Toxic Algae blooms

How many signs do we need to get our priorities right. I remember as a kid that sewage was poured into rivers through dual storm and sewer systems when high rain volume would flood our rivers with untreated sewage as algae would bloom and choke out marine life as dead fish surfaced and phosphates caused foam in any moving water. Then a Republican who the nation has used as their doormat signed the clean water act and we began pouring resources into building tertiary sewage treatment and separating aging sewer and storm sewers......we identified the problem, we worked across the aisle, and we solved the problem, but now big oil, coal, and MIC have the coalition of evil which simply knows that they must band together in this evil cabal to control a region of this nation which wants to abolish the federal government or to block any attempt to govern, allow war to be exported, the creation of a police state, and the politics of fear and hate......no these algae blooms are indicative of how foul this nation has become because we refuse to address the problems.

Polution was always the correct cause... it just didn't allow as wide a latitude of control as the climate apocalypse.

I'm sure you are familiar with Lake Okeechobee which is a huge, shallow lake in central Florida. The average depth is only about nine feet. Runoff from surrounding farmlands causes the lake to be ultra rich in nutrients.

To prevent flooding, more water than usual was recently released which has caused the algae bloom in the SE.

What Markle has posted is also my understanding of what happened in SE FL.  The last I heard was that the flow of water from the lake was going to be slowed, in an effort to reduce the algae.  (Unfortunately I didn't hear the word "eliminate.") Haven't checked back on that story to see if any progress has been made, but I sure hope so, as it's been a disaster for residents, visitors and businesses down there.

I do have to say I think it's rather sad that every single untoward event that happens in this nation has to come under some grand, sordid conspiracy theory.  Sometimes shit happens, and that's in any society in the world, and sometimes, if not an act of Nature, it's just plain human ignorance or stupidity, poor planning and/or lack of foresight.

The agricultural source of nutrients is less than the development nutrients which have turned former wetlands into huge condo developments and golf courses. I actually talked to a campground on the lake for last winter and we talked about how fouled the river had become which feeds Fort Meyer beaches, and researched this issue as the lake is screwed with the uncontrolled rampant development of south Florida.......about half the agricultural land remains as uncontrolled development has destroyed water quality. We decided that we would use some property in Santa Rosa County......but the hell of this week has me thinking I should have been like most smart people looking at the lakes and hills of Kentucky where people actually have common sense and not as much need to prove who can be stupid.

For anyone who cares: The Gulf waters off Pensacola Beach were spectacularly beautiful today. I still noted a few leftover patches of June Grass at various intervals here and there, but that's entirely normal for this time of year and did not in any way interfere with everyone's obvious enjoyment of our clear emerald green waters.