As spring breakers come from all over and signal to us that summer is almost here, we Floridians are reminded of our love for the water – both fresh and salt. The images we think of as we daydream about of the coast aren’t typically ones filled with algal blooms, toxic ‘guacamole’ sludge, and flesh-eating bacteria – which is exactly what residents of Hernando, Palm Beach, and Martin County experienced last summer. Toxic chemicals from agricultural and urban land wash into lakes and flow out into the ocean through long, winding rivers like the St. Lucie or Caloosahatchee, affecting everything in their path. Lake Okeechobee is the most significant example of this, primarily because it’s the last stop before the Everglades. The lake is at such a chemical imbalance that evidently even the notoriously carefree and inebriated attendees of the Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival wouldn’t get near it this past month. While most Floridians can acknowledge that something must done to aid the overburdened, toxic lake quickly, there is controversy as to how that should be accomplished.
