MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — For years we've been covering the issue of toxic algae on the Treasure Coast, and this heat provides fertile grounds for it to form again.
WATCH BELOW: 'It’ll come and go,' Mark Perry tells WPTV
WPTV’s Jon Shainman went out to Lake Okeechobee on Tuesday to see for himself, and talked with some of the environmentalists on some potential, positive moves to keep toxic water out of our estuaries.
In Canal Point, even the alligators seemed to pay heed to this warning sign of toxins in the water.
When the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) tested this site late last week, it registered 53 parts per billion of microcystin, six times more toxic than is safe for human contact.
Region Martin County
Martin County DOH warns public of potential blue-green algae in Lake Okeechobee
“It’ll come and go. It’ll come for one day then be not so bad the next day," said Mark Perry with the Florida Oceanographic Society.
Perry said this is the time of year for algal blooms, and you need to be aware when you’re in the water.
“We had a lot of rainfall locally that ran off from the basins into the waterways," said Perry. "That brings all the nutrients and pollution, which triggers the algae bloom."
The DEP says blue-green algae right now covers about 40% of the big lake.
Beyond toxic algae, new guidelines may keep any freshwater from Lake Okeechobee out of the St. Lucie Estuary for years.
Protecting Paradise
Department of Health says the presence of blue-green algae is at this lake
“Mainly because the lake is in a great spot," said Martin County Environmental Resource Manager John Maehl.
Maehl says the lake level met various benchmarks during the dry season, and right now sits at just under 12-feet.
That recovery mode, which allowed submerged vegetation to grow again, should prevent lake discharges east for five years under the new Lake Okeechobee Systems Operating Manual (LOSOM).
“Hurricane Irma unloaded about 3 feet on Lake O, so we could take a Hurricane Irma and still not have to be releasing," said Maehl.
No one hoping of course for a hurricane this season.
