About
The Lake Okeechobee Pollution website is curated content that is motivated by our fragile Florida environment. We are encouraged by the numerous grassroot efforts focused on protecting our abundant natural resources and ecosystems. Ongoing, this project is dedicated to increasing ecological awareness through education.
It doesn’t hurt to read more, investigate the ecology of Florida, and get involved.
Florida Ecology: Courtesy of Wikipedia
Water is an important, highly valued resource.
Florida water is used for farming, providing electricity, and plumbing, cleaning, drinking, bathing, and many other things. This poses problems for the natural environment. Bodies of water, like lakes or ponds, are drained to create homes or other facilities. Water can also be redirected so that certain areas that are creating new businesses or that have a large population of people moving in can have fresh, clean water going directly to them instead of having to import water from other areas or buy it in large quantities to store for personal or commercial use.
In the natural environment, many animal species depend on the regular flow of water and specific bodies of water for their survival. Draining small lakes, ponds, and river beds eliminates a habitat that many different species of fish, alligators, insects, and other animals depend on for their survival. Likewise, redirecting water poses just as great a threat to native species as it does to us. When water is redirected, the original flow becomes disrupted and limits the amount of water that can be obtained at other areas.
Runoff of pesticides, fertilizers, and chemicals from farming, factories, households, and commercial and industrial uses causes imbalances within ecosystems. Toxic chemical runoff and byproducts from decomposing materials and foods can contaminate water supplies. Most importantly, when we use these chemicals, like mercury, wreak havoc in fisheries and cause problems like infertility, mutations, and sometimes fish death. Florida’s large agricultural and farming communities and urban areas leak pollutants directly into the water supply that can then flow through natural environments. When pesticides and fertilizers get into the water, plants are affected too. Fertilizers often contain phosphorus which can lead to increased growth of some water-borne plants and foliage. This abnormally rapid growth can cause other water-borne plant populations to dwindle because of competition for space. READ MORE…
