bloom was in Lake Okeechobee on April 14, 2015.
I must drive to Ft Pierce this morning so I do not have very much time to write– this post will be short and undeveloped, but you’ll get the idea.
Yesterday, I received information from a very reliable person, and it is making me wonder…
“The information” is the image above showing an algae bloom in Lake Okeechobee on 4-14-15. I don’t know why it says “unvalidated data,” but if you look at it closely it shows an algae bloom in Lake Okeechobee. I was told this image and an algae report can be found on the “Lake Okeechobee Operations” page of the South Florida Water Management District.
If this is true, and I believe it is, why didn’t the public or the local governments hear about this bloom before 4-24-15? Also, who is really in charge of this information? Yes, I was told it can be found on the South Florida Water Management’s web site, but then it is the Army Corp of Engineers, a federal agency, that is responsible for opening the S-308 structure at Lake Okeechobee to release water when “necessary” into the C-44/St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon….(The SFWMD is a state agency….ACOE is federal…..)
Are the state and federal agencies talking? Why isn’t the ACOE “in charge of the water” if they dump it? I don’t get it….
The bottom line is the information is “out there.” It was known to both the state and federal agencies that an algae bloom was in Lake Okeechobee before Kenny Hinkle and Mike Connor’s video spurred outrage along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and the ACOE was contacted by citizens and Senator Joe Negron and made the decision not to open S-308 this past Friday. This has come up in more places than one.
I am happy “they” didn’t open the gate, but I am confused why we didn’t hear about the very large algae bloom earlier.
I don’t get it. Am I naive? Am I becoming a crazy conspiracy theorist? Is this information purposefully not being shared, and if so who is not sharing it?
Is the government above our heads? If so we must change this. We must become in charge of this information for ourselves as it is public’s information paid for by our tax dollars.
I think we must push for a web cam at the gates of the lake that we, the public, can easily access and EASY access to the website that has live maps of algae blooms. As I have stated, I believe this information is here now, but how do we access it?
The information for blooms knows as HABs, or Harmful Algae Blooms, must be EASILY available to all citizens. I believe that the Florida Wildlife Commission, FWC, also had a very developed program and WEBSITE AREA on algae blooms because in the past as I even wrote about it in a previous blog. I seems like their committee kind of died off for some reason….
HABs are a problem all over the world, and they can be spotted with satellite imagery. They should be spotted for all of us. Unfortunately, this is the “now” and this is the future.
In the age of information, you’d think if would be “easier than this,” but is not. We must control our destiny, if we are to protect our lives and our property. The government is not doing this as it should be. They may not even really know this as they have been not doing it for so long….Very, very, sad.
You hear it all the time, and it most things considered, it makes sense: “Flood control…”
The Army Corp of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District “HAVE TO” dump from Lake Okeechobee because when its waters are “too high,” it endangers the people and the farms south of the lake.
But what about us? What the thousands of people who live, fish, and boat along our estuary? Are we protected?
Blue-green algae, cyanobacteria, produces two groups of toxins, neurotoxins and peptide hepatotoxins. Great. Is this what our government should be releasing into our waters? This is a fresh water bacteria and it comes from the lake not the brackish estuary. But after our estuary has been “dumped on” by all the area canals, with an overabundance of fresh water, or an overabundance of water from the lake, the microcytosis can live here!
Disgusting…
Let’s think about this.
The first responsibility for any government is the “health, safety and welfare” of its people. That is my responsibility as an elected official in the Town of Sewall’s Point.
So when circumstances are as they are today, or at least yesterday–and there was documentation of what clearly appears to be a blue-green algae bloom, most likely toxic, on the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee at S-308, am I supposed to remain quiet? I think not, and nor should you.
The ACOE is scheduled to start dumping today. I admit, that the ACOE, SFWMD, governor, and legislature are in a difficult position having to protect one group at the expense of another, but somebody better figure it out.
Map of where bloom was located yesterday. (Kenny Hinkle, 4-23-15.)Photo 4-23-15, Kenny Hinkle.Photo 4-23-15. Kenny Hinkle.
__________________________
The dumping of blue-green algae in Lake O waters is what led to the toxic “Lost Summer” of 2013, and the fish kills and toxic waters of 2005 in the SLR/IRL.
Mrs Jacobsen and her students present the Kissimmee River- Lake Okeechobee model. (Photo JTL, 4-22-15.)River Kidz is empowering for students!
It was Earth Day yesterday, and my eyes filled with tears as I walked into the Citrus Grove Elementary School classroom. I had been invited to see the graduation of River Kidz for Mrs Jacobson’s second grade class. Once I opened the door, the students were waiting and some took me by the hand sitting me down; they were so exited to show me what they had been learning, and how they were all working to grow up and save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
“This is different.” I thought to myself….”in years past, I would take control of the classroom, but now the kids are taking control of me!”
I watched the classroom dynamics. It was not” top down; ” it worked in both directions: Mrs Jacobsen assisting her students while they in turn assisted her— working together.
While the presentation was prepared, one boy excitedly told me about how the class had built this model of the Kissimmee River to represent what it looked like before it was channelized, “straightened,” by the Army Corp of Engineers between 1960-1971. He also explained “this is one of the things hurting our river…”
Model’s sign.Model wide view: floodplain, river, and Lake Okeechobee…Glass of water and green glitter representing phosphorus and nitrogen from fertilizer and other runoff.Glitter representing phosphorus and nitrogen ends up in Lake O but not as mush as it the tube were straight!
He shared that the board painted green was the floodplain’s vegetation, and the plastic tube that weaved and oxbowed, like a snake, was the original river; a cup of water filled with glitter represented nitrogen and phosphorus-what feeds toxic algae blooms in our rivers. This water-glitter concoction would be poured through the tube, (the river) and the extra “nutrient” or fertilizer, would end up in a plastic brown container at the bottom of the tube representing Lake Okeechobee.
