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Lake Tohopekaliga, East Lake Begin Their Fall Toward Hurricane Season
Bill Graf/ SFWMD news room/ Mar 4
Both lakes offer the endangered bird its favorite prey – the apple snail – and suitable shoreline vegetation for nesting. But according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife research, the kites do better when water levels fall more slowly. Researchers also believe that starting the spring lowering of lake levels early in the nesting season may provide a cue to nesting kites, prompting an expectation of receding water.
Contaminated muck buried, piled near Lake Okeechobee
Andy Reid/ Sun-Sentinel/ Mar 6
The muck was buried or piled on land at least 17 feet above sea level and new guidelines cap the lake's water level at 17.25 feet
Lake Levels Kept High for Nesting Everglades Snail Kites
Environment News Service/ Mar 4
ORLANDO, Florida, March 4, 2008 (ENS) - The Everglades snail kite is getting some help nesting this year from the South Florida Water Management District. Each year, usually in the middle of March, the district begins to bring down the lakes of the Kissimmee Chain to create the flood storage necessary during the hurricane season, opening June 1.
Lake O too low for bass event
Karen Sorentrue/ Palm Beach Post/ Mar 2
The Palm Beach County Sports Commission has spent the last two years trying to reel in one of the largest bass fishing tours in the country.
Lake Toho treatment needed
Ed Killer/ TCPalm/ Feb 24
KISSIMMEE — Near Lanier Point on West Lake Tohopekaliga, a snail kite beats its wings just enough to hover above a thicket of bulrushes and sedges.
Water managers eye erosion as possible flood threat after drought
Robert King/ Palm Beach Post/ Feb 14
The board of the South Florida Water Management District today approved $32 million in emergency spending to shore up the threatened floodgates, which lie on the Kissimmee River several miles upstream of the lake.
Lake Okeechobee again hits record low for this time of year
AP/ Feb 12
Lake Okeechobee has again hit a record low.
Lake O may be 'headed for new record low'
Andy Reid/ Sun-Sentinel/ Feb 12
South Florida's water supply worries took another dubious dip Monday, when Lake Okeechobee dropped below 10 feet earlier in the dry season than ever before.
Bush budget: $77.4 million to repair Hoover Dike
Larry Lipman/ Palm Beach Post/ Feb 4
WASHINGTON — President Bush's budget calls for $77.4 million to rehabilitate the crumbling Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee.
Dike budget disappoints lawmakers
Larry Lipman/ Palm Beach Post/ Feb 5
Local members of Congress said Monday they are disappointed with President Bush's budget proposals for key South Florida projects.
Army Corps: Lake O Navigational Channel Getting Slim
TC Palm/ Feb 1
USACE Press Release
Lake Okeechobee's low level prompts renewed warning to boaters
Andy Reid/ Sun-Sentinel/ Feb 2
Lake Okeechobee's record-breaking drop in water level prompted the Army Corps of Engineers on Friday to renew a low-water warning to boaters who use the lake to travel back and forth between Florida's coasts.
New machine is fixing Lake O levee
Curtis Morgan/ Miami Herald/ Jan 24
Federal engineers are trying out a new, high-tech process to shore up the Lake Okeechobee levee.
New wall intended to fix Lake Okeechobee's aging dike
Andy Reid/ Sun-Sentinel/ Jan 24
A drill resembling a massive upside-down chain saw cut into Lake Okeechobee's aging dike Wednesday in a renewed push to protect South Florida from flooding.
Water pumps on Okeechobee to rescue?
Central Florida Outdoors/ Jan 22
Lake O has its limits
Palm Beach Post editorial/ Jan 14
Water managers prepare for even worse shortages
Curtis Morgan/ Miami Herald/ Jan 8
With Lake Okeechobee projected to plunge beneath the reach of existing supply gates and pipes, South Florida water managers Tuesday approved some $25 million in emergency actions, including new pumps capable of draining the lake to unprecedented lows.
Water agency to tap Lake O nearly to limit to help growers
Robert King/ Palm Beach Post/ Jan 9
In their latest salvo against drought, water managers are preparing to drain Lake Okeechobee almost to the dregs to keep irrigation supplies flowing to neighboring farms.
Solving pollution problem must begin north of Lake O
Letter to TCPalm / Veronica Pasquale/ Jan 6
In the Nov. 24 issue of the News, I noted an article, “Find the problem and fix it, say scientists about Lake Okeechobee” — a report on Lake O’s pollution problems by a team of international scientists “from the Netherlands to Montana.” Hardly inconsequential.
Forum to focus on fixing Lake O, preserving water supply
Andy Reid/ Sun-Sentinel/ Jan 1
Lake Okeechobee sits at an all-time low, but the thirst of nearby crops and a growing population continues to pull at what decades ago became South Florida's backup reservoir.
Lake O, funding go dry as water is wasted at sea
Palm Beach Post editorial/ Dec 27
While Lake Okeechobee remains at record low levels and drought continues through much of central South Florida, water managers sent 250 billion gallons of coastal runoff out to sea during the summer rainy season. They had no choice.
Rain lost to sea as Lake Okeechobee shrivels
Robert King/ Palm Beach Post/ Dec 21
Even amid a record-breaking drought, water managers' floodgates from Fort Pierce to Boca Raton dumped roughly 250 billion gallons of coastal runoff out to sea during this year's hurricane season, according to a Palm Beach Post analysis of water-flow data.
