ST. LUCIE, Fla. – The toxic algae emergency affecting the St. Lucie River has water officials seeking creative solutions to stop the spread.
From a view over the river, the telltale neon green water hugging the shore close to boat docks stands out.
Over Lake Okeechobee, the algae is covering nearly the entire surface of the water. The bright green algae is what officials are trying to keep out of the estuary because of all of the problems it causes.
Releases from Lake Okeechobee are part of the problem as nutrients in the water mixed with the St. Lucie River.
The Army Corps of Engineers said the release is necessary to manage water levels because of concerns with the strength of the lake's dike.
South Florida Water Management is relying on public and private property where it can take some of the water and store it.
The water cooling reservoir at the Florida Power and Light power plant in western Palm Beach County can hold and use over 2 billion gallons of the affected lake water, rather than pushing it out into the river. John Minkin, of the South Florida Water Management District, said it's helping.
"Some of our scientists were out in their boats yesterday in the estuary up and down the canal and they didn't see any visible algae on the main canal itself," Minkin said.
Along with the lake water concerns, many point to stormwater runoff, septic systems and huge agricultural companies impacting the water that will perpetuate the problem.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has what they call a "basin management protection plan" that looks at the the basins and how much nutrients are coming off the basins and into the waterways.