We stared with great amazement and observed how because of the oxbows, most of the glitter, was caught in the winding shape, and just a little ended up running through the tube. Students discussed how if the tube were straight, of course all of the green glitter-water would “just shoot down into Lake Okeechobee.”
“This is why the ACOE is fixing some of the river “oxbowey” again…Making the river strait was a bad idea….” 🙂
More complex that this? Of course. But does this help a second grader start to “get it?”
What a visual! How awesome! I was more than impressed…
As the morning went on, we there was a presentation from the “Dolphin Lady,” Nic Mader, and the students showed their artwork, letters to Congressman Murphy, and chart on the white board counting down days left for the Florida Legislature to purchase land south of the lake.
Hoy Cow! —–No, Holy River!
The River Kidz program is in Martin County schools and with the help of great teachers and wonderful students, it’s creating excitement, understanding, empowerment, and responsibility for a better water future. A future for which we can all be proud…
Writing Congressman Murphy fulfills state standards.One of the letters to Congressman Murphy.Sign on board with land purchase south of the lake deadline for the state legislature, 2015.Stop Killing Our Lagoon art work.Save the Animals art work.River Kidz Second Ed. Workbook. Teachers use to teach as fits their class.
Mission Statement River KidzMrs Jacobson’s students all graduated receiving a certificate from the River Kidz program from the back of the book. They were very proud and will be River Kidz for their entire lives.
Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970.(Public image.)
“The wealth of the nation is its air, water, soil, forests, minerals, rivers, lakes, oceans, scenic beauty, wildlife habitats and biodiversity… that’s all there is. That’s the whole economy. That’s where all the economic activity and jobs come from. These biological systems are the sustaining wealth of the world.”
— Gaylord Nelson, politician 1970s
Earth Day was first celebrated in 1970 in the United States, and is now recognized throughout the many countries of the world. This day has special significance in our St Lucie River/Indian River region as recognizing the importance of our rivers to our local economy, quality of life, and for the future has become part of our culture. First observed from space in 1968, our earth was seen for what it is, “the watery planet.” All of us, hold this watery planet in our hands…
Today, classrooms all over Martin County will be recognizing Earth Day. I will be joining Mrs Donna Jacobson’s class at Citrus Grove Elementary for a River Kidz/Earth Day lesson, teaching kids about how our earth is intrinsically intertwined with the health of its waters.
Capt. Henry Sewall’s memorial window, All Saint’s Church, Jensen Beach, Florida. The anchor is an ancient symbol of hope.Looking towards the Indian River Lagoon.
All Saints Church is Martin County’s oldest church still in use; it was built in 1898, and still stands today upon a hill overlooking the Indian River Lagoon. Built by area pioneers, from local lumber, it has withstood the test of time through multiple devastating hurricanes…
Last Saturday, I was asked to speak before the ladies of the church about “River Kidz.” They wished to learn about the grass-roots organization founded in 2011 by children in the Town of Sewall’s Point. I found this fitting as my mother states in her book about Sewall’s Point, that the history of the peninsula cannot be separated from the history of the little church.
Captain Henry Sewall, who gave Sewall’s Point its name, was a member of the church and donated its bell that still rings out clearly across the river today. He along with his family is buried there. The window, in memory of his life, bears an anchor, and for me, after my visit to the little historic church, this window is a “window of hope.”
According to Joyce A. Fletcher Menard’s book on All Saints entitled, “Windows, Memorial, and More,” the anchor had great importance in ancient times for mariners (such as Capt. Sewall) as it was regarded as symbol of safety, but later on it became a symbol of hope.
Sometimes there is no safety, but there is always hope. I have hope for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. I have hope through the children, and I have hope through you. Without hope, we have nothing. Hold fast. Hold on, and hold tight. Don’t give up. We are the anchor for our river; we are its “window of hope.”
Front of All Saints Church, photo JTL, 2015.historic plaqueinside the sanctuarywindowwindowwindowwindowwindowwindowsWindow of hope. Window in memory of Capt Henry Sewall. The anchor is an ancient symbol of hope.hand created cushionanother cushionLooking up the hill an ancient sand dune…Sewall plot.Capt Sewall’s grave.Gigantic cactus growing next to the Sewall plot.Trunk of giant cactus tree.The sand and native shrubs towards at the west side of the property.Mural donated by the Hoke family.Railroad tracks behind the church.1898 photo of All Saints Church, Jensen Beach, (Photo courtesy of Sandra Henderson Thurlow.)
Historic postcard, ca.1900 “Cutting Sugarcane in Florida,” from the Thurlow Collection.
This week, due to the inspiration of small book my mother handed me, I have been exploring the history, and political change encompassing the sugar industry. Monday, I wrote about Cuba; Tuesday, I wrote about the Calusa Indians, pioneers, and workers; and yesterday, I wrote about the pond apple forest that used to border the southern rim of Lake Okeechobee.
Today, based on chapter 29 of Lawrence E. Will’s 1968 book, “Swamp to Sugar Bowl, Pioneer Days in Belle Glade,” I will briefly write about the evolution of labor practices in Florida’s sugar industry and how public pressure led to the mechanization of the industry. For me, the mechanization of the sugar Industry is a metaphor for change for our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
The point of this journey is to learn our history and to remind ourselves that even the “worst of circumstances” can be improved. I believe, that one day, we too, will see improvement of the government sponsored destruction of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon from Lake Okeechobee. Our relation to the sugar industry? For those who may not know.. .Their location blocks the flow of Lake Okeechobee’s waters flowing south to the Everglades.
The Everglades Agricultural Area is just south of Lake Okeechobee, it is composed mostly sugar farming and block the flow of waters flowing south from Lake O so they are directed to the northern estuaries. (EF)
Before I start, I must say that “everyone has a history,” and the history of the world is mostly “not a pretty one.” This goes for me as well. Parts of my family have been here before the American Revolution, and a few of my ancestors owned slaves. I have read the wills these relatives handing down their slaves from one generation to the next like these souls were pieces of furniture. It is retched. It is uncomfortable. It is immoral. But to forget, is not the answer. It is important to know our own history and the history of businesses in our state no matter how difficult. As is said, we must “Never Forget…” Slavery and the extermination of Florida’s native peoples “is the ground we sit on,” and our job today is to continue to make this world, and our living waters a “better place.”
