Is any of this rain falling on the big O

[Guest avid]

wow....some holacious storms and no sign of let up.

Can't help but wonder if Lake Okeechobee is benefiting.  Lord knows they need it.

why I was talking to a guy from Pahoke and he told me the water is so low he found the gold tooth he lost their in '96........honest  :-/

[Sam]

Avidl, that's a good one.

We all need rain.  

We are supposed to get some good rain in the Richmond area and my pond is still about three feet low so we will take all we can get.

Hope Lake O gets some good rain.

[-HAWK-]

wow....some holacious storms and no sign of let up.

Can't help but wonder if Lake Okeechobee is benefiting. Lord knows they need it.

why I was talking to a guy from Pahoke and he told me the water is so low he found the gold tooth he lost their in '96........honest :-/

I see the are back pumping water from the c-51 canal back out to the Lake. I live about 25 minutes east of the Lake and last time i was out there it doesnt look like the lakes water level is rising. I cant understand how we get so much rain on the East part of the county, but to our west its so dry. What we need is for a couple tropical storms or depressions to roll through this season and dump a couple feet over the lake.

[bocabasser]

avid even if the lake receives a lot of rain, the water management will soon dump it into the indian river lagoon to the north and biscayne bay to the south. those folks don't know what they are doing. why did they drain ANY water out of the lake is the question i keep asking myself.

[warmer]

apparently you didnt watch all gores movie on global warming.  there will be heightened hurricane activity every year (including the droughts last year the year before) until we stop all this dangerous carbon dioxide emission.  as soon as the cows stop farting, the lake will rise.

[regretlove]

LOL!  I was out there last weekend,  it was pretty low.  I know they're getting some rain now though.

[LooksLikeSinbad]

LOL!  I was out there last weekend,  it was pretty low.

How was the fishing?

[regretlove]

Pretty good.  My son and I went out for the day and he caught a couple small mouth, a nice peacock and 2 largemouth that were over 6lb. each.  I only caught 1, but it was a nice 4lb largemouth - I thought it was gonna be  bigger actually, it put up quite a fight!!  Every time we go, we are not disappointed. Great fishing.

[George Welcome]

"he caught a couple small mouth, a nice peacock"

Small mouth what?

Peacock what?

We're talking Okeechobee here son!

[George Welcome]

Avid,

To answer your question:

Monday - lake level 9.9 feet = 9'10.8"

This morning - 10.08 feet = 10'.96"

That's a whopping gain of 2.16 inches

For a lake that is between 4' & 5' (average water level this time of year) low, that's not much help.

[warmer]

gotta saturate the ground before you start to get the heavy gains, so i say any rain is good rain.

[Guest avid]

"he caught a couple small mouth, a nice peacock"

Small mouth what?

Peacock what?

We're talking Okeechobee here son!

I heard the blues are runnin'  8-)

[regretlove]

Small mouth bass & peacock bass - Going back tommorrow..

[-HAWK-]

Small mouth bass & peacock bass - Going back tommorrow..

Wait a minute... You caught small mouth bass on the Big O. Someone contact FWC.

[George Welcome]

"he caught a couple small mouth, a nice peacock"

Small mouth what?

Peacock what?

We're talking Okeechobee here son!

I heard the blues are runnin' 8-)

;D ;D ;D ;D

[warmer]

i got into an area loaded w/ muskie.

[RoLo]

why did they drain ANY water out of the lake is the question i keep asking myself.

Sugar Cane.

[George Welcome]

Absolutely nothing to do with cane.

Lake recession info: http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol6/iss2/art17/

[RoLo]

Absolutely nothing to do with cane.

Perhaps, but I wouldn't be the one to bet the ranch.

[Bassn Blvd]

why did they drain ANY water out of the lake is the question i keep asking myself.

Sugar Cane.

I lived here in Fl all my life and 20 miles from the sugar cane crops and never knew they drained the lake for that.  HMMMMM

[RoLo]

I lived here in Fl all my life and 20 miles from the sugar cane crops and never knew they drained the lake for that. HMMMMM

It may be that we're not supposed to know

I certainly don't propose to have the answer, but I sure wouldn't bet the ranch that sugarcane is not involved.

