Stephanie Byrne

Gov. Ron DeSantis stopped by Franklin Lock on Thursday to see firsthand the blue-green algae and how it’s being treated. It has been a problem recently and is igniting conversation about a repeat of 2018’s water crisis. Crews have recently started using algaecide on the water’s surface to dissolve the algae, which isn’t a problem […]

Environmental groups and political leaders are urging the Army Corps of Engineers to maximize flows south from Lake Okeechobee to the Everglades and Florida Bay, as the Corps works on a new lake management plan. The clock is ticking as different groups push for the Army Corps to get Lake O’s management right. They see […]

Neighbors lined up for safe drinking water in West Palm Beach after testing showed high levels of algae toxins. Home filtration systems don’t work in this case, and you can’t just boil it out. We wanted to know: Could this happen here? In Lee County, almost all of our water treatment plants pull from groundwater, […]

There will soon be another tool to try to prevent pollutants from entering Lake Okeechobee, which in turn could make their way down the Caloosahatchee River. The South Florida Water Management District approved the Kissimmee Basin Stormwater Treatment Project to capture water from the Kissimmee River before runoff and nutrients float into the lake. It […]

We all know that human activity can fuel algal blooms. Yet, those nutrients can come from well beneath the surface, too. The proof of this is in the mud. Water experts say about half of the nutrients in Lake Okeechobee come from the bottom of the lake. And, the stirring of mud plays a role […]

Blue-green algae remains present in parts of Southwest Florida Monday, and a water expert we spoke to hopes there could be a silver lining in the green, smelly gunk. Lawrence Glenn, the water resources division director of South Florida Water Management District, told us it might be a good thing we’re seeing algal blooms earlier […]

The CDC wants to see the effects of living near blue-green algae blooms and they are recruiting test subjects. If you live or work the blooms you can participate. The CDC is looked for about 150 people to take part in the study. Donna Oakley remembers what it was like in 2018 when the blue-green […]

As blue-green algae builds up against the Franklin Lock on the Caloosahatchee River, everybody knows there’s an issue with the algae. More than a dozen environmental groups have been urging Governor Ron DeSantis to declare a state of emergency, but the governor says, “There’s no need to do that. One, I think it would spook […]

Researchers at Florida Gulf Coast University are monitoring red tide while helping marine life. To think outside the box, sometimes you have to go in the box. Some huge concrete boxes will soon help FGCU researchers study red tide in Southwest Florida while also creating an artificial reef. “The artificial reef is going to be […]

Blue-green algae has become a problem recently on the Caloosahatchee River, and it’s taking over some areas of it such as at W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam in Olga. Green and slimy blue-green algae is something many in Southwest Florida have seen in abundance in the past, and what is being seen now might not […]