1 00:00:04,771 --> 00:00:06,473 July 2016. 2 00:00:09,109 --> 00:00:11,711 Above average rainfall in South Florida 3 00:00:11,911 --> 00:00:14,047 causes dangerously high water levels 4 00:00:14,214 --> 00:00:17,150 in south-central Florida's Lake Okeechobee. 5 00:00:18,818 --> 00:00:20,086 Flood control managers, 6 00:00:20,387 --> 00:00:23,123 fearing a breach in the dike surrounding the lake, 7 00:00:23,390 --> 00:00:26,626 release billions of gallons of water through canals, 8 00:00:26,926 --> 00:00:30,130 rivers and streams into the Gulf of Mexico 9 00:00:31,097 --> 00:00:33,233 and the Atlantic Ocean. 10 00:00:35,435 --> 00:00:38,071 The discharge to Florida's Atlantic coast 11 00:00:38,238 --> 00:00:40,673 surged down the C-44 canal 12 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,810 that flows into the St. Lucie River and Estuary 13 00:00:44,010 --> 00:00:46,479 and into the lower Indian River Lagoon. 14 00:00:47,781 --> 00:00:50,683 It formed a toxic blue-green algae mat, 15 00:00:51,084 --> 00:00:53,119 as much as six inches thick, 16 00:00:53,286 --> 00:00:56,923 that shut down marinas and polluted near shore waters 17 00:00:57,190 --> 00:01:00,860 as it flowed out the St. Lucie inlet and into the ocean. 18 00:01:03,129 --> 00:01:06,332 Airborne toxins from the algae bloom sickened people 19 00:01:06,633 --> 00:01:07,934 and contaminated one 20 00:01:08,034 --> 00:01:11,871 of the most biologically diverse estuaries in North America. 21 00:01:13,039 --> 00:01:14,707 We all suffered from the headaches, 22 00:01:15,108 --> 00:01:17,310 the hoarseness of your throat 23 00:01:17,510 --> 00:01:20,346 and the smell that you couldn't get rid of 24 00:01:20,713 --> 00:01:22,215 once you went home at night. 25 00:01:22,615 --> 00:01:25,218 It was horrible and we don't want to do it again. 26 00:01:25,852 --> 00:01:28,088 I had very little business coming through the door, 27 00:01:28,121 --> 00:01:29,656 the phone stopped ringing. 28 00:01:29,856 --> 00:01:32,959 Nobody's using their boats. The water's just that nasty, 29 00:01:33,126 --> 00:01:34,494 nobody wants to go out on it. 30 00:01:34,661 --> 00:01:36,563 This has been making national news, 31 00:01:36,729 --> 00:01:39,866 it's going to have a devastating long term impact 32 00:01:40,133 --> 00:01:42,168 just from an economical standpoint. 33 00:01:44,504 --> 00:01:46,372 My hope is that they can figure out a way 34 00:01:46,539 --> 00:01:49,742 to stop the discharges to protect our estuaries 35 00:01:50,143 --> 00:01:52,245 which we are slowly killing off. 36 00:01:53,313 --> 00:01:56,382 Florida's coastal communities have struggled for decades 37 00:01:56,583 --> 00:01:58,518 with harmful algal blooms 38 00:01:58,685 --> 00:02:03,022 caused by seasonal freshwater discharges from Lake Okeechobee. 39 00:02:03,590 --> 00:02:05,158 We've got to do something about this 40 00:02:05,425 --> 00:02:07,560 and hold the politicians responsible. 41 00:02:09,028 --> 00:02:10,897 This is where the greatest damage 42 00:02:11,030 --> 00:02:12,866 is being done to the ocean as a whole. 43 00:02:13,032 --> 00:02:16,202 It's where humans and the ocean meet and interact 44 00:02:16,736 --> 00:02:20,106 and it's the lifeblood of so much of the ocean. 45 00:02:21,207 --> 00:02:25,078 In South Florida, algal blooms are a long-term problem 46 00:02:25,345 --> 00:02:27,847 with complex sources and solutions. 47 00:02:28,114 --> 00:02:31,184 Now, scientists, engineers and water managers 48 00:02:31,351 --> 00:02:34,921 are pursuing restoration and rehabilitation strategies 49 00:02:35,054 --> 00:02:39,025 in response to one of America's complicated marine challenges. 50 00:03:02,916 --> 00:03:04,651 Major funding for this program 51 00:03:04,817 --> 00:03:07,387 was provided by the Batchelor Foundation, 52 00:03:07,420 --> 00:03:09,222 encouraging people to preserve 53 00:03:09,255 --> 00:03:12,258 and protect America's underwater resources. 54 00:03:14,394 --> 00:03:17,297 And by: Diver's Direct/ Emocean Sports, 55 00:03:17,564 --> 00:03:21,301 inspiring the pursuit of adventures and watersports; 56 00:03:24,671 --> 00:03:26,339 The Do Unto Others Trust; 57 00:03:28,608 --> 00:03:31,911 The William J. and Isobel G. Clarke Foundation. 58 00:03:32,812 --> 00:03:34,514 And by the following: 59 00:03:34,948 --> 00:03:36,616 Lady Suzanna P. Tweed 60 00:03:36,783 --> 00:03:39,919 and Carleton Tweed Charitable Foundation; 61 00:03:40,253 --> 00:03:42,322 Skip and Diane Day. 62 00:03:47,627 --> 00:03:50,463 The Indian River Lagoon was once considered one 63 00:03:50,663 --> 00:03:54,434 of North America's most biologically diverse estuaries. 64 00:03:55,335 --> 00:03:57,937 It stretches more than a hundred and fifty miles 65 00:03:58,037 --> 00:04:00,473 down Florida's Atlantic coast. 