Lake Okeechobee

Hundreds of square miles of Florida’s largest lake is again blanketed in toxic, blue-green algae.

Lake Okeechobee's water level is hovering between 11 feet and a few inches less, and while that’s more than two feet below its historical average for this time of year, it will take another two feet, and then some, for this drought to cause Lake O to break its low-water mark.

While the U.S. government shutdown has affected a wide variety of federal operations across the U.S. and Florida, there remains one aspect that isn't — Lake Okeechobee's navigation locks.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a statement Thursday that stressed the navigation locks along the Okeechobee Waterway would remain open and staffed during the U.S. government shutdown.

Lake Okeechobee boaters are being alerted to a nearly 10-acre floating island that was blown into the channel Tuesday night near Route 2.The navigation channel is temporarily closed until a team from the U.S. Army Corps team can remove it.

Water experts in Florida agree, as well as take exception, to a new report that says Lake Okeechobee is the dirtiest lake in the United States.The report by Lake.com, a Canadian-based vacation rental platform offering lake houses, cabins and cottages for rent, says Lake O's top issue is visibly murky water due to turbidity levels and lead contamination.The report said that an amount of lead was detected in its most recent samples. There is no safe level of lead, and its presence in lakes is unnatural. Additionally, the report said turbidity here was the second-highest of all evaluated lakes after Utah Lake, giving the impression of rather cloudy water.

An alert is warning boaters of a possible floating tussock hazard to navigation in the Okeechobee Waterway near Route 2.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission completed a revegetation effort on Lake Okeechobee last week, improving the habitat in Fisheating Bay, Moore Haven Marsh, and the Fisheating Bay islands.

Moments after a ribbon was cut in a Hendry County field Tuesday, pumps were opened and the first of 55 billion gallons started filling the new C-43 reservoir and filtering of that water began."This is a big deal," Ben Albritton, Florida State Senate president said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony moments before the pumps started up.

Calusa Waterkeeper, Inc. has appointed Joe Cavanaugh as the new Calusa Waterkeeper, working to protect and restore the Caloosahatchee River from Lake Okeechobee to the coastal waters of Lee County.Cavanaugh brings decades of experience in marine science, water quality monitoring, and community engagement to the role. He has worked extensively at the local and federal levels to promote clean water policies and protect critical habitats—most notably through his former role at NOAA, where he helped monitor and protect smalltooth sawfish critical habitat in the Caloosahatchee.