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. 🙂
Excerpt from “Reflections on Reflections on a Jungle River by Ernest Lyons, 1915-1990, as read for 2015’s “Historic Preservation Month” at Stuart Heritage. Mr Lyons was an award-winning editor and columnist for the Stuart News, and a state recognized environmental activist against over drainage and development of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. He was a gifted fisherman and he had a knack for seeing the wonder of the world…
“Drifting on the surface of a Florida jungle river, like the South Fork of the St Lucie or the Northwest Branch of the Loxahatchee, I experience the feeling that nothing is ordinary, nothing is commonplace.
The onyx surface of the water reflects in perfect color the images of the bushy-headed cabbage palms, the moss draped live-oaks and cypresses along the banks.
Cascading clumps of wild asters and fragile white spider-lily are mirrored on the smooth blank film. I drift in my rowboat on top of an image of scenery. This is, probably, a natural law which some logically minded egghead can recite to explain how a color image can be reflected on the face of a river, but please don’t quote it. I’d rather marvel…—- Ernest Lyons
My Lyons’ book, MY FLORIDA, from which this excerpt comes, can be purchased at the Stuart Feed Store, Stuart Heritage: (http://www.stuartheritagemuseum.com)
Ernest Lyon’s Bridge marker for the bridge between Sewall’s Point and Hutchinson Island, designated in 1965. Photo JTL.
Photo of happy, prancing, sow along IRL, by John Whiticar, 2015.John Whiticar, sow looking forward, IRL 2015.A beautiful photo of the sow enjoying the sunrise along the IRL. John Whiticar, 2015.
I have a soft spot for pigs, or any animal related to a “pig.” Pigs, you may remember, sat upright at the table in George Orwell’s classic novel ANIMAL FARM; they became like humans…
For me, pigs are part of my family history as my grandfather Henderson won a scholarship to the University of Florida for his famous 1926 pig “Charlotte.” This launched a very successful career for him as an agriculture man at the University of Florida. My grandfather’s brother, my uncle, became a wealthy “pig-farmer” in Madison, Florida. I loved visiting there as a kid! The most fun ever! When my family arrived, Uncle Gordy would run out into the fields almost before saying “hello,” and bring back piglets for my brother, sister and I. They were adorable coming in all different colors and patterns. Their small noses scrunching, we were allowed to hold them, and later return the piglets to an irritated, snorting mother. At the time, I didn’t think much about their fate of “becoming bacon….”
My grandfather, Russell Henderson Sr. at 17, in 1926, Madison, Florida. My grandfather became “famous” as a young man in the state of Florida for his breeding of the best pigs. He received a scholarship for his work and had a long career at UF in soil science and worked for the IFAS Extension Office in Gainesville.
As I got older, I realized that often pigs get a “bad wrap”as they are “dirty.” Again, just like humans….They are also very smart, just like humans too. I read somewhere that they are smarter than dogs. Maybe that’s why George Orwell chose them to take over Manor Farm.
Anyway, I have been wanting to write a post on pigs, or wild boars, (males) or sows, (females) since I recently saw marina owner and photographer John Whiticar’s photos of a wild sow he photographed along the Indian River Lagoon.
What great shots and thank you John for allowing me to share! I have seen sows with their piglets on Savanna Road in Jensen at night foraging. I have also seen wild pigs more recently at Billy’s Swamp Safari in Big Cypress. Here a baby pig got separated from its mother and fellow piglets and it followed the mother’s scent very far zig-zagging perhaps a quart mile to find her. And he did! We followed and all clapped when the family was reunited.
“Wild pigs” were brought to Florida by the Spanish in the 1500s, and today they wreak destruction on the environment, just like humans. We have so much in common! It’s amazing! Seriously though, for me, they are one of God’s creatures, and should be treated humanely as all animals. Popular since the early days of Florida, they appear on many of my mother and father’s historic postcards below.
It you see a sow or a boar, know that you are staring Florida history right in the face, and that some might say that we are even “related.” Also remember, like George Orwell’s satire states, unfortunately: ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS…. 🙂
Historic post card, courtesy of Thurlow Collection.Postcard back 1914.Another historic post card with a wild pig. (Thurlow Collection)Back of postcard reads 1912.Historic post card, wild boar, Thurlow Collection.
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.
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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.” )
Florida from Lake Okeechobee to part of Everglades National Park–Courtesy of ESA, Copernicus data 2014. (Photo brought to my attention by Mr Ted Guy.)ACOE press release 4-29-15 as shown from an image taken on my iPhone.
Images help us to “see.”
Images help us understand where we are going, were we are, and where we have been. Here along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, the present “image” is not an easy one, as everything is “toxic green.”
The Army Corp of Engineers’ recent press release informs that the agency will begin releasing water from Lake Okeechobee into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon on Monday, May 4th, 2015. This water is known to contain toxic algae. Some of this toxic algae has tested at high levels as shown by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s report as shared with Martin County government on 4-29-15:
Toxin potential * The dominant taxon was: Microcystis aeruginosa Class Cyanophyceae yes
*Toxin analysis showed 8.4 µg of microcystin-LR per liter in the sample.
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According to the press release fom the ACOE, they have consulted with scientists from the South Florida Water Management District, Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection, as well as the United States Geological Survey. The thinking is that the lake is too high and it may be a better idea to release the toxic algae into the brackish waters of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon where it may “break up,” rather than allowing it to fester and possibly grow even larger in the fresh, warm, stagnant waters of Lake Okeechobee.
Maybe the bloom will disperse. This is not the point. The point for me, as a small town elected official, is that the “higher” governments, now apparently both state and federal, have knowingly and publicly agreed to pour toxic algae into our community.
Yes, the ACOE and SFWMD and others may have done this in the past, but “nobody knew.”
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The remainder of this blog is a plea to the agencies:
Toxic algae—
Now we know. We saw it. A video was created by citizens and shared with hundreds, maybe thousands. Senator Negron was even alarmed so he called, and you agreed not to open the gates. Toxic algae is a health hazard. You tested it just to verify it was toxic. It tested positive. Now, one week later, you are going to “knowingly” and publicly release it?
I know what you are thinking—
I sympathize….possible flooding south of the lake; it can’t happen. Flood control; it’s your first priority— I get it.
You are in a bad position having to choose between “possible flooding” or “releasing toxic algae into a community. What can you do?
Communicate!
MAKE THOSE HIGHER UP THAN YOU HELP MAKE THE CHOICES.
Share your concerns with Governor Rick Scott, President Barack Obama, members of Congress and the Florida legislature. Get on the phone and call them. Reach out.
I will search for remedies too. The public will as well. What is ironic is that this forced cup of poison we all must drink is binding us together as never before. We are bound in time and place. We must fulfill our destiny and create an image for a better water future.
The present models, the present images, are not working.
1856 War Map of Florida’s Everglades, Courtesy of Sandra Henderson Thurlow.Satellite map of Florida, public image ca 1993.
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.
Radar weather screen shot from 4-29-15. My phone, NOAA site. JTL.
The past two days, I feel like I have been a guest on the TV series “Storm Chasers,” except I have been running from the storms.
Yesterday, I decided I really needed to go look at Lake Okeechobee myself to see the toxic algae bloom that has been reported through social media, TC Palm, and the internet. –The algae bloom that inspired Senator Negron to ask Col. Dodd of the ACOE to refrain from opening the gates, which they did not do. On Tuesday’s, at 2:00 PM, are the Army Corp of Engineers’ “Periodic Scientist Call for Lake Okeechobee” of which I have participated in for almost three years…
“Perfect,” I thought, “I’ll go to the lake for the call a bit early and take some photos. I will be out in Palm City around that time anyway; it’s really not that far…” The drive is about 20 miles.
Signs at Port Mayaca, Indiantown.JTL
In spite of the previous day’s inclement weather, I had not checked the weather closely as I can never figure out how to get radar maps on my phone. Not checking the weather, turned out to be a big mistake.
Satellite photo of Lake O, NOAA. If you look closely, you can see the C-44 canal connecting the St Lucie River in Stuart to the Lake O. This canal runs along Highway 76 in Martin County.Map SFWMD showing canals and basins. Note S-308 or “structure 308” at Lake O, and S-80 east along the C-44 canal. Both of these structures have to open to allow water to flow into the C-44 canal to the St Lucie River, Indian River Lagoon.
Around 1:00 PM, as I approached Port Mayaca going west along Highway 76, suddenly grey clouds in the distance converged overhead spilling out over the sky like black oil. Huge bright lightning bolts struck the ground in the direction of the lake, thunder followed almost immediately; rain dumped out of the sky. …”Oh no, not again…” I thought.
The winds screamed across the landscape. Large trucks coming towards me in the opposite direction splashed wakes hitting my car full force. Eventually, I pulled over at the entrance of DuPuis Wildlife Reserve;” the water was rising on the dirt road. Looking at my surroundings, I realized I was next to the Port Mayaca graveyard where thousands of people were buried in a mass grave after perishing in the 1928 hurricane. I turned on the radio, my windshield-wipers whipping back and forth. The unnerving sound of the Emergency Broadcast System blared and a calm computerized voice said: “Tornado warning for western Martin County.” Shaking, I forced my self to try to find radar on my phone. I found a written tornado warning for Indiantown. I was at ground zero.
