Lake Okeechobee Cmte. Meeting Report

[N. Cook]

The SFWMD WRAC Lake Okeechobee Committee met today in Stuart (We have a seat on the Cmte.)

The lake is expected to be no more than 11 feet during season, even with one good rain event. It has a 50 percent chance of being as low as 9 feet.

Airboat country for sure! And a lot of dry lake bed.

The lake is healthy....lots of new submerged vegetation, clear and lower phosporous levels. A slow rise with shallow water over the hundreds of square miles of currently grass covered dry ground would be a spectacular duck event.

Lots of torpedo grass has been removed....and work continues to take advantage of the low level.

[binellishtr]

Are you relaying a message, or have you seen this yourself..."The lake is healthy....lots of new submerged vegetation, clear and lower phosporous levels".......because I am there just about every weekend, and I don't see a whole lot of change besides lower water, and the mud stripped areas near the N Shore. Mother Nature is all we can rely on.

Why won't it go over 11 ft?

[Converted]

Using this link you can run the positional anaylsis based on rainfall from any year from 1965 to 2005 or you can select a group of those years for an average (i.e wet years or dry years)

http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/h2o/pa.html

If we get a tropical season like 2004 it will get to 15.5 feet

If we get a dry year like 2000 it will be on its way to 8 feet.

The official forecast based on climate projections is about 11 feet throughout the winter.

SFWMD crews run transects about every week and check the same spots week after week year after year to have a scientific basis to grade the SAV growth and check several water quality parameters. Here is the report from 8/27.

According to the USACE web site, Lake Okeechobee stage is 9.57’ NGVD today which 0.01’ higher that it was a week ago and 0.40’ higher than it was a month ago. Surface inflows are 530 cfs, down from 881 cfs last week, and surface outflows are not reported due to missing S77 and S308 data.

This month 21 of the 27 water quality sampling sites had sufficient water for sampling but only TSS results are available. TSS values averaged 8 mg/L. In April 07, the last time the same 21 sites were sampled, mean TSS was 60 mg/L. As reported earlier in the month, this improved water clarity is associated with a substantial expansion of SAV cover in the nearshore zone of the lake.

Data from this month’s bloom survey are not yet available.

Several years worth of reports are available here...

https://my.sfwmd.gov/portal/page?_pageid=1314,2554645,1314_19738269:1314_19743 586&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

[binellishtr]

David,
Thanks for the links.....maybe the eye can't see what the phos levels are doing, but I hope on paper things are getting better.

We don't SEE much improvement from the high water line to the low water line, it's still the same color. It even had a smell last week while gator hunting.

It amazes me how the dirt they took out had 9x the acceptable level of arsenic in it than allowed on paper. Didn't anyone sample this before they demucked?

So now it has been stacked off to the side and is now leeching into the enviornment somewhere else?

A new light usage dump site has been created on the S W side of the lake.How does one get a permit to build a waste station next to the one of the great Lakes of the world? Especially during a restoration period?

I see them spraying every weekend in the hay fields with a helicopter, I'm sure it's not rice or corn they are dumping for the ducks? Maybe they are spraying for mosquitos...I have not looked into it.

We saw first hand how turtles were exploited and pilfered this summer by some people. They FWC, and SFWMD knew this was the breeding period for turtles, and the same thing went on back in 01..........point here is nobody learns from past mistakes.

If they are spraying for mosquitos thanks, but they still have been a pain in town and on the lake.

Thanks for demucking and moving the problem from one spot to another.

Thanks for holding the runoff/water up in kissimmee and padding your water flow numbers into the lake.

I might sound un gratefull, but a spade is a spade for all who are held accountable!

[Converted]

I'd like to respond to a couple of your points...

It amazes me how the dirt they took out had 9x the acceptable level of arsenic in it than allowed on paper. Didn't anyone sample this before they demucked?

So now it has been stacked off to the side and is now leeching into the enviornment somewhere else?

A new light usage dump site has been created on the S W side of the lake.How does one get a permit to build a waste station next to the one of the great Lakes of the world? Especially during a restoration period?


Thanks for demucking and moving the problem from one spot to another.

This issue came up before the demucking was authorized. They presented the plans to the WRAC and asked for comment. There was some concern voiced about what was in the muck and where it would be put.

I made an unusually strong statement in reply. "I don't care what is in the muck and I don't care if some of it will find its way back to the lake. ITS ALL IN THE LAKE NOW. Let's get what we can out, while we can and then decide what to do with it."

