OUR WATERS NEED LONG-TERM RELIEF
There’s an ongoing water-quality crisis in South Florida, plaguing us with a recurring nightmare, threatening our livelihoods, and killing our economies.
When water levels in Lake Okeechobee—at the heart of the state—get too high, water managers discharge massive amounts of polluted lake water to the east and west coasts through manmade canals. This wreaks havoc on the coastal estuaries, wiping out critical habitat, threatening human health, supercharging red tide, killing marine life, and crippling our economy for months.
The good news: there IS a solution through EVERGLADES RESTORATION, but we need YOUR help to get it done.
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LAKE O LEVELS
In its natural state, Lake Okeechobee’s southern banks would overflow from summer rains, providing a critical flow of freshwater into America’s Everglades. 100 years ago, the lake was dammed, ditched, and diked, cutting off that flow south. Now, when summer rains fill the lake to levels that threaten the structural integrity of the dike, manmade canals to the east and west coasts become the primary relief outlets. This deprives the Everglades of beneficial freshwater and can result in damaging, high-volume discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers.
HARMFUL COASTAL DISCHARGES
The ideal water level in Lake Okeechobee is between 12-15 feet. When it rises above 16 feet, water managers begin considering discharging at volumes that can damage the ecology of the coastal estuaries. High-volume coastal discharges for extended periods of time can create catastrophic salinity imbalances, destroy foundational seagrasses and oysters, transport toxic blue-green algae downstream, and exacerbate red tide blooms on the coast. In 2016 and 2018, that’s exactly what happened, decimating critical habitat, killing thousands of tons of marine life, and costing hundreds of millions of dollars to the economy of south Florida.
RED TIDE + BLUE-GREEN ALGAE
Red tide and blue-green algae are Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). They’re harmful because they both produce toxins that can kills animals and affect humans, and they’re harmful because they can create major negative economic impacts. Red tide forms offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and blooms in near-shore saltwater, and blue-green algae thrives in warm freshwater. But when high-volume discharges from Lake Okeechobee push toxic blue-green algae out into coastal red tide blooms, that’s when the perfect storm of water-quality conditions creates a statewide crisis. A recent study from UF showed that high-volume discharges from Lake O can intensify existing red tide blooms.
BAD WATER COSTS BILLIONS
In South Florida, our way of life, our livelihoods, and our economy all depend on clean water and healthy coasts. Without clean water, our communities suffer. In fact, a 2024 study found that harmful water-quality events have MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR impacts. The study found that in the event of a future major Harmful Algal Bloom event, southwest Florida would would lose over $460 million in commercial and recreational fishing, over 43,000 jobs, $5.2 billion in local economic output, $17.8 billion in property values, and $8.1 billion in the value of outdoor recreation.
WATER QUALITY RESOURCES
The Florida Department of Health Poison Hotline 800-222-1222 is available to answer any questions related to Red Tide health impacts or concerns.
SIGHTS SET ON THE SOLUTION
The long-term solution to reduce the harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee and stop compounding the issues that impact our coasts is Everglades restoration.
Through critical infrastructure projects like the EAA Reservoir, Everglades restoration is a science-based effort that will send more beneficial water south from the lake to the Everglades, thereby significantly reducing the harmful discharges to the coasts. The Everglades and Florida Bay desperately need the water the EAA Reservoir will convey.
Everglades restoration will provide relief, but it’s a massive, long-term project that will still take years more to complete. We need as many people as possible involved in this fight to ensure these solutions reach the finish line ASAP without delays or bureaucratic holdups.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Awareness
Spread the word! Help us generate more awareness around Florida’s water issues.
Education
Learn more about the problems and solutions so you can be empowered to take action.
Advocacy
There will come a time when your voice is CRITICAL, we’ll ask you to join us in making a difference.
SIGHTS SET ON THE SOLUTION
The long-term solution to reduce the harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee and stop compounding the issues that impact our coasts is Everglades restoration.
Through critical infrastructure projects like the EAA Reservoir, Everglades restoration is a science-based effort that will send more beneficial water south from the lake to the Everglades, thereby significantly reducing the harmful discharges to the coasts. The Everglades and Florida Bay desperately need the water the EAA Reservoir will convey.
Everglades restoration will provide relief, but it’s a massive, long-term project that will still take years more to complete. We need as many people as possible involved in this fight to ensure these solutions reach the finish line ASAP without delays or bureaucratic holdups.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Awareness
Spread the word! Help us generate more awareness around Florida’s water issues.
