by Calusa Waterkeeper | Sep 14, 2023 | Featured, Press
Originally published by Florida Phoenix on September 14, 2023 and written by Craig Pittman. Blooms of pollution-fueled blue-green algae — known among scientists as “cyanobacteria” — have become a perpetual problem all over Florida. It’s gotten to the point where we’ve...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Sep 7, 2023 | Events, Press
Originally published by Cape Coral Daily Breeze on September 7, 2023 The League of Women Voters of Lee County will be holding a LWVLee Educational Event called Clean Water in Lee County: Issues, Solutions and Actions on Saturday, Oct. 7, from 9 to 11 a.m. The event...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Sep 1, 2023 | Press
Op-Ed column originally published by Tampa Bay Times on September 1, 2023 and written by Joseph Bonasia Some good climate news for a change: A Montana judge has ruled as unconstitutional a Montana law that prohibited state agencies from considering environmental...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Aug 27, 2023 | Cape Coral Spreader Canals, Featured, Press
Originally published by The News-Press on August 27, 2023 by Luis Zambrano Several high-profile groups and nonprofits bowed out of a legal challenge to keep Cape Coral’s Chiquita Boat Lock, a nearly 50-year-old manmade barrier, in operation, citing fears of...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Aug 17, 2023 | Press
Originally published by The News-Press on August 17, 2023 by Chad Gillis A Caloosahatchee River water advocate says a Florida Gulf Coast University professor is endangering public health by downplaying the ongoing blue-green algae outbreak in Lake Okeechobee and the...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Aug 10, 2023 | Featured, Harmful Algal Blooms, Press
Originally published by Florida Weekly on August 10, 2023 and written by Roger Williams. When Susan Bennett, born and raised in Fort Myers, stared into the Caloosahatchee River seven stories below the balcony of her downtown home one recent morning, the potentially...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Aug 7, 2023 | Cape Coral Spreader Canals, Featured, Press
Op-Ed originally published by The News-Press on August 6, 2023 and written by Matt DePaolis, Environmental Policy Director for the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) Something needs to be done about the Chiquita Lock. The lock was designed to prevent Cape...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Aug 3, 2023 | Press
Originally published by WINK News on August 3, 2023 The Cape Coral city council has approved $300,000 to be used in the continuing fight against algal blooms. The money will be used to purchase additional bubble curtains and continued water treatments. In multiple...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jul 28, 2023 | Featured, Lake Okeechobee, Press
Originally published by The News-Press on July 28, 2023 by Chad Gillis Calusa Waterkeeper Codty Pierce says even small amounts of Lake Okeechobee water will infect the Caloosahatchee River with toxic blue-green algae blooms. Small amounts of water are coming from the...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jul 26, 2023 | Featured, Harmful Algal Blooms, Press
Originally published by WINK News on July 26, 2023 Water infested with blue-green algae is not safe to swim in, play in or drink because of harmful toxins. Although, far less is known about what’s in the air regarding those same algae outbreaks. Nevertheless, one...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jul 21, 2023 | Harmful Algal Blooms, Press
Originally published by WINK News on July 21, 2023 Water releases aren’t expected anytime soon directly from Lake Okeechobee, according to the Army Corps of Engineers. Nevertheless, blue-green algal blooms are present on the lake, in the Caloosahatchee and along...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jul 20, 2023 | Featured, Harmful Algal Blooms, Press
Originally published by The News-Press on July 20, 2023 by Chad Gillis A toxic blue-green algae bloom that’s been drifting around downtown Fort Myers has now spread to other areas, including the Cape Coral Yacht Club. “We do have an (air testing) unit near...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jul 14, 2023 | Featured, Harmful Algal Blooms, Press
Originally published by The News-Press on July 14, 2023 by Chad Gillis A toxic blue-green algae bloom appears to be strengthening its grip on the Caloosahatchee River, as green slicks of the organisms are visible in downtown Fort Myers. “I’ve been seeing...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jul 7, 2023 | Featured, Press
Originally published by WINK News on June 7, 2023 WINK News has spoken with many Cape Coral residents to address some pressing questions surrounding bubble curtains, which are aimed at reducing algae entering our canal system from the Caloosahatchee River. Are they...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jul 7, 2023 | Bacteria Monitoring, Press
Originally published by Pine Island Eagle on June 7, 2023 This month out of the 30 sites throughout the watershed tested by the Calusa Waterkeeper, 23% passed and 77% failed. One of the newest sites continues to unveil high FIB numbers — North Fort Myers Riverbend...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jul 3, 2023 | Press
