As usual, nobody mentions the original seasonal cycle of the lake that was responsible for plant control and wading bird foraging grounds, among many other services. Now we just spray herbicides and well, wonder where the birds went.
Florida is the most heavily polluted state I’ve ever lived in. It’s actually disgusting how the locals kill all the beautiful local nature to replace it will pathetic ornamentals and lawns. Wild Florida is great. The parts controlled by the Tiny Hat Mafia, not so much. No wonder they’ve been kicked out every country.
Environmentalists among those who are outdoorsman are my friends. Ask ourselves what can we do for our environment. Much gratitude for everyone who helps.
Vote against over development. Look on google earth, Florida is over developed by 70 % too much. We have to hold the politicians and developers and big real estate to the fire! Politicians are in the pockets of developers and big real estate. In Marion county the commissioner's vote for the developers every time. If it doesn't stop it will look like Sarasota where I come from. If you don't have Google Earth please get it and look Florida over seriously. It's really bad. I've been yelling for years. It has to stop. Down south the left side of the Everglades you can zoom in just above I75 and also tamiami trl are new roads cut in what was wilderness 30 years ago. Somebody in the federal government allowed the sale of federal land to the state and the wheeling and dealing goes on and it ends up in private hands. It's criminal.
@@bobdixon4998 totally agree! 👍 Greediness is overwhelmingly over the problems that they make. Maybe when the last drop of water isn’t available they will care about it more than money. The Love Of Money is the root of their evilness. The whole state is a mess.
To the man who said he didn’t see the lake going anywhere and that it would be around for the next 5000 years the Aral Sea called and has a message for him
We have a duty to do right by Mother Nature but - climate change has been happening on this planet since it's formation - Politicians and greedy elitists have spread so much propaganda it's sickening - Thankfully people are starting to call BS on these hoaxers - Al Gore anyone !?!
@@bobdixon4998you sir are absolutely correct!! I grew up in The Everglades and have seen the greedy developers ‘buy’ their way into PROTECTED areas of cypress head, swamp, flag ponds ect. It’s more than sad & sickening as it makes some of us angry to have witnessed 🐊🌴
This production asks more questions than it answers and makes the lake appear healthy when it is not as i have been there in 2023 to see the water. the governor of the state of florida has not done enough to make this lake a jewel and it shows.
While I do commend the concerted efforts for the restoration of the lake, the river, and the surrounding wetlands........it really ticks me off how programs like this refuse to address the biggest problem of all here: BIG SUGAR IN SOUTH FLORIDA. A small handful of PRIVATE greedy investors saw the Everglades as "a great place to grow sugar cane.......if we drain the swamp". Big Sugar does NOT employ very many people for it's incredible size & acreage, and it's always been a proven FACT that nobody even "needs the sugar" being grown in south Florida. There has always been many other places that produce more than enough sugar to supply to the world. Big Sugar in south Florida has always been TOTALLY UNNECESSARY. Big Sugar is simply a way for this small group of greedy investors to make lots of easy, fast money, and they DESTROY that entire area of the Everglades in doing so........which in turn plays the role as the single biggest problem for both the Everglades as well as Lake Okeechobee. But for some reason ( probably corruption via Big Sugar lobbyists paying off state government ), the state government of Florida refuses to GET RID OF BIG SUGAR IN SOUTH FLORIDA ONCE & FOR ALL. This would be the quickest, easiest, and least costly measure to restore this entire region. FACT.
@@patentexperts1675 What you're saying is totally ridiculous. The point of "Big Sugar" in south Florida is that regardless of how many people consume sugar OR products that contain sugar, there is still more than enough sugar to supply the entire world WITHOUT Big Sugar in south Florida. That is a fact. Furthermore: YOU try getting the earth's population to "stop eating sugar".......yeah, good luck with that. And even from that aspect, CUTTING DOWN ON SUGAR PRODUCTION would make much more sense. Just like illegal drugs: if ya cut off the supply chain, those illegal drugs suddenly become unavailable. But the corrupt government doesn't want a drastic reduction in sugar OR illegal drugs. It's all a racket man. Use your head.
@@howabouthetruth2157 I understand what you are saying - grow the sugar somewhere else but not in my backyard. As a matter of fact let's put all the bad stuff somewhere else except where we live. I got it!
Okeechobee has drastically changed since I used to come down to fish it… water was clear, vegetation was healthy with unlimited paths back into bass areas, and you could catch bass… I’ve lived here 20 yrs now, finally got a bass boat to fish it the last 3 years…. For the most part , it is an algae filled body of water with plant decay muck everywhere on the bottom. The spots are few and far between..an environmental disaster… Listen to Scott Martin on his comments of this problem.. crucial vegetation cannot grow due to too much water, plants don’t get the light to grow..and they spray the shit out of anything that starts to come back…. You can catch some nice bass god sure… but a fisherman coming down green , will have a tough time…..