Education
Learn more about the problems and solutions so you can be empowered to take action.
Advocacy
There will come a time when your voice is CRITICAL, we’ll ask you to join us in making a difference.
DONATE TO SUPPORT THE CRITICAL WORK WE DO TO SAFEGUARD WATER QUALITY
OUR PROGRAMS CREATING PROGRESS
Through our Advocacy, Education, and Outreach programs, we engage our supporters to advance science-based solutions that solve Florida’s water mismanagement and safeguard our way of life for future generations.
ADVOCACY
EDUCATION
OUTREACH
HAVE QUESTIONS?
In its natural state, Lake Okeechobee’s southern banks would overflow from summer rains, providing a critical flow of freshwater into America’s Everglades. 100 years ago, the lake was dammed, ditched, and diked, cutting off that flow south. Now, when summer rains fill the lake to levels that threaten the structural integrity of the dike, manmade canals to the east and west coasts become the primary relief outlets. This deprives the Everglades of beneficial fresh water and can result in damaging, high-volume discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers.
We need to restore the historical flow of Lake O water, sending it south to be stored, cleaned, and flowed to the Everglades and Florida Bay where it’s desperately needed.
There are barriers to flow, such as roads and dams, a need for improved infrastructure, such as reservoirs and stormwater treatment areas, and political challenges to conquer. There is a plan (Everglades Restoration), but it requires completion of decades-long projects to store, clean, and send excess Lake O water south to the Everglades—and there are special interests that fight tooth and nail to delay progress and maintain the self-benefitting status quo.
The solution is called Everglades restoration, as approved by Congress in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) in 2000. CERP is a framework for restoring, protecting and preserving the greater Everglades ecosystem (Orlando to the Florida Keys) through a suite of infrastructure projects that store, clean, and send excess Lake O water south through the Everglades. The plan is a 50-50 partnership between the State of Florida and the federal government.
Everglades restoration progress is happening at record pace! Momentum has continued thanks to public engagement on water issues and the leadership of Governor DeSantis. The cornerstone project, the EAA Reservoir, just broke ground in February 2023 and will be the single most effective project for reducing harmful discharges and sending water south. Learn the latest on Everglades restoration progress in the 2023 South Florida Environmental Report (SFER) by the South Water Management District (SFWMD).
LOSOM is expected to be implemented in the summer of 2024, however, it will take a full water year before we begin to see the benefits of the new plan.
Microcystis is a type of toxic cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, that lives in freshwater bodies. It is commonly found in Lake Okeechobee, and in the water discharged into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers. Blooms occur when the water is warm, stagnant, and rich in nutrients. Lake Okeechobee has high nutrient levels, so when the water warms up, it creates the perfect environment for blooms.
Visit DEP’s website https://floridadep.gov/algalbloom to see updated information on algae blooms on Lake O and other waterbodies in Florida.
When large concentrations of Florida red tide (Karenia Brevis) form blooms, it can discolor the water to appear red or brown, creating what is referred to as ‘red tide.’ Red tide is a marine dinoflagellate that feeds on nutrients like nitrogen, and can take advantage of excess nutrients in the water to multiply. Typically, blooms develop offshore, but can be brought inshore by currents and winds. When blooms are transported inshore, human-generated nutrient pollution can intensify them, like throwing fuel on a fire.
Karenia Brevis produces neurotoxins that can sicken or kill fish, seabirds, turtles and marine mammals. Toxins can also affect humans, causing respiratory irritation if toxins are inhaled, and skin and/or eye irritation by contact. It can also cause shellfish poisoning if shellfish contaminated with toxins are consumed.
Once inshore, red tide blooms can feed on human-generated nutrient pollution to fuel their growth. These excess nutrients can come from nutrient-loaded Lake Okeechobee discharges, stormwater runoff, agricultural runoff, fertilizer entering the waterways, inadequate sewage/wastewater infrastructure, and other contributors.