66 00:04:00,707 --> 00:04:04,877 People don't realize what incredibly precious places 67 00:04:05,111 --> 00:04:06,312 estuaries are, 68 00:04:06,813 --> 00:04:09,549 because they are the nursery for the ocean. 69 00:04:09,682 --> 00:04:13,486 When fish and other organisms want to produce offspring, 70 00:04:14,053 --> 00:04:16,322 their offspring have a much better chance of surviving 71 00:04:16,356 --> 00:04:17,523 if they can do it in a place 72 00:04:17,657 --> 00:04:19,559 where there's hiding places and lots of food. 73 00:04:19,892 --> 00:04:21,327 So, we have many organisms 74 00:04:21,361 --> 00:04:23,896 that spawn in the Indian River Lagoon 75 00:04:24,030 --> 00:04:25,365 that end up in Chesapeake Bay 76 00:04:25,498 --> 00:04:28,334 because they're carried by the Gulf Stream up the coast. 77 00:04:28,468 --> 00:04:32,171 So, this is super, super precious territory. 78 00:04:33,973 --> 00:04:36,309 Once a beautiful and thriving area, 79 00:04:36,576 --> 00:04:38,711 portions of the lagoon suffer periodically 80 00:04:38,845 --> 00:04:43,383 from mats of algae often described as guacamole thick. 81 00:04:44,484 --> 00:04:46,719 To fully understand the complex sources 82 00:04:46,853 --> 00:04:49,489 and potential solutions to this algae crisis, 83 00:04:49,856 --> 00:04:53,359 it is necessary to look inland to Florida's lakes and rivers, 84 00:04:53,693 --> 00:04:56,829 the Everglades, and manmade structures 85 00:04:56,996 --> 00:05:00,099 that regulate water on its journey to the sea. 86 00:05:02,201 --> 00:05:04,704 Historically, water from the Kissimmee, 87 00:05:04,904 --> 00:05:08,408 as far north as Orlando, would flow down the Kissimmee basin 88 00:05:08,841 --> 00:05:10,276 filling up Lake Okeechobee 89 00:05:10,410 --> 00:05:13,346 and water would spill over to the south 90 00:05:13,546 --> 00:05:16,182 into the Everglades during wet years 91 00:05:16,382 --> 00:05:18,384 and that would replenish the marshes 92 00:05:18,518 --> 00:05:21,854 all the way down to Florida Bay and the Florida Keys. 93 00:05:22,255 --> 00:05:23,556 And we changed that 94 00:05:23,756 --> 00:05:26,559 by building the dike around Lake Okeechobee 95 00:05:27,126 --> 00:05:29,862 with the need for flood control south of the lake, 96 00:05:29,962 --> 00:05:32,065 as people moved into South Florida. 97 00:05:32,265 --> 00:05:35,368 And so now when the lake fills up in wet years, 98 00:05:35,568 --> 00:05:37,870 that water hits a barrier, that dike, 99 00:05:38,037 --> 00:05:40,473 and we have to divert it east to the St. Lucie 100 00:05:40,807 --> 00:05:43,109 and into the lower Indian River Lagoon 101 00:05:43,276 --> 00:05:45,478 and west to the Caloosahatchee River 102 00:05:45,611 --> 00:05:47,447 and out to the Gulf of Mexico. 103 00:05:47,613 --> 00:05:50,717 And we've shut off the water to the Everglades 104 00:05:50,950 --> 00:05:53,753 and now they are dying for lack of water. 105 00:05:54,921 --> 00:05:56,422 You can kind of think of Lake Okeechobee 106 00:05:56,556 --> 00:05:58,458 as the "blue heart" of Florida, 107 00:05:58,591 --> 00:06:00,893 and the waters flowing in and out of it 108 00:06:00,993 --> 00:06:02,762 is like the circulatory system. 109 00:06:03,062 --> 00:06:04,564 And we've kind of messed up 110 00:06:04,664 --> 00:06:07,133 the circulatory system for the state. 111 00:06:09,402 --> 00:06:11,137 While the dike holds back the water 112 00:06:11,270 --> 00:06:13,005 to provide necessary flood control 113 00:06:13,139 --> 00:06:15,274 for people living south of the lake, 114 00:06:15,408 --> 00:06:18,411 it also accumulates pollutants from nearby agriculture, 115 00:06:18,778 --> 00:06:22,515 cattle farming, septic tank leaks and other sources 116 00:06:22,648 --> 00:06:25,451 which can cause algal blooms in the lake. 117 00:06:26,486 --> 00:06:28,154 So, this shallow body of water 118 00:06:28,287 --> 00:06:30,590 has a layer of muck at the bottom 119 00:06:31,124 --> 00:06:34,494 that is very high in phosphorous and nitrogen content 120 00:06:34,794 --> 00:06:36,462 such that when the wind blows 121 00:06:36,496 --> 00:06:38,464 it's enough to stir up that muck, 122 00:06:38,598 --> 00:06:41,601 and release that pollution into the water. 123 00:06:42,335 --> 00:06:45,271 Algae need nutrients to grow, 124 00:06:45,638 --> 00:06:47,507 and so, with the nitrogen and phosphorus 125 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,776 that's been coming into Lake Okeechobee 126 00:06:49,942 --> 00:06:54,480 from agriculture and cattle and septic systems, 127 00:06:55,648 --> 00:06:58,684 all of those nutrients are just feeding these algae 128 00:06:58,985 --> 00:07:02,155 - and it's just exploding in enormous numbers. 