Tell me about the Algae Tide in Stuart!

Gary M

Was talking with a boat buddy who has his trawler at Ft Pierce City Marina and his boat bottom guy told him horror stories about the algae tide problem in Stuart a few years ago. Told my buddy that the algae sinks to the bottom but never dies and can pop up at any time. Moved his dive biz up to FtP just because of that. 

So, is that an issue now for in-water boats in the greater Stuart area? Is it worse the closer you get to the SL River coming out of the Lake? Is it better say, in The Manatee Pocket or places closer to the SL Inlet?

How about water clarity and healthy, clean salt water in the greater Stuart area?

Thanks!

oldtimer

St Lucie River is basically brown until you get to the Manatee Pocket.  Both forks.

Muck off my dock in Palm City is about 3+ inches .  All the Lake O discharges and even from C-23 have muddied up this estuary....

First signs of some salinity returning as I can see jellyfish off my dock, which is somewhat of a good sign 

Gary M

How often do they dump water from the Lake? How long ago was the last time?

Aquaholic IV

Gary M said:

How often do they dump water from the Lake? How long ago was the last time?

Seriously..........a better question would be how often are they not dumping.  It finally stopped a few months ago but the first major rains they will begin again.  After hurricane Matthew it was daily, full throttle for months.  

Gary M

Do they dump the water the other way....... towards Ft Myers?

theU

Yes both estuaries are continuously polluted from the Orlando Sewer Dumps.  The St Lucie and the Caloosahatchee Rivers are the pipes that carry the sewage directly into the estuaries. As soon as Lake O hits elevation 15.00 the flood gates are wide open. This dumps are controlled solely by the ACOE.

BullMarket

This is the best link about flood gates and has the salinity level in the SLI River 

http://apps.sfwmd.gov/sitestatus/

Gary M

Thanks Bull............ now, if I could only understand what that all means!

I'm asking because we're hoping to buy or maybe build a place on the water in Stuart and it will definitely be east of the RR bridge.....

We stayed at Pirate's Cove on the Manatee Pocket in January when we came up for the Boat Show. Walking the docks there at night, we could see plenty of snook from the underwater lights from a few boats...

Deep Thoughts

The algae is caused by the freshwater being dumped out of Lake O.  After it forms, it dies and then sinks to the bottom bringing its toxins with it.  The algae reappears because of the overabundance of nutrient laden freshwater from the lake.  They dump the lake when the water levels get too high, generally from rainfall.  Lake O is basically a watershed for most of the state as many of the rivers flow South so much of the rainfall from central FL makes its way to it at some point.  

This process began when they decided to drain parts of the everglades around the lake and turn it into farmland, which hampered the natural flow of water South through the everglades and into Florida bay.  The water had to go somewhere so they decided to dig the canals east and west to St Lucie and Caloosahatchee rivers, which is where the excess water is released today.

There are several projects in the works attempting to reduce the amount of water released through the canals, but the best answer to the problem is to send the water where it went naturally, which is south to the everglades.  Unfortunately, there are some business interests that own large amounts of the land needed for this to happen, as well as other developments that would likely get washed away if things were changed.  This makes it a political battle of big business interest vs environmental interests.  So welcome to constant battle of Florida's mismanaged fresh water resources.  This problem will likely not be fixed in our lifetime, if ever.  

pottydoc

Gary, if you want some unbiased info on this talk to Ron.

Gary M

Thanks Deep! The area that we are interested in is very close to the SL Inlet. We like to stay at Pirate's Cove in the Manatee Pocket and at night, we see snook all under the boat that have underwater lights on.......

potty------> who's Ron?

Jax

Hey Gary, i was thinking about you today. The girl freind and I had lunch at Pirates Cove. She crab soup, mmmmmmmm.

Aquaholic IV

Gary M said:

Thanks Bull............ now, if I could only understand what that all means!

I'm asking because we're hoping to buy or maybe build a place on the water in Stuart and it will definitely be east of the RR bridge.....

We stayed at Pirate's Cove on the Manatee Pocket in January when we came up for the Boat Show. Walking the docks there at night, we could see plenty of snook from the underwater lights from a few boats...

Would you at all be interested in a 2/2 condo on the St. Lucie River, 2 miles east of the Roosevelt Brige/Train bridge, 8 minutes to ocean, no fixed bridges?  Widest view of the river with boat slips to 40 feet with or without lifts for rent or sale.  Mine is for sale.  P.m. me if interested.

pottydoc

Gary M said:

Thanks Deep! The area that we are interested in is very close to the SL Inlet. We like to stay at Pirate's Cove in the Manatee Pocket and at night, we see snook all under the boat that have underwater lights on.......

potty------> who's Ron?

Gary, you got pm

Gary M

Jax said:

Hey Gary, i was thinking about you today. The girl freind and I had lunch at Pirates Cove. She crab soup, mmmmmmmm.

Last time we stayed there was Boat Show weekend and after the show, we picked up something fun to eat at a local fish market, then sat outside at the PC bar and eventually walked down the boardwalk to Twisted Tuna. Doing that, we chatted with some commercial guys who had caught many hundreds of Spanish Macks! They were icing them down in huge plastic bins and then forklifting those into fridge trucks!

Came back to the PC Bar and enjoyed a great live band with a tall, young woman singer and a woman drummer! Chatted with the singer who had never heard of Grace Slick so wrote on a cocktail napkin:  "YouTube---> "Somebody To Love" by Jefferson Airplane"! She had a really strong voice that would do Grace Slick proud!