Scientists from Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation and University of Florida’s Center for Coastal Solutions recently published a study confirming that Lake O discharges intensify coastal red tide blooms. These high-volume discharges inundate the Caloosahatchee estuary with nitrogen-loaded freshwater and toxic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) that supercharges red tide blooms to unnatural intensity and duration
The SCCF/UF study serves as a valuable step forward by providing the scientific evidence needed to pursue opportunities to reduce coastal bloom intensity, duration, and, perhaps, frequency through strategic watershed nutrient management and Lake discharge operations. However, such strategies cannot be expected to eliminate blooms altogether, since offshore initiation and shoreward transport of blooms is well documented (e.g., Weisberg et al., 2019). Further investigation and modeling will be needed to quantify the extent to which policy and management interventions within the watershed can be expected to provide relief. (source: SCCF/UF study)
Captains For Clean Water is primarily focused on expediting Everglades restoration in order to reduce harmful Lake O discharges and send the water south to the Everglades where it’s needed. With our powerful army of supporters, we advocate for state and federal funding to expedite Everglades restoration progress, advance effective water policy, and ensure policy makers keep water quality a priority by creating public pressure to hold them accountable
Get involved. There is no silver bullet solution to red tide or water quality issues which is why it’s critical to complete Everglades restoration as quickly as possible. That requires involvement from people like yourself who care about the state of our water, getting involved and speaking up when we have the opportunity to influence progress or water policy outcomes.
Sign up for our “Action Alerts” to be notified of action opportunities where your voice is needed – Email Alerts.
Donate to support our mission to continue fighting to restore and protect our waters.
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LOST SUMMER: A YEAR OF COASTAL CATASTROPHE
June 1, 2018 – High volume, toxic discharges began from Lake Okeechobee at volumes more than DOUBLE the harm threshold for the coastal estuaries.
Toxic blue-green algae was present on the Lake at this time.
The 2018 Aftermath – The management of Lake O in 2018 had a devastating impact on Southwest Florida’s tourism economy and fishery – University of Florida reported $184 million in direct losses to the tourism industry in FL. Local businesses from boat captains to restauranteurs to hoteliers suffered, some having to close their doors for good. Irreversible environmental damage meant a slow recovery for the species impacted in 2018.
Sept. 2017 – Hurricane Irma rainfall increased Lake Okeechobee water levels by 6ft.
By October red tide was present off the West coast of Florida – a presence that persisted a lengthy 17 months.
The Solution – Everglades Restoration is the science-based solution to never repeating our devastating history of 2018. Restoring the flow of water from Lake O south to the Everglades versus dumping East and West will restore balance to all 3 estuaries. Your involvement is critical. Use your voice and encourage others to get involved in the fight.
May 2018 – Florida received above average rainfall of approximately 12.77″ versus the normal seasonal rainfall of 2.64″ significantly contributing to the already increased Lake O water levels.
Red Tide Super Bloom – That summer, a red tide bloom intensified, killing thousands of tons of baitfish, game fish, sea turtles, manatees, dolphins, even a whale shark. Since this devastating collapse, scientists from SCCF and UF’s Center for Coastal Solutions published a study confirming that Lake O discharges intensify coastal red tide blooms leading to what has been referred to as a ‘super bloom’.
Sept. 2017 – Hurricane Irma rainfall increased Lake Okeechobee water levels by 6ft.
By October red tide was present off the West coast of Florida – a presence that persisted a lengthy 17 months.
May 2018 – Florida received above average rainfall of approximately 12.77″ versus the normal seasonal rainfall of 2.64″ significantly contributing to the already increased Lake O water levels.
June 1, 2018 – High volume, toxic discharges began from Lake Okeechobee at volumes more than DOUBLE the harm threshold for the coastal estuaries.
Toxic blue-green algae was present on the Lake at this time.
Red Tide Super Bloom – That summer, a red tide bloom intensified, killing thousands of tons of baitfish, game fish, sea turtles, manatees, dolphins, even a whale shark. Since this devastating collapse, scientists from SCCF and UF’s Center for Coastal Solutions published a study confirming that Lake O discharges intensify coastal red tide blooms. These high-volume discharges inundate the Caloosahatchee estuary with nitrogen-loaded freshwater and toxic cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) supercharging red tide blooms to unnatural intensity and duration.
The 2018 Aftermath – The management of Lake O in 2018 had a devastating impact on Southwest Florida’s tourism economy and fishery – University of Florida reported $184 million in direct losses to the tourism industry in FL. Local businesses from boat captains to restauranteurs to hoteliers suffered, some having to close their doors for good. Irreversible environmental damage meant a slow recovery for the species impacted in 2018.
The Solution – Everglades Restoration is the science-based solution to never repeating our devastating history of 2018. Restoring the flow of water from Lake O south to the Everglades versus dumping East and West will restore balance to all 3 estuaries. Your involvement is critical. Use your voice and encourage others to get involved in the fight.
GLOSSARY
The Central Everglades Planning Project (CEPP) is a component of CERP, consisting of projects and plans that create more capability for storage, treatment, and conveyance of water south of Lake Okeechobee to the central Everglades, Everglades National Park and Florida Bay while protecting the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries.