129 00:07:03,189 --> 00:07:06,359 Nitrogen and phosphorous are naturally present in the water. 130 00:07:06,826 --> 00:07:08,294 But when higher concentrations 131 00:07:08,394 --> 00:07:10,463 are introduced from manmade sources, 132 00:07:10,730 --> 00:07:14,333 they are considered pollutants and fertilize algal growth 133 00:07:14,667 --> 00:07:16,803 that otherwise wouldn't have occurred. 134 00:07:17,670 --> 00:07:18,871 What happens then is, 135 00:07:19,005 --> 00:07:21,307 you've got all of this polluted fresh water 136 00:07:21,641 --> 00:07:24,510 that's being sent out in billions of gallons 137 00:07:24,811 --> 00:07:28,714 into this amazing estuary that was once designated 138 00:07:28,881 --> 00:07:31,350 one of the most biologically diverse estuaries 139 00:07:31,484 --> 00:07:32,985 in the United States. 140 00:07:33,252 --> 00:07:36,189 But it's loaded with nutrients and toxins, 141 00:07:36,589 --> 00:07:38,724 and so it's just this death knell 142 00:07:38,891 --> 00:07:41,160 for this once beautiful estuary. 143 00:07:41,694 --> 00:07:43,463 So, the algae bloom that we saw forming 144 00:07:43,496 --> 00:07:46,532 in the summer of 2016 in the St. Lucie Estuary 145 00:07:46,566 --> 00:07:48,668 was sourced from Lake Okeechobee, 146 00:07:49,035 --> 00:07:51,571 It bloomed severely in Lake Okeechobee 147 00:07:51,737 --> 00:07:55,041 to the point where you could see it from commercial flights, 148 00:07:55,208 --> 00:07:57,009 you could see it from satellite images. 149 00:07:58,511 --> 00:08:02,582 Several types of cyanobacteria are found in Florida's waters. 150 00:08:03,282 --> 00:08:06,686 Commonly referred to as algae or blue green algae, 151 00:08:07,386 --> 00:08:09,956 they can form massive blooms when the light, 152 00:08:10,122 --> 00:08:13,125 temperature and nutrient conditions are right. 153 00:08:13,593 --> 00:08:15,962 So, what we're getting is a tremendous amount 154 00:08:16,095 --> 00:08:17,530 of these discharge events 155 00:08:17,697 --> 00:08:19,799 bringing with it this fresh water algae 156 00:08:20,066 --> 00:08:21,934 known as Microcystis aeruginosa, 157 00:08:22,101 --> 00:08:24,904 and that Microcystis algae, that blue-green algae, 158 00:08:25,204 --> 00:08:28,074 pervaded all throughout the St. Lucie Estuary, 159 00:08:28,241 --> 00:08:29,909 in the Indian River Lagoon south, 160 00:08:30,076 --> 00:08:32,879 and then also went out onto the nearshore reefs. 161 00:08:33,079 --> 00:08:34,580 And in fact, for the first time ever, 162 00:08:34,614 --> 00:08:37,917 the algae was so much present on our public beaches, 163 00:08:38,084 --> 00:08:39,552 they had to close the beaches 164 00:08:39,752 --> 00:08:42,221 for several days for public safety. 165 00:08:42,755 --> 00:08:45,458 It is a very serious concern. 166 00:08:45,658 --> 00:08:49,161 I thought we were reaching a tipping point in this estuary 167 00:08:49,295 --> 00:08:53,332 where it was very likely to become algae-dominated. 168 00:08:53,666 --> 00:08:56,569 And I thought I knew what that meant. 169 00:08:57,169 --> 00:09:01,607 But this is so much worse than I could have ever envisioned, 170 00:09:02,341 --> 00:09:05,845 that I really can't quite predict what's gonna happen, 171 00:09:06,612 --> 00:09:09,782 because microcystis is just so nasty. 172 00:09:10,116 --> 00:09:12,285 So, if you go anywhere near it, 173 00:09:12,485 --> 00:09:16,789 the impact on your health is immediate and severe, 174 00:09:17,023 --> 00:09:19,325 and it's clearly having the same impact 175 00:09:19,458 --> 00:09:22,595 on the organisms that are having to live actually in it. 176 00:09:23,996 --> 00:09:26,599 The immediate effects of the 2016 bloom 177 00:09:26,699 --> 00:09:29,936 were felt by the people in coastal Martin County. 178 00:09:30,770 --> 00:09:32,104 It affected our health, 179 00:09:32,204 --> 00:09:35,474 we couldn't breathe at night, we had headaches. 180 00:09:35,675 --> 00:09:38,144 How uh, how rude do you want me to get? 181 00:09:39,111 --> 00:09:41,647 Phil Norman is co-owner of a small business 182 00:09:41,681 --> 00:09:43,382 with five employees. 183 00:09:43,816 --> 00:09:45,751 Not to make a pun, but one was turning green 184 00:09:45,785 --> 00:09:48,220 and finally, you know, vomited. 185 00:09:48,487 --> 00:09:51,123 So, I'm like, go home. You don't need to be here. 186 00:09:51,557 --> 00:09:53,659 It's not worth it. 187 00:09:53,893 --> 00:09:55,695 Your health's not worth a job. 188 00:09:55,728 --> 00:09:58,297 You can always find another job somewhere doing something else. 189 00:09:58,831 --> 00:10:01,968 Acute exposure can actually lead to a bleeding liver; 190 00:10:02,134 --> 00:10:06,005 long term exposure can lead to things like liver cancer, 191 00:10:06,339 --> 00:10:09,375 and then there's other toxins mixed in there 192 00:10:09,642 --> 00:10:11,844 with microcystin that we know less about. 