Originally published by The News-Press on November 3, 2022 by Chad Gillis The Lake Okeechobee drainage system is more likely to see a blue-green algal bloom next spring as a result of Hurricane Ian. Lt. Col. Todd Polk, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said Ian...
Originally published by WINK News on October 28, 2022 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said they will begin releasing Lake Okeechobee discharges into the Caloosahatchee River. This raises concerns in Southwest Florida because the area is still trying to dry out after...
Lake Okeechobee sees 240 Square Miles of Blue-Green Algae Originally published by FOX4 News on June 24, 2022 Lake Okeechobee is seeing about 240 square miles of Blue-Green Algae on the north, west, and south shores. That is about a 30% increase over the last two...
Originally published by TC Palm on March 30, 2022 by Ed Killer Four South Florida environmental nonprofits sent Gov. Ron DeSantis a letter Wednesday urging him to veto a controversial Lake Okeechobee water supply bill. Opponents say SB 2508 contains an unnecessary...
This Bad Bill Threatens Progress on Lake Okeechobee Management Florida Senate bill 2508 surfaced out of nowhere on Friday, February 4th. The bill was fast-tracked skipping the usual committee stops for public input and heard by the Appropriations Committee on February...
After three long years, thousands of modeling runs and countless public input meetings, the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) is nearing completion. And just as we thought the Army Corps was reaching a more equitable plan for most (not all) stakeholder...
Originally published by TC Palm on January 5, 2022. It’s a textbook Florida morning at a ranch just north of Lake Okeechobee. Cattle roam. Herons and egrets hunt for food. Clouds mosey across the sky. But beneath this idyllic scene, a silent byproduct lurks....
Originally published by The News-Press on October 26, 2021 by Chad Gillis and Amy Bennett Williams Dozens of scientists, environmental groups, elected officials and agency heads met online Tuesday to talk about recent changes to a still controversial plan to govern...
Originally published by The News-Press on October 15, 2021 by Chad Gillis A proposed Lake Okeechobee management plan is still drawing concerns from state water managers and the public as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to finalize what’s called the...
Originally published by The News-Press on October 8, 2021 by Chad Gillis The public will soon get a chance to see models the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been using to formulate a controversial Lake Okeechobee management plan that will be in place for more than a...
Originally published by The News-Press by Chad Gillis and Amy Bennett Williams on October 7, 2021 A new plan to regulate Lake Okeechobee’s water levels and outflows is nearly complete. It’s also a complete mess, or a good plan, or simply flawed, depending...
Sugar lawsuit causes concern among environmental groups who fear EAA reservoir project delays Originally published by The News-Press on September 4, 2021 by Chad Gillis “I’ve heard the South Florida Water Management District say that the addition of the...
Calusa Waterkeeper has been following the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual process since it began in 2018/19. The organization and many of our members have submitted public comments throughout the process over the years. Calusa Waterkeeper has had concerns...
Federal Judge orders the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to consider toxic algae when releasing water from Lake Okeechobee FORT MYERS, FL. (Oct. 29, 2020) – Calusa Waterkeeper is proud to be involved with a recent win in federal court regarding the management of Lake...
Conservation groups filed a proposal in federal court today to ensure that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ discharges from Lake Okeechobee don’t harm protected wildlife. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Fort Pierce ordered the parties...
A partial ruling was recently reached by a federal judge on our lawsuit involving the Army Corps’ failure to assess Lake Okeechobee discharges’ impacts on downstream endangered species. In the wake of this recent decision, we received the following letter...
Originally published in The News-Press by Chad Gillis on October 8, 2019 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is releasing Lake Okeechobee water to the Caloosahatchee River again, but these discharges are expected to help the river and estuary. Lake O releases have been a...
Originally published by FOX4 News on July 15, 2019 John Cassani flew in a small airplane over Moore Haven on Saturday and noticed the Moore Haven lock was open. “The lock was wide open. Which means the water can leave the lake and come into the river directly through...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on July 12, 2019 Earlier this week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged it has released water from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers that has contained toxic...
Originally published in The News-Press by Amy Bennett Williams on July 7, 2019 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is now warning boaters about toxic cyanobacteia, also called blue-green algae, in Lake Okeechobee and the 154-mile Okeechobee Waterway, which includes the...
A very rare opportunity was awarded to citizens, constituents and concerned parties of South Florida when the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) opened a six-week window for public comment regarding an upcoming revision to the Lake Okeechobee System Operations Manual....
As reported by Amy Bennett Williams of the News-Press on Mar 8, 2019. During the course of the hearing, the petitioners provided empirical evidence that the district’s level will not meet the needs of the river and estuary, said Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani. Though...
Originally published in The News-Press by Chad Gillis on February 28, 2019 Lake Okeechobee releases started again last week, and the results are a mixed bag for the Caloosahatchee River and its delicate estuary. The volume of water is not concerning to many local...
Public Comment Still Needed on Lake Okeechobee As reported by FOX4 News on February 12, 2019 John Cassani with Calusa Waterkeepers spoke to the League of Women Voters’ Environmental Committee at the Cape Coral Public Library. He spoke about water quality issues in our...
As seen in a News-Press OpEd submitted by John Cassani, Calusa Waterkeeper, February 1, 2019 Southwest Florida residents will be the first to weigh in on the Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) public scoping process for the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual...
First published in The News-Press by Thyrie Bland and Amy Bennett Williams on January 10, 2019 Newly-elected Governor Proposes Multi-billion Dollar Plan for Water Quality Protection It’s news millions of Floridians have been waiting eight years to hear: Their governor...
As seen in a News-Press OpEd submitted by John Cassani, Calusa Waterkeeper, December 25, 2018 Calusa Waterkeeper, Center for Biodiversity, and the Waterkeeper Alliance are Suing the ACOE, USDEP and others for Violations of the Endangered Species Act The popular...
Our friends at For Truth Media released this video on the Caloosahatchee MFL and the harm it has caused the Caloosahatchee estuary the last 2 decades. Several local groups and municipalities are challenging SFWMD to have the MFL increased from 400 to between 700 &...
As seen in a News-Press OpEd submitted by John Cassani, Calusa Waterkeeper, July 12, 2018 Not a single state or federal agency responsible for regulating water quality or public health was in the room at Sen. Bill Nelson’s recent visit to Fort Myers in response to the...
