Wilma may have wrecked plans to lower Lake Okeechobee
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Oct 28
Plans to drastically lower Lake Okeechobee to restore its health — and the health of the downstream St. Lucie Estuary — may fall through because of Hurricane Wilma, federal water managers said Thursday. ...

Wilma's rains lead to water releases from Lake Okeechobee
CHARLIE WHITEHEAD /Naples Daily News /October 27, 200
With Lake Okeechobee's level at 16˝ feet and rising, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers started Level 3 releases into the Caloosahatchee River on Wednesday, opening the floodgates to as much as 6,500 cubic feet of lake water every second. ...

Alternative water supply projects OK'd by SFWMD
Pete Gawda /Okeechobee News /Oct 2005
The South Florida Water Management District's (SFWMD) governing board at their Oct. 12 meeting approved the funding of 80 new alternative water supply projects including four in Okeechobee County. The four Okeechobee County projects are owner initiated and owners will receive grants amounting to $174,056 to offset $436,640 in construction costs. ...

Lake Okeechobee dike will hold, engineers say
Neil Santaniello /Sun Sentinel /October 20, 200
Hurricane Wilma could tip Lake Okeechobee from end to end but probably would not undermine the lake's home- and farm-protecting dike, federal water managers said Wednesday. ...

Water managers prepare Lake O, canals for Wilma's flood threat
AP /Bradenton Herald /Oct 19
Water managers are hoping Wilma's speed will help reduce flooding if the storm passes across this huge freshwater lake as expected. ...

Lake Okeechobee fights continue
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Nov 2
Water managers fought to hold open canal gates into the Everglades on Tuesday while scrambling for other ways to keep Lake Okeechobee from rising a predicted two feet in two weeks. ...

Lake Okeechobee a mess after Wilma
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /November 3, 200
The water in Lake Okeechobee resembled chocolate milk after last year's hurricanes. This year, it's "black ... like an espresso color," said Dean Powell, director of watershed management for the South Florida Water Management District, ...

Hoover dike's integrity questioned
Rochelle Gilken /Palm Beach Post /Oct 31
The force of Hurricane Wilma left gaps in the Herbert Hoover Dike big enough for someone to park a car, pitch a tent next to it and build a campfire.About a half-dozen chunks were cut out every couple of hundred yards, roughly 40 feet by 30 feet, along Lake Okeechobee behind the Pahokee Airport. ...

Sky of blue, and sea of brown
Sally Swartz /Palm Beach Post /Nov 9
The lifeguard stopped me. "Don't go in the water," he said. "Don't take that nice dog in, either." I assured him we didn't plan to get near it. But what about Jensen Beach, to the north? "That's bad, too," he said. He suggested Sebastian, but that's near Vero Beach, an hour north and too far to drive. ...

How do with the St. Lucie? A few suggestions
Terry L Rice /TC Palm /Nov 8
As H.L. Mencken warned, "There is always an easy solution to every human problem neat, plausible, and wrong." So it is with the St Lucie Estuary. The health of the St. Lucie largely depends on how Lake Okeechobee is managed, such as the quantity and quality of water released and where it goes. Given the poor quality of the lake's water and the massive ...

Keep up lawsuit threat to get action on rivers
Editorial /Palm Beach Post /Nov 7
The Rivers Coalition, an alliance of 40 Martin County business, civic, homeowner and environmental groups, decides this month whether it will sue the public agencies polluting the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon. ...

Happy ending eludes story of St. Lucie River
Glenn Henderson /Palm Beach Post /Nov 6
The past 25 years represent a tiny fraction of the lifespan of the St. Lucie River. That's not much, but that's how long I've been familiar with the travails of what was once a treasured natural resource. During that time, I have sensed changes in the public's view of the river and the effects of runoff and destructive drainage from Lake Okeechobee that many believe have killed the river. ...

Okeechobee water releases won't stop in near future
Tracy Boulian /Naples Daily News /Nov 5
Just as Lake Okeechobee had begun to recover from the three hurricanes that crossed South Florida in 2004 and just as the outlook for the Caloosahatchee River and its estuaries had begun to look a little less blue-green, Hurricane Wilma stormed through and messed everything up all over again. ...

Lake O has more than $18M in storm damage
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Nov 5
Officials with the South Florida Water Management District said more than $18 million in storm damage has pulled scientists off Everglades restoration work to assess the aftermath while postponing a plan to lower Lake Okeechobee for at least a year to improve its health. "It's going to be a hard year," said Susan Gray, ...

'Big dog' EarthJustice offers lawsuit help to St. Lucie River activists
Suzanne Wentley /TCPalm /Nov 4
EarthJustice, a nationally recognized environmental law firm, has joined forces with St. Lucie River advocates in a proposed lawsuit against water managers over the poor water quality of the estuary, activists announced Thursday. ...

End worries about dike with plan to shore it up
Editorial /Palm Beach Post /Nov 4
The dike around Lake Okeechobee held during Hurricane Wilma, but the storm carved a half-dozen big chunks from the structure behind the Pahokee Airport. The eroded sections measured about 30 by 40 feet every 200 yards along the 35-foot-high dike. Some craters were close to the top of the dike, and nearby residents were frightened to see water blowing over the top during the storm. ...

EVERGLADES RESTORATION