All alone with the elements, I wondered what possessed me to do such a thing….I closed my eyes…I prayed…
Within thirty minutes the storm had passed. Thankfully it was not my day to die. I shook off my fear, got my self together, and completed my drive to the lake. This is what I found:
S-308 as, the structure that allows water from Lake Okeechobee to enter the C-44 canal, SLR/IRL. Lake O is in the background.Closer view of S-308 with the beginning of the C-44 canal before its gates. The lake is behind the dike structure.Algae bloom on west side of S-308 gate.West side of S-308 showing all gates. Algae bloom visible.Close up of western side of S-308.Edge of S-308 structure standing on dike, looking east over Lake Okeechobee.East side of S-308 facing the lake.Turning around from S-308 structure to see the rim canal. Dike on left of photo. Lake on left side of dike.
The lake seemed oddly calm after such rage. You could hear a pin drop. I looked around…
Storms tend to break up algae blooms, but under the right conditions of heat and over nitrified water (over-fertilized basically), they come back. In my opinion, this toxic algae issue really forces us all, from the public, to city government, to the office of the Governor, to the state legislature, to the President of the Untied States, and Congress, to ask ourselves the most critical of questions.
“Is it legal for a federal agency to knowingly release toxic water into a local community?”
To me this is situation is different than a toxic algae bloom simply forming in a localized body of water. What we are talking about here is toxic algae being purposefully transferred from one body of water to another, by the government no less…This seems wrong. Un-American.
Then of course there is the other issue, flooding south and around the lake. As I experienced yesterday, things happen very fast around this giant lake, this “big waters,” this Lake Okeechobee.
Take a look again at the first photo I show of S-308 from the bridge. This photo gives perspective of how fragile this dike and structure-gate system is. It is like trying to hold back an ocean with a cement wall. There has got to be a better way to keep our families, healthy and safe….
S-308 is the structure that allows water from Lake Okeechobee to enter the C-44 canal, SLR/IRL. That is Lake O. in the background and the mouth of the C-44 canal in the foreground. This is not much to stop “an ocean of water”…These gates are one set of gates that allow toxic water to endanger communities along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
Photo of Roosevelt Bridge, 1934, after a hailstorm. Photo by Francis Carlberg King. (Photo courtesy of Sandra Thurlow’s book, Stuart on the St Lucie.Limb of tree. One of many that came down in the storm. (Photo JTL)
I love the power of Mother Nature. I appreciate when she reminds me of “who is in control.”
Yesterday, around 6:20 PM as the sky filled with dark clouds, and the rain started to fall, I was driving east on Monterey Road. Every now and then I’d hear a loud “whack.” I kept wondering why rocks were hitting my windshield. “This is odd,” I thought, “A construction truck must have gone by….”
The rain pelted down, and the skies darkened. Then suddenly, those “rocks” started pouring out of the sky, pinging loudly off the hood of my car in every direction. Finally, it dawned on me: “Hail!”
Photo of hail by Caroline Lawless, 4-27-15, in front of Team Fit in Cedar Point Plaza, Stuart.Photo of Storm by Caroline Lawless, Cedar Point Plaza.
Unable to see, and overcome by sound, I pulled my car over into a parking lot sheltered by tall trees. Adrenaline pumping, I sat there, frozen in my car, like a hiding animal waiting for the storm to pass….
With the rhythmic sound of the windshield wipers and the raging storm, I thought about stories of the old timers….
In my mother’s book “Stuart on the St Lucie,” she writes about the great hail storm of 1934 along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
“Mother Nature initiated the new Roosevelt Bridge with an unusual occurrence that is still remembered by all who experience it. On February 10th, 1934 a hailstorm covered Stuart with ice, creating street scenes that looked like “someplace up North.”
So even though yesterday was intense, as far as hail is concerned, there was probably more in 1934. Mind you it was February….With my yard a mess, huge limbs down, no power, and wondering if my car is dented….I remain grateful for Mother Nature and her moods. Sometimes I feel that way too.
Photo of Roosevelt Bridge, Stuart, Florida, 1934 hailstorm–by Francis Carlberg King. (Photo courtesy of Sandra Thurlow’s book, Stuart on the St Lucie.Photo of hail by Becky Engebretsen taken at Stuart Convalescent Center, Stuart.4-27-15.Hail photo by Becky Engebretsen from Stuart Convalescent Center, Stuart. 4-27-15.
*Thank you to Becky Engebretsen for sharing her photos taken at the Stuart Convalescent Center in Stuart, 1500 Palm Beach Road, and Caroline Lawless, co-owner of TEAM FIT in Cedar Point Plaza, just west over the bridge from Sewall’s Point.
It is human nature to “miss something once it’s gone.” This is true whether it’s the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, or something else.
Such was the case for me this weekend and I tried to prepare for the “miss.” My husband’s red and white Cessna 340 is being sold. Knowing the plane would available no more, I arranged a date yesterday for videographer and River Warrior, Kenny Hinkle to fly in the plane. I had been wanting to do this for a long time, but as is so often the case, “never got a round tuit.”
Kenny and Mike Connor’s big win with their video of the toxic algae bloom at S-308 last Friday at Lake Okeechobee causing Senator Joe Negron to immediately call Army Corp of Engineers Col. Dodd, who then stopped the discharges was a big win! Thank you to all involved. Reeling from this positive occurrence, I thought I would like to help Kenny get some more footage for his “next big win.” The 340 is the perfect “vehicle” for that…
The plane provides a great “overview” flying 1500 feet or much higher, and can cover long distances quickly.
Thank you to my husband for providing this trip, this farewell…In fact thank you to my husband for all of this. If it were not for him, the river would not be documented as it is!
It was actually this plane, the Cessna 340, that took the first photo on June 28th of 2013, during the toxic Lost Summer, that inspired me to start taking photos of the river and discharges regularly. As you can see below, this photo was/is so alarming, showing the impact and damage caused to property values and the environment by the releases from area canals and by Lake Okeechobee. Lake Okeechobee always the nail in the coffin….
Cessna 340 June 28th 2013 photo showing plume from area canals and Lake Okeechobee exiting St Lucie Inlet.Hand drawn map of flight path over option land map. 2015, JTL.
So today, I am going to provide the farewell videos I took, and one other You Tube video I finally published so that if you ever want to, you can see for yourself what it looks like to fly from Stuart over the St Lucie River and C-44 canal, around the south rim of the “ocean of water” known as Lake Okeechobee, and then along the lake’s rim passing areas/cities of Pahokee, Bell Glade, and South Bay, then turning south along the New River Canal, flying through the sugarcane fields, (the Everglades Agricultural Area), until finally seeing the water conservation area/s, and Alligator Alley (even though I think I mistakenly say Tamiami Trial in the video….) and then flying back up the Miami canal to Clewiston before I stopped filming due to turbulence.
The videos are raw footage. Nothing fancy, the reality of a low plane ride. Many try to convince me to make them more professional. I like them as they are. Real. They show the view, the conversations, the thoughts, the heat, the noise, the turbulence….the miracle of being above ground!
The videos are split into 5 parts covering most of the trip and I included one other at the end that was taken in 2014 by Ed with a Go-Pro as it shows clearly the US Sugar option lands that are now being so hotly debated for Everglades restoration and purchase with Amendment 1 monies.
To use another cliché, “seeing is believing.” Yes, see, believe, and know, that we are changing our world.
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.
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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.)
1940 aerial photo from a US Dept of Agriculture flight over Martin County, Fl. 1940. Stuart, Sewall’s Point, Hutchinson Island and Jensen are easily recognized by air along the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. Many small ponds can be seen darkly colored. (Photo courtesy of UF Smather’s Library collation.)
1964 photo, (left to right) uncle and aunt, Dale and Mary Hudson, and my parents Sandy and Tom Thurlow. Me in lap. (Family album.)
From the time I was a baby until growing up, I remember lots of ponds here in the region of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. Hundreds of ponds intertwined with scrub lands…
Some of these boggy ponds were right outside my neighborhood in St Lucie Estates, just off of East Ocean Boulevard. It was the 1960s and 70s. Over time, especially in the 80s and 90s, when I had grown up and was off to University of Florida and beyond, these ponds simply dried up and “disappeared.” These lands became shopping centers, an expanded Witham Field, gas stations, schools, golf courses, and more neighborhoods. The same thing happened to the lands out west of town, but they became expanded agricultural lands. At a kid, I didn’t think too much about it. Today it blows my mind.
The aerial at the top of this blog post is from 1940. I was born in 1964. The small dark areas are ponds. When I asked my brother Todd, who is very knowledgeable on these old photos and land use, where all the ponds went, he noted that when our area canals were constructed by the water districts and Army Corp of Engineers, from about 1920 to the 1960s, the canals not only drained the lands, but over time, the water table dropped, (the water below the surface of the soil that you don’t see) drying out the many of little ponds, so that these lands could be developed.
Canals in Martin and St Lucie counties, C-23, C-24, C-25 were constructed in the 50s and 60s. C-44 is connected to Lake Okeechobee but also drains the agricultural lands around it. It was constructed in the 1920s.
So most of the 1940 wetlands you see in the aerials throughout this blog are now gone, and “we are here.” This happened all over Martin, St Lucie and almost all counties of south Florida. This on top of the shrinkage and drainage of giant Lake Okeechobee!
Yikes!
