Earlier this week, Audubon's recommendations to the Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan (LOPP) update were profiled in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

The Lake Okeechobee Protection Program is Florida’s attempt to meet Lake Okeechobee’s water quality goals. Excessive amounts of phosphorus in South Florida waters cause dead zones, foul odors, cloudy water, and toxic algae blooms, which endanger fish, wildlife and human drinking water supplies. Unfortunately, recent years have seen Lake Okeechobee’s phosphorus levels increase to the highest levels recorded and the latest Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan update fails to identify further measures for improvement.

Florida law mandates an “evaluation of any further phosphorus load reductions necessary to achieve compliance with the Lake Okeechobee total maximum daily load.”

Last week, Audubon submitted extensive comments on the LOPP update, including a written letter from Audubon of Florida Executive Director Eric Draper to Carol Wehle, the Executive Director of the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), which was quoted in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

“The levels of phosphorus in Lake Okeechobee are 'disturbing,' and the current cleanup plan doesn't meet the 'statutory duty' to reduce pollution…We believe it will neither resolve the water-quality problems of Lake Okeechobee and its downstream estuaries, nor those of the greater Everglades."

Audubon is working closely with government officials and lake managers to ensure that the plan charts a definitive course towards the long-term health of Lake Okeechobee. We have also been marshalling stakeholders and Audubon supporters to comment with pragmatic solutions.

The SFWMD’s Governing Board was presented the LOPP plan at last week’s SFWMD Governing Board Workshop. The Board had a robust discussion regarding the LOPP draft, detailing their concerns. Chairman Eric Buermann stated said the agency needs to push for more state money to address the long-known Lake Okeechobee pollution problems. "We have got to get a little more aggressive with the Legislature," Buermann said. "We just haven't met what we said we were going to do."

Please check this website often for news on the status of future updates to the Lake Okeechobee Protection Plan.