Back of postcard.
So, let’s begin.
The history of sugarcane has “roots” all over the world, but in our area it is connected to the Caribbean. I recommend a book entitled: “History of the Caribbean,” by Frank Moya Pons.
The basis of this book is the extermination of the Arawak Indians due to colonization and the bloody wars on both sides of the Atlantic over control of the region’s lucrative sugar market . The Arawaks were native to the Caribbean. When they were unwilling slaves for the Europeans, and died as a race due to european-brought diseases, African slaves were brought in to replace them.
After centuries involving world political struggles for “sugar dominance,” and with the rise of the United States and the horrible world wars, sugar came to be seen as “national security issue,” not just a food source as it can be used for the making of explosives/weapons. As we know, over the centuries, through political strategy, the United States rose as a power in sugar production, as Cuban dominance declined.
The apex of this shift in our area was around 1960. For reference, my husband, Ed, came to this county when he was four, with his family from Argentina, in 1960, the Perons had been in power; and I was born in California, at Travis Air Force Base in 1964. It was the Vietnam Era.
The Everglades Agricultural Area south of Lake Okeechobee where the sugar industry resides expanded the most it ever has around this time. To quote Mr Lawrence E. Wills:
“when Fidel Castro took over Cuba, (1958) the Everglades reaped the benefit. For a short time our government permitted the unrestricted planting of sugar cane …and before that time, under the U.S government’s regulations, the state of Florida was permitted to produce only nine-tenths of one percent of the nation’s needs.”
The US government helped the sugar industry grow and for “a reason:” Power. Influence. National Security. Food Source. Weapons. This is heavy currency in world politics and it is achieved at any expense….here in south Florida, it was achieved at the expense of the uneducated and poor worker.
Chapter 29 of Mr Will’s book is entitled, “Harvest of Shame.”
Mr Wills writes about a television documentary that was released on Thanksgiving Day in 1960. Mr Wills says the piece is “sensationalized.” It was produced by the Columbia Broadcasting System, presented by Edgar R. Murrow and sponsored by Philip Morris Cigarette Company. Certainly the piece was “sensationalized,” but undoubtedly there was also truth regarding the difficult conditions for migrant workers.
What is important here, is that the explosive public reaction to the documentary pressured the sugar industry to move towards mechanization, which they achieved just over thirty years later around 1992.
As the industry moved towards this goal, other problems ensued, such as H-2 program changes. With claims that the local labor force “could not,” or “would not” do the back-breaking work of cutting the sugar cane with machete, the H-2 program allowed the sugar industry to hire foreign workers, mostly from the Caribbean, especially Jamaica, who as we already know had a history with this difficult work.
The rub for labor activists was that these workers could be deported if they did not “produce.” They could be shipped out and replaced. Some called this a form of modern slavery. An award-winning documentary, on this subject, H-2 Worker, was produced by Stephanie Black in 1990. She points out that although the sugar industry had basically achieved mechanization by this time, others had not. (http://www.docurama.com/docurama/h-2-worker/)
The sugar industry moved to mechanization because of public outcry. Of course it is more complicated than that and is driven by economics, nonetheless, it was a huge factor. With more outcry regarding our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, the same thing could happen. Change. More water flowing south. A flow way. A reservoir. Lands to clean, store and convey water south….fewer, or no more polluted/toxic releases into the St Lucie River/IRL…
To deviate just a bit before I close, we may ask ourselves, how could this happen? Slavery? Mistreatment of workers? Destruction of the environment?
Well, the answer is the same today as it was in 1500; it happens because government allows, supports, and encourages it. The U.S. Department of Labor, the United States Department of Agriculture and others. Some right under our nose.
Remember, today’s state and federal agencies are made up of people; people are hired by government entities; government entities are directed by politicians, and politicians are voted for by the people. It all starts with us.
Make sure your voice is heard, and vote accordingly.
History is in the making, and somewhere out there, there is a better water future for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!
Inside page of Stuart News, US President Obama meets with Raul Castro, Fidel Castro’s brother, 4/2015.)
4-13-15 Sailfish flats, all photos in this post by Ed Lippisch.
This post is a follow-up to the ACOE periodic scientist call on 4-14-15. Photos are from 4/11/15 and 4/13/15.
To summarize for the public, basically on 4-3-15, the ACOE’s pulse release schedule from Lake Okeechobee, that was up to 500 cfs (cubic feet per second) the previous week, had stopped and gone to 0 in order to facilitate bacteria testing by Martin County in St Lucie River waters.
On 4-10-15, as Lake Okeechobee’s height had gone down, the ACOE stopped releasing from Lake Okeechobee. Please see link for ACOe’s release schedule of past week:
4-11-15 Plume exiting St Lucie Inlet.4-11-13 Plume rounding south of SL Inlet4-11-15, along Jupiter Island’s near shore reefs to Peck’s Lake.
Monday——
4-13-15 Sailfish flats and seagrass beds area between Sewall’s Point and Sailfish Point. Sailfish Point in foreground and Atlantic coast on Hutchinson Island.4-13-15 Sailfish flats seagrass beds looking south-west, Sewall’s Point peninsula in eastern area of photograph. photo Ed Lippisch.
Good news that the releases have stopped for now. Nice to see some blue green water. Thank you! For comparison, here is a photo from 3-18-15 at the southern tip of Sewall’s Point looking towards the St Lucie Inlet, while the ACOE was releasing.
ONE MONTH AGO—-
Flying north at convergence of SLR/IRL at St Lucie Inlet. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, 3-18-15.)
_______________________________________
This blog is part of series: “Documenting the Destructive Discharges 2015;” on front page of blog you can search for other entries.
Calusa Indian mask image, public domain. Many wooden masks were found particularly at Marco Island in west Florida. They were and sketched before they disintegrated once removed from the muck.Tribes and locations of Florida’s natives peoples around 1500. (Online source)Swamp to Sugar Bowl, Lawrence E Wil, 1968.
