South Florida flooding still a concern, water managers say

Ten billion gallons of pollution-laden water was pumped into Lake Okeechobee during four days of emergency measures to avert South Florida flooding, officials disclosedMonday.

Amid an already rainierthanwinter, heavy rains lastweek triggered the controversial “back pumping” of water from South Florida’s vast farming region, the Everglades Agricultural Area, north into the lake.

That helped protect lakeside towns as well as sugar cane fields and vegetable farms from flooding, but at the expense of allowing fertilizers and other pollutants thatwash off the land to end up in the lake.

And that back pumping came at the same time officials were starting to dischargewater fromthe swollen lake out to sea for flood control, despite the potential environmental harm to coastal fishing grounds.

By Sunday evening, the emergency pumping into the lake had stopped after water levels south of the lake were brought under control, according to the South Florida Water Management District.

But in just four days, the 10 billion gallons of water pumped into the lake from the south equated to filling up about 15,000 Olympicsized swimming pools.

The pumping was necessary to “protect thousands of families, businesses and property in the Glades communities,” according to a statement from the South FloridaWaterManagement District.

That pumped-in water, usually low in oxygen and high in phosphorus and nitrogen, can lead to fish kills, toxic algae blooms and threaten drinking water supplies. Prolonged back pumping can lead to dead zones in the lake, scaring away fish, wading birds and tourists alike, environmentalistswarn.

“We are glad it’s over. ... If it keeps going, it gets worse and worse,” said Paul Gray, an Audubon Florida scientist who monitors Lake Okeechobee. “It all adds up.”

Theshort duration of this round of emergency pumping means the environmental risks to the lake should be minimal, according to Randy Smith, spokesman for the South FloridaWater Management District.

Yet the El Niño-driven rainy weather during what is supposed to be South Florida’s dry season could enduptriggeringmore back pumping, according to the water management district.

January’s rainfall, averaging 9.18 inches across South Florida, was the most for that month since 1932, according to the water management district.

While pumping water from the south into the lake has stopped, the lake draining to the coast continues.

Lowering the lake level bydrainingwater to the east and west coasts helps ease the strain on the troubled dike that protects South Florida fromflooding.

The Army Corps of Engineers on Friday started draining up to1.8 billion gallons of lake water a day to the east into the St. Lucie River. As much as 4.2 billion gallons per day is also being drained to the west into the Caloosahatchee River.