Indian River, other Florida restoration projects get funding

Florida restoration projects will be able to move ahead, thanks to funding just approved by Congress; read more here.

Under the Water Resources Development Act, Congress has approved funding for several restoration projects: $1.4 billion for the Indian River Lagoon, $375 million for Picayune Strand State Forest, $81 million for an impoundment area near Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and $10 million to restore Peanut Island. There is also $1.5 million to study how strong the dike is around Lake Okeechobee.

Rains bring water flow into Lake Okeechobee

All this rain we've been having is paying off for Lake Okeechobee, according to the news, like this article in the Orlando Sentinel. Thanks to the rain, water is flowing from the Kissimmee River south into the lake -- for the first time in eight months! Lake O is still three to four feet below normal, the article says.

Water flow into and out of Lake O is a sensitive subject. If you're not familiar with it, here's just a tiny bit of history. Water used to flow naturally into the lake from Central Florida rivers, then south into the Everglades and on into Florida Bay. But after hurricanes caused the lake to flood the farming communities that had sprung up around the lake -- especially the 1928 hurricane that killed around 2,500 people -- the lake was dammed. Now the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages the flow of water. Too little or too much water, and the ecosystem can suffer. Many people who live to the east and west of the lake, where the Caloosahatchee River flows into the Gulf of Mexico and the St. Lucie River flows out to the Atlantic Ocean, are concerned about water releases into these rivers. Too little water into the Everglades can cause saltwater intrusion and may be one of the reasons Florida Bay is suffering. Maintaining a water-flow balance seems hard. The Army Corps is said to be looking into new ways to maintain a better balance. Let's hope so, for the sake of our rivers, estuaries and Everglades.

Everglades, Lake O, rivers targeted for funding

Two years after billions of gallons of hurricane rainwater from Lake Okeechobee wreaked environmental havoc as it was flushed down the Caloosahatchee River, lawmakers last week passed more than $400 million worth of environmental aid -- along with a new title that designates as the Northern Everglades a triangular area around Lake Okeechobee, including the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers; more than $200 million goes to expanding Everglades restoration through 2020 and another $100 million is coming to the aid of the rivers - May 12, News-Press

Lake O cleanup bill criticized for not going far enough

$200 million restoration plan that includes Lake Okeechobee -- and the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers that it fouls with polluted runoff -- has hit troubled waters - March 12, Tampa Bay's News 10

Water district backing away from $68.1M land buy

The district's board was set to vote this week on a proposal to pay $68.1 million for 2,270 acres east of Lake Okeechobee -- even though water managers had no definite plans for how to use the tracts -- but the agency's staff pulled the proposal late Tuesday, saying the money might need to go instead to efforts to protect the Herbert Hoover Dike or a court-ordered cleanup of runoff near the lake's south shore - Dec. 13, Palm Beach Post

Judge faults water district for Lake Okeechobee muck

In a case with national implications, a federal judge found state water managers in violation of the Clean Water Act for pumping polluted runoff into Lake Okeechobee - Dec. 12, Miami Herald

Lee County to ask for Lake Okeechobee water releases

In an ironic environmental twist of environmental, Lee County will soon ask the South Florida Water Management District to release fresh water from Lake Okeechobee down the Caloosahatchee River -- the problem is that parts of the river have become very saline due to dry conditions and a lack of freshwater releases from the lake - Nov. 15, News-Press