Originally published by WGCU News on June 3, 2023 We meet the new Collier County Waterkeeper, Ray Bearfield. Bearfield is a former fishing guide and educator at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, who first came to Naples in the mid-1970s as an editor of...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jun 23, 2023 | Harmful Algal Blooms, Press
Originally published by The News-Press on June 23, 2023 by Chad Gillis Health official confirmed Friday that a blue-green algae outbreak in the Caloosahatchee River is toxic to humans and animals. “A bloom occurs when rapid growth of algae leads to an...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jun 18, 2023 | Press
Originally published by NBC-2 News on June 18, 2023 Robert Halgrim was in his backyard canal off McGregor Boulevard collecting water from the Caloosahatchee River. He thinks it has been matted with blue green algae. Halgrim said, “I’ve had it bad enough back here that...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jun 15, 2023 | Press
Originally published by The News-Press on June 15, 2023 by Amy Bennett Williams From Naples to Lake Okeechobee and along the Caloosahatchee in between, algae is troubling Southwest Florida. A bloom currently coats more than 350 square miles of the lake; scientists...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jun 8, 2023 | C43 Reservoir, Press
Originally published by The News-Press on June 8, 2023 by Amy Bennett Williams Lawsuits have been flying as the South Florida Water Management District and its fired contractor quarrel over a soured $560-million deal to build the C-43 reservoir. Yet work continues at...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jun 7, 2023 | Featured, Press
Originally published by TC Palm on June 7, 2023 by Amy Bennett Williams A week into hurricane season, as concerns over algae blooms mount, Caloosahatchee river-watchers don’t have to worry about Lake O making things worse – at least for the moment. Calusa Waterkeeper...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Jun 2, 2023 | Featured, Press
Originally published by The News-Press on June 2, 2023 by Chad Gillis Lake Okeechobee is more than a foot above its target level at this time of year, and heavy rains have fallen across much of the state in recent days. The big question for the Fort Myers-Cape...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | May 26, 2023 | Harmful Algal Blooms, Press
Blue-Green Algae Blooms Spotted from Lake O to Fort Myers Shores Originally published by FOX4 News on May 26, 2023 Once again, Lake Okeechobee is covered with blue-green algae blooms. According to NOAA, algal blooms covered about 260 square miles on the ake,...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | May 26, 2023 | Harmful Algal Blooms, Lake Okeechobee, Press
Originally published by The News-Press on May 26, 2023 by Amy Bennett Williams Had they stared into a shaft of sunlight piercing the Caloosahatchee River on Thursday morning, boaters at the Alva dock might have seen spangles, as if the water were dusted with green...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | May 25, 2023 | Featured, Press
Originally published by Waterkeeper Alliance on May 25, 2023 Today, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the case of Sackett v. EPA and ruled in favor of the Sacketts and their corporate polluter allies, delivering a major setback to the essential protections...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | May 24, 2023 | Featured, Harmful Algal Blooms, Lake Okeechobee, Press
Originally published by Fox Weather on May 24, 2023 by Andrew Wulfeck Residents and visitors to parts of the Sunshine State’s largest lake are being urged to exercise caution after harmful blue-green algae was recently detected by the Palm Beach County Health...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | May 12, 2023 | Featured, Harmful Algal Blooms, Press
Originally published by WINK News on May 12, 2023 Algae swirling in the Gulf Coast is bringing a smelly odor to the air. It’s happening around the waters of Matlacha. “It’s almost a matted, matted surface that resembles a mud flat, but the colors are quite vibrant....
by Calusa Waterkeeper | May 2, 2023 | C43 Reservoir, Featured, Press
Originally published by The News-Press on May 02, 2023 by Amy Bennett Williams Construction of the C-43 reservoir is on hold after the South Florida Water Management District fired the contractor for the half-billion-dollar-plus job. The district announced the...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Apr 20, 2023 | Press
Originally published by The News-Press on April 20, 2023 by Chad Gillis Experts say high loads of pollution are flowing to the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Oceans in the aftermath of a series of storms that brought summer-like rains to the Sunshine State. Several...
by Calusa Waterkeeper | Apr 19, 2023 | Press
Originally published by Naples Daily News on April 19, 2023 by Chad Gillis Ray Bearfield was recently appointed as the Collier County Waterkeeper, a local chapter of a nationwide effort to protect America’s waterways. Bearfield, 72, grew up in Richmond, Indiana,...
