‘Just another day in south FL’: Neighbors deal with green algae bloom

Green algae is creeping into SWFL waters, causing frustration among neighbors who call the area home.

Many are concerned the growing algae is due to the recent Lake Okeechobee water releases. They say long stretches of the Caloosahatchee River are teaming with the algae which sits on top of the surface.

However, on Monday, Lee County leaders are expected to sign a resolution to help cut back on those water releases.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers slowed the releases from Lake O for the first time in three weeks last Friday, which led some to believe it would improve the water quality. But experts say it has the opposite effect, at least initially.

Slower water flows coupled with heat from the sun create the perfect conditions for algae to bloom. And that’s having an impact on many who live and fish along the river.

But one fisherman in SWFL says he doesn’t blame it all on the changing releases from Lake Okeechobee.

“It’s pretty thick today. I think it messes up a lot of fishing here. If you want to pinpoint or worry about what’s in the river, there are a lot of different options to look at, different places to look at of what people are dumping in the river. It’s just another day here in South Florida,” that fisherman said.

The good news for people who live along the coast is that the Army Corps says the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam should stop most of the algae from reaching the Gulf of Mexico.

They add that water levels are expected to return to normal sometime in the next few days.

A local fisherman in Alva is casting through the algae in the Caloosahatchee River tonight. “I don’t think the fish can see my lure,” he told me. pic.twitter.com/i1RxPJSUbg

— Oliver Redsten (@OliverRedsten) June 25, 2018