When they finished the dike restoration project in 2022 they raised the water level in the lake to 16+ feet and kept it that way for over a year to reduce the discharges east and west. Nobody thought about how 2-3 extra feet of extra water on top of the existing lake grasses, would effect them? As it turns out they were devastated. I've heard numbers as high 75% loss, I'm skeptical of that number, maybe in some areas? Anyway, the brainiac experts effectively drowned the lake! And nobody wants to talk about it! They brought the lake to normal level this last spring. I haven't been keeping much track this rainy season. I'm assuming discharges have been kept at a minimum? I haven't heard any complaining. I'm sure the level is high. It's going to take awhile (years) to recover. It's not big surger and it's not from spraying as some people would have you believe.
@@robertbiondoAbsolutely. When I was 5 or so (60 now), I remember marveling at the clarity of the Gulf in Sarasota. The last time I saw the lack of clarity in the Gulf in Chokoloskee, it made me sad. Waterways everywhere are far more filthy now than ever.
"Its the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the US." Explanation: of the Great Lakes, only Lake Michigan is solely within the US. So while the other Great Lakes are larger than Okeechobee, they aren't "in the US" soley.
Its simple leave things alone but a look at ur peoples long history of terror u never leave anything or anyone alone.. this is why Gods judgement will be so harsh🔥🔥🔥
My grandmother survived this hurricane. My great grandmother died along with her daughter Mini Lucy and her son Robert. My grandmother is in the book mycal wrote. Nancy Martin, Carver. I miss her
This was good, thank you. I was born and raised and spent most of my adult life in the glades. We used to be able to water ski on Lake Okeechobee in the rim canal between Belle Glade and Clewiston. Can’t do that now.
@@FREEMAYKELOSORBO when I was young, we’d be out there all day and never see a gator. Now they’re everywhere and also blue green algae. The water smells bad too.
@@stacypitts9590 yes and the blue green algae blooms are partially due to those rich yacht owners that love spending money on either coast dumping their septic tanks as they cut across the lake to the Gulf of Mexico I’ve been here since I was 4 years old the over spraying of pesticides to kill non native aquatic plants has made the algae blooms worse there’s nothing to filter out the pollution coming in from the Kissimmee River Orlando dumps untreated septic waste water in the Kissimmee river there’s no outlet to the ocean from Orlando to Okeechobee overpopulation doesn’t help . I’ve bass fished plenty in the lake there’s still pristine clean areas deeper inside the vegetation that the FWC poison crew hasn’t reached . As of the alligators they’ve been protected for a long time I didn’t see to many monsters when I was younger compared to now .
Well this documentary is really dated. Time to go back and see how the "heart" of the glades has been needlessly sprayed to death with aquatic herbicides.
Roflmao! 😆 They are actually THE PROBLEM! I grew up here in the Everglades, and there used to be an abundance of wildlife until people from up north and out west moved in and overdeveloped the Everglades, which is a national park. It has been disrespected by greed.
I don’t believe that mining affects it as they reclaim the land after it’s mined. Furthermore, that is phosphate that comes out of the ground. They’re not putting anything in.
"2nd largest freshwater lake entirely contained the US?" Besides Lake Michigan which is mentioned, Iliamna Lake in Alaska is nearly double the size of Okee. Also Lake Oahe, in the Dakotas, albeit man made and very long, is also still larger in area.
They're talking about the lower 48 states/continental US. The state of Alaska is separated from the continental US by Canada, which is a huge land separation.
They don't mention the lower 48 anywhere in the vidoe, even if they did the one in the Dakotas is still larger. Also Alaska is still part of the US. Alaska cant just be "not part of the US" because it isnt connected. That is awfully dumb.
@@BrooksCWhitehouse Boy, you seriously need to go back to grade school to RE-LEARN basic mathematics as well as the nations' history for state-hood. ALASKA IS NOT IN WHAT'S KNOWN AS "THE LOWER 48". 50 STATES MAKE UP THE USA......ALASKA & HAWAII ARE STATES NUMBERS 49 & 50.......GOT IT BOZO? Furthermore: ya need to re-learn geography too, because other than Lake Michigan, NO lake in the lower 48 is "bigger than Okeechobee". And NOBODY said "Alaska isn't part of the USA"......YOU are making that false accusation. ALASKA IS NOT PART OF THE LOWER 48 STATES. A HUGE AREA OF CANADA SEPARATES ALASKA.......the 49'th STATE ( HELLO ) FROM THE LOWER 48. Good grief kid.....grow a brain.
To heal the Glades & Okeechobee all that needs to be done is remove Big Sugar out of the state. Also, the Northerner who wrote a book about the Pioneers, fails to mention my people being here for Centuries. Muskogee Tribes, Creek & Seminole. Want the REAL History, ask my Elders. This is White Man history.
Why don’t you start making some videos for those of us who would be very interested in hearing your stories vs what the White man puts out! I would love that!,,
Big sugar isn't going anywhere and nobody cares about "your"people ......I own 1500 acres in the north west area of Okeechobee......I don't care about "sacred lands" within my property.......tons of artifacts about to be bulldozed for 3000 homes.......the only thing that matters is me and my bank account
@@blueowlwill8754why don’t you just do your own research instead of responding to peoples comments with this kind of rude question. Imagine if someone asked you to give videos on TH-cam detailing the tragedies and histories and plights of your people? I’m sure you’d tell them to idk do their OWN RESEARCH? Especially since this person is claiming to be apart of the native nations. And ur telling them “why don’t YOU tell ur history then!” Rude.
