I heard some beaches are closed.  Is this thing going to stay to the south, or is my weekend screwed now?

Yummmmmeeeeeeee!

-------------------------
Dora Hates You

How safe do you think the waters are at our beaches? They are saying the algae down south is toxic and to avoid skin contact.

The article below says they are seeing evidence of the polluted water from Okechobee as far north as Savannah.

I wanted to take my kids to the beach today but decided to do something else.

http://www.sportfishingmag.com...water-reaching-georgia

I spoke to a friend in Stuart, he dove on the nearshore reefs a couple of days ago and said it was ugly. No doubt it's gotten even worse every tide cycle as more stuff gets flushed into the ocean.

It's a long way for that to run up the beach to Brevard (the ROFFS image you linked is showing Gulf Stream transport, different thing), but the wind is blowing from the south. Turbidity was definitely up today and there was suspended dead grass - but that's not unusual for this time of year.

The really sad thing is that the State passed on the chance to buy the US Sugar land south of Lake O that could have been used as a path for water into the 'Glades. These discharges from Lake O could have been stopped and a more natural, filtered flow into the 'Glades could have been restored.

But Rick Scott and our legislature sat on their hands until the long-standing option on the property expired. Buying that property and fixing the Lake O discharges should have been one of the main uses of Amendment One money. We all know how that turned out. The clowns in Tallahassee are directly responsible for what's going on now, due to their inaction.

Bill Nelson had mentioned supporting eminent domain yesterday to get the land.

I'm sure the stuff they are seeing all the way in Savannah is via the gulf stream but if there is enough polluted water that far North I would imagine SE wind over a month or two could easily push it up into cfl. Just because it isn't clearly visible on our beaches doesn't mean the water is clean. My daughter had a cut on her foot so that was another reason we opted to stay out of the water.

Close source from the Stuart area, take it serious peeps nothing to mess around with!! Channel six from orlando just showed a manatee surrounded in green muck, gulping FRESH  WATER from a house dangling off a dock(?) a nice neigbor left running(?)!!!!

But, still OMG , WT...!!

More to add to the legacy of our incredible state government and the foresight of the anti-establishment leader who is a businessman so he should know how to run the government right!

It may have worked if he cared about the environment and viewed people as more than commidities.

Hope his term ends before something else happens because I enjoy going in the ocean.

-------------------------
My parents went to Cocoa Beach and all I got was this lousy surfboard!

Great synopsis - this all cold have easily been avoided. Unfortunately not enough people are making noise. A couple things that everyone here can do is visit Bonefish/Tarpon Trust - they made it easy for FL residents to blast an email to a variety of public officials - BTT Email Blast

Also we have several people working hard through Take Back Our Water to bring sound science to the matter. There are two well published/respected scientists (PhD's) in the fishing field behind this including Mitch Roffer of Roff's OFS mentioned above.




-------------------------
QOP = Terrorists
FK = Gay

Yeah, lots of citizens making lots of noise is the key to getting long-overdue actions out of our government. Scott declared war on our natural resources when he took office, and he's been aided and abetted by the likes of Allen Hayes, Steve Crisafulli, et al.

The great thing about getting the US Sugar land (a deal which was worked out a long time ago, for just a portion of their land that would provide a path for Lake O water) is that it would have solved three problems.

One, it would have resstored/mimiced natural flow into the water-starved upper Glades. This would have beneficial effects all down through the Glades, into Florida Bay, even into the reefs of the Keys.

Two, it would eliminate the need for Lake O discharges into the St. Lucie River (never intended by nature) which are the culprit in the present situation around Stuart.

Three, it would also eliminate those same unnatural discharges to the west, into the Caloosahatchee. IMO those discharges should be piped directly to Rick Scott's beachfront mansion in Naples.

Lake O water is supposed to spill out the southern edge of lake and feed the River of Grass. Until we restore that flow the rest is just damage control...

ALL perfectly on point!!

-------------------------
"Most people would die sooner than think; in fact, they do." - Bertrand Russell


"Morality is doing what is right, regardless of what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, regardless of what is right.


If I do not answer you .... nothing personal, I just have you on ignore.

Is brevard affected?  We have some buddies pcsing this next week and we may cruise over to say farewell and hit water before coming back to west coast 

I'm not a fan of eminent domain, particularly as it relates to keystone, but in this case: "Make it so Scotty"

Direct order from Capt Kirk!!!

-------------------------
Brevard Surf Report

I agree, don't like the concept but in certain circumstances like this one it needs to be used. Especially when FL passed amendment 1 and it was ignored. Rick Scott has to be pissing his pants right now. He has tried to ignore this hoping it would go away. I guess when you are getting donations from the sugar industry you are supposed to look the other way. I hope this one comes back to bite him in the a$$, it's long overdue.

At this point in time, I personally would be more than happy to see eminent domain used to get Lake O, the 'Glades, the St. Lucie River, and the Caloosahatchee fixed.

It would be poetic justice and hopefully US Sugar would be paid about $10/acre for the land. It would serve them right for all the damage they've caused.

It has to be done soon - the replumbing, even if fast-tracked, will take a couple of years at least. The southern IRL, in particular, can't wait.

On another note I was in mosquito lagoon today and the water quality is headed back downhill. It hasn't been good but today was noticeably worse than last week. Some spots were back to 0 visibility.

As far as eminent domain I wonder how long the process would take. It would be a nice thought to see it comoleted in 6 months but as Mike pointed out then we have to wait for all the construction to be done. As long as Rick Scott is getting large donations like the 100k he recently got from the sugar companies I'm sure he isn't going to do anything. He hasn't even visited to see the issue first hand. POS in my book for willingly neglecting this.

Start a petition on change.org, I'll sign and I bet we can get enough peeps to make this happen...

-------------------------
Brevard Surf Report

It took many years for the Corps of Engineers, with environmental advice from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and others, to develop plans, in cooperation with the State (mainly the South Florida Water Management District) to improve water flow through the Everglades and to improve water quality.  There have been some limited successes, but political actions at the state level, including Gov. Crist's policy changes and now including Gov. Scott's gutting of the Water Management District, have severely slowed things down.  It doesn't help that Tea Party types saw conservation easements along the Kissimmee River (which flows from the Orlando area to the lake) as some kind of UN Agenda 21 plot.  

At present, the Lake Okeechobee dikes are a big problem.  The Miami hurricane of 1926 flooded Moore Haven, then the San Felipe hurricane of 1926 that hit Palm Beach County re-flooded Moore Haven and destroyed Belle Glade, with an official death toll of at least 2,500.  The dikes that were built afteward were a big improvement, but they need to be rebuilt and in the meantime, water levels have to be kept low enough to prevent another catastrophe.  The Corps hardly ever gets enough money for its projects.  Rebuilding dikes around New Orleans after Katrina and some Sandy work were exceptions.  

There are currently basic disagreements on how to improve water quality and flow in the Everglades.  Politically, the sugar industry is in control, as it always has been.  

Over the long term, the productive organic soils of the Everglades Agricultural Area are oxidizing and shrinking, with the land level sinking.  Eventually, the area will likely be abandoned.  The dikes could then be removed, or relocated farther away from the present boundaries of Lake Okeechobee.

ww- what are the problems presently regarding the dike system?

-------------------------
ola ~