No time to relax on Lake Okeechobee water plan; lagoon, St. Lucie too important | Our View

Editorial Board
Treasure Coast Newspapers

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, the old expression goes. 

That’s also the price of clean water. At least that’s the way it must seem to the people who have been fighting for decades to reduce the amount of water discharged from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon. 

They’ve been carrying the water, so to speak, on an issue that should be of great interest to most if not all of us who live along the Treasure Coast. 

Last month, they won a significant victory for the cause. There’s more work yet to be done, however. 

Many of us have chosen to live here because of the spectacular access to recreational waterways, including the river and lagoon. And many of us make our living operating businesses that cater to those water users. 

The problem with the water discharges from Lake Okeechobee is that they’re dirty. They carry pollutants that flow downstream from Central Florida. 

Pollutants contribute to algae blooms, which are harmful to people and wildlife. Also, infusions of freshwater from the lake interfere with the natural balance of the saltwater estuary and lagoon, which affects fish and other aquatic creatures.

Palm City's John Kane protests in front of the St. Lucie Locks where water from Lake Okeechobee is released into the St. Lucie River during an Indian River Lagoon rally at Phipps Park in Tropical Farms in 2013. An estimated 5,000 people participated in the event.

In July, the Army Corps of Engineers took a step toward reducing discharges into the St. Lucie River as part of its work on the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual, known as LOSOM. 

After months of reviewing scientific data and public comment, the Corps selected an alternative that could reduce water releases into the river to about 23.5 billion gallons per year, down from 71 billion gallons per year. 

An argument could be made that any amount of water flowing from the lake into our river is too much. But it pays to be pragmatic here. 

The Corps has to balance the interests of people who live on all sides of the lake. Some use the lake as a source of drinking water. Others need the water for crop irrigation. Others who live in its vicinity are concerned about the potential for flooding. And others use the lake and the manmade canals that connect it to Florida’s east and west coasts for recreation. 

A blue-green algae bloom covered about 240 square miles of Lake Okeechobee Thursday, bigger than the area of Chicago.

Viewed in that context, the alternative the Corps selected strikes a good compromise. Col. Andrew Kelly, the Corps’ Florida commander, described it as “a balance of balance.” 

That’s great news. Everyone who lobbied on behalf of the Treasure Coast’s interests during that phase of the process deserves special thanks. 

The not-as-great news is the process isn’t over. The Corps now plans to “optimize” its selected alternative. During that time, the alternative could be tweaked in response to feedback various stakeholders give to the Corps. 

Which means the targeted reduction of water into the St. Lucie River might not be as great if others can make the case for diverting more flows there.

U.S. Rep. Brian Mast speaks to the media at the Port Mayaca lock on Tuesday, June 1, 2021, addressing a revised Lake Okeechobee plan to send more water south to protect the surrounding estuaries. "The reason everybody is coming together is you have representation from the east coast here, you have representation from the west coast of Florida, and you have representation from the Everglades from the south, Mast said. "Coming together to say we're moving forward to ask the Corp of Engineers, as a united front, to support plan CC with some modifications that we've put forward to help benefit all of these areas of Florida that have been traditionally hammered by poor management of Lake Okeechobee."

Stuart Vice Mayor Merritt Matheson described the selection of the water flow model as a “very small battle” in the overall development of the LOSOM plan. 

“So far, all they have done is create a baseline model for how they manage the overall system,” Matheson said. 

The Corps hopes to complete the optimization phase early this month. So now is the time for people who care about this issue to let the Corps know it should hold the line at 23.5 billion gallons of discharge per year, or even reduce that amount further. 

They can do so by emailing LakeOComments@usace.army.mil 

The Corps won’t implement LOSOM until late next year, after the completion of rehab work on Herbert Hoover Dike on Lake Okeechobee, so the payoff won’t be immediate. 

Yet for anyone who wants to see fewer algae blooms on the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon, this is a critical time to be engaged and make your voices heard. 

The bureaucratic process can be tedious, mind numbing, and confusing. We can’t afford not to participate, though. The fate of our local waterways is too important. 

Editorials published by TCPalm/Treasure Coast Newspapers are decided collectively by its editorial board. To respond to this editorial with a letter to the editor, email up to 300 words to TCNLetters@TCPalm.com.