The first steps designed to clean up polluted water entering Lake Okeechobee are complete. Nutrient-rich water discharged from the Lake has been blamed for harming the estuaries downstream.

South Florida water managers and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cut the ribbon on projects designed to improve the health of Lake Okeechobee. The water management district’s Randy Smith says two storm water treatment areas north of the lake should help improve the quality of water flowing from farm fields into the lake.

“It’s man-made filter marsh – uses natural vegetation where the water enters from the north and the plants extract the phosphorous from the water. And when it’s released on the south end into Lake Okeechobee it has much less phosphorous then when it came in to the storm water treatment areas.”

Tomorrow, the Army Corps and Water Managers open the Ten Mile Creek Water Preserve Area project. It will provide relief to the St. Lucie River from damaging freshwater discharges.

The first of nine critical Everglades restoration projects authorized by Congress a decade ago are now open. The Water Management District and U-S Army Corps of Engineers celebrated the opening of two filter marshes north of Lake Okeechobee Thursday. The district’s Randy Smith says they will clean water coming from farms before it enters the lake.

“And that’s one of the biggest problems that we have is water with a lot of nutrients that enter the lake from the north have really had no way of being cleaned before these projects were completed so this is going to be one of the projects that’s going to create a system of cleaner water that enters the lake.”

Smith calls this a great start in a series of projects Governor Jeb Bush put in place to clean up the water entering Lake Okeechobee. Smith says the water his agency must discharge from the lake for flood control measures - down the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers – will now be a bit cleaner. Polluted water has been blamed for harming the estuaries downstream.

Object

Object

The federal government approved a plan to renourish the beaches on Gasparilla Island in Lee County in 1965. Now, more than 40 years later the project is finally getting underway.

Under an agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers, the federal government will reimburse Lee County for sixty percent of the project’s cost – estimated at 8.5 million dollars. About 3 miles of beach will be restored. Nancy Hamilton of the Visitor and Convention Bureau says it’s a good investment.

“The number one reason people cite coming to lee county is because of our pristine beautiful beaches. another thing is it helps protect those barrier islands during the storm season. what we’ve learned from hurricane charley and Wilma and the storms that have gone by us is if you have this barrier of sand it helps protect what’s there.”

Beaches also provide habitat for nesting sea turtles and shorebirds. Enough sand will be pumped from Boca Grande Pass to the beach to create a buffer of about 150 feet. The project is scheduled to get underway in October.

Environmental officials from Lee County met with members of the Army Corps of Engineers Wednesday to sign off on an agreement to renourish Boca Grande’s barrier island beach. The federal government first approved the project in 1965 – but Lee County did not have the dollars to devote to it. That’s changed and Lee County’s Coastal Engineer Robert Neal says the renourishment is long overdue.

“In some places on the beach there is no sand at high water – the water comes up to the seawalls so we see that as a very direct threat – especially during a storm event to the upland property”

Lee County officials and the federal government will share the 8-and-a-half-million dollar cost to pump sand from Boca Grande Pass onto the beach. The project is to begin in October. The county is also negotiating to restore sand to Estero Island’s beaches.

Object

Deaf children are learning from dolphins in the Florida Keys this week. It’s part of an effort to encourage expression of feelings and experiences through art, movement and discussion. WGCU’s Amy Tardif has the story.

Object

The Pilot Club of Fort Myers and the Lee County Sheriff’s office introduced a new program this week that helps find people with Alzheimer’s disease who have wandered away from their homes.
Clients in the Project Lifesaver program will wear transmitters on their wrists like watches. Deputies are now getting special training to use the mobile locater tracking system and to deal with lost people who might be frightened and suspicious of strangers. The Pilot Club of Fort Myers paid 7000 dollars for the equipment. President Alison Hussey says the organization focuses on brain-related disorders and injuries.
“Even if one wanders once a year the likelihood of them being recovered in a timely fashion without some injury is not as great. And project lifesaver – if someone wanders with the bracelet they’re usually recovered in less than an hour and it has a 100% success rate.”
Previously, cases of lost patients involved days of searching, and often ended in tragedy. Nationally, the program’s rapid-response teams have been responsible for more than 1000 rescues.
A new tracking program in Lee County targets Alzheimer’s patients who have the propensity to roam. Project Lifesaver consists of a transmitter worn in a bracelet. The Pilot Club of Fort Myers paid for the equipment. The Lee County Sheriff’s office is going through training Tuesday on how to use it and approach the patients when they’re found. Allison Hussey is president of the Pilot Club.
“The patient wears the bracelet, or the tracking device, which emits a signal. And the sheriff’s department then has special equipment to locate where that signal is coming from. They can use a helicopter to help narrow the search and then on-the-ground deputies can then use the equipment in their cars and then on foot.”
Hussey says Project Lifesaver is in 43 states and several countries. The Hendry County sheriff’s office uses it and the Pilot Club of Naples is looking at implementing it in Collier County. It has a 100 percent success rate in finding people, usually in less than an hour.

Object

The latest real estate numbers are out...and they show Southwest Florida home prices increased last month. But the number of homes sold dropped--again. The median Naples home price inched up to 505-thousand dollars and in Lee County it was 281-thousand dollars. Both slight increases from the month before. The median is the price where half the homes sell above that amount and half below. But more telling is a drop in the number of homes sold annually. A 31-percent decline in Collier and a 29-percent drop in Fort Myers. It’s the second straight month of a double-digit dip in Collier. The Florida Association of Realtors says rising mortgage rates and more homes on the market are to blame. Homes are also staying on the market longer and sellers have reduced prices and offered incentives to lure buyers. Despite the uncertainty of the real estate market, home prices are still about 20-percent higher than last year.