Permitting for beneficial dredging projects is getting almost impossible. Almost everyone agrees that we need to dredge the muck bottoms that are destroying our lakes but finding a spoil site for the muck is a very hard issue to solve. Generally they will allow the dredging to go forward if you do not remove the muck from the basin where it is dredged from. Bassically my point above that some of it may get back into the lake but all of it was in the lake to begin with. I can tell you that special lined spoil containment areas with perimeter canals and STA's to clean the runnoff would have cost 10X what they spent on the project.

I see them spraying every weekend in the hay fields with a helicopter, I'm sure it's not rice or corn they are dumping for the ducks? Maybe they are spraying for mosquitos...I have not looked into it.

We saw first hand how turtles were exploited and pilfered this summer by some people. They FWC, and SFWMD knew this was the breeding period for turtles, and the same thing went on back in 01..........point here is nobody learns from past mistakes.

If they are spraying for mosquitos thanks, but they still have been a pain in town and on the lake.

They are spraying for tordedo grass. SFWMD has funding for about 4000 acres and FWC threw in enough chemical for another 2000 acres. Torpedo grass is an especially difficult exotic for the lake and prevents beneficial aquatics from growing.

I have also asked them to keep a close eye on Hyacinths and lettuce and get it sprayed when there are 100 acre patches before they turn into 2000 acre patches.


Thanks for holding the runoff/water up in kissimmee and padding your water flow numbers into the lake.


Unfortunately there is little water to hold to the north and in fact they are dumping what water there is to Okeechobee off the Kiss river flood plain. :angryfire

http://glades.sfwmd.gov/pls/dbhydro_pro_plsql/web_io.report_process?v_period=uspec&v_start_date=20070715&v_end_date=20070815&v_report_type=plot&v_target_code=screen&v_run_mode=onLine&v_js_flag=Y&v_db_request_id=790573&v_where_clause=&v_dbkey=J8943&v_os_code=Win&v_interval_count=5

Please continue to voice your concerns. We can't have too many eyes in the field reporting conditions. Sometimes there is a reasonable explanation and sometimes we need to get on the horn and shine the spotlight on a situation.

[binellishtr]

thanks again for the report....we should package and ship the muck to China like they do to our kids toys.......my eyes are open and watching.

[godvlman]

David,

How about the navigatable waterways??? I was told from a few people (good sources) that the Moorehaven canal was closed in and it is not passable even with an airboat??? Is this true?? Since the hurricane alot of the markers have not been replaced. Is there any talk about replacing them?? (Monkey box marker for one)

I was just curious?? If there was any talk or if the funding was there to clean up some of the mess that has not been cleaned up yet. I know last year they had some crews out in the lake working with machinery (erradicating exotics I would guess)

[binellishtr]

the Moore Haven canal is about 1 ft deep, and some areas you pass over dry spots, and thick mud. It was dry for about .5 mile earlier this summer. Monkey Box is still there....the marker is just gone....but the old poles are missing??

[Converted]

FWC has been pushing for a clean up of the boat trails, including things like Moore Haven Canal. There was even talk of going in to some of the dry trails with bush hogs prior to the water coming up.

Their concern is what happens as the water levels rise in the canals. Coming out of past droughts we tend to see large plant islands (tussocks) break loose and clog the boat trails and canals. The Corp is not sure if thier funding will allow that type of work. It is supposed to be discussed at the next Aquatic Plant Management Meeting in Clewiston (not sure of the date, probably early Oct.)

I haven't heard anything about replacing the markers.

[David B]

[/QUOTE]We saw first hand how turtles were exploited and pilfered this summer by some people. They FWC, and SFWMD knew this was the breeding period for turtles, and the same thing went on back in 01..........point here is nobody learns from past mistakes.

Please explain this. Turtle season is closed during the summer months on some species of turtles. You can call the Wildlife alert hotline and report any illegal activites.

Thanks for holding the runoff/water up in kissimmee and padding your water flow numbers into the lake.




Unfortunately there is little water to hold to the north and in fact they are dumping what water there is to Okeechobee off the Kiss river flood plain.]

Personally I wish that they would restrict any further building in the south end of this state. Not one more house, apartment , town home or the likes. If the water on that end of the state cannot support people, then by all means move them out of the state.
The Kiss. Restoration looks likes the pastures it did before it started. Nw we have a shallow meandering ditch with little water, all this so the folks south can have some water. If there isn't a well, then get out. Sounds drastic and bellligerent doesn't it. I hope so. I have heard all the whinning that I can stand about water going south.
The Governor wants green. Stop building in this state. I am happy with what is here. :angryfire:angryfire:angryfire:angryfire