$500 million pledged to fix Lake O’s aging dike. The algae crisis is another matter
"Before it was 2022 if a whole bunch of things happened," he said.
State leaders have pressured the federal agency to fix the dike since a 2006 engineering report pronounced the massive earthen ring around
But it's far from clear whether structural fixes will also help avoid the kind of algae crisis now threatening to slime the
Fixing the dike means the Corps will reconsider how much water it can hold in the lake. But the process typically takes three years. There are also flood control, safety and environmental issues to be weighed. Marshes at the lake's western edge, for instance, also attract anglers from around the world and raising lake levels could drown them, harming the fishery.
"If you hold more water in the lake, you have to remember the lake is an ecosystem and the lake has habitat critical for wildlife," said Audubon Florida's
She cautioned that the planned dike repairs will make it stronger but holding more water in the lake could reduce the safety margin.
"We're patching it up. We're not making it taller. So if you want to put more water in the dike, you're essentially putting people back in harm's way," De Palma said.
Lake levels have been the source of debate for a dozen years or more. In 2008, the Corps set new lake levels after Hurricane Katrina caused levees to collapse in
Historically,
Repeated algae blooms that left the coasts coated with smelly, toxic slime have prompted ongoing campaigns for changes to lake levels. In 2013 and again in 2016, summer blooms hurt coastal businesses and fueled support for a massive
After
Gov.
The Corps, which has slowly been overhauling the dike's weak spots, on Thursday announced the decision to spend another
"Floridians deserve this project to be completed and since
Altogether, the Corps'
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