IRLNews:2020/10/22/Lake O Discharge to St Lucie River Timeline
From Indian River Lagoon Project
Lake Okeechobee Discharge to St Lucie Estuary Timeline
October 21, 2020
Port Mayaca Lock - Here is this week's timeline of events surrounding the Corps of Engineers discharge of Lake Okeechobee water into the Saint Lucie River Estuary, and the Florida DEP's experimental efforts to prevent Harmful Algae Blooms caused by the discharge.
- October 14, 2020: USACE starts pumping over a billion gallons of freshwater per day from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River brackish water estuary. No Lake O. algae blooms are observed near the pumps but salinity levels begin to plummet throughout the SLR estuary.
- October 14, 2020: Governor Ron DeSantis Announces Preparation for Algal Bloom Mitigation: Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) are preparing for the use of innovative technology to mitigate blue-green algae if needed, following the recent announcement by the Army Corps of Engineers.
- October 19, 2020: Army Corps Approves Okeechobee Plan Deviation: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District, announces the approval of a planned deviation from the water control plan for Lake Okeechobee in order to reduce risk from Harmful Algal Blooms. These advanced releases, done when the risk of HABs is low, would allow greater flexibility to reduce releases during times when HABs are present in the lake or estuaries. Although Lake O. has been lowered to safe level, the Corps continues to pump the lake's water eastward while there are no algae blooms at the pumps. SLR Estuary salinity levels continue to plummet.
- October 21, 2020: Israeli Firm Aims to Keep Lake Okeechobee Algae Out of St Lucie River: In an effort to prevent a Harmful Algae Bloom, Florida Department of Environmental Protection gives a $945,000 contract to BlueGreen Water Technologies to spread hydrogen peroxide algicide into the water heading for the St. Lucie Estuary. It is speculated that BlueGreen's contract is associated with Gov. DeSantis' 2019 Business Development Mission to Israel.
Although Lake Okeechobee has been lowered to it's planned flood level, the Army Corps continues sending a billion gallons per day into the St. Lucie River in order to circumvent any possible future need to pump when algae blooms are present.
Meanwhile, Gov. DeSantis has sent close to a million dollars overseas, in order to have experimental algicide technology standing by to treat algae blooms caused by the Corps discharge.Location: St Lucie River: Port Mayaca Lock: Saint Lucie County
Source:
Indian River Lagoon News Website Article Published by Indian River Lagoon Project on October 21, 2020. Retrieved on October 22, 2020.
Topic: Florida Executive Branch
Related Article: IRLNews:2020/10/21/Army Corps Approves Okeechobee Plan Deviation