193 00:10:11,944 --> 00:10:15,681 How much are the ecosystems as a whole being impacted? 194 00:10:16,248 --> 00:10:19,652 How much is microcystin being incorporated into the food web? 195 00:10:20,686 --> 00:10:23,723 Microcystin is a remarkably stable molecule 196 00:10:24,223 --> 00:10:25,858 - you can actually boil water 197 00:10:25,992 --> 00:10:28,527 and it doesn't impact microcystin. 198 00:10:28,694 --> 00:10:30,696 It's still fine, it still does its thing. 199 00:10:30,830 --> 00:10:32,665 So, that's pretty alarming. 200 00:10:32,832 --> 00:10:35,668 And so how long it stays in the food web 201 00:10:35,835 --> 00:10:37,603 once it's taken up, 202 00:10:37,770 --> 00:10:40,106 how much it accumulates in things like shellfish 203 00:10:40,339 --> 00:10:41,674 and higher order predators, 204 00:10:42,008 --> 00:10:45,544 those are things that we really need to know a lot more about. 205 00:10:47,279 --> 00:10:50,583 And microcystin isn't the only toxin of concern 206 00:10:50,716 --> 00:10:52,551 released by cyanobacteria 207 00:10:52,718 --> 00:10:54,787 during algal blooms in South Florida. 208 00:11:05,931 --> 00:11:08,701 University of Miami professor Larry Brand 209 00:11:09,268 --> 00:11:11,570 collects and analyzes water samples 210 00:11:11,704 --> 00:11:15,141 from the Atlantic and Gulf Coast estuaries, the Everglades, 211 00:11:15,441 --> 00:11:17,943 and Florida Bay to monitor nutrients 212 00:11:18,110 --> 00:11:21,781 that he believes generate large algal blooms. 213 00:11:22,581 --> 00:11:23,816 We're about two-thirds of the way 214 00:11:23,983 --> 00:11:25,885 down from Lake Okeechobee. 215 00:11:26,485 --> 00:11:28,721 So, this is the southern part of the Everglades. 216 00:11:29,655 --> 00:11:30,990 In the northern part is the source 217 00:11:31,223 --> 00:11:32,792 of high concentrations of nutrients, 218 00:11:32,992 --> 00:11:34,794 both nitrogen and phosphorous. 219 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:38,230 The phosphorous causes problems in the Everglades itself, 220 00:11:39,098 --> 00:11:40,766 altering the ecosystem. 221 00:11:41,634 --> 00:11:43,969 While much of the Everglades' historic waterflow 222 00:11:44,236 --> 00:11:47,173 has been diverted east and west of Lake Okeechobee, 223 00:11:47,907 --> 00:11:50,776 some of the polluted water still makes its way south 224 00:11:50,810 --> 00:11:54,013 across the water-starved River of Grass. 225 00:11:55,281 --> 00:11:58,317 Eventually the phosphorous gets filtered out by the Everglades 226 00:11:58,584 --> 00:11:59,819 but so much nitrogen coming out 227 00:11:59,852 --> 00:12:01,721 of the northern third of the Everglades 228 00:12:01,754 --> 00:12:03,656 that it makes it all the way to Florida Bay 229 00:12:03,823 --> 00:12:05,024 and generates large algal blooms, 230 00:12:05,191 --> 00:12:06,726 which is the focus of my research; 231 00:12:06,759 --> 00:12:08,761 the cause of these large algal blooms 232 00:12:08,794 --> 00:12:10,362 that we're getting in Florida Bay 233 00:12:10,596 --> 00:12:12,698 as well as elsewhere in South Florida. 234 00:12:13,165 --> 00:12:14,734 We think we've discovered a compound 235 00:12:14,767 --> 00:12:16,669 that does not have any short-term effects 236 00:12:16,836 --> 00:12:18,370 but does have long-term effects 237 00:12:18,537 --> 00:12:20,639 and the compound is called BMAA. 238 00:12:21,373 --> 00:12:24,844 BMAA or beta- methylamino-L-alanine, 239 00:12:25,044 --> 00:12:26,812 is a small amino acid 240 00:12:26,846 --> 00:12:29,215 that potentially has serious health impacts 241 00:12:29,381 --> 00:12:31,217 for humans and animals. 242 00:12:32,151 --> 00:12:34,787 BMAA can be incorporated into the body 243 00:12:34,820 --> 00:12:37,790 by mimicking a major amino acid, serine. 244 00:12:38,791 --> 00:12:41,794 This can lead to malfunctioning and tangled proteins, 245 00:12:41,994 --> 00:12:44,363 which can be devastating to the brain. 246 00:12:45,698 --> 00:12:46,932 And there's increasing evidence 247 00:12:46,966 --> 00:12:48,801 that it can lead to neurodegenerative diseases 248 00:12:48,834 --> 00:12:51,537 like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS. 249 00:12:51,904 --> 00:12:54,073 We started looking at concentrations of BMAA 250 00:12:54,306 --> 00:12:56,342 in seafood here in south Florida 251 00:12:56,509 --> 00:12:59,678 and bottom line is that we saw high levels of BMAA 252 00:12:59,812 --> 00:13:02,014 in, say, the pink shrimp in Florida Bay, 253 00:13:02,181 --> 00:13:04,550 blue crabs in Biscayne Bay, 254 00:13:05,084 --> 00:13:07,086 puffer fish in Biscayne Bay, et cetera. 