Deep Dive: How Big Sugar could help solve the Everglades flooding problem

You may have seen in the news that the central Everglades is flooded, with rising waters inundating tree islands and all who depend on them — animals, not to mention people.

It's a real and recurring problem, and many in the Glades community are beseeching state and federal officials to reopen closed water control structures along the Tamiami Trail to provide relief. But there's something else that could be done to alleviate the flooding.

Almost 1/3 of the water in the "water conservation areas" or WCAs south of Lake Okeechobee comes from stormwater treatment areas (STAs) used to treat runoff from the Everglades Agricultural Area. The EAA — dominated by Big Sugar's vast cane fields — gets priority when it comes to drainage; South Florida is still stuck with a system designed more than half a century ago to turn the WCAs into lakes to keep the EAA dry so Big Sugar could enjoy perfect growing conditions.

But what if Big Sugar were to share the adversity (for once) and keep more water on its land?

We look at why this makes sense, and the effect it could have, in our latest Deep Dive.

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Lake O watch: Get ready for a wet winter

These may be famous last words, but at the moment Lake Okeeechobee appears to have leveled off, meaning we might avoid damaging discharges — for now. The danger is that we're in an El Niño weather pattern, and experts are saying that means a 60-70% chance of above-average rainfall between December-February.

That could keep the lake level high. And THAT could portend dry-season discharges. We hope there's enough room in the stormwater treatment areas (STAs) to take large amounts of water from the lake, making discharges unnecessary. But there's no guarantee, and it shows once again that even though progress has been made, real relief remains years away — and we need to keep pushing for change.

Burning question: When will Big Sugar stop setting fire to the cane fields?

Another burn season has begun south of Lake Okeechobee, and an Oct. 25 livestream event from our friends at Friends of the Everglades detailed the harm inflicted on the people of the Glades communities. What will it take to make Big Sugar stop this harmful practice? Check out the video on the Friends Facebook page; for more information, click here.

WATCH THE VIDEO ON FACEBOOK

A picture's worth 1,000 (dirty) words

You may recognize this iconic pic by photographer Leah Voss, which graced the cover of our annual report this year. It's a beautiful shot; but do you see the problem with it?

No seagrass.

The photo, taken last January at Stuart's Sailfish Flats, depicts a perpetual problem. Seagrass has been wiped out by discharges from Lake O, shaded out by blue-green algae blooms and punished by polluted runoff. Some seagrass is coming back; but it's always subject to change.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering putting manatees back on the endangered species list. That would free up federal resources for recovery efforts, and that's a good thing. But unless we do more to fight pollution at its source to curtail seagrass loss, the manatees' problems will continue.

Florida's water crisis is a political problem.

It requires a political solution.

That's where VoteWater comes in.

We work for better policy and better politicians. We scrutinize candidates and lobby decision-makers. We take the fight to Big Sugar. We track campaign finance; our upcoming "Dirty Money Project" is our most thorough investigation ever. Our "Deep Dives" equip you with the knowledge you need to fight for cleaner water in your community.

Clean water is crucial to marine life, human health and economic vitality. So we'll keep fighting, and with your support — we can do even more.

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P.S. Signatures Needed! The "Right to Clean and Healthy Waters" petition needs 900,000 signature by November 30 to get on the 2024 ballot. The petition can be printed out and signed here: http://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/

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