July 2016.

Above average rainfall
in South Florida

causes dangerously
high water levels

in south-central Florida's
Lake Okeechobee.

Flood control managers,

fearing a breach in the dike
surrounding the lake,

release billions of gallons
of water through canals,

rivers and streams into
the Gulf of Mexico

and the Atlantic Ocean.

The discharge to
Florida's Atlantic coast

surged down the C-44 canal

that flows into the St.
Lucie River and Estuary

and into the lower
Indian River Lagoon.

It formed a toxic
blue-green algae mat,

as much as six inches thick,

that shut down marinas and
polluted near shore waters

as it flowed out the St.
Lucie inlet and into the ocean.

Airborne toxins from the
algae bloom sickened people

and contaminated one

of the most biologically diverse
estuaries in North America.

We all suffered
from the headaches,

the hoarseness of your throat

and the smell that you
couldn't get rid of

once you went home at night.

It was horrible and we
don't want to do it again.

I had very little business
coming through the door,

the phone stopped ringing.

Nobody's using their boats.
The water's just that nasty,

nobody wants to go out on it.

This has been making
national news,

it's going to have a
devastating long term impact

just from an
economical standpoint.

My hope is that they
can figure out a way

to stop the discharges
to protect our estuaries

which we are slowly killing off.

Florida's coastal communities
have struggled for decades

with harmful algal blooms

caused by seasonal freshwater
discharges from Lake Okeechobee.

We've got to do
something about this

and hold the
politicians responsible.

This is where the
greatest damage

is being done to
the ocean as a whole.

It's where humans and
the ocean meet and interact

and it's the lifeblood
of so much of the ocean.

In South Florida, algal blooms
are a long-term problem

with complex
sources and solutions.

Now, scientists, engineers
and water managers

are pursuing restoration
and rehabilitation strategies

in response to one of America's
complicated marine challenges.

Major funding for this program

was provided by the
Batchelor Foundation,

encouraging people to preserve

and protect America's
underwater resources.

And by: Diver's Direct/
Emocean Sports,

inspiring the pursuit of
adventures and watersports;

The Do Unto Others Trust;

The William J. and Isobel
G. Clarke Foundation.

And by the following:

Lady Suzanna P. Tweed

and Carleton Tweed
Charitable Foundation;

Skip and Diane Day.

The Indian River Lagoon
was once considered one

of North America's most
biologically diverse estuaries.

It stretches more than a
hundred and fifty miles

down Florida's Atlantic coast.

People don't realize what
incredibly precious places

estuaries are,

because they are the
nursery for the ocean.

When fish and other organisms
want to produce offspring,

their offspring have a much
better chance of surviving

if they can do it in a place

where there's hiding
places and lots of food.

So, we have many organisms

that spawn in the
Indian River Lagoon

that end up in Chesapeake Bay

because they're carried by
the Gulf Stream up the coast.

So, this is super,
super precious territory.

Once a beautiful
and thriving area,

portions of the lagoon
suffer periodically

from mats of algae often
described as guacamole thick.

To fully understand
the complex sources

and potential solutions
to this algae crisis,

it is necessary to look inland
to Florida's lakes and rivers,

the Everglades, and
manmade structures

that regulate water
on its journey to the sea.

Historically, water
from the Kissimmee,

as far north as Orlando, would
flow down the Kissimmee basin

filling up Lake Okeechobee

and water would spill
over to the south

into the Everglades
during wet years

and that would
replenish the marshes

all the way down to Florida
Bay and the Florida Keys.

And we changed that

by building the dike
around Lake Okeechobee

with the need for flood
control south of the lake,

as people moved
into South Florida.

And so now when the
lake fills up in wet years,

that water hits a
barrier, that dike,

and we have to divert
it east to the St. Lucie

and into the lower
Indian River Lagoon

and west to the
Caloosahatchee River

and out to the Gulf of Mexico.

And we've shut off the
water to the Everglades

and now they are dying
for lack of water.

You can kind of think
of Lake Okeechobee

as the "blue heart"
of Florida,

and the waters flowing
in and out of it

is like the circulatory system.

And we've kind of messed up

the circulatory
system for the state.

While the dike holds
back the water

to provide necessary
flood control

for people living
south of the lake,

it also accumulates pollutants
from nearby agriculture,

cattle farming, septic tank
leaks and other sources

which can cause algal
blooms in the lake.

So, this shallow body of water

has a layer of
muck at the bottom

that is very high in
phosphorous and nitrogen content

such that when the wind blows

it's enough to stir
up that muck,

and release that
pollution into the water.

Algae need
nutrients to grow,

and so, with the
nitrogen and phosphorus

that's been coming
into Lake Okeechobee

from agriculture and cattle
and septic systems,

all of those nutrients are
just feeding these algae

- and it's just exploding
in enormous numbers.

