Mayors of Belle Glade, Pahokee, Moore Haven, South Bay, Clewiston and Okeechobee sent the following  letter to the Florida Oceanographic Society.

January 31, 2025

Mark Perry
Executive Director & CEO
Florida Oceanographic Society
890 Northeast Ocean Blvd.
Stuart, FL 34996

Dear Mr. Perry,

Your recent comments in the media laying the blame for algae blooms in the St. Lucie River Estuary on Lake Okeechobee (“Lake Okeechobee releases suspected in nontoxic algae bloom in Manatee Pocket, Port Salerno,” TCPalm, January 8, 2025) are simply false, harmful to our communities and especially damaging to our local economies.

It is disappointing that you would suggest algae blooms in the St. Lucie Estuary “don’t just appear by themselves” and blame Lake Okeechobee as the “prime suspect” for their cause. Due to changes to the way the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has made in managing Lake Okeechobee, water from our region is a significantly small part of the water that ends up in your estuary. Sadly, your comments unfairly target a significant part of our region’s livelihood – recreation on Lake Okeechobee – and do not make these issues any easier to solve.

The vast majority of the water flowing into the St. Lucie Estuary is from local communities – not Lake Okeechobee. Year after year, water from Lake Okeechobee is a small part of the water sent to the St. Lucie Estuary. In 2024, local runoff accounted for 80 percent of the water flowing into the St. Lucie Estuary with the remaining 20 percent coming from Lake Okeechobee (Source: South Florida Water Management District DBHydro).

Thousands of septic tanks are leaking fecal bacteria into the estuary basin and nutrients from local runoff are the main source of fuel for algae blooms, particularly in congested coastal areas. The science on local, coastal runoff has been clear: Millions of people, using outdated waste treatment such as septic tanks, have a major impact on water quality. Many municipalities in our region have already made the hard choice of converting from septic tanks to sewer. While our region does not have the same tax base as the coastal region, many of our communities have made the responsible choice to stop polluting local waterways.

The idea that Lake Okeechobee is toxic is a false narrative perpetuated by activist groups looking to fundraise. Nearly every weekend during the year, there are fishing tournaments held on Lake Okeechobee and people are recreating. According to the U.S. Travel Association, Lake Okeechobee has a $30 million impact on our communities locally. Comments suggesting the lake is unsafe can cause irreparable damage to this important industry.

Mr. Perry, we invite you to come see Lake Okeechobee for yourself. Before you attack the economy of our communities, we invite you to learn about the importance of Lake Okeechobee to our area and come to understand the danger false narratives and misplaced blame have on our people and way of life.

Sincerely

Steve B. Wilson, Mayor
Belle Glade, Florida

Keith W. Babb, Jr.,
Mayor Pahokee, Florida

Wayne Browning, Mayor

Joe Kyles, Mayor
South Bay, Florida

Jimmy Pittman, Mayor
Clewiston, Florida

Dowling R. Watford, Jr., Mayor
Okeechobee, Florida