😮😮 Please stop the spraying of aquatic vegetation. It is the heart of cleaning the water and establishing a solid basic environment for all the living fish and bugs that sustain the balance of this eco system. The reason vegetation of different varieties grows in the lake is to tell us what toxins are in the water that the vegitation is trying to naturally remove. If the chemical nutrients aren't in the water to be the vital sustained food for each type of vegetation, the vegetation wont sustain its life and dies off as the toxic nutrients int the water have been removed. It just doesn't do it overnight as man wants everything to move at.. everything moves slowly and steady in nature. The problem didn't happen overnight and wont disappear overnight.. But !! If you patiently sit back and observe how mother nature works her magic, then we could get so much more accomplished the first time with less money being spent, and learn so much more from her.. But when man gets involved with his getter done now attitude . It throws everything out of balance so bad that it takes three times the amount of money and time.. Thats with no guarantees that it will work either.. mother nature has a way to go in and remove or increase one little thing that can create a huge reaction on so many levels.. Accomplishing the same thing without damaging everything in its path or surroundings.. It a perfect process thats been working for thousands of years.. Just because its not mans plan, doesnt make it worthless.. Sometimes its the best plan in the end. Its like the medical field today!! They write more prescriptions for antibiotics today than ever before. Rather than finding a way to go in and killing one bad bacteria, they give you something that kills them all.. Good, and Bad !! You cant do this!! It leaves the doors of your immune system helpless, and wide open for more bad things to enter that really take hold and could possibly kill you.. Same thing is happening here in our beautiful lake Okeechobee.. Im sorry but the tourist will have to sacrifice a few years for rebuilding our lakes infrastructure and health once again . Or there wont be anything left in it worth fishing for. Texas has done a phenomenal job with restoration ofvtheir lakes and fisheries. But they've also dumped a substantial amount of money into the project also . But its working perfectly.. lakes are all very very healthy and full of huge record setting size fish of all kinds . We should follow in the footsteps I believe.. By removing the political power struggles for control and authority over our lake , and just allowing scientists to do their job without having to find ways to overcome the roadblocks all year. Our lakes and waterways would be so much better off today.. 🇺🇸🇺🇸💯🙏🙏🙏✌️😎✔️
My understanding is that lake Okeechobee is actually the headwater or source of the Everglades. The overflow is supposed to flow south, a vast slow moving shallow "river of grass." It's part of the same ecosystem. As usual, humans have gone and screwed everything up.
As you many know the installation solar PV panels are rapidly increasing the supply of renewable based electricity. Unfortunately, large arrays of solar panels can be opposed by local interests. Worldwide the installation of floating PV panels is a growing option. Lake Okeechobee would be a perfect location for floating solar rafts. Also, the shading from the panels reduces algae growth,, increases fish habitat, and part of the generated electricity could power the lake bottom aeration panels.
Not true, Solar in FL amounts to approx 1.5% of total electricity generated each year. Sorry, but renewable energy is a disaster when you really do the math.
@@Therecouldbehope I never specifically mentioned a percentage for solar electricity for Florida. For 2023 several sources said 7%. The Solar Energy Industries Association cited 7.65%. Also according to the Florida Public Service Commission, renewable energy installations statewide were up 31% in 2023. Regarding renewables being a disaster. If you are referring to costs then we could use Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). According to Statista, in all commercial cases comparing renewables to nuclear and fossil fuels, renewables have a lower (cost) LCOE.
@@johnx4181 A very good point and yes there have been locations where this has happened. Lake Okeechobee is a very large body of open water that has a long fetch. You are also right that it produces a chop not a swell. There is quite a lot of research being done to address this issue. It is an issue of degrees of risk from storms, tornados, hail, or hurricanes. that affect any built structure. I would also add that Lake Okeechobee is a relatively shallow lake any combination of floating or poles legs could be possible.
@chrisconklin2981 well hopefully it doesn't come to that...I'm an old florida boy and love my swamp the way it is....btw hurricanes are good for the lake always have been...promotes new growth big time
Without Lake O, Florida will become desert. Why? We are at the same latitude as the Sahara Desert. The Lake and Everglades, if left undeveloped and flowing to its natural estuaries, is big enough to affect the climate of the whole pennensula. State conservation lands and parks add to this affect as an insurance plan. Do not drill for oil and gas, nor develop State natural preserves to avoid losing that Indurance plan for Florida's aquifers! Restrict o er habitation in the state to prolonged availa klity of ground water.
Lake Okeechobee, the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the US? Maybe 2nd largest that’s fully within the US but that wasn’t stated. All the Great Lakes are larger along with Lake of the Woods, Lake Iliamna, and Lake Oahe. This makes Okeechobee #9. Ten seconds in and already can’t fully trust the rest of it.
It’s kind of misleading, but not. Okeechobee is the second-largest natural freshwater lake contained entirely within the contiguous 48 states. Behind only Lake Michigan. The other Great Lakes are shared with Canada.