255 00:13:07,253 --> 00:13:10,723 So, places where we see these blooms of cyanobacteria, 256 00:13:10,890 --> 00:13:11,891 blue-green algae, 257 00:13:11,924 --> 00:13:14,593 we do find high concentrations of BMAA. 258 00:13:15,161 --> 00:13:18,864 And BMAA wasn't just found in fish in Florida Bay. 259 00:13:20,332 --> 00:13:22,835 I was able to get a permit to get brain tissue 260 00:13:22,868 --> 00:13:25,905 from dolphins that had died in Indian River Lagoon. 261 00:13:26,338 --> 00:13:28,374 Dolphins are at the very top of the food chain there, 262 00:13:28,574 --> 00:13:30,009 eating seafood just like we do. 263 00:13:30,576 --> 00:13:32,878 The autopsy could not find any cause of death, 264 00:13:33,379 --> 00:13:37,750 no known toxins or diseases, anything like that, 265 00:13:37,850 --> 00:13:40,753 but we found high levels of BMAA in their brains. 266 00:13:41,554 --> 00:13:44,023 And since then I've talked to a couple of researchers 267 00:13:44,290 --> 00:13:46,125 who study the behavior of the dolphins 268 00:13:46,358 --> 00:13:47,560 in the Indian River Lagoon 269 00:13:47,726 --> 00:13:49,528 and they told me they have seen some dolphins 270 00:13:49,695 --> 00:13:52,031 in the Indian River Lagoon that seemed confused, 271 00:13:52,198 --> 00:13:53,966 getting lost, swimming up rivers, 272 00:13:54,133 --> 00:13:56,368 up into freshwater lakes and so on, 273 00:13:56,535 --> 00:13:58,637 sounds just like an Alzheimer's patient. 274 00:13:59,205 --> 00:14:00,406 So, my concern here is, 275 00:14:00,573 --> 00:14:02,107 if you get exposed to a cyanobacteria bloom 276 00:14:02,308 --> 00:14:05,211 and you don't have any immediate effects, 277 00:14:05,311 --> 00:14:07,880 you think, well everything is OK, well, maybe not. 278 00:14:08,480 --> 00:14:10,616 While many researchers have documented 279 00:14:10,783 --> 00:14:12,284 the impact of algal blooms 280 00:14:12,451 --> 00:14:15,487 on human health and Florida's coastal estuaries, 281 00:14:15,988 --> 00:14:19,425 researchers are still studying what exactly causes them. 282 00:14:20,793 --> 00:14:23,329 Many blame pollutants from lawn fertilizers, 283 00:14:23,896 --> 00:14:26,265 agriculture and cattle farming, 284 00:14:26,799 --> 00:14:29,401 but experts say it's not that simple. 285 00:14:30,736 --> 00:14:33,339 What we see as being the major change here 286 00:14:33,973 --> 00:14:36,108 is the rapid population growth 287 00:14:37,076 --> 00:14:39,912 particularly in the northern Kissimmee area, 288 00:14:40,613 --> 00:14:44,783 which is a major source of not just storm water runoff, 289 00:14:45,451 --> 00:14:46,952 but nutrients as well. 290 00:14:58,764 --> 00:15:00,900 Dr. Brian LaPointe, a researcher 291 00:15:01,133 --> 00:15:03,435 at Florida Atlantic University's Harbor 292 00:15:03,669 --> 00:15:05,704 Branch Oceanographic Institute, 293 00:15:05,971 --> 00:15:08,374 says in the case of the bloom affecting portions 294 00:15:08,607 --> 00:15:10,342 of the lower the Indian River Lagoon, 295 00:15:10,509 --> 00:15:12,978 Florida's explosive population growth 296 00:15:13,279 --> 00:15:16,682 and the waste it produces is a significant problem. 297 00:15:17,883 --> 00:15:20,653 This bloom followed major rainfall 298 00:15:20,986 --> 00:15:24,023 on the watershed of Lake Okeechobee to the north 299 00:15:24,056 --> 00:15:26,525 where record rain fall fell in January 300 00:15:26,825 --> 00:15:29,128 and sporadically throughout the spring, 301 00:15:29,328 --> 00:15:31,497 right up through May and into June 302 00:15:31,797 --> 00:15:35,067 that allowed for a lot of nutrient loading 303 00:15:35,301 --> 00:15:38,637 into Lake Okeechobee from the north of the lake. 304 00:15:38,971 --> 00:15:41,073 It's nitrogen in the form of nitrate 305 00:15:41,340 --> 00:15:43,943 - that was the dominant nutrient source - 306 00:15:43,976 --> 00:15:46,845 and a lot of that was coming from septic tanks. 307 00:15:48,047 --> 00:15:50,482 Dr. LaPointe says septic tank systems 308 00:15:50,716 --> 00:15:52,151 are problematic in Florida, 309 00:15:52,384 --> 00:15:55,020 because of the state's sandy, porous soils. 310 00:15:56,522 --> 00:16:01,327 So, you get very rapid movement of the septic tank effluent 311 00:16:01,560 --> 00:16:04,263 through the soils into the ground water 312 00:16:04,430 --> 00:16:06,532 or the adjacent surface water. 313 00:16:06,999 --> 00:16:09,735 And in many places that I have worked 314 00:16:09,902 --> 00:16:12,037 the water tables are so high 315 00:16:12,371 --> 00:16:15,107 that the drain fields during much of the year 316 00:16:15,708 --> 00:16:18,544 are sitting right in the ground water. 