Nitrogen and phosphorous are
naturally present in the water.

But when higher
concentrations

are introduced from
manmade sources,

they are considered pollutants
and fertilize algal growth

that otherwise wouldn't
have occurred.

What happens then is,

you've got all of this
polluted fresh water

that's being sent out
in billions of gallons

into this amazing estuary
that was once designated

one of the most
biologically diverse estuaries

in the United States.

But it's loaded with
nutrients and toxins,

and so it's just
this death knell

for this once
beautiful estuary.

So, the algae bloom
that we saw forming

in the summer of 2016
in the St. Lucie Estuary

was sourced from
Lake Okeechobee,

It bloomed severely in
Lake Okeechobee

to the point where you could
see it from commercial flights,

you could see it
from satellite images.

Several types of cyanobacteria
are found in Florida's waters.

Commonly referred to as
algae or blue green algae,

they can form massive
blooms when the light,

temperature and nutrient
conditions are right.

So, what we're getting
is a tremendous amount

of these discharge events

bringing with it this
fresh water algae

known as
Microcystis aeruginosa,

and that Microcystis algae,
that blue-green algae,

pervaded all throughout
the St. Lucie Estuary,

in the Indian River
Lagoon south,

and then also went out
onto the nearshore reefs.

And in fact, for
the first time ever,

the algae was so much present
on our public beaches,

they had to close the beaches

for several days
for public safety.

It is a very serious concern.

I thought we were reaching
a tipping point in this estuary

where it was very likely
to become algae-dominated.

And I thought I knew
what that meant.

But this is so much worse than
I could have ever envisioned,

that I really can't quite
predict what's gonna happen,

because microcystis
is just so nasty.

So, if you go
anywhere near it,

the impact on your health
is immediate and severe,

and it's clearly
having the same impact

on the organisms that are
having to live actually in it.

The immediate effects
of the 2016 bloom

were felt by the people
in coastal Martin County.

It affected our health,

we couldn't breathe at night,
we had headaches.

How uh, how rude do
you want me to get?

Phil Norman is co-owner
of a small business

with five employees.

Not to make a pun, but
one was turning green

and finally, you
know, vomited.

So, I'm like, go home.
You don't need to be here.

It's not worth it.

Your health's not worth a job.

You can always find another job
somewhere doing something else.

Acute exposure can actually
lead to a bleeding liver;

long term exposure can lead
to things like liver cancer,

and then there's other
toxins mixed in there

with microcystin that
we know less about.

How much are the ecosystems
as a whole being impacted?

How much is microcystin being
incorporated into the food web?

Microcystin is a
remarkably stable molecule

- you can actually boil water

and it doesn't
impact microcystin.

It's still fine, it
still does its thing.

So, that's pretty alarming.

And so how long it
stays in the food web

once it's taken up,

how much it accumulates
in things like shellfish

and higher order predators,

those are things that we really
need to know a lot more about.

And microcystin isn't the
only toxin of concern

released by cyanobacteria

during algal blooms
in South Florida.

University of Miami
professor Larry Brand

collects and analyzes
water samples

from the Atlantic and Gulf Coast
estuaries, the Everglades,

and Florida Bay to
monitor nutrients

that he believes generate
large algal blooms.

We're about
two-thirds of the way

down from Lake Okeechobee.

So, this is the southern
part of the Everglades.

In the northern
part is the source

of high concentrations
of nutrients,

both nitrogen and phosphorous.

The phosphorous causes problems
in the Everglades itself,

altering the ecosystem.

While much of the Everglades'
historic waterflow

has been diverted east and
west of Lake Okeechobee,

some of the polluted water
still makes its way south

across the water-starved
River of Grass.

Eventually the phosphorous gets
filtered out by the Everglades

but so much nitrogen coming out

of the northern third
of the Everglades

that it makes it all
the way to Florida Bay

and generates large
algal blooms,

which is the focus
of my research;

the cause of these
large algal blooms

that we're getting
in Florida Bay

as well as elsewhere
in South Florida.

We think we've
discovered a compound

that does not have
any short-term effects

but does have
long-term effects

and the compound
is called BMAA.

BMAA or beta-
methylamino-L-alanine,

is a small amino acid

that potentially has
serious health impacts

for humans and animals.

BMAA can be incorporated
into the body

by mimicking a major
amino acid, serine.

This can lead to malfunctioning
and tangled proteins,

which can be devastating
to the brain.

And there's increasing evidence

that it can lead to
neurodegenerative diseases

like Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's and ALS.