@@HugoPerk Nah, it’s misleading. I mentioned the missing qualifiers in my comment. Lake Okeechobee is naturally amazing. Truth does not need embellishment or qualifiers.
@@HugoPerk Agreed, they should have qualified the statement. FYI, Qualifier: a word or phrase, especially an adjective, used to attribute a quality to another word, especially a noun.
"A concrete based water seepage barrier"........where the hell does the narrator get his terminology from........IT'S KNOWN AS "A SPILLWAY". They've been using the same type of spillways all over Florida's freshwater lakes & river systems for decades, and probably in many other states as well. These spillways are nothing new. They act as a sort of "dam" that can be opened & closed at any time, and at any rate ( ie: all the way open, halfway open, barely open, or completely closed to hold or release water precisely. ) For those who may not know, these spillways are NOT "locks" that boats can pass through, or normal "dams".........although most dams do contain their own spillways for either water level control or to use the water as a power source to turn huge electric generators. But these spillways used in Florida's freshwater systems are used solely for controlling water levels and/or flood control.
I get what you mean about gov't doublespeak, but in this case, I think it is the right terminology. I have seen this on other newer projects where they call it an 'SBC cutoff wall' (Soil Cement Bentonite). I have worked highway-heavy construction for 35 years and just saw this for the first time about a year ago. It's basically a massive trenching machine that removes, mixes, and replaces soil with a barrier very deep (I saw it going up to 60' deep) in the levee to combat erosion. Levees are easily breached by something as simple as muskrats burrowing into them. Search: SBC Cutoff Wall Install at Edenville Dam' to see the vid. Pretty amazing process.
@@danlowe8684 No disrespect meant whatsoever, and thanks for the information you provided. But all the same: a spillway, is a spillway. I also know how fragile earthen levies can be: they frequently have to do major work to the levies that contain our famous Stick Marsh/Farm 13 trophy bass fishery near my home. High water levels & the added pressure it creates tends to weaken these earthen levies, and if they don't keep working & maintaining them, our beloved fishery would be lost in an instant if any one of the levies fail: the impoundment would become a massive shallow swamp almost instantly. Cheers.
We need to go against every incumbent Politician in the state. Mayors, commissioners, sheriffs, like Billy Woods who is also big in real estate. We need to "own"$$$ the politicians ourselves. Its not the burden of the environment to carry construction, development, and real estate for the rich. Florida is smaller than California but used in a more destructive way. In California there ar4e mountains that you can't economically develop. And californians care about the natural areas. People who moved down here that lived in sky scrapers and nasty environments love a 1/8th acre parcel. And tens of thousands of houses are 8' apart . And just 5 minutes to mow the yard. 2 swipes around and done. We cannot continue to build houses for a thousand people a week.!!!
We will suckle our aquifers dry if we over develop Florida. We just need one dry year to push us over the limit of our aquifers, especially now that Nestlé , Pepsi and Coke are sucking billions of gallons a day from out under water springs.
@visnuexe I have news for you. Florida is over developed by 70%. And has been for 10 years. We have to (Reverse) the effects of "Irresponsible government and Developers" and real estate companies. We also have to curb big sugar. Nobody needs sugar as bad as the US consumes it. Coke and Pepsi and the soft drink bottlers need to find healthy drink alternatives to produce. Pepsico made $91 billion dollars in 2023. Much of that was chips "Doritos, Lays... And Lays needs to change a bit too. The super corporations are ruining the earth and our health for $$$ the dollar!!! I'm done! They are killing us with crap. Yellow die number 5! And a hundred other toxic ingredients as well. You all are going to have to fight corporate America if you want to live.
I thought the Great Lakes of Michigan were the largest lakes in north America…. Your telling Me that little dot on the Florida map is bigger than Lake Superior or lake Michigan?? Ok
SFWMD is destroying this beautiful gem with pesticides, and not allowing the natural flow into the glades, once again thank you big government for ruining something beautiful
Austism and Mental illness isn't the end. There is still hope for a loving and successful future. We all hope you get well and recover from your condition
Why don't you guys leave Florida alone and let the natural water run through how it's supposed to instead of killing the Everglades like y'all are doing
It all balls down to too much fertilizer in the water, reduce that and solve the problem. All other solutions can be helpful but really difficult and costly. Do we need sugar cane and cattle and bad sewage systems around this lake? Is is worth the cost to the environment? I personally doubt it since really tourism is the engine that drives Florida and is most beneficial to many people, not a few . Just do the math! Similar situations are happening all over the world with the same lack of results, mostly because of strong political power from the responsible parties.
You make a mess out of it and then take credit for the clean up. Just not impressed with the vanity and foolishness that comes with humanity. The need to conquer and dominate is apparent, but futile😞!!!
As usual, nobody mentions the original seasonal cycle of the lake that was responsible for plant control and wading bird foraging grounds, among many other services. Now we just spray herbicides and well, wonder where the birds went.