317 00:16:19,411 --> 00:16:22,448 Once the nitrogen-rich sewage enters the groundwater, 318 00:16:22,915 --> 00:16:24,550 it can quickly move downstream 319 00:16:25,017 --> 00:16:27,119 and create problems miles away. 320 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:30,456 Dr. Lapointe collects and analyzes 321 00:16:30,622 --> 00:16:32,791 the tissues of different algae samples 322 00:16:33,225 --> 00:16:36,261 to trace the source of nitrogen that led to their growth. 323 00:16:43,235 --> 00:16:45,070 We got the grand slam today. 324 00:16:46,138 --> 00:16:49,908 Unlike cyanobacteria, which aren't true algae, 325 00:16:50,075 --> 00:16:52,311 the algae that Dr. Lapointe studies 326 00:16:52,444 --> 00:16:54,246 are plantlike organisms. 327 00:16:55,214 --> 00:16:57,249 We found the three target species 328 00:16:57,416 --> 00:16:59,218 that we were looking for. 329 00:17:00,085 --> 00:17:01,720 This is ulva, 330 00:17:02,421 --> 00:17:05,290 we've got hypnea and we've got gracilaria. 331 00:17:06,091 --> 00:17:08,560 These are very fast growing seaweeds 332 00:17:08,727 --> 00:17:12,464 that we analyze for stable nitrogen isotopes. 333 00:17:12,998 --> 00:17:16,902 That allows us to identify the source of nitrogen 334 00:17:17,169 --> 00:17:20,506 that's fueling the algal blooms in the Indian River Lagoon. 335 00:17:21,673 --> 00:17:23,976 We use a method here in my laboratory 336 00:17:24,276 --> 00:17:28,514 by measuring nitrogen isotopes in the algae themselves, 337 00:17:29,181 --> 00:17:33,252 it can tell us whether that nitrogen is from human sewage 338 00:17:33,419 --> 00:17:35,187 or from fertilizers. 339 00:17:36,455 --> 00:17:38,357 Dr. Lapointe's research concluded 340 00:17:38,524 --> 00:17:41,126 that there was a lot more human excrement in the water 341 00:17:41,293 --> 00:17:43,095 than previously thought, 342 00:17:43,128 --> 00:17:46,598 accounting for up to 60% of the nitrogen in some areas. 343 00:17:47,299 --> 00:17:49,701 And he believes septic tanks were to blame. 344 00:17:50,869 --> 00:17:55,074 What we found is that all these canals and tributaries 345 00:17:55,107 --> 00:17:58,811 right here on the main stem of the Indian River Lagoon 346 00:17:59,111 --> 00:18:01,046 locally are surrounded by homes 347 00:18:01,146 --> 00:18:03,348 and many of these have septic tanks 348 00:18:03,482 --> 00:18:05,451 that are sitting right in the groundwater. 349 00:18:05,617 --> 00:18:06,685 And there're estimates 350 00:18:06,885 --> 00:18:11,023 ranging from 300,000 to 600,000 septic tanks 351 00:18:11,523 --> 00:18:13,792 up and down the Indian River Lagoon. 352 00:18:14,293 --> 00:18:17,529 This is the Space Coast, we put a man on the moon. 353 00:18:18,197 --> 00:18:20,666 Yet, we can't really clean up, you know, 354 00:18:20,899 --> 00:18:23,202 our own waste coming out of our backyards. 355 00:18:23,335 --> 00:18:26,305 So, you know, there's a problem here. 356 00:18:29,208 --> 00:18:32,111 Many experts believe that so long as polluted water 357 00:18:32,144 --> 00:18:34,880 continues to be released into the estuaries, 358 00:18:35,214 --> 00:18:37,649 seasonal algal blooms will continue. 359 00:18:38,717 --> 00:18:40,352 What we've seen over the years 360 00:18:40,519 --> 00:18:43,856 with the repeated discharge of polluted water 361 00:18:44,022 --> 00:18:46,892 from Lake Okeechobee, not only in the St. Lucie Estuary 362 00:18:47,025 --> 00:18:49,761 but also in the Caloosahatchee on the west coast, 363 00:18:49,928 --> 00:18:52,764 is that they are being hammered repeatedly 364 00:18:52,931 --> 00:18:55,567 every couple of years we have these discharge events. 365 00:18:55,767 --> 00:18:58,337 So really the system never quite recovers 366 00:18:58,370 --> 00:19:00,339 from the previous disturbance. 367 00:19:01,006 --> 00:19:02,274 Okay, so what do we do? 368 00:19:02,441 --> 00:19:05,277 There's no short term fix in sight. 369 00:19:05,410 --> 00:19:07,079 We've been saying for years 370 00:19:07,246 --> 00:19:09,581 that that water needs to be diverted back south 371 00:19:09,781 --> 00:19:10,883 to the Everglades again, 372 00:19:11,049 --> 00:19:12,284 but first it has to be cleaned up, 373 00:19:12,451 --> 00:19:15,420 which means they have to have land that they can hold it on, 374 00:19:15,587 --> 00:19:17,523 and so it's going to be a long time 375 00:19:17,890 --> 00:19:20,058 - even if they finally get around to doing 376 00:19:20,225 --> 00:19:22,561 what we've been asking them to do for all these years, 377 00:19:22,694 --> 00:19:24,062 before they can fix it. 378 00:19:34,139 --> 00:19:35,340 Efforts are underway 379 00:19:35,374 --> 00:19:37,910 to clean up the water coming out of Lake Okeechobee 380 00:19:38,076 --> 00:19:41,146 before it reaches the Everglades and the estuaries. 381 00:19:41,980 --> 00:19:44,283 Stormwater Treatment Areas are put in place 382 00:19:44,416 --> 00:19:47,619 near the lake to help filter nutrients out of the water 383 00:19:47,819 --> 00:19:51,089 that lead to excessive algal blooms and other problems. 