By Jill Barton
The Associated Press
April 25, 2005
LAKE OKEECHOBEE -- Capt. Richard "Tadpole" Brown aims his boat for the long alligator snout floating atop the muddied water 10 yards ahead.
"He's every bit of a 9- or 10-footer. You can tell by the nose," Brown says as the creature disappears beneath a cloud of brown.
"And that's all you'll see of him, because you'll never see your hand in front of your face in that water."
Lake Okeechobee was in trouble before last year's hurricanes churned up a thick layer of pollution settled on the bottom and turned the water the color of day-old coffee.
The mess not only threatens the lake's diverse fish and plants but also jeopardizes the water supplies and economies of nearby communities and an environmental project of even greater concern: the $8.4 billion Everglades restoration.
Paul Gray, the science coordinator for Audubon's Lake Okeechobee program, describes recent visits to the lake as more and more demoralizing.
"We don't know how bad it's going to get before it starts getting better," he said.
At the Pahokee marina, a pier normally full of fishermen has been deserted for months. The few dozen boats that would typically take advantage of a breezy spring day have disappeared.
Sitting in a cottage that overlooks the barren scene, Mayor J.P. Sasser says the worst is still coming.
"What you're going to find this summer is this lake is going to turn just as green and just as slimy as anything you've seen in a science fiction movie," he said. "When that starts, no one will get on that water."
The unsavory green color comes from toxic algae, which bloom from the pollution spreading through the lake and smother plants and fish. The coming algae bloom is drawing alarming comparisons to an ecological disaster at Central Florida's Lake Apopka, which succumbed to similar problems caused by a 1940s hurricane. It still hasn't recovered and is undergoing a costly restoration.
The size of Lake Okeechobee might help it rebound more successfully, says water manager Susan Gray. It covers 730 square miles, making it the nation's second-largest freshwater lake.
"It's a lot more resilient, but that doesn't mean it can forever withstand everything that's been tossed it," said Gray, director of the Lake Okeechobee division of the South Florida Water Management District.
The hurricanes dumped 51/2 feet of water on Lake Okeechobee. That added depth, plus the muck spread throughout the water, shuts out sunlight and kills plants and fish habitat. The vegetation grows from the lake bottom and could help keep the polluted muck bottom in place.
Water managers need to release some of the extra water into nearby canals and estuaries, but they have been holding off because a huge amount of fresh water could shock the fragile ecosystems.
The lake sits precariously in the middle of the Everglades restoration project, which aims to restore the once-natural water flow from the Kissimmee chain of lakes in Central Florida south to Florida Bay, at the peninsula's southern tip.
Water managers use pumping stations and canals to mimic nature, but they have nowhere to put Lake Okeechobee's extra water. With the next hurricane season starting in six weeks and the likelihood of heavy rains, state officials don't expect to see improvement until next spring.
State lawmakers are trying to set aside an extra $25 million this year to help Lake Okeechobee rebound from the hurricanes. Those plans can't come soon enough for Pahokee and other communities struggling to make their own recovery.
Copyright © 2005, Orlando Sentinel
If things work out, I want to come to the Okeechobee Tournament. I saw this article and was wondering what some of you fellows who live and fish down there think about the current conditions of the lake...
...Neil
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. The lake cycles. They may need to draw it down....all depends on how much rain we get this summer