Poisoning the environment for its own sake
Florida is the most heavily polluted state I’ve ever lived in. It’s actually disgusting how the locals kill all the beautiful local nature to replace it will pathetic ornamentals and lawns. Wild Florida is great. The parts controlled by the Tiny Hat Mafia, not so much. No wonder they’ve been kicked out every country.
Environmentalists among those who are outdoorsman are my friends. Ask ourselves what can we do for our environment. Much gratitude for everyone who helps.
Vote against over development. Look on google earth, Florida is over developed by 70 % too much. We have to hold the politicians and developers and big real estate to the fire! Politicians are in the pockets of developers and big real estate. In Marion county the commissioner's vote for the developers every time. If it doesn't stop it will look like Sarasota where I come from. If you don't have Google Earth please get it and look Florida over seriously. It's really bad. I've been yelling for years. It has to stop. Down south the left side of the Everglades you can zoom in just above I75 and also tamiami trl are new roads cut in what was wilderness 30 years ago. Somebody in the federal government allowed the sale of federal land to the state and the wheeling and dealing goes on and it ends up in private hands. It's criminal.
@@bobdixon4998 totally agree! 👍 Greediness is overwhelmingly over the problems that they make. Maybe when the last drop of water isn’t available they will care about it more than money. The Love Of Money is the root of their evilness. The whole state is a mess.
To the man who said he didn’t see the lake going anywhere and that it would be around for the next 5000 years the Aral Sea called and has a message for him
We have a duty to do right by Mother Nature but - climate change has been happening on this planet since it's formation - Politicians and greedy elitists have spread so much propaganda it's sickening - Thankfully people are starting to call BS on these hoaxers - Al Gore anyone !?!
@@bobdixon4998you sir are absolutely correct!! I grew up in The Everglades and have seen the greedy developers ‘buy’ their way into PROTECTED areas of cypress head, swamp, flag ponds ect. It’s more than sad & sickening as it makes some of us angry to have witnessed 🐊🌴
We are so good at outsmarting ourselves. I hope we wise up.
Very Wise , Statement .
This production asks more questions than it answers and makes the lake appear healthy when it is not as i have been there in 2023 to see the water. the governor of the state of florida has not done enough to make this lake a jewel and it shows.
While I do commend the concerted efforts for the restoration of the lake, the river, and the surrounding wetlands........it really ticks me off how programs like this refuse to address the biggest problem of all here: BIG SUGAR IN SOUTH FLORIDA. A small handful of PRIVATE greedy investors saw the Everglades as "a great place to grow sugar cane.......if we drain the swamp". Big Sugar does NOT employ very many people for it's incredible size & acreage, and it's always been a proven FACT that nobody even "needs the sugar" being grown in south Florida. There has always been many other places that produce more than enough sugar to supply to the world. Big Sugar in south Florida has always been TOTALLY UNNECESSARY. Big Sugar is simply a way for this small group of greedy investors to make lots of easy, fast money, and they DESTROY that entire area of the Everglades in doing so........which in turn plays the role as the single biggest problem for both the Everglades as well as Lake Okeechobee. But for some reason ( probably corruption via Big Sugar lobbyists paying off state government ), the state government of Florida refuses to GET RID OF BIG SUGAR IN SOUTH FLORIDA ONCE & FOR ALL. This would be the quickest, easiest, and least costly measure to restore this entire region. FACT.
So glad to see someone already put this out there!! Thank you for helping truly inform people of what is going on around them 😊
It's simple - stop eating sugar.
@@patentexperts1675 What you're saying is totally ridiculous. The point of "Big Sugar" in south Florida is that regardless of how many people consume sugar OR products that contain sugar, there is still more than enough sugar to supply the entire world WITHOUT Big Sugar in south Florida. That is a fact. Furthermore: YOU try getting the earth's population to "stop eating sugar".......yeah, good luck with that. And even from that aspect, CUTTING DOWN ON SUGAR PRODUCTION would make much more sense. Just like illegal drugs: if ya cut off the supply chain, those illegal drugs suddenly become unavailable. But the corrupt government doesn't want a drastic reduction in sugar OR illegal drugs. It's all a racket man. Use your head.
@@APayne589 Thanks for the kind words. And yes, people really do need to get themselves informed by doing the research.
@@howabouthetruth2157 I understand what you are saying - grow the sugar somewhere else but not in my backyard. As a matter of fact let's put all the bad stuff somewhere else except where we live. I got it!
If.
You hadn't destroyed it in the first place.You wouldn't have to spend billions of dollars to fix it
Thank you😊!!!
I was born there growing up there they have destroyed it
previous generations didnt give a fuck
Same thing with Lake Apopka 😅
Spot on 👍🏼
Okeechobee has drastically changed since I used to come down to fish it… water was clear, vegetation was healthy with unlimited paths back into bass areas, and you could catch bass… I’ve lived here 20 yrs now, finally got a bass boat to fish it the last 3 years…. For the most part , it is an algae filled body of water with plant decay muck everywhere on the bottom. The spots are few and far between..an environmental disaster… Listen to Scott Martin on his comments of this problem.. crucial vegetation cannot grow due to too much water, plants don’t get the light to grow..and they spray the shit out of anything that starts to come back…. You can catch some nice bass god sure… but a fisherman coming down green , will have a tough time…..