384 00:19:56,895 --> 00:19:58,263 One of these reservoirs 385 00:19:58,797 --> 00:20:01,300 is the C44 Stormwater Treatment Area 386 00:20:01,466 --> 00:20:04,336 being constructed by the Army Corps of Engineers. 387 00:20:05,170 --> 00:20:07,306 Scheduled for completion by 2020, 388 00:20:07,439 --> 00:20:08,674 it will filter the water 389 00:20:08,807 --> 00:20:10,242 released from Lake Okeechobee 390 00:20:10,342 --> 00:20:14,146 as it moves east before it reaches the St Lucie estuary. 391 00:20:15,247 --> 00:20:16,848 When in full operation, 392 00:20:17,182 --> 00:20:19,751 the project will pull water from the C-44 canal. 393 00:20:19,985 --> 00:20:22,020 As it moves through the treatment cells 394 00:20:22,254 --> 00:20:24,256 we use natural biological processes, 395 00:20:24,456 --> 00:20:26,258 in other words vegetation, 396 00:20:26,458 --> 00:20:28,794 plants will start growing up in the treatment cells 397 00:20:28,961 --> 00:20:31,463 and through their growth and their natural processes 398 00:20:31,663 --> 00:20:33,298 they'll absorb some of the nutrients 399 00:20:33,432 --> 00:20:34,933 whether it's phosphorous or nitrogen, 400 00:20:35,033 --> 00:20:37,603 and pull those nutrients out of the water column 401 00:20:37,803 --> 00:20:40,305 so that the water that goes out the other end 402 00:20:40,472 --> 00:20:41,673 of the treatment cells is cleaner 403 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:43,475 than it was when it came in. 404 00:20:43,942 --> 00:20:46,311 Everglades restoration came about 405 00:20:46,678 --> 00:20:50,282 because we realized some of the unintended consequences 406 00:20:50,682 --> 00:20:53,318 of managing water across southern Florida 407 00:20:53,619 --> 00:20:55,854 was detrimental to the environment. 408 00:20:56,455 --> 00:20:59,625 So, we are maintaining flood control, water supply, 409 00:20:59,958 --> 00:21:02,160 and other water related needs of the region 410 00:21:02,361 --> 00:21:06,565 while balancing it with benefits to the natural environment. 411 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:10,002 Signed into law in 2000, 412 00:21:10,402 --> 00:21:13,138 the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan 413 00:21:13,505 --> 00:21:16,541 was devised to protect and restore the water resources 414 00:21:16,675 --> 00:21:18,644 of central and south Florida. 415 00:21:19,578 --> 00:21:23,181 Its goals include capturing and filtering the fresh water 416 00:21:23,348 --> 00:21:25,751 that is currently diverted from Lake Okeechobee 417 00:21:25,984 --> 00:21:28,520 to the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, 418 00:21:28,687 --> 00:21:31,223 and redirecting it south to the Everglades, 419 00:21:31,490 --> 00:21:33,091 where it is needed most. 420 00:21:33,692 --> 00:21:34,893 While the plan is designed 421 00:21:35,060 --> 00:21:37,162 to benefit the Everglades ecosystem 422 00:21:37,329 --> 00:21:40,599 it's also expected to cut the frequency and extent 423 00:21:40,766 --> 00:21:44,236 of toxic algal blooms in South Florida's estuaries. 424 00:21:45,704 --> 00:21:49,007 So here we are 10, 15 years into the process 425 00:21:49,241 --> 00:21:51,943 and we have a number of projects that are already underway, 426 00:21:52,077 --> 00:21:53,679 C44 being one of them. 427 00:21:54,279 --> 00:21:57,416 I think that we stay the course and we continue to construct 428 00:21:57,749 --> 00:22:00,052 storage and water quality treatment projects, 429 00:22:00,218 --> 00:22:02,387 as we get those projects funded and constructed 430 00:22:02,521 --> 00:22:06,024 and online and operational, that will be the solution. 431 00:22:06,958 --> 00:22:10,095 Everglades restoration is really a long-term endeavor. 432 00:22:10,529 --> 00:22:15,067 Originally the concept was for a 30-year plan 433 00:22:15,901 --> 00:22:19,371 and that would have been with ideal funding 434 00:22:19,404 --> 00:22:22,541 and really no stumbling blocks along the way. 435 00:22:22,741 --> 00:22:24,609 However, it's very complicated. 436 00:22:25,243 --> 00:22:27,412 Ultimately there's a lot of politics involved. 437 00:22:27,446 --> 00:22:30,215 I mean as it is now it's many billions of dollars. 438 00:22:30,315 --> 00:22:32,317 So, I'm kind of skeptical at this point. 439 00:22:32,451 --> 00:22:36,088 Uh, been a lot of political battles over the last 20 years 440 00:22:36,221 --> 00:22:39,124 over this and it doesn't seem to be subsiding 441 00:22:39,458 --> 00:22:42,394 or we've not made a whole lot of progress actually. 442 00:22:42,427 --> 00:22:47,332 One of our biggest problems is that we have a political system 443 00:22:48,133 --> 00:22:53,004 that means that we generally have short-term appointments 444 00:22:54,072 --> 00:22:55,841 for critical positions. 