Treasure Coast Local News
It is being reported that the state is pumping polluted rainwater runoff from farms into Lake Okeechobee, and that the polluted water could soon find it’s way into the St Lucie River if discharges start this weekend.
According to the National Weather Service, parts of our area have seen record rainfall in January. The record rainfall is causing the lake to be much higher than normal. Typically officials want to see the lake drop to 12 and a half feet over the dry winter months, but this year the lake has actually risen to over 15 and a half feet.
The same thing happened in January of 1998, and the ensuing discharges created a massive algae bloom and killed off thousands of fish.
Federal officials announced yesterday that they plan to discharge water out of Lake Okeechobee, but they don’t know exactly when.
