STUART, Fla. – U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, took a tour Friday of the St. Lucie River in Stuart, where his Democratic counterpart visited a day earlier to get a look at the toxic algae blooms filling the waterways.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Friday began reducing the flow of water from Lake Okeechobee, which many blame for fueling the problem.
Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency Wednesday for St. Lucie and Martin counties. He has since added Palm Beach and Lee counties to the emergency declaration.
Scott has directed state and local authorities to fast-track water storage projects that would help reduce the algae's spread.
The blue-green algae is the latest contaminant featured in yearslong arguments over water flowing from Lake Okeechobee, which is critical to South Florida's water supply and flood control systems.
Lake Okeechobee is the largest in Florida and the second largest body of freshwater in the contiguous United States. Flooding there after a major hurricane in 1928 killed at least 2,500 people in surrounding communities of mostly poor, black farm workers. It inspired the storm that is central to Zora Neale Hurston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God."
To reduce the risk of a breach in the Herbert Hoover Dike, which was built after that hurricane, the Army Corps tries to keep lake water levels between 12½ feet and 15½ feet above sea level. Shoring up the dike will take years. Meanwhile, freshwater is released east and west of the lake into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers.
State water managers have said that local stormwater runoff and septic tanks also fuel algae blooms. They're working to direct more water south of Lake Okeechobee into the parched Everglades, but federal regulations, conservation mandates and stalled restoration projects complicate those efforts.
"This is beyond just an ecological disaster," Rubio said. "It's an economic disaster."
Rubio said he visited a homeowner's waterfront property and it "smelled and looked like an open sewage pit."
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, toured the river Thursday and said the reduction of water flowing from the lake is a temporary solution to a long-term problem.
Marissa Baskin, whose daughter has asthma, said she's concerned about potential health risks. She said the algae is affecting the entire community.
"There's nothing to do in this town if we don't have our water," she said.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection established a toll-free telephone hotline and online form for residents to report algae blooms. Residents are asked to report the algae blooms by calling 855-305-3903 or completing the online form at reportalgaebloom.com.