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BIG CYPRESS

Documentary to feature lesser-known natural phenomenon in S.W. Florida
Jennifer Brannock /Naples Daily News /July 30
Film producers from the Blountstown-based Live Oak Production Group are hoping to set up camp in the Big Cypress National Preserve area to record the wonders of nature that flourish within. ...

Who knew zoo would cost so much? Collier sure didn't
Laura Layden /Naples Daily News /Aug 5
That has some people scratching their heads, asking how county leaders decided on the $40 million cap and whether it was right to put it in the ballot question that voters overwhelmingly approved in November. ...

SOUTHWEST COAST

Clean beaches are money in the bank
staff /The News-Press /Jul 30
But the council warned, among other things, that red tide and red drift algae outbreaks are an increasing threat to the state's beaches.Clean beaches are enormously important to our tourist economy and to the outdoor way of life cherished by so many locals. Beach pollution is both a public health and an economic threat. ...

State investigates Caloosahatchee algae bloom
Jeremy Cox /Naples Daily News /Aug 11
State water managers are investigating a potentially toxic algae bloom that has smeared at least 20 miles of the Caloosahatchee River with bright green slime in recent days. ...

Scientist: reservior may be dangerous to public
Chad Gillis /Naples Daily News /Aug 6
A federal scientist reviewing Everglades restoration projects says a reservoir system proposed to hold Lake Okeechobee's excess water before it is flushed into the Caloosahatchee River could actually create a public health concern by fostering toxic algae blooms. ...

Letter from Richard Harvey, a scientist with the U.S. EPA
Richard Harvey /Naples Daily News /Aug 5
While pulling together the requested Acceler8 update document, I've come across a potentially very serious issue that needs to be brought to your attention and addressed soon. That issue is the very real possibility that the 40,000+ acres of "waters of the U.S." reservoirs that are proposed for construction may end up being incubators for developing dense blooms of potentially toxic cyanobacteria ...

Guest Commentary: City official defends elimination of septic systems
John Arceria /Naples Daily News /Aug 10
Over the next seven years thousands of aging septic systems on Marco Island will be eliminated and replaced with a central sewer system. Why? Septic systems work when properly installed, maintained and used. ...

Fishing: Redfish are back
John Preeg /Naples Daily News /Aug 12
Redfish are making an early run into our area. Normally, it is September before the schools of redfish appear in the Naples Bay area, and October before the fish show up south of Marco Island. Already, however, there are reports of redfish in all areas, and some very large schools south of Everglades City. ...

County needs to hire help for Babcock
staff /Sun Herald /Aug 2005
There's a famous scene in "Jaws" where Roy Scheider sees the shark and tells Robert Shaw, "You're gonna need a bigger boat." Put me out to sea and call me Chief Brody, but when Syd Kitson files his development plans for Babcock Ranch in the coming months, we're gonna need a bigger boat. ...

Scientist looks prescient as algae blooms in river
Editorial /Naples Daily News /Aug 12
Yet, an alarm sounded by a respected scientist now grows even more remarkable. At first, last week's warning from Richard Harvey of the U.S. Envrionmental Protection Agency, that proposed reservoirs for stormwater runoff could breed pollution such as oxygen-devouring blue-green algae rather than just hold excess water for future use, struck us as a tip for getting the job done correctly. Now, lo a ...

Use its power to protect Babcock Ranch
H. Wells French /Herald Tribune /Aug 10
I would urge Charlotte County, Lee County and the state of Florida to make good use of a controversial concept and an even more controversial judicial decision. That is, those governments should exercise the option of eminent domain to obtain and preserve the Babcock Ranch. The "public interest" is too great to let that incredibly valuable natural resource become just another piece of Florida to b ...

Why eliminate septic systems?
John Arceri /Marco Island Sun Tim/Aug 05
Over the past few weeks, there have been many questions raised about the need and costs of a new central sewer system on our island. A fuller explanation is in order as to why our city has felt it necessary to begin a seven-year program to eliminate the thousands of septic tanks and septic drainage fields on our island. ...

Red tide's effect in Gulf: Sprawling dead zones
Tilde Herrera /Bradenton Herald /Aug 10
A dead zone is an area incompatible for marine life because of the lack of oxygen. The cause usually is excessive nutrient loading from runoff, which leads to an accumulation of algal blooms that consume oxygen. ...

LAKE OKEECHOBEE

Group hints at lawsuit over Lake O water releases
Rachel Harris /Palm Beach Post /Jul 30
"I've heard us going through the same thing, year after year after year," said Kevin Stinnette, a member of the Rivers Coalition. "What they're doing to our estuary is not legal, and it's not going to stop until we file a lawsuit." ...

Match words with money
Editorial /Palm Beach Post /Jul 31
By not setting aside enough money to help pay for the now-$50 million Lake Region Water Treatment Plant, the state has demonstrated that safe drinking water for the 30,000 residents of Belle Glade, South Bay, Pahokee and surrounding unincorporated areas is not a priority. ...

