Polluted water may be heading into the St. Lucie Estuary soon and it's not coming from Lake Okeechobee.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is planning to send runoff from the St. Lucie Canal through the St. Lucie Locks in Stuart.
The Corps says the move is in anticipation of heavy rainfall coupled with rising lake levels.
On the Treasure Coast, people like Mike Conner are worried that rainwater runoff will make water quality worse on the St. Lucie River.
"Still have a lot of dirty water coming in from these canals so we don't need the C44 on top of that," said Conner.
The Corps says the lake just can't handle any more of the canal runoff.
John Campbell with the Corps says releases to the east are dependent solely on what happens in the near future.
"If that tropical wave were to dump 10 to 12 inches of rain on Martin County and cause a lot of water to collect in the St. Lucie Canal, then we would likely send that water to the east," said Campbell.
Just the thought of that is concerning for just about everyone, bringing back memories of 2016.
"Dirty water is a nutrient so it could make a bloom. It could," said Conner.
Lake levels still sit under 14 feet, but we are heading into peak hurricane season which concerns the Corps.