We started looking at
concentrations of BMAA

in seafood here
in south Florida

and bottom line is that we
saw high levels of BMAA

in, say, the pink shrimp
in Florida Bay,

blue crabs in Biscayne Bay,

puffer fish in Biscayne
Bay, et cetera.

So, places where we see
these blooms of cyanobacteria,

blue-green algae,

we do find high
concentrations of BMAA.

And BMAA wasn't just found
in fish in Florida Bay.

I was able to get a permit
to get brain tissue

from dolphins that had
died in Indian River Lagoon.

Dolphins are at the very
top of the food chain there,

eating seafood just like we do.

The autopsy could not
find any cause of death,

no known toxins or diseases,
anything like that,

but we found high levels
of BMAA in their brains.

And since then I've talked
to a couple of researchers

who study the behavior
of the dolphins

in the Indian River Lagoon

and they told me they
have seen some dolphins

in the Indian River Lagoon
that seemed confused,

getting lost,
swimming up rivers,

up into freshwater
lakes and so on,

sounds just like an
Alzheimer's patient.

So, my concern here is,

if you get exposed to
a cyanobacteria bloom

and you don't have
any immediate effects,

you think, well everything
is OK, well, maybe not.

While many researchers
have documented

the impact of algal blooms

on human health and
Florida's coastal estuaries,

researchers are still studying
what exactly causes them.

Many blame pollutants
from lawn fertilizers,

agriculture and cattle farming,

but experts say it's
not that simple.

What we see as being
the major change here

is the rapid population growth

particularly in the
northern Kissimmee area,

which is a major source of
not just storm water runoff,

but nutrients as well.

Dr. Brian LaPointe,
a researcher

at Florida Atlantic
University's Harbor

Branch Oceanographic Institute,

says in the case of the
bloom affecting portions

of the lower the Indian
River Lagoon,

Florida's explosive
population growth

and the waste it produces
is a significant problem.

This bloom followed
major rainfall

on the watershed of Lake
Okeechobee to the north

where record rain
fall fell in January

and sporadically
throughout the spring,

right up through
May and into June

that allowed for a
lot of nutrient loading

into Lake Okeechobee
from the north of the lake.

It's nitrogen in
the form of nitrate

- that was the dominant
nutrient source -

and a lot of that was
coming from septic tanks.

Dr. LaPointe says
septic tank systems

are problematic in Florida,

because of the state's
sandy, porous soils.

So, you get very rapid movement
of the septic tank effluent

through the soils
into the ground water

or the adjacent surface water.

And in many places
that I have worked

the water tables are so high

that the drain fields
during much of the year

are sitting right
in the ground water.

Once the nitrogen-rich sewage
enters the groundwater,

it can quickly move downstream

and create problems miles away.

Dr. Lapointe collects
and analyzes

the tissues of different
algae samples

to trace the source of nitrogen
that led to their growth.

We got the grand slam today.

Unlike cyanobacteria,
which aren't true algae,

the algae that
Dr. Lapointe studies

are plantlike organisms.

We found the
three target species

that we were looking for.

This is ulva,

we've got hypnea and
we've got gracilaria.

These are very fast
growing seaweeds

that we analyze for stable
nitrogen isotopes.

That allows us to identify
the source of nitrogen

that's fueling the algal blooms
in the Indian River Lagoon.

We use a method here
in my laboratory

by measuring nitrogen isotopes
in the algae themselves,

it can tell us whether that
nitrogen is from human sewage

or from fertilizers.

Dr. Lapointe's
research concluded

that there was a lot more
human excrement in the water

than previously thought,

accounting for up to 60% of
the nitrogen in some areas.

And he believes septic
tanks were to blame.

What we found is that all
these canals and tributaries

right here on the main stem
of the Indian River Lagoon

locally are surrounded by homes

and many of these
have septic tanks

that are sitting right
in the groundwater.

And there're estimates

ranging from 300,000 to
600,000 septic tanks

up and down the
Indian River Lagoon.

This is the Space Coast,
we put a man on the moon.

Yet, we can't really
clean up, you know,

our own waste coming
out of our backyards.

So, you know,
there's a problem here.

Many experts believe that
so long as polluted water

continues to be released
into the estuaries,

seasonal algal blooms
will continue.

What we've seen over the years

with the repeated
discharge of polluted water

from Lake Okeechobee, not
only in the St. Lucie Estuary

but also in the Caloosahatchee
on the west coast,

is that they are being
hammered repeatedly

every couple of years we
have these discharge events.

So really the system
never quite recovers

from the previous disturbance.

Okay, so what do we do?

There's no short
term fix in sight.

We've been saying for years

that that water needs
to be diverted back south

to the Everglades again,

but first it has
to be cleaned up,

which means they have to have
land that they can hold it on,

and so it's going
to be a long time

- even if they finally
get around to doing

what we've been asking
them to do for all these years,

before they can fix it.

