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Fall 2003 - V.18 N.3 Table of Content	Lake Okeechobee Water Releases from TCPalm and other sources
News Around the Lagoon Cape Canaveral Hospital Moves One Step Closer to Filling Banana River 30% of Lagoon Dolphin Suffer Skin Disease 12 Water Projects Funded EPA Allows Florida to Pollute Drinking Water 800 Dolphins and Whales Dying in Nets Nitrogen Associated with Sewage Found in Ocean Seaweed Advisory wants to take north Florida's Water to Supply south Florida Growth Muck Removal Delayed to Late 2004 Army Corp. Studies Lagoon Problems Lake Okeechobee Water Releases Merger Expected to Reduce Growth Management Development impact Fees Results in Job Growth Runoff Cause Cattails Spread in Everglades Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festivals U.S Fish and Wildlife considers New Manatees Zones in Florida Environmentalists Sue to Restrict Weed Killer Wastewater Carried Towards in the Keys Florida Keys at Risk Bioluminescent Algae in the Ocean Sea Urchins Infesting the Reefs On the Lagoon with Captain Rodney Smith	Early August, more than 5,000 gallons per second of freshwater from Lake Okeechobee were released into the St. Lucie River due to high water levels in the lake. The South Florida Management District discharges lake water to the estuaries even when its regulation schedule doesn't call for it if hurricane season is approaching. Prolonged high water levels in the lake have starved submerged plants for sunlight, fostered the growth of algae blooms, and inhibited rejuvenation of marine life. Water has been regularly released for the past several months, hurting the marine life of the estuary. Lowering the salinity of the St. Lucie River kills oysters and impacts sea grasses. No more water can be moved south to the water conservation areas because they are already full. A draft resolution has been proposed to allow smaller scale pulse releases during the wet season to avoid the heavy discharges that devastated the St. Lucie River in 1998. The Rivers Coalition voted to sue state water regulators to stop the polluting discharges.An MRC workshop on the Okeechobee discharges will be held Sept. 29th 6:30 PM at the Blake Library; 2351 SE Monterey Rd in Stuart. A panel of experts including Dean Powell of the Water Management District, Ann Forstchen of DEP, Mark Perry of FOS and Leon Abood from the Rivers Coalition will discuss if the discharges could have been avoided and if the impacts are as bad as previous discharges. Next Article: Merger Expected to Reduce Growth Management

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