There is something is really odd about this. Millions of people living in former wetlands. Like sitting atop a dry sponge. No wonder all the wildlife is gone and the rivers are polluted. I’ve heard people talk about this change forever, and I have lived it myself, but seeing my brother’s video below, really bring the whole thing “home.” Watch and wonder where we should go from here…
Click here to see Martin County’s land use change over time, and watch the little ponds/wetlands “disappear. ” Time flight video by Todd Thurlow:
The flight starts in the area around Pratt & Whitney in northern Palm Beach County / southern Martin County where the land still looks like much of Martin County used to look. We then fly to the area around Bridge Road where the headwaters of the South Fork used to be nice and wet in the 1940s. Hundreds of interconnected ponds and bogs eventually coalesced into the tributaries of the South Fork. Today the ponds have been drained for farming and a few neighborhoods. The smallest tributaries are now drainage ditches. Next we fly over the area around the City of Stuart and Witham Field. You can see how the old ponds and bogs lined up between low ridges that run parallel to the ocean. Many of the bogs are now low-lying dry nature preserves in the neighborhoods and golf courses. –Todd Thurlow
1940 DOA image of border between Martin and St Lucie Counties, where Port St Lucie sits today.1940 aerial of east side of east side of Lake Okeechobee and lands of western Martin and St Lucie counties.Ponds and bogs that are still left in undeveloped areas of Martin County. (Photo JTL 2015.)
Rare historic 1913 postcard is titled: “Drainage canal and Everglades, Miami.” Courtesy of the Thurlow Collection.
My theme this week has been “that which is south of the lake.” The big lake that is, Okeechobee–big waters. The Everglades.
We must always keep in mind that we are all connected, and to fix our water problems with the St Lucie River /Indian River Lagoon we have to understand the rest of south Florida’s drainage system as well.
Last night my mother sent me the fabulous colorized historic 1913 post card above. It is titled “drainage canal and the Everglades, Miami. “So idyllic. So beautiful. Except for the giant gash in the land to the right of the card that foreshadows the future we are all now living: over-drainage.
Canal ca. 1920 pubic photo, “west of Ft Lauderdale.” Gunter Herman, 1885-1972. Florida Memory Project.
Drainage in Florida began as early as the mid 1800s and was the goal of Florida’s first government admitted to the United States on March 3, 1845. It remains the goal of our government today, as 1.7 billion gallons of fresh water a day goes to tide through south Florida canals. I must say the state may be starting to catch on. Water farmers, the “latest rage,” will tell you that we spent the last 100 years taking the water off the land, and we will spend the next 100 years putting it back on….
As we know, the ACOE is directed through Congress as to what it is to do. “The State,” meaning Florida, plays a huge role in this “ask.” Today, I have a Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council meeting. This council plays a role as far as “intergovernmental coordination and review,” of coordinating between local governments and the federal government. (http://tcrpc.org)
The last two images of this blog show the photos included from the TCRPC packet. I found it rather ironic and “civilized” sounding that the areas around the lake are named “Herbert Hoover Dike Common Consequence Zones.” I assume the consequence is that if the dike breaks, there is death and destruction of property and people. Maybe it would help if there were an outlet south of that lake to relieve some of the pressure on the dike? A flow way perhaps?
Anyway, I can’t help but wonder, looking at the 1856 Military Map of Florida, if it wouldn’t have been better to work with nature, with the lake, instead of so against it?
War map of the Everglades created during the Seminole Wars, 1856.
The first video below is of the reenforcing the Herbert Hoover Dike in 2009. In 2005, after Hurricanes Francis and Jeanne, it was decided to reinforce basically the entire southern area of the dike as it is listed as one of the most dangerous and unstable in the United States. Reenforcement? I get it; nonetheless, what a crazy place to build an empire….
Canal and basin map of our area -SLR/IRL. (Public)
Surface drainage water map of south Florida,HHD “Common Consequence Zones” and Projects Area, CCZ from Belle Glade to Lake Harbor, ACOE 2015.“HHD original destination of reaches” ACOE 2015.
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.)
Photo of pond apples in Big Cypress, a shared Flicker photo by Mac Stone, 2014.Pond apple is also known as custard apple–this is the custard apple forest as depicted by artist Julia Kelly in the River Kidz second edition workbook, 2015.
The mythical pond apple forest….Imagine, for a mile or two back from the water’s edge the trees grew, and like God’s magic sieve, their colossal roots strained the water of Lake Okeechobee before it inched its way south through the river of grass to the Everglades. Over thousands of years, the lake’s muck built up inside, around, and under, their gigantic roots, a forest grew, until one day the farmer came, the engineer came, the “white man” came, and took it all.
“We are chosen!” they said. “We are chosen to have dominion over the earth! Strip it! Cut it! Burn it! Tear it out! Expose the muck, the precious muck, and let us build an empire. Let us lift ourselves from poverty, feed ourselves, and become rich!”
Pond apple public photo.Pond apple blossom. Photo by Lisa Jefferson, Stuart, Florida, 2015.Pond apple blossom opening, photo Chuck McCartney.
And many of today’s generations have become rich from this soil.
The story of the explosion of agriculture, and the sugar industry below the great lake known as “big waters,” or “Okeechobee,” as the Seminole people called it, is a not a tale for the weak. It is the story of the nature of man, and his destruction of the environment of which he is part. It is the story of “success,” and the difficult journey of a culture to define what “success” really means.
Lawrence E. Will, in his book, “Swamp to Sugar Bowl,” writes in his cracker style in 1968:
“That part of the woods along the south shore and half way up the eastern side, was a dense forest of tropical custard apple trees. For a mile to two miles back from the water’s edge they grew, and on all the islands as well. About 33,000 acres of solid custard apple tress there were, and that’s a heap of woods.”
33,000 acres of custard apple trees destroyed. Gone. Forever.
Today, the Everglades Agricultural Area is 700,000 square miles south of the lake. It produces sugar and vegetables. The growth of the area is the reason why the overflow waters of Lake Okeechobee are directed thorough the northern estuaries killing local economies, rivers, and wildlife. Thus the story of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
Once during a conversation with Mr Tom MacVicar, a respected engineer who works with the agricultural and sugar industry, I was told that Lake Okeechobee used to be about “30% bigger.” At the time, I wondered what he was talking about, but over the years through reading and study I have come to understand.
Let me explain. In the late 1800s when the early farmers planted their crops they would do so in winter when Lake Okeechobee’s waters had “receded back” as it was the “dry season.” This would be after the back-breaking work in some areas of tearing out the pond apple trees in order to get to the rich muck, “black gold,” that lies underneath. Over the years the edge of the southern shore of the lake was pushed back and then the “smaller” lake was entirely diked. This is one reason why the lake can’t hold its historical water level. Through Florida and Congress, the history of the South Florida Water Management District and the Army Corp of Engineers is linked to this history of pushing back the lake and building the agricultural empire, although now their mission includes environmental restoration.
Hmmm?
I think it would be fitting to replant some pond apple trees each year until one day, perhaps, we can regain part of the soul of that lake that was ripped out at the roots.
Old military map from 1846 shows the fingers of water south of Lake Okeechobee that are no longer there today as the lake is diked. This would have been one area where the pond apple grew.
EAA below Lake Okeechobee. (Public map.)Today’s black gold south of Lake Okeechobee. (Photo JTL, 2014)Photo from Swamp to Sugarland, showing pond apple with moon vines around Lake O. Lawrence E Will, 1968.Close up of small pond apple on Torry Island, by Belle Glade , by Lawrence E Will, 1968.Florida Memory Project, pond apples in a creek of the Lake Okeechobee area photo by John Kunkel Small 1869-1938.
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.)
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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.”
School bus reads HAVANA OR BUST! My father’s Stuart High senior trip for Stuart High, went to Cuba in 1954. (Photo Tom Thurlow)My father’s 1954 senior class, Stuart High School, Martin County, Florida. My father is in back row, far right second from end.(Photo Tom Thurlow)The book “Swamp to Sugar Bowl” was written in 1968 by Lawrence E. Will. (Borrowed from the library of Sandra Henderson Thurlow, historian.)
It is good to learn about the history and issues of the Everglades, South Florida, and our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon so that one day, in spite of the difficulties we face today, we will be able to fix our problem in the future…
Perhaps the greatest reason the our former Everglades are now overflowing with sugarcane fields is due to politics between Cuba and the United States. My father graduated from Stuart High School in 1954, and believe it or not, his senior trip was to Havana! Soon after, Castro’s revolutionaries took over Cuba in 1959. And as they say the “rest is history…” as the growing sugar fields blocked the flow of water south to the Everglades, the fate of our precious St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon seemed forever doomed. But it is not, as nothing lasts forever.
This weekend my mother handed me a book entitled “Swamp to Sugar Bowl” by historian, author, businessman, and politician, Lawrence E. Will. I read the little book with great enjoyment. Although many things have changed since the book was written in 1968, it provides great insights.
This week I will be sharing some aspects of the books. Today I will quote a few excerpts from chapter 22, “Florida’s Sugar Bowl.”
“Brother if you’re addicted to using sugar you should come here to these Everglades. Sugar and molasses bring in 110 million to these glades each year, so let’s take a quick look at this sugar bowl. Back in 1922, at Moore Haven, the first feeble attempt was made at producing sugar, but the following year in Canal Point the first successful mill began to operate.