Efforts are underway

to clean up the water coming
out of Lake Okeechobee

before it reaches the Everglades
and the estuaries.

Stormwater Treatment
Areas are put in place

near the lake to help filter
nutrients out of the water

that lead to excessive algal
blooms and other problems.

One of these reservoirs

is the C44 Stormwater
Treatment Area

being constructed by the
Army Corps of Engineers.

Scheduled for
completion by 2020,

it will filter the water

released from
Lake Okeechobee

as it moves east before it
reaches the St Lucie estuary.

When in full operation,

the project will pull water
from the C-44 canal.

As it moves through
the treatment cells

we use natural
biological processes,

in other words vegetation,

plants will start growing
up in the treatment cells

and through their growth
and their natural processes

they'll absorb some
of the nutrients

whether it's phosphorous
or nitrogen,

and pull those nutrients
out of the water column

so that the water that
goes out the other end

of the treatment
cells is cleaner

than it was when it came in.

Everglades restoration
came about

because we realized some
of the unintended consequences

of managing water
across southern Florida

was detrimental to
the environment.

So, we are maintaining
flood control, water supply,

and other water related
needs of the region

while balancing it with benefits
to the natural environment.

Signed into law in 2000,

the Comprehensive Everglades
Restoration Plan

was devised to protect and
restore the water resources

of central and south Florida.

Its goals include capturing
and filtering the fresh water

that is currently diverted
from Lake Okeechobee

to the Atlantic Ocean
and the Gulf of Mexico,

and redirecting it south
to the Everglades,

where it is needed most.

While the plan is designed

to benefit the
Everglades ecosystem

it's also expected to
cut the frequency and extent

of toxic algal blooms in
South Florida's estuaries.

So here we are 10,
15 years into the process

and we have a number of projects
that are already underway,

C44 being one of them.

I think that we stay the course
and we continue to construct

storage and water quality
treatment projects,

as we get those projects
funded and constructed

and online and operational,
that will be the solution.

Everglades restoration is
really a long-term endeavor.

Originally the concept
was for a 30-year plan

and that would have
been with ideal funding

and really no stumbling
blocks along the way.

However, it's very complicated.

Ultimately there's a lot
of politics involved.

I mean as it is now it's
many billions of dollars.

So, I'm kind of skeptical
at this point.

Uh, been a lot of political
battles over the last 20 years

over this and it doesn't
seem to be subsiding

or we've not made a whole
lot of progress actually.

One of our biggest problems is
that we have a political system

that means that we generally
have short-term appointments

for critical positions.

And, in fact, we've added to
that by having term limits.

So that just about the time

somebody's getting
good at their job,

they're thrown out of it.

So, we don't have people
that have the long view;

they're working
in the short term.

None of the water
management decisions

that the Corps
makes are easy ones.

This is a very
complicated system

and it's incredibly challenging
to balance all of the water

related needs of the region.

And we are very sympathetic
and understand

that the decisions that we
make have significant impacts

and we work with all
of the stakeholders

in order to try and
minimize those impacts

at every available opportunity.

We really have to be
forward thinking

and look at Florida's
water future.

We have a thousand people
a day moving to Florida now.

We are the number one tourist
destination in the world.

105 million tourists came
to Florida last year.

Nothing is going
to be sustainable

about that population growth

if you cannot deal
with the wastewater,

the sewage, that
they're producing.

Countless challenges remain.

Experts are working
to better understand

the impacts of
toxic algal blooms

and what needs to be done
to prevent them in the future.

Meanwhile many
stakeholders believe

that truly solving
this complex problem

will require not only
technological ingenuity,

but also political will.

We have to stop the
circular firing squad

where everybody points to the
next guy and says it's not me,

it's him and therefore,
nothing gets done.

And the politicians say, well,

you know we really can't
answer that without more studies

- and then they don't
fund the studies.

And you just get
nothing happening.

And now you've got
people getting sick

and no end in sight.

So, we need to get smart
about these things

nationwide and worldwide.

Don't forget about this.

This, this has been occurring,

it's been occurring
for 20 years.

It's not going to go away

unless we keep applying
pressure to the politicians.

And it's not going to happen

until the general public
sits up and says,

"Listen, we need to get
this done." Period.

Major funding for this
program was provided

by the Batchelor Foundation,

encouraging people to
preserve and protect

America's underwater resources.

And by: Diver's Direct
/Emocean Sports,

inspiring the pursuit of
adventures and watersports;

The Do Unto Others Trust;

The William J. and Isobel
G. Clarke Foundation.

And by the following:
Lady Suzanna P. Tweed

and Carleton Tweed
Charitable Foundation;

Skip and Diane Day.