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Lake O discharges decimating precious sea grass

Posted at 7:00 PM, Dec 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-08 19:29:05-05

Since Hurricane Irma, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has discharged more than 100 billion gallons of water in the St. Lucie Estuary.

While we did not see any algae blooms, the releases are destroying a crucial plant.

At Stuart Causeway, fisherman John Webster sees it everyday.

"Ruin the fish," said Webster.

Brown-murky water that makes it harder to fish.

Mark Perry With Florida's Oceanographic Society says the murky water is preventing sunlight from getting to the sea grass which kills the plants.

Sea grass is food and habitat for a number of species.

"Inside the St. Lucie Inlet we've gone from about 400 acres to about 200 acres," said Perry.

That's bad news for the Treasure Coast.

"Sport-fishing, food fish, all of those things are vital to the economy," Perry.

He's working to replenish the sea grass as soon as possible.