Written By: Carrie Pinkard, Science Journalism Intern for USFCMS
Lisa Krimsky recently spoke at 黑料网吃瓜爆料College of Marine Science about Florida鈥檚 largest lake 鈥� Lake Okeechobee. Krimsky is a is a faculty member with the and the . She discussed the lake鈥檚 past, as well as what鈥檚 currently happening and what changes we might expect in the future. In case you missed her talk, here are five main takeaways.
1. Lake Okeechobee Has a Long History of Flooding
In the early 1900鈥檚 several plans were enacted to try to drain water out of Lake Okeechobee to the coasts. From 1905-1926 there was The Everglades Drainage District project. This project connected the Caloosahatchee river and the St Lucie River to Lake Okeechobee and allowed for a navigable waterway across the state.
Then came the Herbert Hoover Dyke, completed in 1937 that resulted in flood control improvements. It turns out these attempts to displace excess water were no match for hurricane season. Back to back hurricanes in 1947 left 90% of Southeast Florida underwater. At a loss for what to do next, Florida turned to the federal government for help. Congress then responded with the Central and South Florida Project to help with flood control, water supply, and wildlife protection.
鈥淚t created levees and flood control protection across Southeast Florida, and that it what allowed the populations in Miami-Dade county, Broward county, and Palm Beach county to exist today,鈥� Krimsky said of the project.
2. Lake Okeechobee Should be Called Reservoir Okeechobee
Because of the manmade structures we put in place to control water flow, Lake Okeechobee no longer drains as a normal lake. Before we installed the dam, water would naturally flow south in a very slow trickle down the state of Florida. Instead, now the lake acts as a reservoir. The 750-square-mile lake has to take on water from the 5,000-square-mile Kissimmee basin.
The inflow capacity to the lake far exceeds the outflow. The main sources of outflow the lake has are the Caloosahatchee river and St Lucie estuaries. The lake鈥檚 water levels are artificially managed by the US Army Corps of engineers, who have control over three dams surrounding Lake Okeechobee.
鈥淭hey have a map that tells them when they should be lowering lake levels for safety and when they should be keeping lake levels high for water supply,鈥� Krimsky said.
3. Water Management Has Impacted Lake Okeechobee鈥檚 Quality
As water was transported into Lake Okeechobee from surrounding areas, so were pollutants and harmful nutrients. Historically, water containing phosphorus from cattle farms flowed into the lake from the north while water containing nitrogen from sugar farming was pumped into the lake from the south. These nutrients have built up over the years and now exist in harmful levels.
The total phosphorus load within the lake is around 500 met