The federal arm of water management in South Florida’s ecosystem, charged with Lake Okeechobee management as well as executing the Federal government’s share of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
The South Florida Water Management District is a regional governmental agency that manages the water resources in the southern half of the state, also responsible for executing the state of Florida’s share of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan.
An area of over 1,000 square miles of former Everglades marsh now made up of about 700,000 acres of farmland, predominantly industrial sugarcane, directly south of Lake Okeechobee. The EAA utilizes Lake Okeechobee as a water supply for irrigation.
Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) are large, constructed wetlands with emergent and aquatic plants that remove and store nutrients to treat, or clean, polluted water.
South Florida’s three Water Conservation Areas (WCAs) are vast tracts of remnant Everglades marsh spanning approximately 864,000 acres, or more than 1,350 square miles, between the Everglades Agricultural Area and Everglades National Park.
Designed to contain the once free-flowing waters of Lake Okeechobee and provide flood control, the Herbert Hoover Dike is a 143-mile earthen dam that surrounds Lake Okeechobee, the heart of the Kissimmee-Okeechobee-Everglades system.
The goal and mantra of Everglades Restoration: to send more water from Lake Okeechobee south through the Everglades and all the way into Florida Bay where it once flowed naturally and unobstructed.
A long standing highway that runs from southwest Florida to Miami, bisecting the central Everglades and creating a significant barrier to beneficial flows south through the Everglades.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) occur when colonies of algae “grow out of control and produce toxic or harmful effects on people, fish, shellfish, marine mammals and birds.” The two most common HABs in Florida are Red Tide and Blue-Green Algae.
Red tide is caused by a marine dinoflagellate known as Karenia brevis. Blooms form offshore in the Gulf of Mexico, but when conditions are right, they can be moved onshore by upwellings, posing a toxic threat to coastal environments. Karenia Brevis produces neurotoxins that can sicken or kill fish, seabirds, turtles and marine mammals. Toxins can also affect humans, causing respiratory irritation if toxins are inhaled, and skin and/or eye irritation by contact. It can also cause shellfish poisoning if shellfish contaminated with toxins are consumed.
Microcystis, also known as blue-green algae, is a type of toxic cyanobacteria that lives in freshwater bodies. It is commonly found in Lake Okeechobee, and in the water discharged into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers. Blooms occur when the water is warm, stagnant, and rich in nutrients. Lake Okeechobee has high nutrient levels, so when the water warms up, it creates the perfect environment for blooms.
Nutrient pollution is the process where too many nutrients, mainly nitrogen and phosphorus, are added to bodies of water and can act like fertilizer, causing excessive growth of algae, including Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs).
Estuaries and their surrounding wetlands are bodies of water usually found where rivers meet the sea. Estuaries are home to unique plant and animal communities that have adapted to brackish water—a mixture of fresh water draining from the land and salty seawater. The Caloosahatchee River, St. Lucie River, and Florida Bay are all estuaries.
Salinity is the dissolved salt content of a body of water. For estuaries like the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers, which depend on a balance of salt and fresh water, maintaining proper salinity levels is critical to the overall health of the system.
The Caloosahatchee River Estuary is located on Florida’s southwest coast and extends 105 km from Lake Okeechobee to San Carlos Bay, entering the Gulf of Mexico near Fort Myers, Florida. In its natural state, the river was not connected to Lake Okeechobee and originated near Lake Flirt, about 2 miles east of La Belle, Florida. But during the 1950’s, it was channelized and connected to Lake O through manmade canals.
The St. Lucie River is a 35-mile-long estuary that feeds into the Atlantic Ocean in Stuart, Florida. It is part of the larger Indian River Lagoon system, the most diverse estuarine environment in North America, with more than 4,000 plant and animal species. In its natural state, the river was not connected to Lake Okeechobee, but during the 1950’s, it was channelized and connected to Lake O through manmade canals.
Florida Bay is the bay located between the southern end of the Florida mainland (the Everglades) and the Florida Keys. It is a large, shallow estuary that while connected to the Gulf of Mexico, has limited exchange of water due to various shallow mudbanks covered with seagrass, so salinity balance in the bay—and overall ecological health of the system—depends on freshwater flows from the Everglades.
Generally June through November, when regular thunderstorms and tropical activity add a significant amount of rainfall across the Florida peninsula, swelling Lake Okeechobee levels.
Generally November through May, when rainfall averages are much lower across Florida. A time when Lake Okeechobee levels should be receding.