Analysis: Lake Okeechobee discharges would make algae bloom in St. Lucie River
By Tyler Treadway
August 2, 2017
TC Palm
Thank God for salt.
Salty water is all that’s keeping potentially toxic blue-green algae from blooming in the St. Lucie River.
And what’s keeping the water salty? No massive discharges of freshwater from Lake Okeechobee.
Not yet, at least.
A massive algae bloom now covers much of Lake O, and discharges from the lake to the river would — no doubt — bring algae with the water.
That’s what happened last summer, but could it happen this summer?
3 out of 4
Four conditions are needed for algae to bloom in the river, and three of them are already in play:
- Long, hot days
In July, daylight hours averaged 13 hours, 36 minutes and the average high temperature was 89 degrees.
- Warm water temperatures
Water in the middle of the river off downtown Stuart was 84 degrees at 1 p.m. Wednesday, according to a remote-control LOBO monitor put there by Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. Algae thrives in water that’s at least 80 degrees.
- Lots of nutrients
Even without Lake O discharges, canals and the North Fork of the St. Lucie River dumped about 38 billion gallons of water into the river between Jan. 1 and July 20, according to South Florida Water Management District data crunched by Gary Goforth, a Stuart environmental engineer and former district employee.
All that water carries fertilizer runoff from the farmland the canals were built to drain.
- Fresh, or nearly salt-free, water
To continue reading: http://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/local/indian-river-lagoon/health/2017/08/02/whats-keeping-algae-bloom-out-st-lucie-your-kitchen-table/528901001/