For the second time this month, U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., has sent a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers regarding the ongoing discharges from Lake Okeechobee.
The congressman is once again demanding that the Corps “initiate a long-term halt” of freshwater releases from the lake into the St. Lucie Estuary.
“We went from water that was Bahama blue to water that you can’t even see your hand in,” Mast said in a Wednesday statement. “A two-week pause in discharges, as recently announced, is a woefully inefficient half measure. The only way to prevent another lost summer is a long-term halt.”
Read Mast’s full letter below:
The Army Corps announced last week that water released would pause for two weeks starting Friday ahead of the oyster spawning season.
However, Mast and environmentalists worried the decision by the Corps would do little to help the beleaguered estuary.
“The ongoing discharges, are not only incredibly damaging to our estuary but also directly contradict the [Corps’] best available science and modeling,” Mast wrote. “I urge you to immediately cease discharges to the St. Lucie Estuary.”
An abnormally wet winter has already helped to foster an algae bloom on Lake Okeechobee, fueling fears that the problem will worsen ahead of hotter weather and the rainy season.
Mast has scheduled a 10:45 a.m. Thursday news conference at Stuart City Hall regarding the discharges.
The congressman previously sent a letter dated March 1 to Col. James Booth Mast urging more transparency about the spending of $1.5 billion to strengthen the Herbert Hoover Dike.