Today, I continue my series based on the 1968 book “Swamp to Sugar Bowl,” by Lawrence E. Will.
To understand the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon region and its water issues, it is imperative we study not only our own area, but also the waters and the history that is connected to Lake Okeechobee. As you know, the area south of Lake Okeechobee is inexorably connected to our region, as the reason the waters of Lake Okeechobee do not flow south, and are directed through the northern estuaries is due to the agricultural development south of the lake.
The area south of the lake includes various “townships,” but today we will focus on Belle Glade, in Palm Beach County very close to Martin County. Today, Belle Glade is the home of the Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative, (http://www.scgc.org)
In ancient times, it was the home of the warrior tribes known as the Calusa Indians. According “Swamp to Sugar Bowl,” somewhere between 1000 and 1700 A.D. , the Calusas lived along the shores of Lake Okeechobee. A Paleo-Indian culture preceded them thousands of years earlier. The Calusa were “mound builders” using the shellfish they gathered and consumed to create mounds sometimes over 70 feet in height and over 100 feet long. They were a fishing society, living off the rich resources of the waterways. Agriculture was not necessary for their survival. (Ironic considering today!) In the Belle Glade area, the Calusa lived between the forks of a river that of course has been channelized, known by white settlers as “the Democrat.”
Location of Indian mounds are just south of Lake Okeechobee in today’s Belle Glade near historic “Chosen,” on mainland’s north shore side of Canal Street at the Torry Island Bride. (Map Swamp to Sugar Bowl, 1968.)
It is sadly ironic to me that we live on the burial grounds of Indians that lived so in tune with nature, and we manage to so completely destroy it. That goes for areas of Martin County as well. Much of Hutchinson Island and other locations across the state were bulging with shell middens, sometimes sacred graveyards, that later were used to pave roads. “Bad karma,” I’d say.
Guess what is left of this once magnificent Indian Mound in Belle Glade today? Not a thing. It is a sugar field in a “ghost town” known as “Chosen!” (http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/fl/chosen.html)
Map of Indian Mound area today, Google Maps, 2015.
The small community of “Chosen” (http://www.pbchistoryonline.org/page/chosen) preceded, “Belle Glade,” and was destroyed in the horrific Hurricane of 1928 that drowned somewhere between 2000 and 3000 people: (According to Mr Lawrence it was 3/4 black farm workers and 1/4 white pioneers.) These bodies were piled up and burned or buried in mass graves.
Remains of the Indian Mound at Chosen being excavated by the Smithsonian and University of Florida in the 1930s. (Palm Beach Historical Society.)
The whole story is quite disturbing really. Don’t you agree? My family recently went to St Augustine and the kids got me thinking about ghosts. Lake Okeechobee and the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon soils must be full of them. I bet they are watching how we handle this next part of of our water history.
Welcome to Belle Glade where “Her Soil is Her Fortune.”
“Reflection.” North Fork of the St Lucie River, 2007.
My mother tells me that when I was a baby she nursed me in Muir Woods, California. My father was in the United States Air Force, and the family was living in the area at the time. It was 1964. She has joked, my entire life, that this perhaps is the reason I have always been so adamant about protecting the environment and its creatures.
John Muir was part of America’s early conservation movement. He wrote a collection of stories for “Century Magazine” entitled “Studies in the Sierra.” In 1892 Muir joined the magazine’s editor in creating the Sierra Club, an organization with the mission to protect America’s resources and public parks.
There were others who are also famous in the “conservation movement” of that era such as President Theodore Roosevelt. He is most famous for the establishment of many National Parks; Pelican Island, along the Indian River Lagoon in Sebastian, established in 1903, was actually our nation’s first “national wildlife refuge.” (http://firstrefuge.org)
President Roosevelt said: “The conservation of natural resources is the fundamental problem. Unless we solve that problem, it will avail us little to solve all others.”
As the conservation movement moved forward it is said to have split into two modes of thought. The first was to conserve resources for the future and for their use by humans and the second was more to preserve nature for wilderness preservation.
In any case, the foundation of America’s “conservation” movement was established during this period from approximately 1850 thorough 1920. This movement was bubbling up in Florida as well.
In 1900 Louis F. Dommerich and his wife Clara hosted a gathering of neighbors in Maitland, Florida, just north of Orlando. On this fateful night the group decided to align themselves with other chapters the existing Audubon Society forming Florida Audubon.
In 1900, not only was Florida’s bird population being decimated, by the plume trade and the rage for feathers on ladies hats, the southern part of the state, almost entirely wetland, was being drained for agriculture and development.
Great egret in the IRL. Photo by John Whiticar, 2014.
This drainage focused around Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River cutting off waters to the Everglades which for thousands of years had formed one of the world’s most important and productive wet lands for birds, fish and hundreds of other species. We, living along the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, are part of this story.
–You reading this today as people who care about the conservation of our area are the grandchildren of that those 15 people who met in Maitland Florida in 1900…
1850s map of Florida
And for conservationists today, water issues are at the top of this list. Although Florida seems to be full of water, it is not. It is along side with California and other western states in its struggle to conserve and preserve water and its life.
South Florida’s southern Everglades, 1950 vs. 2003. (Map courtesy of SFWMD.)
1.7 billion gallons of water is wasted on average to tide each day through the canals draining Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River. With only 3% of the water on the planet being “fresh” and an exponentially growing population, this is wasteful beyond comprehension. Right now, just south of Orlando, the Central Florida Water Initiative, a conglomeration of three state water districts, is organizing because this area of the state has maximized its water use. They need more.
This is no knee jerk reaction and wise water use is completely linked to the success or failure of Florida’s future. Unless we can learn to conserve, preserve and perhaps most important, educate the children of the future there will not be enough clean water for people and for the wildlife that has a right to these resources as well.