Disney Wilderness Preserve a little oasis
Tim Povtak/ Orlando Sentinel/ Dec 19
POINCIANA - Don't let the Disney name discourage you. Mickey Mouse won't be taking this hike anytime soon. If he does, he likely would become dinner for a red-shouldered hawk. There is nothing touristy about it.
Developer caught between rocks and a horse place
Jason Schultz/ Palm Beach Post/ Dec 18
Scherer said he has not contracted with any buyers, but he'd like to sell the rock to builders or to the state as base material for road projects or for repairs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs to make to the Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee.
Plug hole in dike repair
Palm Beach Post editorial/ Dec 19
With unprecedented water restrictions coming next month, some South Floridians may be praying for rain. Too much rain, however, could harm the weakened Herbert Hoover Dike around Lake Okeechobee.
Letter: Is maintaining St. Lucie canal wise, environmentally responsible?
Val Martin letter to TCPalm/ Dec 18
Let’s convert the canal right of way to a nationally recognized environmental restoration project by dredging all of the nasty silt in the river back into the canal from whence it came, seal the spillway gates and use the lock only when necessary to mimic historic basin storm-water runoff so necessary in order to balance the river’s ecosystem.
Polk County to discuss supporting Kissimmee River task force
Amy Edwards/ Orlando Sentinel/ Dec 16
Polk County commissioners could join about a half-dozen conservation groups in asking Gov. Charlie Crist to form a task force to study the Kissimmee River watershed.
Lake Okeechobee isn't a one-use ecosystem
Thom Rumberger/ Tallahassee Democrat/ Dec 16
Much has been made of government's decision last summer to not pump phosphorous-rich water into Lake Okeechobee. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson claims that this one decision — which some claim will deprive growers of some irrigation water — makes up $4 million of the $1 billion in losses expected to Florida's farm economy. Further, sugarcane farmers argue that sugar production (and presumably profits) may fall by 20 percent.
Avatar agrees to put Poinciana homes on hold
Daphne Sashin/ Orlando Sentinel/ Dec 9
KISSIMMEE - South Florida developer Avatar Holdings has agreed to temporarily shelve plans for thousands of homes beside an Osceola wilderness preserve and negotiate a possible sale of the land for conservation.
Scientists want water managers to take a regional approach to cleaning up rivers north of the Everglades
Andy Reid/ Sun-Sentinel/ Dec 2
Scientists want water going into South Florida checked and cleaned at its northern beginnings.
Drought's mixed bag for Lake Okeechobee
Byron Stout/ News-Press/ Nov 28 If the current drought were a move title, it would be "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly."
Kissimmee River flows toward its restoration
Daphne Sashin/ Orlando Sentinel/ Nov 25 A 13-year project looks to restore the stream of water to its original ecosystem of species.
Find the problem and fix it, say scientists about Lake Okeechobee
Andy Reid/ Sun Sentinel/ Nov 23 Clean up more of the dirty water pouring into Lake Okeechobee and find ways to better target a wider range of pollutants, a team of scientists told South Florida water managers in a report issued this month.
Editorial: Lake Okeechobee dike: Procrastination not an option
TCPalm editorial/ Nov 21 Latest report underscores ‘urgent, compelling’ need to repair Herbert Hoover Dike
Help for Lake Okeechobee Plan would reduce pollution from agricultural lands
Herald Tribune/ Nov 20 Lake Okeechobee suffers from a lack of rainfall over the past two years and, more than that, from agricultural pollution that has continued unabated for a century. The suffering extends to major Florida rivers and the Everglades.
Lake O plan open for comment; watering restrictions likely
Joel Moroney/ News-Press/ Nov 18 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened a final 30-day comment period on Friday for its plan to manage Lake Okeechobee at lower levels.
Florida Trail Association kicks off "Big O Hike" around Lake Okeechobee
Maria Hererra/ Sun-Sentinel/ Nov 18 Pahokee - The sun had not yet warmed the sugar cane fields that stretched across the horizon and a steady chilly breeze blew across Lake Okeechobee's vast surface.
Bradenton man takes off on nine-day hike
Herald Tribune/ Tom Becnel/ Nov 17 Opening day on The Big O draws 100 or even 200 hikers. After that it dwindles to the regulars.
Repair dike the right way
Palm Beach Post editorial/ Nov 10 Last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released yet another study of the Herbert Hoover Dike that surrounds Lake Okeechobee. The review, by independent experts whom the corps chose, agrees with previous studies: The 143-mile dike leaks and needs repairs. But the corps' plan to fix the dike, now considered a dam, has leaks of its own.
As Lake Okeechobee's level falls, more water curbs likely
Mike Clary/ Sun-Sentinel/ Nov 6 Already mired in drought, South Florida faces an annual dry season that promises to be even drier than normal, thanks to a cyclical Pacific Ocean phenomenon known as La Nina that scientists say is almost certain to lead to a historic low water level in Lake Okeechobee. One water official speculated that the water level could dip to 7 feet — almost 2 feet below the previous low.
Overhaul of water control structure set; Work under way at Nubbin Slough
News Zap/ Nov 1 Over the next few months, Okeechobee residents may notice large cranes atop the Herbert Hoover Dike at Nubbin Slough as the South Florida Water Management District’s Okeechobee Field Station performs major overhaul work on the S-191 water control structure.
Small bass declining in Lake Okeechobee
Orlando Sentinel/ Nov 1 Although big bass can be caught at Lake Okeechobee, the number of small bass in the lake has fisheries biologists worried.
Lake Okeechobee
