Is the Lagoon Dying?- Part 1

Hi,

Is the Southern Indian River Lagoon dying? Some would say, "Yes." This is the first part of a series of articles about the pollution and destruction of one of the most important salt-water estuaries in the state of Florida.

I'd say it's too early to tell- but the writing is in the water: fish are dying, the grass is dying, manatees are dying, porpoises are dying, people are getting sick. These are facts, we (or should I say our government, big sugar, commercial fisherman, politicians, and the Army Corps of Engineers) are slowly killing it.

Can it be saved? I don't know. The jury is out and it seems only a small number of people care (boaters, realtors, fisherman, swimmers, environmentalists and concerned citizens mostly who own land along the Lagoon).

The number one issue is polluted water filled with toxic chemicals and at times algae blooms that is dumped in the St. Lucie River from the South of Lake Okeechobee to prevent dam erosion and high water levels in the Lake.

Gradually these chemicals are clouding the water and creating toxic sediment, that is choking out the weed beds which are the source of sustained life in the Lagoon.

The result, less fish, polluted and toxic water, which in summertime becomes dangerous as water temperatures rise.

Some Solutions

There are a number of via solutions- some cost effective and some not:

1) The best plan is to purchase the land from Big Sugar south of Okeechobee and return polluted water through a series of natural swamps which will purify the water before it reaches the Everglades. This will be expensive. First the land will need to be bought from Big Sugar (sugar companies, who receive sugar subsidized by us, the government, may not sell), then a series of levies possibly with purification systems will need to be built. This would create a winding river basin which would natural purify our water.

2) Diverting the water to other less vulnerable estuaries. Not much of a solution but anything would help.

3) Building a series of inlets (one or two at first ) to the Ocean which will allow the tides to clean out the estuary and raise the level of salinity in the estuary preventing algae from growing and other bacteria.

4) Promoting the growth of sea-grass and other natural water purification alternatives (oysters, clams).

5) Purify the water as it leaves Okeechobee and before it reaches The St. Lucie. Sounds expensive, but losing the Lagoon will cost much more.

Hopefully this blog will be a catalyst to an already growing number of people who aren't going to let the Lagoon die. No, we're not going to take it!!!

Richie