River Kidz teaches about water issues in the state of Florida. (Julia Kelly artist, 2013)
SFWMD WRAC meeting with ACOE Lt. Col. Thomas Greco. Greco is a graduate of West Point and oversees the Jacksonville District under Col. Alan Dodd (Photo Marsha Musgrove, 2015.)River Kidz member Brandon Collins and ACOE Col. Alan Dodd. Dodd is a graduate of the US Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. (Rivers Coalition meeting in 2013, JTL)
“Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer,” Machiavelli, “The Prince”
Since the Army Corp of Engineers is military, I don’t think they will be insulted with my quoting Machiavelli. After all, the “combat” strategy of protecting the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, requires us to know what our enemies are doing, so we don’t get ambushed.
The Jacksonville ACOE is responsible for overseeing the safety of the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee which means that although many, including the South Florida Water Management District, have input, the ACOE is the entity that releases sometimes toxic polluted lake water into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and Calooshahatchee.
This is a disgusting and frustrating reality.
So how do we change this? I believe a good start is by building relationships while educating and sharing with the people of the Army Corp the awful plight of our rivers, our children, and our community.
And now, with all of your help and outcry, they “get it,” believe me.
Unfortunately, this strategy doesn’t gain much traction as the ACOE changes out their leaders EVERY 3 YEARS! But over time, it will.
You have probably heard that the present Jacksonville Colonel, Alan Dodd, and Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Greco are leaving by June of 2015?
This is my second changing of the guard. Three years ago, I said goodbye to Col. Pantano and Lt .Col. Kinard. Both very good men. Again, frustrating!
I recently asked ACOE Public Outreach Specialist, Mr John Campbell why this is the policy and expressed my frustration. His response is important to share:
“As you know, the Corps is an organization within the larger U.S. Army. Similar to large corporations, the Army has embraced a philosophy of developing leaders by rotating them through different assignments.
The only decent reference I could find is DA PAM 600-3, which is 400 pages outlining the Army’s strategy on developing officers. In a nutshell, officer development focuses on the balance of breadth and depth of experience. Two to three years in a particular assignment is typical for the Army because it allows for that breadth of experience. Depth is gained through higher education, formal training, and experience gained in positions.
As officers move from job to job, the Army’s intent is to provide an overall career path that not only prepares them for higher level responsibilities, but one that prepares officers–in any assignment and given their level of responsibility–to expertly perform their job.
From my personal experience, I know that leading people and organizations shares similar characteristics regardless of the situation. A leader must initially assess a situation, oftentimes with imperfect information, before researching, developing, and testing potential courses of action. Based on this analysis, the leader decides which course of action to pursue and how to monitor and evaluate results.
By rotating through different assignments, military officers get an opportunity to put the skills above in practice whether it’s leading an infantry brigade or formulatingpolicy on ecosystem restoration.” —John Campbell, ACOE
In the past, Col. Pantano went to Afghanistan. I am not sure where Col Dodd and Lt Col. Greco are going, but I wish them well, safety, thank them for their service, and charge them to also help educate the world of our plight.
So, in spite of the web of difficulties to navigate as we say “farewell,” let us prepare! Who will the new Col. and Lt. Col. be? Mr Campbell has shared the following:
The new colonel will be Col. Jason Kirk, commandeer at the Charleston, South Carolina District. The Lt. Col., who we will be closer to as this position resides in West Palm Beach, is scheduled to be Lt Col. Jennifer Reynolds of the Washington DC office. (No photo or bio yet.) Wow. A woman. Things can change! 🙂
A group of kids at Parker Elementary School in Stuart, want to learn about sharks and how to protect them. (Public photo, clip art)
In first grade, I attended Parker Elementary School in Stuart. In 1970 it was called “Parker Annex.” I remember those days well and can still recall many of the names of the kids in my class; my teacher’s name was Mrs Jerdeman. Tomorrow, I will be returning to the school, 45 years later, as a guest speaker on the subject of “River Kidz and the protection of sharks”—a subject chosen at the requests of students in Mrs Maya Gebus-Mockabee’s first grade class.
“My school photo, Parker Annex, Stuart, Florida 1970.My first grade class at my home for an Easter party on Edgewood Drive, Stuart, 1970. (Photo Sandra Thurlow)
Am I a shark expert? No. But I can give a good lesson as a former teacher and someone interested in the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon as well as our Atlantic near shore reef habitat that is connected to our rivers. I have been a guest in many schools, mostly elementary. It’s a riot. A blast. I taught middle and high school, but elementary kids seem smartest of all. So creative! So enthusiastic! So wanting to help! Visiting these young students gives me hope for our rivers and “puts gas in my tank.”
Interestingly, if one takes a look at the River Kidz workbooks, both first and second edition, one will see that it is the bull shark who recites the River Kidz mission statement: “Our mission is to speak out, get involved, and raise awareness because we believe kids should have a voice in the future of our rivers.”
Hey, did you know that the Indian River Lagoon is considered the second most important bull shark nursery in North America? Mother bull sharks come here (mostly central IRL) to have their live young and these juveniles may stay here for up to nine or ten years? Did you know that bull sharks swim way up into estuaries, can endure fresh water, and have even been reported to live in Lake Okeechobee?!
Cool! Yikes! Wow!
The River Kidz’ mission of course applies to ocean reefs as these waters and the creatures of the St Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon are all connected!
River Kidz’ mission statement. (Artwork by Julia Kelly, 2012.)
Sharks……so misunderstood.
We all know they are often needlessly exterminated for “fun,””sport” or wasteful “shark-fin soup.”
Kids with their creativity and sensitivity are able “see” that the fear and hatred directed towards sharks is sometimes extreme. And all kids know, hating just to hate, is not good.
Yes, we humans need to be careful and stay out of their way….but we need not hate sharks; it is better to respect them for the role they play in our oceans keeping disease at bay and populations in check.
