One significant factor is
missing from state Sen. Joe Negron’s plan to build a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee and stop discharges to the St. Lucie River, say environmental scientists.
The water sent south to the Everglades has to be clean.
Negron’s plan unveiled Tuesday calls for water stored in a 60,000-acre reservoir to flow through existing man-made marshes, called stormwater treatment areas, en route to Everglades National Park. Right now, and during most rainy seasons when there are Lake O discharges, those stormwater treatment areas are full of water flowing off farmland south of the lake.
“When the reservoir is built, it’s got to be written into the operation schedule that water from the lake gets priority, or at least shares the STAs with water coming off the farmland,” said Mark Perry, executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart. “It’s got to be in black and white that only when all else fails that water is sent east to the St. Lucie River and west to the Caloosahatchee River.”
With that caveat, scientists say Negron’s plan will work.
To continue reading the story, please click on the link:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/indian-river-lagoon/health/sen-joe-negrons-plan-to-stop-lake-okeechobee-discharges-must-clean-everglades-bound-water–39b7ad3b–389781491.html