More evidence that ridding Lake Okeechobee of phosphorus has no simple answer.
What we've been doing for the past 30 years to control the flow and clean the water from the Kissimmee River Basin plain isn't working, according to a story in Wednesday's Okeechobee News.
"Data compiled since 1987 shows phosphorus loads going into Lake Okeechobee from the Kissimmee River basin are nowhere near the maximum target of 140 metric tons a year set by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection all those years ago," the News reports.
Have a look at the chart on this page: In 1987, 562 metric tons of phosphorus went into the lake. In 2013, the load was 569 tons. In 2014, 609 tons.
As you might imagine, extremely wet years are the worst: 2005 brought storms that resulted in 960 metric tons of phosphorus carried by flood water into Lake O.
Only drought years came anywhere near hitting the target -- and even those figures failed to meet the DEP maximum target. The 1997 phosphorus load -- lightest in the 30-year period -- was 167 metric tons.
I remember how much effort has gone into saving the lake from the chemical deluge from the North. Since 1987, the millions of dollars spent on restoring the Kissimmee River to its orignal winding path, for instance..
Don't forget, the Kissimmee, also known as "the fallen lady of Central Florida," is the largest source of water going into the lake. Channelization obliterated its wilderness beauty and abolished many of its natural values, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers turned the formerly scenic 105-mile river into a 50-mile ditch and Lake Okeechobee into a cesspool.
But here's the rub: Even when the project is complete, less than half of that channelization -- only 43 miles -- will be restored. Lots of people don't realize we're not going to get full restoration.
I also remember what a high price agriculture paid -- particularly dairy farms in the late 1980s, when the same residents in Lee and Martin counties fought mightily to get the DEP Dairy Rule put in place in 1987, and when other restrictions for nutrient loads in runoff went into effect for all kinds of agriculture. Residents had convinced state leaders that dairy farm runoff -- runoff that included an excess of cattle dung -- was the chief culprit.
Now look. As the Okeechobee News points out, of the 50 dairies that were previously in the watershed, only 19 remain. State Rep. Katie Edwards, D-Plantation -- whose family was among the victims -- has talked about it before a legislative committee. The other farms closed entirely or moved out of state, causing a loss of hundreds of jobs. The dairies that stayed made expensive changes in order to keep phosphorus-rich runoff out of the waterways by using retention ponds, sprayfields and confinement areas.
Costly lesson: It didn't work. Losing the farms, losing the cattle, losing the jobs -- it helped not a jot. The phosphorus loads remain high. Which is why I so often insist that science, not theory, drive the Legislature's action.
"Some researchers speculate the projects and best management practices are working," the newspaper says. "They point to the environmental beauty of the floodplain in the restored portions of the river, the reduction in the phosphorus content of water leaving farms, and the reduction in the number of dairy cattle in the basin.
"The problem is that while some phosphorus sources, such as farms, are targeted and addressed and have made progress, new sources of phosphorus have entered the watershed. Those new sources come in the form of the human population of the South Florida Water Management District, which has more than doubled in the past 30 years."
"Orlando/Kissimmee not only has more than 2 million residents, but also has more than 60 million visitors a year."
It's no wonder scientists at the University of Florida made their first priority adding reservoirs north of Lake Okeechobee.
This has been my point for a very long time -- in fact, long before I ever went to work for Sunshine State News -- and why I continue to pursue the story.
Reach Nancy Smith at nsith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith
Comments
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The Northern Everglades Lake
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