3. Bull- 10 feet (The IRL is a bull shark nursery)
4. Hammer Head- 20 feet
5. Nurse- 14 feet
6. Bonnet 5 feet
7 Lemon-10 feet
8. Spinner-10 feet
9 Sand bar-10 feet
10. Great White- 21-26 feet (sometimes off our shores as they migrate through)
Legions of sharks migrate through our waters, and in winter especially, can be seen by plane sometimes by the hundreds. My husband Ed and I have seen this. And although I like and respect sharks, I have had visions of the plane crashing into the water and having a really bad day!
Yesterday, Terry Gibson, of the Pew Charitable Trust, and I spoke. What I got out of that conversation was that sharks are “really not protected;” this has to do with the politics and structure of federal and state agencies, and a “conflict of interest.” (Kind of like the Department of Agriculture oversees the Department of Environmental Protection for the state of Florida—now that’s something to be afraid of! )
Personally, I have seen boats right at our St Lucie Inlet, over the nearshore reefs, catching sharks and leaving them on deck longer than they could possibly survive– holding them up hooked to take pictures and then throwing them back hours later to sink to the bottom. I witnessed this from afar when I was a volunteer on Nancy Beaver’s Sunshine Wildlife boat from 2011-2012.
There is a long history of shark fishing in our area and acting like “sharks will last forever.” It is well documented that Port Salerno was an active and “productive” shark fishery in the Martin County’s early days—–until the resource was exhausted of course.
Shark fishermen, Port Salerno, Florida, Martin County, ca 1920s/1940s. (Photo courtesy of Sandra Henderson Thurlow, Thurlow archives.)
We must admit, that over recent generations, many of us have not been good stewards to our waters, or to sharks. Many of us we were not educated to be….I remember the movie JAWS in eighth grade. Do you? I never thought that sharks could become as they are today, a threatened species.
Hopefully the upcoming generations will be better than we were, than our parents and grandparents were. Considering these Parker students asked to study and protect sharks all on their own, a brighter future just may be coming.
S-80 (Structure 80) along the C-44 canal in Martin County sits still. The ACOE has temporarily stopped the flow from Lake Okeechobee for bacteria testing by MC. (Photo Ed Lippisch; plane piloted by Scott Kuhns, 4-1-15)
While I was at my brother and sister-in-law’s house yesterday, dropping off my niece, Mary, I heard a shriek from upstairs. Mary’s sisters had put vaseline on her door knob so that she couldn’t get inside her bedroom. I head them all yell out: APRIL FOOLS!
It brought back memories of a long forgotten youth. It was funny.
There was something else that happened yesterday, April 1st, 2015 along the Treasure Coast but it was no joke. The ACOE stopped the flow of nutrient and sediment filled Lake Okeechobee water to the St Lucie River/Southern Indian River Lagoon—-TEMPORARILY.
This is actually an amazing example of something good in world that seems dictatorial and insensitive most of the time. During the ACOE Periodic Scientists Calls over the past weeks the stakeholders of the NOAA, Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, SRWMD, FWCC, FDEP, FDACS, City of Sanibel, Ft Meyers Beach, Lee County, Martin County, St Lucie County, Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation, Florida Farm Bureau Federation, Audubon, other members of the public such as Mark Perry representing Florida Oceanographic, and a few I am sure I have forgotten (sorry) agreed, and weather allowed for the discharges to be halted so that Martin County can proceed with bacteria testing in hot spots of the St Lucie River.
I think this is amazing. And this gives me hope that one day there will be an agreement in other areas of our government bureaucracy to redirect and halt the damaging discharges indefinitely. Getting agreement and support on this as asked by Martin County from all agencies and stakeholders and then the final say from the ACOE was no small feat. Thank you everyone.
The rest of this blog post will show photos taken yesterday by my husband, Ed Lippisch while the plane was piloted by friend, Scott Kuhns. The photos show the S-80 structure that connects Lake Okeechobee to the St Lucie River at a standstill yesterday. A beautiful sight. Wouldn’t it be great if one day it will were a museum piece to remind us of a time when we were so were “so stupid.”
I am also sharing Martin County Health Department data on bacteria levels of enterococcus, (basically, bacteria found in human and or animal waste ). Any reading over 35 is “bad,” and shown in yellow or red. The data goes back to 2012 when Senator Negron helped increase funding for even more testing. At one point in 2013 the test site at C-23 canal was changed to the Sandbar.
Just so you know, there were releases in 2012, but I do not know the dates, it was later in the year as I remember the River Kidz holding a protest at the Locks; in 2013 the ACOE/SFWMD dumped from May 8th through Oct 21–this was our lost summer; in 2014 there was no dumping but you will see bacteria levels were still often high; and in 2015 the dumping starting early, January 16th and did not stop temporarily until yesterday, April 1st 2015.
The other data is from Florida Oceanographic done by their volunteer team.
Hope you had a fun April Fools and we all know that although I am in a better mood today than yesterday, the health of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, is no joke.
Long view of the C-44 canal and S-80. This canal connects Lake O to the SRL.. (Photo Ed Lippisch, 4-1-15.)Another shot.Water Quality report 3-16-15, FOS)MCHD 3-16-15.1.2.3.
FROM FLORIDA OCEANOGRAPHIC BASED ON ACOE PERIODIC SCIENTISTS CALL, both 3-26-15.
RE Martin County bacterial tracking Report:
3/26/2015 update: Samples collected on Monday, March 23, 2015 at the Roosevelt Bridge and Leighton Park Bridge (old Palm City) are still exceeding acceptable ranges for enterococcus bacteria. The advisory to avoid contact with the water at both locations is still in effect to ensure chronic conditions do not exist. Samples will be collected again on Monday, March 30, 2015.
RE Lake Okeechobee Releases:
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District will be continuing discharges at S-79 at the same level as last week. However, the target discharges are reduced at S-80. The target flows over a 7-day period will be an average of 2500 cfs at S-79 and 500 cfs at S-80 cfs. These discharges will be made in a pulse-like manner (see attached). These releases will start Friday, 27 March 2015 at 0700 hrs and end on Friday, 03 April 2015 at 0700 hrs.
RE: FOS Water Quality Report:
Upstream of the Roosevelt Bridge river conditions are much the same as last week; downstream there has been no significant improvement.