Map showing Canal Point. (Laurence E. Will)
This company was taken over by Southern Sugar Company, now the U.S. Sugar Corporation which ground its first cain in Clewiston in 1929. Although this company owned some 100,000 acres of the best land around the lake, under the US government’s regulation, the state of Florida was permitted to produce only nine-tenths of one percent of this nation’s needs.
However when Fidel Castro took over Cuba, the Everglades reaped the benefit. For a short time our government permitted the unrestricted planing of sugar cane. Oh brother, you should have seen how cow pastures and vegetable fields were plowed up and planted! Now we have 189,500 acres of sugar cane in the Glades.” –Lawrence E Will, 1968
US Sugar and Florida Crystals map ca. showing ownership of lands, and option to buy lands for state of Florida, 2008.Stats of Sugar average in Florida, 1991, Source Hazen and Sawyer, 1993)
I am not certain how much land U.S. Sugar Corporation owns today, but the Everglades option map from 2008 and IFAS statistics from 1993 show over 450,000 acres combining US Sugar and Florida Crystals.
Sugar has been grown in the glades since the 1920s but it exploded in the glades in the 1960s and became heavily supported by the US government due mostly to political reasons.
“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! 🙂
Ernie Lyons speaking. Timer Powers (right) and other community leaders in background, ca. 1950. (Photo courtesy of Sandra Henderson Thurlow, Thurlow Archives.)
Ernest Lyons, known to his friends as “Ernie,” is one of my heroes. You probably know of him, but maybe you don’t. He was a homegrown-boy become “newspaper man” right here in Martin County. He worked for what evolved into the “Stuart News” from 1931 until late into his life. Lyons won many Florida Press awards for his weekly columns that focused mostly on conservation, but also simply on the poetic natural beauty of our area. The bridge between Sewall’s Point and Hutchinson Island is named for him. He was an avid and talented fisherman.
Lyons Bridge marker. (JTL)
I think of Mr Lyons often when I walk the bridge and try to listen to his words floating in the winds and waves, and on the wings of the pelicans flying past. Today I would like to share a few words from his essay “Take Time, Enjoy the Real Florida,” from his book “My Florida.”
Ernest Lyons Bridge as seen from Sewall’s Point Park, 2014. (JTL)
“Millions come to Florida–and never see it. They are like motorized pellets in a glamorized pinball machine, hitting the flashing lights of widely publicized artificial attractions before bounding out of the state and back home…
But the Florida we love who have lived here most of our lives has no admission fee, except the desire to appreciate beauty, the awareness to see it and the time to enjoy it…
The real Florida is a land of beauty and serenity, a place to take time to enjoy dawns and sunsets beyond the river against silhouetted pines. It is a place to hear the wind in the needles of the pines and to remember the dancing wreaths of Spanish moss on live-oaks. Florida is for quiet contemplation on a sea beach, watching pelicans skimming the breakers in singe file like long vanished pterodactyls…
Florida is for amazement, wonder, and delight, and refreshment of the soul. It may take a little more time to hunt out and enjoy the real Florida, but you will be well repaid.”
I find that the “real Florida” is actually very close and hand, in my yard, in the sky, in the water. Yes, even in the destitute and tired river beauty still prevails. Just look when you drive over the bridge. Look and “see.”
Publications of books “My Florida” and “The Last Cracker Barrel,” compilations of Mr Lyons columns from the Stuart News, can be purchased at Stuart Heritage Museum, 161 SW Flagler Avenue, Stuart, FL.(http://www.stuartheritagemuseum.com)
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.
Florida was named for Spain’s Feast of Flowers…(Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch)
Florida was named “Pascua Florida” by explorer Ponce de Leon on Easter in 1513. Translation: means “Flowery Easter” or “Flowering Easter” (after Spain’s “Feast of the Flowers” Easter celebration)
Historic map of Florida…
With the approach of Easter, I am reminded of how lucky I am, and how in spite of the crushing blows of our physical existence and our difficult world, we are always able to heal, to “overcome.”
This applies to our lives as well as to our fight for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon…
In 2001, in a “previous life,” the day before Easter, I fell from the balcony of a home under construction and broke my neck. It happened in one second. And in that second, when what I thought was solid ground under my feet collapsed, and I was falling, watching the world turning, the shining St Lucie River and blue sky before me, I clearly remember saying to myself: “I can’t believe it; this is how I am going to die.” And then, “crash.” My thigh struck a metal stool, and my shoulder hit the ground. Silence. Excruciating pain. My dog, Dash, barking like crazy running around me while I lie flat unable to move…
iris
A neighbor, hearing the crash, called the police, the Life Flight helicopter came, my fiancée at the time looked on in horror, while Bennett Richardson of the Martin County Fire Rescue Team yelled: “Do not move!” “Do not try to get up!”
The team fastened me into a stretcher in a full body brace. I was numb, in shock, and afraid.
I recall the helicopter ride: on my back, wind blowing, looking up, hearing the sound of the blades whipping through the air….it was like a movie….I kept wondering if I would be paralyzed. Wondering how my life would change. But somehow during that helicopter ride to St Mary’s Hospital, I came to know that even if I couldn’t move my body, I wasn’t my body anyway. I was something much larger, something connected to everything greater than myself; I was spirit….such are we all…
The next day, on Easter morning 2001, I lie by myself and knew my life would never be the same. I spent that Easter Day mostly alone. For me, Easter has become a “homecoming” of sorts….a reminder…..of life’s spirit.
Happy Easter. Happy Passover. Happy whatever makes you inspired.
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 .
Toxic real estate is not real estate at its full market value. (Google map of Stuart, Rio, Sewall’s Point, and Hutchinson Island- areas of Martin County, words JTL.)
Real estate taxes are paid in arrears, so one learns about the property values of a calendar year, a year later. In the Town of Sewall’s Point, the 2014 (really 2013) tax value increased .14%. This seemed low compared to other similar areas of the state. During this time, I contacted Laurel Kelly, our Martin County property appraiser. She had her staff research the issue, and assured me that the answer to my question: “Did the toxic St Lucie River/Southern Indian River Lagoon of 2013 have anything to do with lower property values?” was a negative– or at least could not be verified.
Rather, data showed it had to do with other things like the number of homesteaded properties and a limited commercial district….I saw the picture and understood, but I was still unconvinced.
As someone who has worked in the real estate industry, as a commissioner of Sewall’s Point, as a home owner, as someone with more than three brain cells in my head, I know that, of course, a clean, beautiful, waterway is more desirable than a toxic one. Also I know that numbers “right away” don’t show the big picture….
South Sewall’s Point, January of 2015. Releases began Jan. 16th, 2015 from Lake O as lake of is”high.”
Yesterday, a report entitled: “The Effects of Water Quality on Housing Prices” was released by Florida Realtors, and the Everglades Foundation. The study focuses on Lee and Martin Counties with estuaries St Lucie (Martin) and Caloosahatchee (Lee) running through their boarders. These once life-filled, property-value-enhancing estuaries have reached a tipping point as the conduits for polluted water from Lake Okeechobee compounded with area growth, put them “over the edge.”
Some may say any report attached to the Everglades Foundation is biased. Here, I think not. In this case the report reflects a simple reality. People don’t pay full market value for real estate on rivers that “go toxic.” The greatest contributor to that toxicity is Lake Okeechobee’s fresh and dirty water released by the Army Corp of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District that destroys the salinity and visibility within these water ways.
An article today in the Palm Beach Post about the study states:
“The study found that “as water quality degrades, home values decrease and could potentially cost Florida’s real estate market nearly $1 billion in Lee and Martin County alone,” said 2015 Florida Realtors® president Andrew Barbar, in a statement released Tuesday. Barbar is a broker with Keller Williams Realty Services in Boca Raton.
The loss is attributable to polluted discharges from Lake Okeechobee, according to the release put out by the Foundation and Florida Realtors® – the largest professional trade organization in the state.” (http://www.floridarealtors.org)
I do believe water quality affects home values. Don’t you? I believe the releases by the ACOE and SFWMD, overseen and directed by our governor, state legislature, and Congress, destroy our property values. Don’t you?
The state and federal government don’t want to admit this openly as truly fixing the Lake Okeechobee issue is costly beyond human proportion and requires going against the seats of power and influence. I imagine they are probably thinking “tourism is doing just fine in the great state of Florida…”
Well guess what? Florida can’t be a “great state” and America can’t be a great county with an environmental disaster on its hands for almost 500,000 people every few years. And 500,000 people won’t tolerate repeditive losses on their greatest investment. The river has reached a tipping point and its coming for the people. This problem needs a BIG FIX. Best to address the problem before it gets worse.
Releases from Lake Okeechobee on top of area canals flows out of the St Lucie Inlet next to Sailfish Point, one of the areas most exclusive communities. (Photo Ed Lippisch, 2013.)The plume from releases from Lake Okeechobee on top of area canals flows south of the St Lucie Inlet in Martin County along Jupiter Island one of the most exclusive communities in the United States. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, 2013.)St Lucie River middle estuary, February 2015.March 18, 2015 photo of SLR/SIRL flying north over St Lucie Inlet and the east side of Sewall’s Point. (JTL)
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.
You work for the State of Florida? That’s great! “Smile and don’t say a word…”
The Department of Environmental Protection, the South Florida Water Management District, Departments of Health,—less so, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission….Afraid to speak?