There are several versions of the story, but there are a few things about Lake Okeechobee that we know for sure:

We do know that for years, the biggest problem on the Big-O has been surplus phosphorus and pesticides

originating from the sugarcane crop. We do know that the sugar industry is much bigger business than sport fishing,

and that they "always" get their way. We know for sure that for decades the water level in Lake Okeechobee

has been managed to provide optimum growing conditions for sugarcane fields in the Everglades Agricultural Area

south of the lake. We know that during times of surplus rainfall, the sugar fields will backpump polluted water

into Lake Okeechobee to prevent sugar cane from drowning. However, during times of inadequate rainfall

you will notice that sugarcane continues to flourish...Hmmm

Roger

[Bassn Blvd]

Very interesting Rolo.  I never researched it but I do know one of your points is very true and that's the sugar cane owners are very powerful and influential people.    

Do they pull there water from Lake O to water the crops?

[tallydude]

avid even if the lake receives a lot of rain, the water management will soon dump it into the indian river lagoon to the north and biscayne bay to the south. those folks don't know what they are doing. why did they drain ANY water out of the lake is the question i keep asking myself.

Respectfully, you might want to check your facts there, BocaBasser. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for pumping water from the lake, NOT the South Florida Water Management District. The reason why the Corps drew the lake levels so low a year and half ago is because the Herbert Hoover Dike, which keeps the lake waters in their current boundaries, is not strong enough to withstand high lake levels. In other words, it's built like swiss cheese.

Then what happened was after the drawdown, the drought began and SFWMD was forced to impose water restrictions because Lake O serves as the water supply for environmental, agricultural, and urban water uses for all of South Florida.

I can assure you that no one in South Florida is happy right now. The farmers aren't getting the amount of water they want, residential users aren't getting the amount of water they want, and the environment isn't getting the amount of water it needs.

[Bassn Blvd]

avid even if the lake receives a lot of rain, the water management will soon dump it into the indian river lagoon to the north and biscayne bay to the south. those folks don't know what they are doing. why did they drain ANY water out of the lake is the question i keep asking myself.

Respectfully, you might want to check your facts there, BocaBasser. The Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for pumping water from the lake, NOT the South Florida Water Management District.  The reason why the Corps drew the lake levels so low a year and half ago is because the Herbert Hoover Dike, which keeps the lake waters in their current boundaries, is not strong enough to withstand high lake levels. In other words, it's built like swiss cheese.

Then what happened was after the drawdown, the drought began and SFWMD was forced to impose water restrictions because Lake O serves as the water supply for environmental, agricultural, and urban water uses for all of South Florida.

I can assure you that no one in South Florida is happy right now. The farmers aren't getting the amount of water they want, residential users aren't getting the amount of water they want, and the environment isn't getting the amount of water it needs.

YEA!  That's what I said.

[George Welcome]

It's amazing that some will state an opinion with no facts, and yet when presented with the facts, refuse to read them.

Responsibility discussions were monumental about who should bear the blame for South Florida's water systems and their management back in 95, as the voters were left to decide sur-charge, or no sur-charge on sugar. Fortunately there were enough of us that had been around long enough to remember enviornmental conditions prior to the formation of Florida water management.

Let's see: condominums clear out to rte. 27, which is miles into what used to be Glades. Sheetflow water sources completely shut eliminating major parts of the Glades. Hundreds of other occurences detrimental to the enviorment that I am sure those Sugar barons had very little if any input.

I wonder who dried up the land and then sold it off to developement and agriculture. I wonder who it was that was involved in ruining the once beautifull Kissimmee river turning it into a straight-line carrier of pollution down through the Kissimmee chain. I wonder who it was selling the new land created by the straightening of that beautiful river.

Sugar manages their cane fields, Corp of Engineers build things, and South Florida Water Management mis-manages the water. We started the drastic downhill trend back in 72 as the water management districts were formed. What a shame.