Thanks to all for your reports this week. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via waterdata@floridaocean.org .
The Crossroads of the SLR/IRL as seen during incoming tide with discharges from Lake O and area canals. (Photo by Ed Lippisch, 3-30-15, 5:PM.)
With all the fanfare of President Obama’s visit and the confrontation that seems likely at the April 2nd SFWMD, Water Resources Advisory Board meeting between “Stop the Land Grab” (http://goo.gl/2YVLXT) and the River Warriors, it is important to keep our “eye on the ball.” THE RIVER.
Since January 16th of 2015, the ACOE and SFWMD have been overseeing the releases from Lake Okeechobee into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. (The ACOE technically oversees this; however, collaboration includes the science of both agencies.)
January is very early to start releases, but the lake “is high” for this time of year. Due to releases and evaporation, it is slowly going down and now at 14.04 feet. The goal 13.5 (?) or so, but they won’t say that because one must “be sensitive to water supply” for agriculture and other users…(http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/currentLL.shtml)
Today, I will share photos by my husband, Ed Lippisch, that were taken yesterday around 5pm during the onset of an incoming tide. Ed was piloted by friend Scott Kuhns. Thank you Scott and Ed! 🙂
As mentioned in an earlier blog, the ACOE is PULSE RELEASING and lowering releases into the SLR through S-80 right now in an attempt to help Martin County evaluate bacteria testing that cannot be done during heavy discharges. It is interesting to note that pulse releases mimic nature so that the estuary is not continually pounded, and can recover a bit. Just like during a rain event, the water flow is intense, salinity drops, and then salinity increases when the water lets up. You can see the schedule below.
ACOE pulse release schedule May 26, 2015. S-80 is the structure from the C-44 to the SLR letting in water from S-308 at Lake O.
One of the most interesting photos is of Sailfish Point’s marina where the runoff into the SLR/IRL is very apparent. There is always runoff from land into the rivers, yet we must remember the rain takes everything on the land with it: fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides, loose sediment….Martin County’s strong fertilizer ordinance rules don’t begin until June 1st, so it is likely that this runoff is full of pollution that like releases from Lake Okeechobee or area canals is not good for seagrasses.
For me the aerials of the seagrasses are most depressing. The once healthy beds look horrible. One can see they have algae all over them . Maybe I’m hyperbolizing, but the seagrasses do not look good to me. Having grown up here and swam in these area waters as a kid when they were lush and full of life—-the present condition is not acceptable.
Anyway, let’s keep our eye on river and we move through all these politics, and here is a look from above at YOUR RIVER!
1. SLR/IRL Crossroads with Willoughby Creek area in foreground looking towards Jupiter Narrows and the SL Inlet.2 Confluence of SLR/IRL off west side of Sewall’s Point.The Crossroads of the SLR/IRL with discharges from Lake O and Area canals making it dark brown. (Photo by Ed Lippisch, 3-30-15, 5:PM.)4. Sewall’s Point looking towards Hutchinson Island, IRL.5. Unhealthy looking seagrass beds off of Sewall’s Point and Sailfish Point.6. Sad looking seagrass beds seem to have algae on them thus so dark and flat looking….7. The Sandbar.8. Sailfish Point and Simpson Island.9.Sailfish Flats.10. Martina at Sailfish Point with runoff from land due to rains.11. Another shot of Sailfish Point Marina.12. Long shot of Sailfish Point marina with runoff clearly seen and Ed’s thumb!13. SL Inlet with plume on left as incoming tide enters.14. Hole in the Wall with plume and incoming tide.15. SL Inlet.16. Sailfish Point and inlet; north side is clean incoming tide-water. Plume goes south….
Basins of SLR/IRL SFWMDACOE/SFWMD discharge most recent discharge chart. Most is from Lake O in this chart as seen in blue.ACOE S-308 structure showing water released into SLR/IRL from Lake O.
ACOE excerpt —Info that goes with the above pulse release schedule; it is from 3-26-14. Another will call will occur today and updates will be considered.
UNCLASSIFIED ACOE
Caveats: NONE
“Based on the current lake levels, tributary hydrologic conditions, and multi-seasonal forecast, 2008 Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (2008 LORS) Part D guidance is up to 3000 cfs at Franklin Lock and Dam (S-79) and up to 1170 cfs at St. Lucie Lock and Dam (S-80). We have considered stakeholders input and recommendation from the South Florida Water Management District.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District will be continuing discharges at S-79 at the same level as last week. However, the target discharges are reduced at S-80. The target flows over a 7-day period will be an average of 2500 cfs at S-79 and 500 cfs at S-80 cfs. These discharges will be made in a pulse-like manner (see attached).
These releases will start Friday, 27 March 2015 at 0700 hrs and end on Friday, 03 April 2015 at 0700 hrs.”
Congressman Patrick Murphy, along with Ft Pierce mayor, Linda Hudson, greet President Barack Obama. The congressman gave the president a bottle of polluted St Lucie River water briefly explaining the plight of the SLR/IRL. (Photo, Congressman Patrick Murphy’s Facebook page 3-28-15)
Two years ago, in 2013, when the toxic waters of the St Lucie River/Southern Indian River Lagoon, stagnated under the baking sun of summer, and every man, woman, child, and dog was told by the Martin County Health Department, “not to touch the water,” there was a dream…
A dream that even the president of the United States of America would know that the polluted discharges by the ACOE and SFWMD from Lake Okeechobee “tip our rivers over the edge” turning them into a toxic soup, killing “protected” seagrasses, nearshore reefs, wildlife, property values, tourism, and every child’s summer. (A “lost summer” that may happen again with the government agencies discharging since January 16th, 2015.)
Toxic algae, photo by Mary Radabaugh of St Lucie Marina.)Photo of Lake O plume and area canals having gone over estuary seagrasses and here near shore reefs–as seen in 2013, over Hutchinson Island/Jupiter Island. (Photo JTL)
In 2013, the situation was so dire, that multiple schools along the Treasure Coast organized writing letters, by the hundreds, to the president of the United States, Barack Obama, asking him to help to SAVE OUR RIVERS.
