Another environmental group disregards science and blames Lake O discharges for algae blooms

FORT MYERS, Fla. (FLV) – Here we go again… Captains For Clean Water is yet another group recently promoting the narrative that Lake Okeechobee discharges need to be stopped to prevent algae blooms. 

Just two weeks ago I reported on the Democrat-backed group, Calusa Waterkeeper, ignoring science and peddling a similar narrative. 

Now we have Captains For Clean Water perpetuating the claims that Lake O discharges are the main factor to blame for red tide and algal blooms. 

“Blue-green algae is present on a significant portion of Lake Okeechobee right now,” a Captains For Clean Water Facebook post said. 

The group calls significant lake discharges a “threat” because the lake is about a foot higher than average for this time of the year. 

As you can imagine, the corporate media runs with similar stories.

“Will Army Corps start Lake Okeechobee discharges to St. Luci River despite toxic algae?” one article said.

Another article claims the main “concern” for algae blooms is based on the controlled water releass, which they said led to algae outbreaks.

But know… this is all a scare tactic. 

Of course quality water is important, but to consistently blame the lake for blue-green algae while trying to put a stop to discharges is misleading. 

As reported on before, recent studies refuse to blame Lake O for poor quality in Lee County. Instead, it points to terrible infrastructure as a main reason for harmful algae blooms and poor water quality. 

A 2023 study said Lee County drainage ditches, canals, creeks and the Caloosahatchee River Estuary “often have high concentrations of nutrients and bacteria limiting their designated uses.”

The large-scale study “provides evidence of widespread human waste pollution” in Lee County and urged for infrastructure improvements. 

These environmental organizations are time and time again also pointing fingers at the farmers south of Lake Okeechobee. It’s not the sugar farmers’ fault the water is polluted. 

The sugar farmers are located south of Lake Okeechobee. Water drains from the north and into the lake where discharges then occur.

In fact, 95.5% of Lake Okeechobee inflows is from Northern Basins.

Zero percent of the water comes from the Everglades Agricultural Area south of the lake where the farmers are.

Part of the solution lies with northern storage and cleaning up the water draining Lake Okeechobee in the first place.

It’s called northern storage. Northern storage promotes aquifer storage recovery wells to store water from north Florida so lakes further south do not fill up. 

So when will these environmental groups begin looking at the science instead of targeting groups they don’t like?