Yes, and to a degree, it has probably always “been this way,” but right now, based on what I’m learning, I believe, it’s the worst it’s ever been.
My feeling now is that many wonderful employees who work for our Florida state agencies, —many historically the “best in the world,” have “gone mum” feeling that in order to survive, or to fit in, to keep their jobs, or positions, they have to remain “quiet and happy.”
The recent climate change debacle in the national and state media is just the tip of the iceberg.
Iceberg image, public photo.
All things start with leadership–with a tone that is set from “above–” This is true whether it be a family or a state agency. In Florida all state agencies are directly answering to the governor, Governor Rick Scott.
I met Rick Scott face to face in 2014. I have to say I liked him. I liked him for coming to Stuart to see our toxic, polluted St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. I liked him for sitting on the couch with me at Kevin Power’s house, of the SFWMD Governing Board. I liked that he used a Sharpie blue pen to take notes on a yellow legal pad, and I have taken to signing many documents with a Sharpie as well. (It makes your name stand out…) I do appreciate the great effort that has been made to connect with local leaders and the monies towards area canal runoff for the C-44 STA/Reservoir… but I would be remiss if I did not say that “something is wrong.” Something is terribly wrong when people say they feel stifled, when people feel hand-cuffed, when people feel threatened.
This is as un-American as communism or socialism.
American flag.
The red on our flag stands for the blood that was shed to extract tyranny. There must be a moral code to allow people to speak, to allow the agencies to advise. It is well-known that the golden area of conservation in the state of Florida occurred under both democrats and republicans in the 1970s and 80s when governors allowed talented, educated scientists and specialists to ADVISE and speak. Ofcouse there were “politics” but there was most definitely more freedom than today.
For example, two weeks ago, after 80 people signed up to speak on behalf of getting on the agenda the possibility to buy US option land south of Lake Okeechobee, the Governing Board of the South Florida Water Management District did not say one word. Not the scientists. Not the board. Not leadership.
Another state agency, the Department of Environmental Protection, you would think would be documenting the destruction of our St Lucie River by Lake Okeechobee, was so “gutted” in 2010, that basically their reef protection programs are now funded and run by a federal agency, NOAA. It’s hard for DEP to say a word I am learning because basically no one is around….and yeah, isn’t it the SFWMD that’s been given the job to document the dying seagrasses anyway? No report lately? I wonder why….
Supposedly, if were not for NOAA, the state of Florida probably would not have a Department of Environmental Protection. —-YES. The 2008 Financial Crisis ….I get it. I lived it as a small town commissioner in south Florida. It was scary, but we did not fall over the edge of the cliff, almost, but we didn’t. Money is slowly coming back into the system. But many agency scientists and leaders are still “scared” as under the Scott administration they watched their friends get fired and years of work and institutionalized knowledge get wiped off the map like toy soldiers swiped off a dining-room table. Could it happen again? Absolutely. A precedent was set….OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!
It is time for the governor’s office and those of traditional power and influence, who are running the show behind the curtain, the agriculture community and some water utilities, to look at our flag, and to remember that we are American, and that we are a state tied to the values of our forefathers, and that no government shall abridge the freedom of speech. That tyranny is repugnant….
Whether the chains are seen or unseen, they are chains…
“Smile, don’t enforce protections, and don’t say a word…”
It is also time for state employees to recall that in 1992 Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, (PEER), was formed. PEER is a non-profit service organization with the goal to protect local, state, and federal government employees “committed to upholding the public trust through responsible management of the nation’s environmental and natural resources.”
PEER objectives include:
-Organizing a support base of employees from public sector resource management agencies, retired public employees, and private citizens.
-Monitoring local, state, and national resource-management agencies in an effort to defend the environment for the public interest.
-Informing the federal and state administrations, politicians, media, and the public about crucial environmental issues.
-Defending public sector “whistle-blowers,” and striving to strengthen their legal rights in regards to environmental issues.
-Providing free legal assistance to “whistle-blowers” and others when necessary.
A joyous occasion for a young river supporter, (bottom right) –flag waving–as the River Warrior plane flys past in support of the SAVE OUR RIVER rally, Stuart Beach 2013, (Organized by Evan Miller and friends.) (Photo JTL )
Sign 2013.Evan and his young family, 2013, Facebook photo.Evan Miller surfing, Facebook photo.
We all know that Martin County has been fighting against the ACOE and SFWMD’s Lake Okeechobee discharges into the St Lucie River/Southern Indian River Lagoon since the 1930s. But if someone asked, “when did the modern river movement REALLY get going?” Without a doubt, the answer would be: August 3rd, 2013, at the “Save the St Lucie River and Wildlife Protest,” St Lucie Lock and Dam, organized via Facebook by at the time, 29-year-old Evan Miller.
In the year 2013, Evan along with friends, not only put together THE protest at the locks, but also other memorable events such as the “Sandbar Party” where hundreds of attendees wore toxic radiation suits in light of the toxic river waters of 2013, as well as the rally at the beach also bringing thousands where the people spelled out in human form SAVE OUR RIVER!
Organized on Facebook by Evan Miller, the Protest of 2013 against the discharges from Lake Okeechobee brought out over 5000 people. (Photo Sevin Bullwinkle, 2013.)Toxic River Sandbar Rally, 2013. (Facebook photo.)Beach Rally 2013. SAVE OUR RIVERAt the beach rally, thousands attended, and the public spelled our SAVE OUR RIVER, 2013. (Aerial photo, C4CW.)
I spoke with Evan about a month ago as he was organizing this Saturday’s event “Save Our Rivers, Restore the Everglades, March to Buy the Sugarland!” and in the course of the conversation he told me that “Facebook had changed, and that it has become more difficult to reach as many people as were reached in 2013.”
Sign 2013.
I found this really interesting, especially that Evan knew such, (the young people are so much wiser to social media), and it got me thinking that this “would make sense” as the Arab Spring overseas and all that was happening with social media on a world level from 2011-2013 did in fact become an issue for governments world-wide trying to “keep order…”
Perhaps “the government” did somehow get Facebook to change its logarithms so that crowds/protesters would have a more difficult time “organizing”…sometimes against their own governments….I do remember hearing something about all this on the news….then it went quiet…..
Anyway, Evan is a local “genius” at organizing events and helping to put pressure on elected officials and agencies thus inspiring support of clean water for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. Evan and good friend Clint Starling, also a great organizer, have represented Citizen’s for Clean Water on the Rivers Coalition since 2013. (http://riverscoalition.org)
We river “ancient ones,” are thankful to this younger generation that has turned up the volume and is using new tools for riding our ancient river protest wave to a better water future!
To really add to the event, reports are out that a VIP, maybe President Obama, will be flying over on Saturday on his way to play golf…..SO COME OUT this Saturday, March 28th, at 11:00, fly the flag—bring your parents! bring your kids!—-to Stuart Beach and participate in Evan’s newest rally, a march from Stuart to Jensen Beach: SAVE THE RIVER. RESTORE THE EVERGLADES. MARCH TO BUY THE SUGARLAND!
Let’s support Evan and our rivers once again by the thousands! Let’s demand clean water for today and for the future!
Reenactment of canon fire at the Castillo, St Augustine, 2015. (Photo Ed Lippisch)Flying north at convergence of SLR/IRL at St Lucie Inlet. Brown polluted-sediment water of Lake Okeechobee fills the estuary turning a usually blue/green area dark brown. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch, 3-18-15.)Standing at the St Augustine Bridge over the Matnazas River. (Photo Ed Lippisch 2015)
My photos of dark waters of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon were taken on Wednesday, 3-18-15 as my husband, Ed, flew us to St Augustine for a Thurlow Family trip my mother organized, in “America’s oldest city.”
Seeing the destructive view of the discharges on our way north was not a good visual, but before we’d left St Augustine, I had learned that their river, very much like the Indian River Lagoon, is named “The Matanzas” meaning “River of Slaughter” in memory of Spain’s Don Pedro Menendez ‘ and his men’s decapitation of the shipwrecked colony of French Huguenots in 1565. During the massacre, the river “ran with blood…” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matanzas_River)
Today our river runs with death as well, albeit a different kind…but we do not live in an age where if you are trying to displace someone, or don’t support their belief system, you chop their heads off….So what then can we do other than try to entice our dear government, to purchase land south of Lake Okeechobee to store, clean and convey water south the Everglades?
We can ask them to “document” what is happening….That sounds reasonable.
I have been reading the book: “Conservation in Florida, It’s History and Heros” by Gary L. White. Originally “the Department of Natural Resources,” the precursor to today’s Department of Environmental Protection, did what it could to protect resources rather just be in charge of permits to destroy such.
I think until the Department of Environmental Protection removes the word “protection” from its name, it still has an obligation to “protect” which also means to “document.”
Seagrasses—fish species—-coral reefs and fish species–oysters—-marine mammals—birds—-aquatic plants——–all that is being lost….
It’s pathetic that the agency is not doing this already. Documenting loss forces state and federal agencies to “do something.” Otherwise, the destruction just continues and everyone “forgets” life was ever there. We owe this to future generations if nothing else.
If you agree, would you please contact the “Department’s” new Secretary, who is a cabinet member of Governor Scott. Please ask him if the agency could document what is happening here is the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon or maybe “protect” it in some way since that word it is still in their name….