Ms D’Apolito’s class at the Montessori School was one of many schools that wrote the president for help to save the SLR/IRL in 2013. (Photos JTL from the book the class sent to the White House, 2013.)1.2.Letter and photo sent back from White House staff, 2013.Letter sent to students for their polluted river booklet, 2013.
Those letters and art work did get to the White House and were surely hedged-off by White House staff, who read the letters, but then neatly filed them away, sending a nice packet back to the students and teachers “thanking them for the drawings of their dying rivers.”
This is just reality and no fault of the president or staff—today we live in an evolved bureaucracy, a system that perpetuates itself, that holds one at bay, that protects power and influence, that stagnates—-just like the waters of Lake Okeechobee flowing into our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon….
But bureaucracies can be penetrated; walls can come down; dreams can come true..
For that to happen, you have to push very, very hard, and someone with some influence has to help you break through, someone has to cut you a break, someone has to stand up, someone has to stick their neck out….a champion….a champion, like Patrick Murphy.
“Good job Congressman Murphy!” (River Kid Keile Mader, 2013)Newly elected Patrick Murphy holds recycled River Kidz signs in 2012. The flag sign went to DC.
Kudos to Congressman Patrick Murphy, our Treasure Coast congressman soon to be running for US Senate, who must have had to make a decision “quickly and under pressure” as to what message he would bring President Barack Obama on the tarmac.
When the president arrived along the Treasure Coast for a weekend of golf at the famed “Floridian” this past Saturday, Congressman Murphy could have spoken about anything, but chose a message that had to do with everyone, a message that is neither “democrat” or “republican,” a message about the future….and today:
“the wish for clean water”….
Mayor Linda Hudson, Congressman Murphy and President Barack Obama, 2015.In America, clean water is taken for granted–we no longer have it here…
Will President Obama go back to Washington and everything with our rivers will suddenly change?
Of course not.
But the president will know the name of the river he likes to play golf on, and he will know it has problems. He will talk to other people about his trip over a beer, and he will say:
“You know, that young Congressman, Murphy, he greeted me with a bottle of toxic water. Can you believe it? It surprised me. He spoke up for those people. I looked the St Lucie River up on the internet on the flight home…unbelievable…”
These words, and others spoken over time, will make great headway for our dreams of a better water future. History has been made.
(President Obama walks down the stairs of Air force One with no idea he will receive a bottle of polluted St Lucie River water…. (Photo from Congressman Murphy’s Facebook page.)
Local boys under the Ernie Lyons Bridge, Indian River Lagoon. (Jeff Burkey, Theron Gibson, and Todd Thurlow, photo Sandy Thurlow, 1981.)
I love this old photo! Isn’t it great? Young adventurers right here along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon!
The young boys in the photograph include my little brother, Todd, (far right) and his two best friends just “livin’ it” on a homemade raft sometime in the early 80s. I remember my sister Jenny and I used to yell: “Where’s Todd?” And my mother would be peeling potatoes and just shrug her shoulders–“at the river?” We knew he was somewhere exploring and or fishing with his friends. What a beautiful time and place…
St Lucie Inlet an earlier photo, (Photo, Chris Perry, ca 1983.) Promotional photo, Water Pointe Realty Group archives.
I read a great book a few years back by Bahamian actor, Sidney Poitier, “The Measure of a Man.” Poitier is the handsome, black actor who broke ground and starred in the controversial 1964 film, “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?” In his autobiography, Poitier says he learned everything he needed to know about navigating the hot racial politics of Hollywood by being a kid growing up in Cat Island because his parents gave him full reign to make decisions in the elements of nature …
A certain degree of freedom during childhood allows for great character building, critical thinking skills, and self-esteem. These traits of course translate into adulthood…
For me, “this” is perhaps the primary reason why we must fight hard today for our rivers. We must give the children of today and the future a place where kids can go and “just be kids”…..and learn….It may never agin be like it was in 1880, or 1930, or 1970 but something happens when a kid gets to play—to imagine….we must support and encourage this freedom of development.
The Army Corp of Engineers this week has kindly decided to lower the releases into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon at the request of Martin County to fulfill bacteria testing that cannot be accomplished with the gushing waters of Lake Okeechobee pouring through C-44 into the St Lucie River. This is good news and thank you.
We had tremendous rain yesterday and last night, but maybe, just maybe the waters by the St Lucie Inlet and southern Indian River Lagoon will be bluer and cleaner this weekend and coming week. If so, please do what Mark Perry of Florida Oceanographic (http://www.floridaocean.org) charged us all to do at the Rivers Coalition (http://riverscoalition.org) meeting: “Get out there and enjoy the river!” Take your kids! Take your parents! Let you kids be Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn for a day! 🙂
I will include below some of the latest data from the ACOE and SFWMD but you know, one day, I dream of not having to study this stuff so much, and just enjoying “our good nature” while watching the kids run around and play by a clean, healthy river…
Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn (On-line image.)ACOE slides from Periodic Scientists Conference Call, 3-13-14 (Basins of SLR.)Slide shows discharges from Lake O into SRL/IRL in blue. Not much area canal runoff last week. The lake is now at 14.27, going down but sill “high'” for this time of year.Salinity went very low but since release have lightened up a bit, it is going up. The ACOE should be lowing levels again this coming week if they can based on rain or no rain. Thanks!The SFWMD is to be thanked and commended for the over 500,000 Acre Feet of water that has been send south through the Storm Water Treatment Areas in 2015. Dr Gary Goforth has helped a lot in promoting this. More water getting cleaned and going south is less water destroying the estuaries. The water is not cleaned when dumped into the SLR/IRL and too much fresh water is bad for an estuary…ACOE Release Guidance.ACOE Lake Okeechobee Release Schedule (LORS) would allow up to 1170 cfs dumped into SLR/IRL. Disgusting….this does not allow children to have healthy fun in our rivers.
