I ran across the photograph on the left of my ex-wife Lisa posing with a pod of pelicans (and yes - that is what you call a group of them) waiting for castoffs from a fisherman down in Stuart, Florida back in August of 1986. And it reminded me that the Army Corps of Engineers started discharging water from Lake Okeechobee into the St. Lucie River yesterday. They do this to lower the lake level when it gets too high, but the problem is that this water causes great harm to the St. Lucie and the Indian River Lagoon. Besides the fact that the fresh water mixes with sea water, which is harmful to the environment, the water is also polluted from the runoff of chemicals from sugar plantations in the center of the state, often resulting in algae blooms along the shoreline.
These plantations are owned by wealthy individuals who donate big money to politicians to make sure they are not forced to actually stop polluting the waterways. After a severe algae bloom around Stuart a few years ago that received national attention, the state promised to take action, including building a huge retention pond to capture this tainted water and avoid sending it downriver. I don't know the status of this project, but year after year they still continue releasing this polluted water into the St. Lucie, causing great harm to the ecosystem. Not a surprise, from what I know about Florida politicians. I have only been back to Stuart a few times after renting out our condo there for the past 15 years, but I have to wonder if those pelicans still hang out along the St. Lucie River like they used to, and if they do, what harm it is doing to them. It is way past time to take action and solve this problem.
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