It's all across the country
When they finished the dike restoration project in 2022 they raised the water level in the lake to 16+ feet and kept it that way for over a year to reduce the discharges east and west.
Nobody thought about how 2-3 extra feet of extra water on top of the existing lake grasses, would effect them?
As it turns out they were devastated.
I've heard numbers as high 75% loss, I'm skeptical of that number, maybe in some areas?
Anyway, the brainiac experts effectively drowned the lake!
And nobody wants to talk about it!
They brought the lake to normal level this last spring.
I haven't been keeping much track this rainy season.
I'm assuming discharges have been kept at a minimum?
I haven't heard any complaining.
I'm sure the level is high.
It's going to take awhile (years) to recover.
It's not big surger and it's not from spraying as some people would have you believe.
They killed the lake so yanks can live in subdivisions built on swamp land. Sad
@@robertbiondoAbsolutely. When I was 5 or so (60 now), I remember marveling at the clarity of the Gulf in Sarasota. The last time I saw the lack of clarity in the Gulf in Chokoloskee, it made me sad. Waterways everywhere are far more filthy now than ever.
TY for this program and stating the facts and about the work WITH our environment. 💞🇺🇲
When I was growing up I used to hear about theajesty of the Everglades and Land o lakes. No more
You’re absolutely correct! I grew up here & there ‘was’ an ABUNDANCE of wildlife! Overdeveloped by greed
That man DESTROYED the Everglades, he didn’t do shit for the world except show how greed can kill us all
Correct!! 🐊🌴
"Its the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the US." Explanation: of the Great Lakes, only Lake Michigan is solely within the US. So while the other Great Lakes are larger than Okeechobee, they aren't "in the US" soley.
Iliamna in Alaska is bigger than okeechobee
They of course didn’t say anything about the spraying of thousands upon thousands of gallons of weed killers in the lake on a daily basis
Its simple leave things alone but a look at ur peoples long history of terror u never leave anything or anyone alone.. this is why Gods judgement will be so harsh🔥🔥🔥
My grandmother survived this hurricane. My great grandmother died along with her daughter Mini Lucy and her son Robert. My grandmother is in the book mycal wrote. Nancy Martin, Carver. I miss her
My Grandparents survived also, my grandfather told stories about the dead being retrieved and all the destruction
It's only been industrialized for commercial business & holding horrible amounts of nutrient runoff poisons. It's very special❤
The lifeblood of Florida is the Gulf Stream. It brings Florida power. Hemmingway knew its power but today everyone is ignorant
They have to spend all this money to make the lake have proper water because they blocked the flow so we can have developments south of the lake. Sad
yeah buddy. hurricane Milton just might put the latest dike construction to the test
The pesticides and fertilizers were mobilized and flushed.
That dike can hold the water that water you to come way up now it not that deep I use to swim there
I think Lake Chokachubbi is beautiful
What about invasives like the pythons. What effect are they having?
Pisses me off.
This was good, thank you. I was born and raised and spent most of my adult life in the glades. We used to be able to water ski on Lake Okeechobee in the rim canal between Belle Glade and Clewiston. Can’t do that now.
Your full of crap I swim there whenever I want only beware of those 12’ alligators
@@FREEMAYKELOSORBO yeah I mean if you want to be gator bait then go ahead.
@@stacypitts9590 you can be that even in Stuart’s canals
@@FREEMAYKELOSORBO when I was young, we’d be out there all day and never see a gator. Now they’re everywhere and also blue green algae. The water smells bad too.
@@stacypitts9590 yes and the blue green algae blooms are partially due to those rich yacht owners that love spending money on either coast dumping their septic tanks as they cut across the lake to the Gulf of Mexico I’ve been here since I was 4 years old the over spraying of pesticides to kill non native aquatic plants has made the algae blooms worse there’s nothing to filter out the pollution coming in from the Kissimmee River Orlando dumps untreated septic waste water in the Kissimmee river there’s no outlet to the ocean from Orlando to Okeechobee overpopulation doesn’t help . I’ve bass fished plenty in the lake there’s still pristine clean areas deeper inside the vegetation that the FWC poison crew hasn’t reached . As of the alligators they’ve been protected for a long time I didn’t see to many monsters when I was younger compared to now .
How is the bass fishing on lake Okeechobee now?
Well this documentary is really dated. Time to go back and see how the "heart" of the glades has been needlessly sprayed to death with aquatic herbicides.
All public resources should be given to rich people. They are the only ones honest and honorable enough to manage these resources.
Roflmao! 😆 They are actually THE PROBLEM! I grew up here in the Everglades, and there used to be an abundance of wildlife until people from up north and out west moved in and overdeveloped the Everglades, which is a national park. It has been disrespected by greed.
Nobody mentions the 550k acres of fertilizer mining just north of the Okeechobee
I don’t believe that mining affects it as they reclaim the land after it’s mined. Furthermore, that is phosphate that comes out of the ground. They’re not putting anything in.