Jonathan P. Steverson DEP Secretary: 850-245-2011. Mr Tom Frick is in charge of Environmental Restoration for our part of the state; his number 850-245-7518. (http://www.dep.state.fl.us)
In the St Lucie/Indian River Lagoon area, several “protected areas” are now bing impacted, including two “state aquatic preserves:”
“1. The Indian River Lagoon National Estuary,” running from south of Ft Pierce to Jupiter Inlet that is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA,) as well as an Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA,) “Essential Fish Habitat for Seagrass.” 2. Another area being impacted by the Lake Okeechobee discharges is the “St Lucie Inlet State Preserve Reefs, and Nearshore Reefs” nominated by NOAA for “National Marine Sanctuary Designation.”
The SLR/SIRL estuary,coastal-ecosystem and habitat has been documented by Dr Grant Gilmore, formerly of Harbor Branch, and others to be “the most bio diverse estuary in North America with habitat for more than 4,000 species of plants and animals, including 36 endangered and threatened species.”
–Where is the protection for these areas? Where are the agencies that are charged with enforcing these protections?
2. IRL and SLR converge at Crossroads by St Lucie Inlet then IRL runs north between starting at Sailfish Point and Sewall’s Point. This area has been documented as the most bio diverse marine environment in North America.3. Sailfish Point4. Sailfish Flats5. Sailfish Flats6. Jensen Beach Bridge
My nieces look over the Matanzas River from the Lighthouse in St Augustine. (Photo Jenny Flaugh 2015) .
Dr Gary Goforth speaks before the SFWMD Governing Board 3-12-15. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch.)
Words and images are powerful tools in our quest to save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon. It is critical that we are part of “writing history,” and not “allowing it to be written for us.”
Even though things get discouraging sometimes and we may feel like we are “getting nowhere,” believe me, in time, we will see that our work has not been in vain. A better river history is being made right now. You are part of that history.
Today I will share the document of Dr Gary Goforth, (http://garygoforth.net) “Resolving System Constraints: An Action Plan,” that is really “making history.”
It was passed out March 12, 2015 at the South Florida Water Management District’s (SFWMD) Governing Board Meeting where eighty members of the public signed up to speak on behalf of supporting the purchase of US Sugar option lands in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) in order to create a reservoir to store, clean and convey significant amounts of water south to the Everglades, thus sparing the estuaries from the redirected waters of Lake Okeechobee that are killing our rivers on top of the already destructive discharges from area canals.
This document will be an important part of that day’s “official record”…
Please read and store this document in your reference folder. You can click on the images to enlarge them.
Thank you Dr Goforth, River Warriors, Mark Perry, Maggy Hurchalla, Indian Riverkeeper, Marty Baum, Martin County’s Deborah Drum, Commissioner Ed Fielding, Ray Judah, Rae Anne Wetzel, the Sierra Club, the Everglades Coalition, The Stuart News, the state press, and all others, especially the “varied general public”—who continually speak in support of the St Lucie, Indian, and Caloosahatchee rivers. Thank you to those who everyday are part of this ongoing cause.
Thank you to the SFWMD for hearing our voices and reading our words, even when you are silent….
Thank you toDr Goforth for writing our goals down scientifically for the District to read, reference, and remember, as all of us build a new history we know is coming…
Page 1.(SFWMD, 2012 option lands and EAA map adapted by Dr Goforth, 2015.)2. (Image, cover of constraints document prepared by Jeff Kivitt, SFWMD, 2015.)3.4.5.6.7.8.Dr Gary Goforth speaking before the SFWMD Governing Board, 3-12-15. (Photo Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch.)
Flight over the “Crossroads” at confluence of St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon south and east of Sewall’s Point. 700 acres of seagrass between Sewall’s Point and Sailfish Point has been documented as containing the highest fish bio-diversity in North America by Dr Grant Gilmore. The releases destroy this biodiversity and kill seagrasses. (Photo Ed Lippisch and Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch 3-15-15.)A dark southern tip of Sewall’s Point looking towards St Lucie Inlet, 3-15-15. (Photo JTL)
Flying over south Sewall’s Point, SLR west, IRL east, —looking north the discharges are seen in their full entirety. Water usually bluish in color is dark brown. (3-15-15)
Ed in front of me in Cub with Hutchinson Island in foreground. “Thank you Ed, for helping document the discharges.”
Yesterday, around noon, hours into an outgoing tide, once again, my husband Ed and I flew over the rivers to document the polluted discharges from Lake Okeechobee and the area canals pouring into the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
Today I am going to incorporate the “latest” information I have received:
1. The photos from 3-15-15 throughout this blog.
2. The ACOE press release is from 3-12-15:
ACOE Press Release, 3-12-15. Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE All, Corps has decided next pulse release will be the same as last week–2,500 cfs west and 950 cfs east averaged over seven days. More information is attached. Please contact me if you have questions. Thanks for your help. JHC John H Campbell Public Affairs Specialist Jacksonville District, US Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville, FL Office: 904-232-1004 Mobile: 904-614-9134 Join our online communities: http://about.me/usacejax/ Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE
3. Florida Oceanographic’s water quality chart, 3-12-15.
Water Quality chart 3-12-15. (Florida Oceanographic )
4. The SFWMD’s “water input” chart, 3-3/3-9-15.)
3-3-15 through 3-9-15.
As you can see above, last week with Lake Okeechobee around 14.7 feet, the Army Crop of Engineers, (ACOE) with the input of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and stakeholder from 16 counties: “decided next pulse release will be the same as last week–2,500 cfs west to the Calooshatchee and 950 cfs east to the St Lucie/SIRL averaged over seven days…(If this is confusing, a useful way to convert is to know that every 1,000 cfs is equivalent to 650 million gallons per day!)
Today the Lake Okeechobee is reading 14.56 feet. It is going down thankfully and the goal would be 13 feet if the ACOE and SFWMD were allowed to say it….
These releases could not come at a worse time, as we are already inundated by area canals and it is the beginning of spawning season, oyster spating season, and the warm weather drawing the public to area waters, like the Sandbar in the photos below. This year, the ACOE has been dumping since January 16th, very early in the year, foreshadowing another possible toxic summer.
In response to these releases, last Thursday, many of the “River Movement” including the River Warriors, continued their fight for clean water at the SFWMD as hundreds pleaded for US Sugar option lands to be purchase south of Lake Okeechobee in order to, over time, create a reservoir to store, clean and convey water “south” to the water starved Everglades.
The people realize the amounts of water coming into Lake Okeechobee from the Kissimmee River are so tremendous there is no other way to offset the destruction of the estuaries except with a third outlet south of the lake. Activists have been pushing for the this for decades but since the toxic summer of 2013, known as the “Lost Summer” a tipping point has been reached.
The goal is to save the St Lucie/S. Indian River Lagoon, the Caloosahatchee, and the Florida Everglades! Call to action video here: (https://vimeo.com/119495955)
The Crossroads off of Sewall’s Point looking towards the Jupiter Narrows and the SL Inlet. (Photo 3-15-15, JTL)Looking towards Stuart and S. Sewall’s Point, murky greenish water could be seen in the area of the Sandbar and some remaining sickly looking seagrass beds were visible. (Photo JTL.)IRL and SLR waters between S. Sewall’s Point, Sailfish Point looking at the “Sandbar.” (Photo 3-15-15, JTL.)St Lucie Inlet. Plume going over “protected” near shore reefs.” 3-15-15. (Photo JTL)Plume exiting St Lucie Inlet over near shore reefs just over a mile offshore. (Photo 3-15-15, JTL)Plume dispersing in ocean. (3-15-15, photo JTL)Plume at St Lucie Inlet near Sailfish Point (foreground) and Jupiter Island in distance, 3-15-15. (Photo JTL)
Opossum plays dead to ward off attackers. This is where the expression “to play opossum” comes from. As soon as attackers leave the area, the opossum will walk safely away. Most animals will not pursue carrion. This seemed to be the strategy of the SFWMD Governing Board at yesterday’s meeting in West Palm Beach. (Public photo.)2015 board of the SFWMD. The board did not respond to the public’s request for the purchase of US Sugar option lands south of Lake Okeechobee. (Photo JTL, 3-12-15.)Governing Board, SFWMD, 2015.
There are really just a couple of things you can do when you are “attacked” or “think you are being attacked.” You can fight back, or you can “play opossum–play dead.”
Sometimes, the game is over faster if you “play opossum,” and simply don’t respond.
This happens in my yard a lot with my dogs and opossums here in the Town of Sewall’s Point, and it in my opinion, it happened yesterday at the South Florida Water Management District’s Governing Board Meeting in West Palm Beach.
Opossum in a tree in my parents’ yard. (Photo Sandy Thurlow.)Opossum pretending it is dead in our ferns. (Photo JTL, 2011.)Opossum feigning death…(Public photo)
Although the front page of the SFWMD’s agenda read:
“The Governing Board may take official action at the is meeting on any item appearing on the agenda and on any item that is added to this agenda as a result of a change to the agenda approved by the presiding officer of the meeting pursuant to Section 120.525, Florida Statutes.”
—no action, not even a comment in response to the 80 public speakers was given at the end of “public comment.” The board remained quiet and simply “moved on…”.
