Preserving Paradise

SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

The Sanibel Lighthouse beach on Nov. 14.

Red seaweed at the Sanibel Lighthouse Beach Park on Nov. 14. SCCF: Water quality deteriorating after Ian and Nicole

The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation reported that conditions around Sanibel deteriorated quickly after the passing of Hurricane Nicole, with red tide blooming in high concentrations that have caused large swaths of fish kills on Sanibel beaches and substantial respiratory irritation to people breathing in the toxins. Red tide first began blooming after Hurricane Ian due to upwelling of nutrients from offshore and the substantial amounts of nutrient rich runoff from flooding and rainfall. Nicole hit Florida 43 days later and brought strong onshore winds that pushed the blooming red tide onshore. In addition to red tide, which is cause by microscopic phytoplankton called Karenia brevis, Nicole also pushed copious amounts of red seaweed on shore, according to the SCCF. Red seaweed is not considered toxic, but it can be a nuisance when pushed onshore, where it degrades and reintroduces nutrients back into the water, which can exacerbate the red tide bloom. When dead fish decompose in seawater, they also release nutrients back into the water, and rapid bacterial decomposition can create low oxygen zones that perpetuate the red tide bloom and cause additional stressors for marine life. The SCCF reported that the natural, although devastating, phenomena were caused by two sequential storms that caused upwelling followed by onshore

Images from Sanibel's beaches on Nov. 14.

SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

SCCF, Captains For Clean Water advocate against lake discharges

The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation reported that a new joint letter from it and Captains For Clean Water urges the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to refrain from authorizing additional releases from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee Estuary. Sent on Nov. 14, the letter comes as satellite imagery and water sampling indicate a red tide bloom along the Southwest Florida coast, including offshore from Sanibel and Captiva, with dead fish being washed up on multiple beaches. The SCCF reported that the harmful blooms were likely fueled by recent Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, which washed in high amounts of nutrients and pollutants through rain and runoff, as well as elevated the lake's water table. “We strongly urge the Corps to maintain (Lake Okeechobee) flows at the lower end of the optimal flow range of 750 cubic feet per second to ensure our coastal waters do not receive excess nutrients that could further feed the ongoing red tide bloom, ” the letter states. “Red tide is not caused by Lake O releases, but these releases and watershed runoff from Hurricane Ian will certainly fuel the intensity and duration of the present bloom. ” The SCCF reported that given wildlife and human health concerns from brevetoxins produced by red tide blooms, the letter asks the Corps to hold off on additional high-volume, nutrient-loaded discharges, despite higher-thannormal water levels in the lake. “Fishing guides and beach-goers are reporting dead baitfish, trout and mullet in Pine Island Sound and the surrounding barrier islands, ” the letter states. “Many have canceled charters and are also reporting breathing issues. ” As of Nov. 15, data from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute showed significant red tide patches from Manatee County down to Lee County, the SCCF reported. In addition to sickening or

