http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiL_Rukhyps

Water around the Sanibel Causeway has become a murky brown color due to polluted farm water making its way down the Caloosahatchee River. 

Wednesday night, the South Florida Water Management District began four days of back pumping polluted and nutrient-laden water into Lake Okeechobee from agricultural fields south of the lake.

The district didn’t announce the emergency measure until nearly 24 hours after it had begun.

Lake Okeechobee water levels stand at about 16 feet above sea level.  That’s over the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers mandated maximum of 15.5 feet and the only way to drain the lake is to send water down the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers.

The News-Press reports that discharges from the lake begin harming the Caloosahatchee River and its estuary when they reach a rate of 2,800 cubic feet per second and that measurements taken by the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation measure water flowing at a rate of 12,000 cubic feet per second.

The discharges have residents, environmental advocates and business owners concerned as they can kill sea grasses and oyster beds and contribute to the frequency and duration of harmful algal blooms.

The El Nino weather pattern made last month the rainiest January for the region since 1932 according to the district.  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials expect the rain to continue for the next two months.