Photo: Lake Okeechobee discharges meet Gulf waters in 2016
A letter from our Co-Founder, Capt. Daniel Andrews: Looking back on past “lost summers,” and focusing forward on why we must fight for continued progress to end them.
It’s been 5 years since we’ve seen a sustained, high-volume, damaging discharge event from Lake Okeechobee to the coasts. During that last Lost Summer of 2018, a torrent of toxic Lake Okeechobee water was flushed to the east and west coasts through manmade canals for months.
From June through September, discharges in the damaging range transported toxic blue-green algae and nutrient pollution to the coasts, creating a human health issue, supercharging red tide blooms, and devastating the estuaries.
It was an ecological and economic crisis. Seagrasses, oysters, and other critical habitat were destroyed, and marine life was decimated, including whale sharks, goliath grouper, tarpon, snook, sea turtles, manatees, and millions more.
It was a state of emergency, and it crippled our communities, shuttering tourism and closing the doors of many businesses.
An economic impact study by the University of Florida conservatively estimated that the 2018 event led to a direct impact of approximately $184 million in local tourism dollars alone. Real estate value also plummeted and charter/for-hire businesses averaged a 61% decrease in revenue when red tide was present in their areas.
The summer of 2016 played out a similar nightmare. 2013 too. All because of a disconnection of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, and the redirection of that water through unnatural connections to the coasts.
When that water is redirected through those heavy discharges, all of south Florida suffers.
Since then, we’ve been lucky enough to avoid such crippling water-quality events. Partially due to an emerging statewide premium on “getting the water right,” partially due to progress on Everglades restoration, and partially due to the hand dealt by the weather.
But with Lake Okeechobee levels steadily approaching critical mass, we could be looking at significant discharges later this season. Right now, coastal releases from the lake are minimal, but if levels continue to rise, water managers will have to release the water somewhere to prevent failure of the dike.
Without Everglades restoration complete yet, they’ll only have one option: to discharge the polluted water to the east and west coasts through unnatural, manmade connections and canals.
Emphasis on UNNATURAL!
So how did we get here? Why do we have to worry every year whether we’re going to experience these devastating events?
The modern Everglades system looks vastly different than it once did. Its natural southerly flow of water from Lake Okeechobee through the Everglades and into Florida Bay no longer moves freely—it now faces 21st-century barriers.
In the early 1900’s, the Everglades were dammed, ditched, and diked, significantly changing the landscape and hydrology of the region. Over the following decades, an essential flow of water south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades was cut off, and the core of the River of Grass was replaced by industrial sugar farms.
This re-engineering of the landscape eventually led to a status quo where the lake was held at higher levels than necessary to ensure a secure irrigation supply for the increasing demands of sugar farms south of the lake. Then, seasonally, when lake levels rose too high, summer rains grew too heavy, and irrigation demand was scarce, the standard practice became discharging the water to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers.
Now, the Everglades only receives about a third of its historic flow, and the water that once flowed south either holds in the lake or is often redirected through damaging discharges to the east and west coasts.
Seen as progress in the day, those unnatural connections to the coasts were relief valves for the lake. Today, that progress plagues us. It’s created a recurring situation where the coasts can get destroyed by the very water that the Everglades and Florida Bay need but don’t get. It’s a lose-lose.
And when those relief valves get opened full bore, it takes an already stressed ecosystem from decades of mismanagement and drives it over the edge. It’s like ordering tequila shots for the guy who’s already had a few too many beers—it’s going to make a bad situation A LOT worse.
How much more can these ecosystems take before they reach a point of no return? How many more rounds before it’s last call forever?
We certainly didn’t want to sit around and find out. That’s why we started Captains For Clean Water, and that’s why we exist today—to fix the discharges and restore the Everglades.
Without those discharges, we wouldn’t be here. We’d still be guiding, fishing, paddling, cruising, and exploring, still pursuing our passions on the water, rather than fighting to preserve the water that fuels our passions.
We’d much rather be doing that. We wish we didn’t have to deal with the discharges. You shouldn’t have to deal with them.
We believe that people CAN make a difference. We believe people CAN fix the wrongs of the past and CAN help restore our waterways for generations to enjoy. Our mission is to make sure we all get there as quickly as possible.