See LAKE DISCHARGES, page 13

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Jacksonville District reported that beginning on Nov. 19, it would resume releases from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee Estuary from the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam (S-79) at a 14-day average pulse release of 1,200 cubic feet per second. No lake releases are planned for the St. Lucie Estuary. The target is right in the middle of the REstoration COordination & VERification (RECOVER) optimal flow envelope for the Caloosahatchee. Water from the lake will only be released in amounts needed to supplement local basin runoff to meet the target of 1,200 cfs, and the target is consistent with the recent recommendation from the South Florida Water Management District. “Lake Okeechobee has risen 3 feet in the past seven weeks due to Hurricanes Ian and Nicole, ” Jacksonville District Commander Col. James Booth said. “We had paused our releases for Hurricane Nicole and have not made releases since the storm. Based on conditions in the lake, we must begin releases to help manage lake levels. We have worked together with our partners and stakeholders to understand how lake releases could affect conditions in the Caloosahatchee River Estuary at this time. We are making our decision looking ahead toward next wet season and are developing a seasonal strategy where we aim to manage lake levels by making beneficial releases to the extent possible. To curtail the high-volume releases that our plan calls for right now, we are going to utilize our make-up release tool which allows us to make releases at lower levels and bank the volume not released. ” Make-up releases are a water management tool within the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule 2008 (LORS08), which allow water managers to bank releases not made in order to release them later when the schedule calls for lower releases. LORS08 Part D guidance currently recommends up to 4,000 cfs at S-77 and up to 1,800 cfs at S-80. The volumetric difference between actual releases and the guidance will be put into a water bank. As conditions in the estuaries recover and the schedule goes into dry season mode, releases will be continued using the available volume of banked water. The intent is to release the volume at beneficial levels in the dry season. The Corps reported that it is committed to transparency throughout the implementation of make-up releases. With the lake over 16 feet as of Nov. 18, the Corps has been executing inspections of the south side of the lake from Moore Haven to Belle Glade every two weeks. Once the lake reaches 16.5 feet, the frequency of inspections on the south side of the lake will increase to weekly and the remainder of the dike will begin receiving inspections every two weeks. HHD was inspected thoroughly before and after Ian and Nicole, and no problems were identified. As of Nov. 18, Lake Okeechobee was 16.30 feet. That is 0.16 feet higher than the prior week, 0.94 feet higher than 30 days ago, and 0.3 feet higher than it was on the same day last year.

Lake discharges From page 12

killing fish, birds, turtles and marine mammals, red tide blooms can also cause respiratory irritation in humans, skin and eye irritation by direct contact, and shellfish poisoning if contaminated shellfish are consumed. The SCCF noted that a 2022 paper from it and the University of Florida demonstrated a connection between Southwest Florida’s red tide blooms in 2018 and excess nutrients from lake discharges. “Our communities in Southwest Florida have been devastated by Hurricane Ian, ” SCCF Chief Executive Officer James Evans said. “We do not need harmful freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee fueling red tide and compounding the impacts that we are already experiencing. ” Scientists from the SCCF Marine Laboratory were set to join Captains for Clean Water last week on a water sampling trip to gather additional data about the scope and intensity of local red tide blooms. “The red tide situation is deteriorating quickly. Fishing guides are reporting dead fish inshore, offshore and on the beaches, canceling what few charters they had post-Ian, ” Captains For Clean Water co-founder and Executive Director Capt. Daniel Andrews said. “Our battered community cannot afford another major red tide event like we had in 2018. Lake O is a loaded gun — we urge the Army Corps not to pull the trigger. ” To read the letter, visit https://www.sccf.org/downloadable-files/6373c55b0dd2f9cf1e92c9c1.pdf. To send an email asking Corps Jacksonville District Commander Col. James Booth to hold off on releasing water from Lake Okeechobee until the threat of red tide has passed, visit https://p2a.co/wVMwhRp. For more information about red tide, visit https://www.sccf.org/water-quality/red-tide-resources. For the Harmful Algal Bloom forecast, visit https://habforecast.gcoos.org/.

SANIBEL-CAPTIVA CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

The beach at the Sanibel Lighthouse on Nov. 14.

Water quality From page 12

winds, and they were worsened by nutrient rich runoff. Although nutrients from Lake Okeechobee water releases have been found to contribute to feeding red tide, lake releases during this period have been minimal, with most water coming from the watershed. No releases have been made from the lake since Nicole hit, and flows to S-79 have been in the 14-day average optimal flow envelope (7502,100 cubic feet per second) for 21 days since the recovery of high flows during Ian. As of Nov. 16, Lake Okeechobee levels were at their highest point this year (16.22 feet), and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was considering making releases from the lake to protect its ecology and so that levels are low enough when the wet season begins next summer, according to the SCCF. The SCCF has requested that the Corps keep releases to the Caloosahatchee Estuary within the lower end of the optimal flow envelope and consider other outlets from the lake for releases while the red tide bloom is raging off the coast adjacent to the mouth of the Caloosahatchee. The SCCF reported that it should help to minimize the nutrient loading to the area and provide time to see how the bloom unfolds.