Here is a video of the horrific man made water polution from Lake Okeechobee in Florida. The is enormous cess pool of a lake must be drained to avoid flooding the towns along the edge of this sludge pit. They drain it west and east . This video is taken at Hobe Sound beach where I have a second home. Normally the water is a beautiful blue green, both in the ocean and the rivers and lagoons. Bear in mind that Lake O is at least an hour away by car. This gunk kills fish, oysters, Queen conch, plant life, birds etc. It stinks. When the temps rise it forms a thick crust of algae on the water. People get sick. There is no swimming anywhere near us. Bacteria levels are off the charts. Fishing is impossible in shore; you have to go out 8-10 miles to find anything. Small waterfont businesses are closing; who wants to dine on the water when the water looks like an unflushed port a john. This dumping may continue for months... http://www.tcpalm.com/videos/news/l...ing-st.-lucie-river-lagoon-beaches/106505018/
George I hope one day this will be resolved, nobody in their right mind wants this to continue. I know the South Florida water district waited to the head scratching last minute to release water ahead of Irma, it was was 12"-18" above what is considered critical stage. Critical stage is loss of life is imminent if a dike breech occurs. They then started releasing water 24-30 hours ahead of the hurricane in hopes they would miss the heavy rainfall and quickly close it back up. Unfortunately this did not happen, in fact the worse case scenario occurred and 24" - 30" of rain fell. It was the first time in my life they have ever called for a mandatory evacuation of every town, city and community located on Lake Okeechobee. We both realize this does nothing to resolve the problem at hand, the original flow is nothing what it used to be nor is the population count. People keep moving in at a 1,000 per day and community leaders love the tax portfolio it brings. To be honest I personally (as a business) added to the problem. We pumped 1.4 billion gallons out of our property the following seven days. This water sheet flows directly into the Caloosahatchee river adding to the impact. In reality this will have to be addressed and prevented as well. Problem is what is everyone going to eat down the road because it would most assuredly put us out of business, hell we are a gnats ass from going under from just the storm damage. My dairy and beef cattle grower friends are in the same boat and I've already commented on the veggie guys going under. Somebody has to feed us in some manner and soylent green hasn't hit on yet... Lots of modifications to how we currently live need to be addressed in my opinion. Unfortunately I see more of the same happening in the meantime.... I would be as upset about it as you are and as an old cracker I remember how pristine and wonderful it is supposed to be.
Wise words, Ralph. I love Florida and always have. My favorite thing is to take out the 15' foot Key West with the little Yamaha 50 on it and just explore the estuaries and mangrove islands saltwater flats. The natural beauty is incredible. Everyone has a stake in this and we are all reponsible for the current situation and for hopeful solutions. Chemicals leeching into the waters from farms and golf course developments, the overbuilding at the water's edge, the over abundance of septic vs sewer systems, and of course U.S. Sugar cutting off the River of Grass to the Glades. So while Lake O pollutes and floods and sends its gunk to both coast, the Everglades is drying up and salt water is replacing the fresh water from the south. I get down to our place as often as possible and one day soon I will not return to the Jersey shore. I have made it a priority to learn as much as possible about the problems at hand and to get involved. I would really like to pay you a visit or vie versa one of these days. I'm buying!
I know my dad had a great time down there. It won't be long until we have our own little Skybox colony down there in Florida