445 00:22:56,241 --> 00:23:00,112 And, in fact, we've added to that by having term limits. 446 00:23:00,612 --> 00:23:02,414 So that just about the time 447 00:23:02,447 --> 00:23:04,116 somebody's getting good at their job, 448 00:23:04,282 --> 00:23:05,517 they're thrown out of it. 449 00:23:05,684 --> 00:23:08,754 So, we don't have people that have the long view; 450 00:23:09,287 --> 00:23:10,956 they're working in the short term. 451 00:23:11,123 --> 00:23:13,592 None of the water management decisions 452 00:23:13,992 --> 00:23:16,161 that the Corps makes are easy ones. 453 00:23:16,328 --> 00:23:18,096 This is a very complicated system 454 00:23:18,463 --> 00:23:21,500 and it's incredibly challenging to balance all of the water 455 00:23:21,700 --> 00:23:23,602 related needs of the region. 456 00:23:23,769 --> 00:23:26,772 And we are very sympathetic and understand 457 00:23:27,472 --> 00:23:31,376 that the decisions that we make have significant impacts 458 00:23:32,210 --> 00:23:34,446 and we work with all of the stakeholders 459 00:23:34,780 --> 00:23:37,482 in order to try and minimize those impacts 460 00:23:37,616 --> 00:23:39,451 at every available opportunity. 461 00:23:39,885 --> 00:23:42,888 We really have to be forward thinking 462 00:23:43,321 --> 00:23:45,490 and look at Florida's water future. 463 00:23:46,124 --> 00:23:49,127 We have a thousand people a day moving to Florida now. 464 00:23:50,495 --> 00:23:54,566 We are the number one tourist destination in the world. 465 00:23:55,500 --> 00:23:59,004 105 million tourists came to Florida last year. 466 00:24:00,405 --> 00:24:02,507 Nothing is going to be sustainable 467 00:24:02,974 --> 00:24:04,476 about that population growth 468 00:24:04,509 --> 00:24:07,345 if you cannot deal with the wastewater, 469 00:24:07,579 --> 00:24:09,648 the sewage, that they're producing. 470 00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:14,486 Countless challenges remain. 471 00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,155 Experts are working to better understand 472 00:24:17,322 --> 00:24:19,724 the impacts of toxic algal blooms 473 00:24:19,891 --> 00:24:23,061 and what needs to be done to prevent them in the future. 474 00:24:23,862 --> 00:24:26,264 Meanwhile many stakeholders believe 475 00:24:26,431 --> 00:24:28,733 that truly solving this complex problem 476 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,870 will require not only technological ingenuity, 477 00:24:32,537 --> 00:24:34,573 but also political will. 478 00:24:35,674 --> 00:24:38,043 We have to stop the circular firing squad 479 00:24:38,443 --> 00:24:41,112 where everybody points to the next guy and says it's not me, 480 00:24:41,346 --> 00:24:43,515 it's him and therefore, nothing gets done. 481 00:24:43,548 --> 00:24:45,350 And the politicians say, well, 482 00:24:45,517 --> 00:24:49,454 you know we really can't answer that without more studies 483 00:24:49,554 --> 00:24:51,523 - and then they don't fund the studies. 484 00:24:52,424 --> 00:24:55,293 And you just get nothing happening. 485 00:24:55,727 --> 00:24:57,629 And now you've got people getting sick 486 00:24:58,730 --> 00:25:01,433 and no end in sight. 487 00:25:01,533 --> 00:25:04,436 So, we need to get smart about these things 488 00:25:04,736 --> 00:25:06,705 nationwide and worldwide. 489 00:25:07,939 --> 00:25:09,541 Don't forget about this. 490 00:25:09,708 --> 00:25:11,543 This, this has been occurring, 491 00:25:11,710 --> 00:25:13,311 it's been occurring for 20 years. 492 00:25:13,645 --> 00:25:15,046 It's not going to go away 493 00:25:15,146 --> 00:25:17,682 unless we keep applying pressure to the politicians. 494 00:25:17,716 --> 00:25:18,783 And it's not going to happen 495 00:25:18,917 --> 00:25:20,585 until the general public sits up and says, 496 00:25:20,719 --> 00:25:23,655 "Listen, we need to get this done." Period. 497 00:25:58,423 --> 00:26:00,759 Major funding for this program was provided 498 00:26:00,959 --> 00:26:02,627 by the Batchelor Foundation, 499 00:26:02,794 --> 00:26:05,330 encouraging people to preserve and protect 500 00:26:05,463 --> 00:26:07,666 America's underwater resources. 501 00:26:10,001 --> 00:26:12,771 And by: Diver's Direct /Emocean Sports, 502 00:26:12,971 --> 00:26:16,508 inspiring the pursuit of adventures and watersports; 503 00:26:20,345 --> 00:26:21,646 The Do Unto Others Trust; 504 00:26:24,215 --> 00:26:27,352 The William J. and Isobel G. Clarke Foundation. 505 00:26:28,486 --> 00:26:31,623 And by the following: Lady Suzanna P. Tweed 506 00:26:31,990 --> 00:26:35,193 and Carleton Tweed Charitable Foundation; 507 00:26:35,493 --> 00:26:37,729 Skip and Diane Day.