Yes, approximately one hundred members of the public: housewives, grandmothers, activists, veterans, a River Kid, scientists, “River Warriors,” government employees, and politicians from many different counties, (but mostly from Martin and St Lucie Counties), made the long drive to come before the District, a board appointed by our governor…to speak, to exercise their right to speak, and to plead for the life of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon and Calooshatchee by asking the board to exercise the right to purchase US Sugar option lands south of Lake Okeechobee, or at least to “allow discussion of this item on the agenda.”
This was not achieved….
Thankfully though, Board Chairman, Dan O’Keefe, did allow the public to speak, however, they were told if they clapped, or were disruptive they would be “removed by a deputy….” The public, for the most part, followed the rules, and was “allowed to” raise their hands to show support for each other….Mr O’Keefe empathetically noting hands raised….
It was excruciating…
As a public official myself, who has led and sat through many meetings with an angry public, my eyes actually teared up at one point. Watching the American process in action as the foot of authority stood on their neck…
The underdog in this scenario is certainly “Team David,” of the Indian River Lagoon whose river, the St Lucie, flows with the gushing putrid water of altered area canals and the redirected waters of Lake Okeechobee….
Perhaps the board felt the people weren’t “thankful enough” for all that has been done recently…
It is hard to be thankful when you’re dying….C-44 Reservoir monies and Senator Joe Negron’s Senate Hearing on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee Basin, yes, these state “wins” have been bonanzas of cash in one small area, our county…
We are thankful…
….unfortunately, so much water comes into the SLR/IRL system, the public is educated and knows that more land for storage is needed for all that water or “death is immanent.”
Yesterday, the river movement of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon chose not to play opossum, giving it their best fight…the government on the other hand, simply rolled over….
Even baby opossums “play opossum,” it is genetically wired…(Public photo/real experience.)In front of the SFWMD 3-12-15. (Photo JTL.)SFWMD 3-12-15. (Photo JTL.)Skeleton mermaid of the SLR/IRL, Linda Curtiss. (Photo 3-12-15.)80 members of the public signed up to speak before the governing board. (Photo 3-12-15.)People held homemade signs before the SFWMD. (3-12-15, JTL)Hannah, a River Kid, from St Lucie County, read her “speech” to the Governing Board.” She did receive positive reinforcement for her efforts from board Chair, Dan O’keefe. (Photo JTL)Hannah’s speech.Sign: BUY THE LAND.Sign, WATER IS LIFE.
Aerial of C-44 canal looking towards its connection to the South Fork of the St Lucie River, in today’s Martin County. ca. 1920s. (Courtesy of Thurlow Archives.)
Over time, some of the most obvious things become forgotten…such was it for me with the original connection point of the C-44, or “St Lucie Canal,” and the South Fork of the St Lucie River.
I have actually written about this before, but I came across the survey maps that really proves the point so I will share today….
Florida’s early flood districts and soon after, the Army Corp of Engineers, ACOE, were tasks by the state of Florida and the people to build the St Lucie Canal which came to be known as the C-44 canal. Today, this canal, that connects lake Okeechobee to the St Lucie River is one of, if not the greatest overall contributor, to the death of the St Lucie River that at its “end” blends together with the southern Indian River Lagoon. (See DEP link at end of this blog.)
Another aerial, ca 1920s, looking at the connection of C-44 and South Fork. (Thurlow Archives.)Aerial looking west along St Lucie Canal/C-44 and south fork of St Lucie River at “connection.” Thurlow Archives
After coming across some of my old, filed information lately, I stumbled upon this question of location that I was particularly interested in about five years ago. With the help of Sandra Thurlow, my mother, a historian, and famed surveyor founder–GCY, Chappy Young, “X-marks the spot” was finally really identified.
Mr Young’s survey map below shows the location. The easiest way for me to “see” it, is to note the almost figure 8 shape in the South Fork at the bottom of this survey sheet which is the same one in the photo above. So the location is northeast of this area close to where Four Rivers subdivision is located today.
I think it would be a good idea if the county put a sign up. Don’t you?
What is really weird to me is how “perfectly” the canal blends into the beautiful swerving South Fork. As so many things in life, It is not easy to see where one stops and the other starts….
Mr Young’s survey map shows the location where the canal intersected the south fork of the St Lucie River. (Chappy Young,GCY.)This Google map shows location with the purple pin.Very close up.Another map from Mr Young identifying location.Wider view to see location on Google maps.Another…
Aerial of Sewall’s Point taken by Arthur Ruhnke in the 1950s. Photo courtesy of “Sewall’s Point, the History of a Peninsular Community on Florida’s Treasure Coast,” by Sandra Henderson Thurlow. The peninsula is covered by a heavily treed hammock–although many areas were cleared for mansions, and pineapple fields earlier in the century.
Born in 1964, and growing up here in Stuart and Sewall’s Point, one thing I certainly had in my childhood was freedom. Freedom to roam. Freedom to explore. Freedom to get into trouble, or decide not to….Freedom to ride my bike. Freedom to climb trees. Freedom to read a book on an empty lot. Freedom to build forts. Freedom to catch butterflies, and to jump in the river with my friends with our clothes on if we wanted to….
Oaks of Mirimar, Sewall’s Point. (JTL 2014)
I moved to Sewall’s Point from St Lucie Estates in Stuart, in 1974. I was a 10-year-old child with my parents, and siblings. This area was still “small” not developed widely until the 1980s. Certainly, Sewall’s Point did not look as undeveloped as it did in the above photo from the 1950s—- before the “Bridges to Sea” were built, but it was certainly less developed than it is today. In fact, as a kid, I thought the entire pennisula was “mine, and we kids often played in the old, falling apart estates of an another era long past, most famously, the old “High Point Rod and Gun Club.”
The demolition of this building is what set my mother, Sandra Thurlow, on her path to write her book on Sewall’s Point (Sewall’s Point, a History of a Peninsular Community on Florida’s Treasure Coast.) In fact, it was the Sewall’s Point Commission in 1986, that “ordered the demolition,” as she states it, “of the lovely old home that stood on a bluff overlooking the St Lucie River…”
This event spurred Sandy Thurlow, “housewife,” on to become, as she calls herself, “the self-appointed history lady,” over time, writing four books on Sewall’s Point, Stuart, Jensen, and the House of Refuge on Hutchinson Island. She has educated and inspired thousands of people and won state awards. Now that I think about it, she became an “activist for history!”
Ironically, as the old adage says, “history repeats itself,” and I now find myself writing and having become a “self-appointed river activist” for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, spurred on also by its destruction.
There is always a silver-lining, isn’t there…? And when I was comparing the photographs “of old” with some below taken “today,” I noticed that one thing in Sewall’s Point still stands tall: many of its incredible trees. In fact, an arborist last year told me that Sewall’s Point is one of the only communities on Florida’s entire east coast, that still has much of its “native hammock” in tact.
Last night at a Sewall’s Point commission meeting in 2015, as a commissioner myself, I lost my composure. I think really for the very first time, ever….And although I consider myself, yes, rather intense, I pride myself on NOT losing my composure.
In discussion of pursuing policy making it tougher for residents and businesses to “hat wrack” (severely cut) or remove a tree without a permit, in one second of time, “I lost it.”
I lost it when I thought I was going to lose my fight. A fight I have been working on in the Town of Sewall’s Point for six and a half years. In the end, some miracle occurred and the commission directed the town manager to “look into it,” if nothing else, for the hardwoods or especially large-caliber oaks, many hundreds of years old…
I am embarrassed by how I acted. I even apologized. I think it is because protecting this place is in my blood and because when I was a kid I thought it was “mine….” and you know what? In way it is. It is all of ours.
Large oak cut back in 2014.Large oaks cut back at Sewall’s Point business, 2012.Oak with internal large limbs severely cut, 2013.One of two oak trees located on A1A in SP that once flowed with long limbs. In 2012, an “A1A Sewall’s Point design” was created at the direction of the commission for all AIA trees “to be allowed to canopy” over AIA after under-grounding the power lines. This large oak tree above, in a few hours, on a weekend, by one man and a chainsaw, hired by an oblivious manger of an area business was “hat-wracked,” to avoid the power lines. Other oaks and pines, east of this area, also “planned” to canopy, were cut just 3 weeks before the town paid FPL hundreds of thousands of dollars to underground the power lines. No fine was levied as the town was “seeking right of way” on the same property for AIA “improvements.” Code called for thousands of dollars in fines….the business apologized and hired an attorney while FPL feigned ignorance…Many trees are hat-wracked each year. Most offenders go before the code enforcement board which can lessen fines spelled out in the code. In any case, the practice of severe pruning continues….
Aerial, south Sewall’s Point (date unknown, maybe 1990s) Sewall’s Point is surrounded by the St Lucie on the west and the Indian River Lagoon on the east.South Sewall’s Point today-still many trees. (Photo 2015, JTL)
River Kidz member Hannah Angelo-Walker speaks before the Stuart City Commission, 2015. (Photo JTL)
As seven-year small-town commissioner of the Town of Sewall’s Point, one forum I have come to love and appreciate, although it is sometimes quite “painful,” is “public comment”—-the time set aside during a public meeting, for the public to speak…
Time set aside is usually three minutes. This may seem short, but it is HUGE. When one really thinks about it, public comment, of any length, is a remarkable and powerful distinction of American politics.