WHEN IT COMES TO MOTHER NATURE YOU ADAPT TO IT NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.
"2nd largest freshwater lake entirely contained the US?" Besides Lake Michigan which is mentioned, Iliamna Lake in Alaska is nearly double the size of Okee. Also Lake Oahe, in the Dakotas, albeit man made and very long, is also still larger in area.
They're talking about the lower 48 states/continental US. The state of Alaska is separated from the continental US by Canada, which is a huge land separation.
They don't mention the lower 48 anywhere in the vidoe, even if they did the one in the Dakotas is still larger. Also Alaska is still part of the US. Alaska cant just be "not part of the US" because it isnt connected. That is awfully dumb.
@@BrooksCWhitehouse reservoirs are not natural, so they are not considered
@@jesse_cheese agreed that’s why I mentioned it being man made. Okee is still smaller than the lake in Alaska (by a lot)
@@BrooksCWhitehouse Boy, you seriously need to go back to grade school to RE-LEARN basic mathematics as well as the nations' history for state-hood. ALASKA IS NOT IN WHAT'S KNOWN AS "THE LOWER 48". 50 STATES MAKE UP THE USA......ALASKA & HAWAII ARE STATES NUMBERS 49 & 50.......GOT IT BOZO? Furthermore: ya need to re-learn geography too, because other than Lake Michigan, NO lake in the lower 48 is "bigger than Okeechobee". And NOBODY said "Alaska isn't part of the USA"......YOU are making that false accusation. ALASKA IS NOT PART OF THE LOWER 48 STATES. A HUGE AREA OF CANADA SEPARATES ALASKA.......the 49'th STATE ( HELLO ) FROM THE LOWER 48. Good grief kid.....grow a brain.
9:31 You would think there was some opportunity to integrate hydroelectric into the construction
What about lake superior?
Guess it isn't important to them?
😂❤😂
Iliamna Lake, Great Salt Lake, and Lake Oahe aren't completely in the United States?
To heal the Glades & Okeechobee all that needs to be done is remove Big Sugar out of the state. Also, the Northerner who wrote a book about the Pioneers, fails to mention my people being here for Centuries. Muskogee Tribes, Creek & Seminole. Want the REAL History, ask my Elders. This is White Man history.
Why don’t you start making some videos for those of us who would be very interested in hearing your stories vs what the White man puts out! I would love that!,,
YES! I would absolutely LOVE to know more about this and the way my days are structured THIS PLATFORM is the best way for me to absorb/learn/read.
Big sugar isn't going anywhere and nobody cares about "your"people ......I own 1500 acres in the north west area of Okeechobee......I don't care about "sacred lands" within my property.......tons of artifacts about to be bulldozed for 3000 homes.......the only thing that matters is me and my bank account
@@blueowlwill8754why don’t you just do your own research instead of responding to peoples comments with this kind of rude question. Imagine if someone asked you to give videos on TH-cam detailing the tragedies and histories and plights of your people? I’m sure you’d tell them to idk do their OWN RESEARCH? Especially since this person is claiming to be apart of the native nations. And ur telling them “why don’t YOU tell ur history then!” Rude.
Absolutely big sugar is a major Destroyer
😮😮
Please stop the spraying of aquatic vegetation. It is the heart of cleaning the water and establishing a solid basic environment for all the living fish and bugs that sustain the balance of this eco system. The reason vegetation of different varieties grows in the lake is to tell us what toxins are in the water that the vegitation is trying to naturally remove. If the chemical nutrients aren't in the water to be the vital sustained food for each type of vegetation, the vegetation wont sustain its life and dies off as the toxic nutrients int the water have been removed. It just doesn't do it overnight as man wants everything to move at.. everything moves slowly and steady in nature. The problem didn't happen overnight and wont disappear overnight.. But !! If you patiently sit back and observe how mother nature works her magic, then we could get so much more accomplished the first time with less money being spent, and learn so much more from her.. But when man gets involved with his getter done now attitude . It throws everything out of balance so bad that it takes three times the amount of money and time.. Thats with no guarantees that it will work either.. mother nature has a way to go in and remove or increase one little thing that can create a huge reaction on so many levels.. Accomplishing the same thing without damaging everything in its path or surroundings.. It a perfect process thats been working for thousands of years.. Just because its not mans plan, doesnt make it worthless.. Sometimes its the best plan in the end.
Its like the medical field today!! They write more prescriptions for antibiotics today than ever before. Rather than finding a way to go in and killing one bad bacteria, they give you something that kills them all.. Good, and Bad !! You cant do this!! It leaves the doors of your immune system helpless, and wide open for more bad things to enter that really take hold and could possibly kill you..
Same thing is happening here in our beautiful lake Okeechobee.. Im sorry but the tourist will have to sacrifice a few years for rebuilding our lakes infrastructure and health once again . Or there wont be anything left in it worth fishing for. Texas has done a phenomenal job with restoration ofvtheir lakes and fisheries. But they've also dumped a substantial amount of money into the project also . But its working perfectly.. lakes are all very very healthy and full of huge record setting size fish of all kinds . We should follow in the footsteps I believe..