Water managers don't want public to panic about recent algae blooms
Robert P. King /Palm Beach Post /Aug 10
Water managers still don't know whether toxins are present in a blue-green algae bloom that has blossomed in the West Palm Beach Canal as far east as Palm Beach International Airport, staff members said this morning. ...

Lasting estuary damage feared
Suzanne Wentley /TC Palm /Aug 10
After the first state-confirmed report of a lesioned fish Tuesday, state and local biologists fear the deteriorating water quality in the St. Lucie Estuary could cause lasting damage to area marine life. ...

Corps sprays Okeechobee for pest plants
staff /The News-Press /Aug 9
Herbicide is being sprayed on Lake Okeechobee to try to kill off about 1,000 acres of pesky water hyacinth and water lettuce. ...

Guest columnist: Fighting for Everglades, Indian River
Donna Melzer /TCPalm /Aug 8
"Without the (Indian River Lagoon) recommended plan, the southern Indian River Lagoon ecosystem will continue to deteriorate and will remain in imminent danger of ecological collapse as a result of regional water management practices," the Corps report stated. ...

Sugar's reforms dip pollution to Everglades
Robert P. King /Palm Beach Post /Aug 6
Sugar growers have gotten their 10th straight "A" in reducing their pollution of the Everglades, even though the state is facing trouble in federal court for missing its own cleanup deadlines. ...

Algae in St. Lucie River may be toxic
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Aug 5
Martin County health officials warned residents to avoid areas of the St. Lucie River where blue-green algae is visible after state officials on Thursday determined the algae species could turn toxic to fish and humans. The same neon-green blooms — actually a bacteria called microcystis — were identified in the Caloosahatchee River and in Lake Okeechobee, where the algae was confirmed to be toxic. ...

Discharges from Lake Okeechobee are lowered as scientists debate
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Aug 3
As the discharges from Lake Okeechobee were lowered Tuesday, top water management scientists debated tough lake management decisions in the face of an increasingly active hurricane season. ...

Drinking Water
Editorial /Sun Sentinel /Aug 3
The Lake Region Treatment Plant would change that, but at a price. The initial cost was set at $34 million, but that estimate is increasing as time goes by. County officials say the plant could cost $40 million. ...

EVERGLADES RESTORATION

Deformed fish proliferating on St. Lucie River
Rachel Harris /Palm Beach Post /Jul 26
"It was a snook with a nasty thing on its head, near the gills," Foosaner said. "It looked like an open wound, about half an inch in diameter." ...

Restoration is for us, not ecosystem
Allen Vann /Sun Sentinal Ops /Jul 27
However, the Everglades is a more resilient environment than is understood by most and has historically sustained and weathered periodic drought conditions better than us. The fact is that regardless of any of the restoration criteria that are out there, the water will be used for human needs first and the environment second. Anyone who believes otherwise is kidding themselves. ...

Petition seeks relief for St. Lucie River
Rachel Harris /Palm Beach Post /Jul 27
In little more than a week, more than 1,300 people have signed the petition, begging relief for the root-beer-brown river, where bright green algae blooms cling to the shores and fish have started to show signs of trauma. ...

Sea grass in Indian River Lagoon fails to grow back
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Jul 28
Herren said the lagoon is too fresh and too cloudy with silt to allow light to penetrate the water's surface for the sea grass. Along with suppressing growth, the poor water quality limited the diversity of grass species, she said. ...

Water managers doing best they can for Lake O, estuaries
Newton Cook /Palm Beach Post Ops /Jul 28
We support the district's decision to lower the lake under difficult circumstances and look forward to the recovery of both the estuaries and lake. ...

Bill with $84 million for Everglades expected to pass
Larry Lipman /Palm Beach Post /Jul 29
The bill appropriated $84 million for Everglades restoration projects, including $25 million for the modified waters delivery project. Since 1993, Congress has appropriated $1.1 billion for the project, expected to total about $8.4 billion over three decades. ...

Indian River Lagoon restoration swims upstream in Congress
Editorial /TCPalm /Jul 29
Funding for the long-anticipated restoration of the Indian River Lagoon crossed an important hurdle this month with budget approval by the U.S. House of Representatives. ...

St. Lucie River distress signs vex activists
Rachel Harris /Palm Beach Post /Aug 1
"The water coming out of the lake is the worst water quality that it's ever been," said Paul Gray, a biologist with Audubon of Florida. ...

Officials check algae moving from lake into West Palm Beach canal
Neil Santaniello /Sun Sentinel /Aug 11
The blue-green algae, which is spread profusely along parts of Lake Okeechobee, has tested toxic in some spots there, Merriam said. The photosynthetic lake bloom likely is being fueled by phosphorus stirred off the lake bottom by last summer's lake-churning hurricanes and sunlight that helps it grow, biologists have said. ...

Martin County officials take St. Lucie River fight to Washington
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Aug 7
"This is the worst I've ever seen the river. It's really nasty," he said. "I think our water managers have failed this year. ...



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