*”The basis for “public comment” is found in general political theory of constitutional democracy and originated during and after the “French Enlightenment.” This basis was elaborated during the American Revolution, and various thinkers such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine are associated with the rejection of tyrannical, closed government decision-making in favor of open government.”
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French to the United States as was the idea of “public comment.” (Public image.)
I just love this!
This Thursday, at 9AM, the South Florida Water Management District is holding its Governing Board Meeting at 3301 Gun Club Road in West Palm Beach, 33406. Many from the public will be attending. The SFWMD is a public body, just as is a town, city or county commission. Public comment is part of the agenda. This is a great opportunity to influence the board…
Flyer for meeting at SFWMD. (Facebook)Great Seal of the Untied States.
Today, I would like to tell a story of my worst experience with”pubic comment” and encourage those who speak on Thursday to use some of the principles we teach for the kids…River Kidz that is. Kidz trying to save the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon…
Here’s my story….
I have participated on both sides of public comment. I respect it, but it is not always easy.
In 2013, I experienced the greatest “lashing” I have ever received in my life during pubic comment at the Town of Sewall’s Point. I can still recall the entire episode: the older distinguished gentleman waving his finger in the air, yelling, saliva flying, red-faced, furious with me….tunnel vision set in, and I just sat there, in disbelief really, saying to myself: “just keep looking him in the eye.” I was being berated for supporting the firing of our town manager and how that came to be… When I went home that night, I really felt awful. In fact, it was hard to sleep. Being yelled at in public in front of all of those people was quite humiliating. That three minutes felt like eternity.
Public comment is part of having “freedom”….
Later, when I told the gentleman’s wife in the grocery store, that I was hurt by her husband’s words she coolly replied: “You asked for it….” She was implying that I ran for public office, and this was part of the “responsibility” of being an elected official….listening to the public…good or bad….
Although that wasn’t the compassion I was looking for, she was right.
Over time, I can’t say that I feel any better about that experience, but I did learn a lot and thankfully, most of the time, public comment is not so difficult. In fact, most of the time, it is my favorite part of the meeting.
I am proud of America. I am proud that we are allowed to “speak up.” I am proud that tyranny has obstacles, although sometimes it seems it reigns here too.
Did the man achieve success by yelling at me? Maybe, but I don’t think so….let me explain. “People do business with people they like and trust.” No matter who you are, it is not human nature to trust those who yell at you.
River Kidz teaches public speaking, and was born of kids here in the Town of Sewall’s Point. Over the past four years, it has grown to encompass St Lucie County as well as Martin County. Their self-created mission statement reads:
“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.”
Encouraging the kids to speak in public is one of the “pillars” of the grassroots organization:
River Kidz co-founder, Evie Flaugh sits with her mother, Jenny, preparing to speak before the Martin County Commission, 2011.
We do not teach “yelling at the board” as part of River Kidz, we teach respect, projection, confident body language, sharing personal antidotes about how the river affects your life, doing one’s homework, and finishing before your 3 minutes is up…”
Simple, successful, rules of public comment….
So God Bless America! Where we are free to speak out! Where we are free to exercise our constitutional right to assemble and petition our government!
Speak boldly! Speak wisely! Speak with passion and dignity! The river is “turning course,” “buy the land!”—Our voices can be the current of the future….
Rivre Kidz teaches public speaking and speaking before public bodies.River Kidz member, Keile Mader, 10, speaks in Tallahassee for the “Clean Water and Amd. 1 Rally.” She wrote her own speech. (Cyndi Lenz, 2015)Me with River Kidz member Victoria Dalton who was honored this year at the Environmental Stewardship Awards for her public speaking before the Senate Hearing on the IRL and in other public arenas. (Photo friend on Facebook, 2014.)
Confluence of St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon between Sewall’s Point and Sailfish Point, Hutchinson Island, “The Crossroads,” 3-8-15 showing releases from Lake Okeechobee and area canals. (Photo Ed Lippisch)
Usually, my husband, Ed, does not like it when I ask him to “do things”…like take out the trash or blow leaves off the driveway. But he always likes it if I ask him to go up in the plane. He did so yesterday, and was able to visually document the polluted discharges pouring into our St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.
Yes, once again.
The Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE), and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) agreed to have the Army Corp start releases this year on January 16, 2015 at 200 cubic feet per second (cfs) through S-308 into the C-44 canal which is attached to the South Fork of the St Lucie River, and then in turn is connected to the Indian River Lagoon “my town,” Sewall’s Point.
Exhausting isn’t it?
The ACOE is now discharging at a rate of “950 cfs.” This rate goes up and down. It is going up because Lake Okeechobee is not going down…
This SFWMD basin map also shows S-308 at Lake O, the C-44 canal, S-80 at St Lucie Locks and Dam, SLR/IRL.
Today I will share Ed’s photos and show how to “see” how much the ACOE is releasing at S-308. (Structure 308) which is located at Port Mayaca, in Indiantown, Martin County.
Ofcouse, there are discharges from area canals C-44, C-23, C-24 and C-25 as well, but today for simplicity’s sake, I will focus on the lake discharges today, which in my opinion, are the worst of all anyway—because they are not at all “ours.”
So—–
You can search “Jacksonville, ACOE” or just go to this link: (http://w3.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/reports.htm). You can then very quickly check two things: Lake Okeechobee’s level and how much the ACOE is dumping at S-308 from the lake.
To do so, after accessing the site, go to “Current Lake Okeechobee Water Level” at the top left: Always one day behind or so, the latest date reported is 3-7-15– Lake O is at 14.71 feet. Then go back to the main page to the last link: “Port Mayaca Lock, S-308 Spillway.” View by date; the last date shows 873 cubic feet per second (cfs) being discharged.
Front page of ACOE Lake O website, 2015.3-9-15 Lake O level 14.71 feet. NVGD.S-308 report shows 873 cfs on 3-7-15 going into C-44 or SLR.
Here are some more photos Ed took yesterday, 3-8-15, of the SLR/IRL.
West side of Sewall’s Point, 3-8-15 showing St Lucie River. (Ed Lippisch)East side of Sewall’s Point, 3-8-25 showing Indian River Lagoon. (Ed Lippisch)Southern tip of of Sewall’s Point showing SLR in foreground and IRL in background. 3-8-15. (Ed Lippisch)Known as the “Crossroads” this area off of S. Sewall’s Point is the confluence of the SLR/IRL. The St Lucie Inlet is just off of the tip of S.Hutchinson Island and is known as Sailfish Point and is blocked in the far upper right of this photo. 3-8-15. (Photo Ed Lippisch)St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon near Sewall’s Point and Sailfish Point, Hutchinson Island. “Crossroads.” (Photo Ed Lippisch)SL Inlet in distance, 3-8-15. (EL)3-8-15. IRL. East of Sewall’s Point. (EL)
When Ed got home, he said I was lucky I did not go up with him as it was windy which means bumpy…He also said the plume looked different from what we have seen before. It looked “chalky” as is seen in these two photographs below and extended about two miles off shore and further south of the St Lucie Inlet.
I am no scientist, but I would imagine this is silt/suspended solids in the water as everything is “stirred up” from the wind. Suspended solids falling on and smothering our reefs….
Plume off St Lucie Inlet, 3-8-15. (EL)Plume another view 3-8-15. (EL)Map showing reefs in Marin and Palm Beach counties. The reef in MC is directly impacted by the discharges from Lake O. (map courtesy of state.)
In closing, I must thank my husband for the photos, and I must point something out.
This area around Sewall’s Point and Sailfish Point, this “confluence” of the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon, in the not too distant past, has been documented as the most bio-diverse estuary in North America (Dr. R. Grant Gilmore, senior scientist with Estuarine, Coastal and Ocean Science, Inc., (ECOS)(http://www.floridaoceanscouncil.org/members/bios/gilmore.htm).)
The map below allows us to see where these precious seagrass beds are/were located. The map above shows where our “protected” near shore reefs are located just outside the St Lucie Inlet where the discharges go out to sea. These reefs are the northern most “tropical reefs” on the east coast of Florida…
SFWMD seagrass map, 2015.
I think it is a truly a sin that the ACOE and SFWMD year after year discharge onto these productive sea grass beds and near shore reef habitats that are the breeding grounds for thousands of fish and sea creatures. Its loss is felt all the way up the food chain, including “us.”
Where is the Department of Environmental Protection? Where is the Florida Wildlife Commission? Where is NOAA?
Not to mention, last year a designation of “Critical Wildlife Area,” —the first in 20 years for Florida—for 30 plus species of nesting and resting protected birds, was established on “Bird Island,” located just 400 feet off south Sewall’s Point….”Now” is right before nesting season’s height. Where will the birds find food when the seagrass beds are covered in silt and the water is so dark they can’t really see? Chances are these releases will continue.
Don’t our state agencies have a duty to protect? Don’t they have a voice or has it been muffled? Not a word? Not a peep. Where is our governor? Isn’t this money? Isn’t the productivity our of waterways linked to our businesses? Our real estate values? Where is our local delegation? Have we all become numb to this destruction? Beaten down and manipulated so long we that have no reaction?
It breaks my heart.
Our state and federal government entities responsible for “protection” especially should hang their heads in shame.
If nothing else “speak out” about how bad it is. Recognize the loss. Address the “constraints,” killing this ecosystem and local economy. Take leadership!
Be true to our heritage. We are the United States of America. Be brave. Speak out!