The discharges are the game changer. When those gates open and our coastal estuaries turn into dumping grounds for polluted water, it wipes out habitat and flushes toxic algae into populated communities.
A 2022 scientific study by the University of Florida’s Center for Coastal Solutions and Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation also concluded that those discharges can intensify red tides—the dreaded Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) that can shut down entire communities, replacing beachgoers with beached whale sharks and tons of dead marine life.
Thankfully, the solution to these issues is no secret, and the road to success is straight forward: complete Everglades restoration and improve Lake Okeechobee operations so that flows in the south-Florida system can return closer to NATURAL.
By storing, cleaning, and sending more water south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, we can significantly cut out the damaging coastal discharges and rehydrate the River of Grass, the essence of the Everglades.
Large-scale restoration infrastructure projects, like the EAA Reservoir Project, and better Lake Okeechobee operations plans, like LOSOM, will help us take the biggest bite out of this issue. In this world of infinite variables and unpredictable weather, activating those priorities are the few “levers” that we can actually control to a large degree.
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) has been planned, scientifically vetted, and approved at all levels of government for more than two decades.
We’ve seen record progress on the effort in recent years, but there is still a long road to go, so we must keep pushing.
Moving forward hinges on two major things: continued state-and-federal funding year after year to ensure long-term restoration projects stay on track; and ongoing political will to prioritize restoration efforts at all levels of government.
Without those two things, momentum will slow, progress will stagnate, and our waters will suffer. We must ensure the movement keeps racing in the right direction.
Doing so will benefit all of south-Florida’s waters, including the Everglades, Florida Bay, the coastal estuaries, and Lake Okeechobee itself.
Leveraging restoration and operations to implement more natural flows will improve freshwater balance in the Everglades and Florida Bay, reduce damaging discharges to the coasts, and maintain the lake at healthier, more ecologically beneficial levels. Win-win-win.
The alternative, of course, is largely a losing game for everyone (spare a few special interests). We must change the game—the future of our treasured waters depends on it.
Sincerely,
Capt. Daniel Andrews, Co-Founder & Executive Director
Help us end future “lost summers!” Sign our petition to ramp up Everglades restoration by expediting the new Lake Okeechobee operations plan (LOSOM) and securing sufficient federal funding for restoration infrastructure projects.
A letter from our Co-Founder, Capt. Daniel Andrews: Looking back on past “lost summers,” and focusing forward on why we must fight for continued progress to end them.
It’s been 5 years since we’ve seen a sustained, high-volume, damaging discharge event from Lake Okeechobee to the coasts. During that last Lost Summer of 2018, a torrent of toxic Lake Okeechobee water was flushed to the east and west coasts through manmade canals for months.
From June through September, discharges in the damaging range transported toxic blue-green algae and nutrient pollution to the coasts, creating a human health issue, supercharging red tide blooms, and devastating the estuaries.
It was an ecological and economic crisis. Seagrasses, oysters, and other critical habitat were destroyed, and marine life was decimated, including whale sharks, goliath grouper, tarpon, snook, sea turtles, manatees, and millions more.
It was a state of emergency, and it crippled our communities, shuttering tourism and closing the doors of many businesses.
An economic impact study by the University of Florida conservatively estimated that the 2018 event led to a direct impact of approximately $184 million in local tourism dollars alone. Real estate value also plummeted and charter/for-hire businesses averaged a 61% decrease in revenue when red tide was present in their areas.
The summer of 2016 played out a similar nightmare. 2013 too. All because of a disconnection of water from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, and the redirection of that water through unnatural connections to the coasts.
When that water is redirected through those heavy discharges, all of south Florida suffers.
Since then, we’ve been lucky enough to avoid such crippling water-quality events. Partially due to an emerging statewide premium on “getting the water right,” partially due to progress on Everglades restoration, and partially due to the hand dealt by the weather.
But with Lake Okeechobee levels steadily approaching critical mass, we could be looking at significant discharges later this season. Right now, coastal releases from the lake are minimal, but if levels continue to rise, water managers will have to release the water somewhere to prevent failure of the dike.
Without Everglades restoration complete yet, they’ll only have one option: to discharge the polluted water to the east and west coasts through unnatural, manmade connections and canals.
Emphasis on UNNATURAL!
So how did we get here? Why do we have to worry every year whether we’re going to experience these devastating events?
