Officials to let polluted farm water 'back flow' into Lake Okeechobee

[madfloridian]

I guess this is something they have to do, but it surely is sad. Terrible environmental decisions have been made in this state for years now. After the hurricanes they got worried about the condition of the dikes. They pumped billions of gallons of water from the lake from the lake after it filled up from the hurricanes.

Lake Okeechobee at record low from drought; billions of gallons of water drained after hurricanes.



This boat launch on Torry Island in Belle Glade at the southern tip of Lake Okeechobee has been rendered useless by the low water level. The Lake is on the brink of its lowest levels ever.
(Scott Fisher, Sun-Sentinel)
May 30, 2007

So now it has come down to this. They are going to allow polluted farm water into it.

Officials to let polluted farm water 'back flow' into Lake Okeechobee

Water managers on Thursday agreed to let polluted storm water that washes off farms flow into Lake Okeechobee, with the hopes of boosting water levels needed to irrigate drought-strained crops.

A month after rejecting "back-pumping" polluted storm water that drains off farms into the lake, the South Florida Water Management District Governing Board decided not to stop "back flows" — which involve opening drainage gates to let gravity carry a smaller amount of the same water into the lake.

Back-pumping offered the promise of raising the lake water but threatened to bring with it fertilizers and other pollutants that wash off farms south of the lake, leading to algae blooms and fish kills.

Back flows bring the same water but in much smaller quantities without the same environmental threats, said Governing Board Chairman Eric Buermann. Back flows are normal district water management operations and should be allowed to continue, Buermann said.

"It's a dribble," Buermann said. "It's a drop in a swimming pool."

Some of the comments are very interesting and angry. Well, actually extremely angry.

I saw this picture at Flickr, and the person who posted the picture was pointing out that nature had a way of dealing with times like this.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/msktthndr/513375682/

Drought has really drawn down the lake, but that's natural. All that new plant growth will help filter out pollutants when the water level comes back.

First they are going to add more pollutants. :shrug:

[lakeguy]

1. cant they just treat the water before it enters the lake

or is it too diffuse for that? a simple aluminum or iron treatment station and a large pond would remove nearly all of the phosphorus (and some other pollutants as well) from the incoming waters. they would need a pond to let the stuff settle out before it got to the lake though.