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Experts agree Lake Okeechobee's water
level must drop to avoid disaster
By STEVE WATERS
Web-posted: 10:53
p.m. Apr. 19, 2000
WEST PALM BEACH -- The
South Florida Water Management District on Wednesday hoped to get a consensus on
what to do about high water levels in Lake Okeechobee.
A diverse assemblage of farmers, fishermen, biologists,
bureaucrats, environmentalists and engineers provided one: Ailing Lake
Okeechobee must have its water level lowered as soon as possible.
High water levels in Lake Okeechobee have wiped out most of
the aquatic vegetation, such as peppergrass, eel grass and bulrushes, because of
wave action and the resulting turbidity, which prevents sunlight from
stimulating new growth.
The loss of vegetation and the dirty water have prevented
many fish species from spawning, and the young of those fish that did spawn have
no place to feed or find shelter from predators.
As a result, said Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission fisheries biologist Don Fox, the lake's renowned bass and speckled
perch populations are on the brink of collapse.
Also adversely affected by the lack of vegetation are
manatees, wading birds, waterfowl and snail kites, as well as the many
businesses around the lake that cater to anglers, birders and eco-tourists.
The district presented four possible options for the lake:
Maintain the status quo; release a little water from the lake; release a little
more water; or release a lot of water, primarily through the St. Lucie and
Caloosahatchee River Canals. The latter option received the most support
Wednesday.
Based on computer models that factored in rainfall levels over
the past 31 years, that option has a 67 percent likelihood of getting the lake
level to 13 feet, which would encourage the growth of new vegetation. The
downsides of the plan are an increased chance of water shortages in coastal
cities and adverse effects on the quality of the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee
estuaries.
Roy Reynolds, director of the Broward County Commission's
Office of Environmental Services Water Management Division, said his concern is
that if the lake is lowered and the rainy season isn't especially wet, then
Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties might need to get some water from
the lake.
"We don't get a lot of water from Lake Okeechobee,"
Reynolds said, explaining that most of Broward's water comes from the Biscayne
Aquifer, then the Everglades Water Conservation Areas.
"When we do, it's a critical situation."
Fox said that lowering the lake level to 10 feet wouldn't hurt
it.
"Extreme lows and highs are OK," he said. "It's
when they're for a sustained period of time that the lake gets into
trouble."
District staffers will incorporate some of the suggestions at
Wednesday's meeting into new models, which will be presented at a public
emergency meeting here on Tuesday from 10 a.m.-noon. The findings will then be
presented at a special governing board workshop May 1 in Homestead.
Steve Waters can be reached at swaters@sun-sentinel.com
or 954-356-4648.
Steve Waters is the
Outdoors Writer for the Sun-Sentinel
Newspaper
reposted with permission of Steve Waters.
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