The modern Everglades system looks vastly different than it once did. Its natural southerly flow of water from Lake Okeechobee through the Everglades and into Florida Bay no longer moves freely—it now faces 21st-century barriers.
In the early 1900’s, the Everglades were dammed, ditched, and diked, significantly changing the landscape and hydrology of the region. Over the following decades, an essential flow of water south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades was cut off, and the core of the River of Grass was replaced by industrial sugar farms.
This re-engineering of the landscape eventually led to a status quo where the lake was held at higher levels than necessary to ensure a secure irrigation supply for the increasing demands of sugar farms south of the lake. Then, seasonally, when lake levels rose too high, summer rains grew too heavy, and irrigation demand was scarce, the standard practice became discharging the water to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers.
Seen as progress in the day, those unnatural connections to the coasts were relief valves for the lake. Today, that progress plagues us. It’s created a recurring situation where the coasts can get destroyed by the very water that the Everglades and Florida Bay need but don’t get. It’s a lose-lose.
And when those relief valves get opened full bore, it takes an already stressed ecosystem from decades of mismanagement and drives it over the edge. It’s like ordering tequila shots for the guy who’s already had a few too many beers—it’s going to make a bad situation A LOT worse.
How much more can these ecosystems take before they reach a point of no return? How many more rounds before it’s last call forever?
We certainly didn’t want to sit around and find out. That’s why we started Captains For Clean Water, and that’s why we exist today—to fix the discharges and restore the Everglades.
Without those discharges, we wouldn’t be here. We’d still be guiding, fishing, paddling, cruising, and exploring, still pursuing our passions on the water, rather than fighting to preserve the water that fuels our passions.
We’d much rather be doing that. We wish we didn’t have to deal with the discharges. You shouldn’t have to deal with them.
We believe that people CAN make a difference. We believe people CAN fix the wrongs of the past and CAN help restore our waterways for generations to enjoy. Our mission is to make sure we all get there as quickly as possible.
The discharges are the game changer. When those gates open and our coastal estuaries turn into dumping grounds for polluted water, it wipes out habitat and flushes toxic algae into populated communities.
A 2022 scientific study by the University of Florida’s Center for Coastal Solutions and Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation also concluded that those discharges can intensify red tides—the dreaded Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) that can shut down entire communities, replacing beachgoers with beached whale sharks and tons of dead marine life.
Thankfully, the solution to these issues is no secret, and the road to success is straight forward: complete Everglades restoration and improve Lake Okeechobee operations so that flows in the south-Florida system can return closer to NATURAL.
By storing, cleaning, and sending more water south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades, we can significantly cut out the damaging coastal discharges and rehydrate the River of Grass, the essence of the Everglades.
Large-scale restoration infrastructure projects, like the EAA Reservoir Project, and better Lake Okeechobee operations plans, like LOSOM, will help us take the biggest bite out of this issue. In this world of infinite variables and unpredictable weather, activating those priorities are the few “levers” that we can actually control to a large degree.
The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) has been planned, scientifically vetted, and approved at all levels of government for more than two decades.
We’ve seen record progress on the effort in recent years, but there is still a long road to go, so we must keep pushing.
Moving forward hinges on two major things: continued state-and-federal funding year after year to ensure long-term restoration projects stay on track; and ongoing political will to prioritize restoration efforts at all levels of government.
Without those two things, momentum will slow, progress will stagnate, and our waters will suffer. We must ensure the movement keeps racing in the right direction.
Doing so will benefit all of south-Florida’s waters, including the Everglades, Florida Bay, the coastal estuaries, and Lake Okeechobee itself.
Leveraging restoration and operations to implement more natural flows will improve freshwater balance in the Everglades and Florida Bay, reduce damaging discharges to the coasts, and maintain the lake at healthier, more ecologically beneficial levels. Win-win-win.
The alternative, of course, is largely a losing game for everyone (spare a few special interests). We must change the game—the future of our treasured waters depends on it.
Sincerely,
Capt. Daniel Andrews, Co-Founder & Executive Director
Help us end future “lost summers!” Sign our petition to ramp up Everglades restoration by expediting the new Lake Okeechobee operations plan (LOSOM) and securing sufficient federal funding for restoration infrastructure projects.