By removing the political power struggles for control and authority over our lake , and just allowing scientists to do their job without having to find ways to overcome the roadblocks all year. Our lakes and waterways would be so much better off today..
🇺🇸🇺🇸💯🙏🙏🙏✌️😎✔️
I LIVED IN WEST PALM BEACH FOR 28 YEARS FISHED AND GOLFED AROUND THE LAKE FOR YEARS STILL HAS FAMILY THERE AND I LOVE IT TODAY
I’m so glad you enjoyed golfing around it considering that’s a massive part of the problem. All the golf courses around it.
No mention of invasive species in these big lakes
Yankee transplants
Ronny D is allowing the influx with no filtration system what so ever 😂
Lake O is a environmental catastrophe waiting to be released....and here comes Milton!😮
You really have no clue
My understanding is that lake Okeechobee is actually the headwater or source of the Everglades. The overflow is supposed to flow south, a vast slow moving shallow "river of grass." It's part of the same ecosystem. As usual, humans have gone and screwed everything up.
Lake Kissimmee is the main source. It flows into the Kissimmee River which flows into Lake Okeechobee.
As you many know the installation solar PV panels are rapidly increasing the supply of renewable based electricity. Unfortunately, large arrays of solar panels can be opposed by local interests. Worldwide the installation of floating PV panels is a growing option. Lake Okeechobee would be a perfect location for floating solar rafts. Also, the shading from the panels reduces algae growth,, increases fish habitat, and part of the generated electricity could power the lake bottom aeration panels.
Not true, Solar in FL amounts to approx 1.5% of total electricity generated each year. Sorry, but renewable energy is a disaster when you really do the math.
@@Therecouldbehope
I never specifically mentioned a percentage for solar electricity for Florida. For 2023 several sources said 7%. The Solar Energy Industries Association cited 7.65%. Also according to the Florida Public Service Commission, renewable energy installations statewide were up 31% in 2023.
Regarding renewables being a disaster. If you are referring to costs then we could use Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE). According to Statista, in all commercial cases comparing renewables to nuclear and fossil fuels, renewables have a lower (cost) LCOE.
I've seen storm chop on that lake 6ft plus...not a good idea
@@johnx4181
A very good point and yes there have been locations where this has happened. Lake Okeechobee is a very large body of open water that has a long fetch. You are also right that it produces a chop not a swell. There is quite a lot of research being done to address this issue. It is an issue of degrees of risk from storms, tornados, hail, or hurricanes. that affect any built structure. I would also add that Lake Okeechobee is a relatively shallow lake any combination of floating or poles legs could be possible.
@chrisconklin2981 well hopefully it doesn't come to that...I'm an old florida boy and love my swamp the way it is....btw hurricanes are good for the lake always have been...promotes new growth big time
3:12 so why didn’t everyone blame Diston for destroying the Everglades????
salt lake in utah is larger then okeechobee
Iliamna is bigger yet, so you for got it
How old is this video? I am guessing 40 years old.
It sounds like t hey filmed and edited last around 2021.
Without Lake O, Florida will become desert. Why? We are at the same latitude as the Sahara Desert. The Lake and Everglades, if left undeveloped and flowing to its natural estuaries, is big enough to affect the climate of the whole pennensula. State conservation lands and parks add to this affect as an insurance plan. Do not drill for oil and gas, nor develop State natural preserves to avoid losing that Indurance plan for Florida's aquifers! Restrict o er habitation in the state to prolonged availa klity of ground water.
2018 .. As it says in the ending credits. Outdated
@@visnuexe😆
Do the cattle go to the feeding lots to fatten them up before sale?🤓
You sound morbidly obese
Lake Okeechobee, the 2nd largest freshwater lake in the US? Maybe 2nd largest that’s fully within the US but that wasn’t stated. All the Great Lakes are larger along with Lake of the Woods, Lake Iliamna, and Lake Oahe. This makes Okeechobee #9. Ten seconds in and already can’t fully trust the rest of it.
It’s kind of misleading, but not. Okeechobee is the second-largest natural freshwater lake contained entirely within the contiguous 48 states. Behind only Lake Michigan. The other Great Lakes are shared with Canada.
@@HugoPerk Nah, it’s misleading. I mentioned the missing qualifiers in my comment. Lake Okeechobee is naturally amazing. Truth does not need embellishment or qualifiers.
Yes, they should have added “contiguous”. Some of your “qualifiers” don’t qualify as “lakes fully contained in the US” so nobody is perfect.
@@HugoPerk Agreed, they should have qualified the statement. FYI, Qualifier: a word or phrase, especially an adjective, used to attribute a quality to another word, especially a noun.
@@Sorrento_Ben You’re wrong, cupcake. You can justify yourself all you want. Hope it helps you sleep better.
Unfortunately for us hearing impaired people, CC/subtitles are not activated.
It so polluted it causes red tide
Outdated 2018 and no mention of Big Sugar.
Lol, nobody talks about the sugarcane fields 🤣 that is the problem do to all the chemicals that run off.
23:24 elephants??
No
"A concrete based water seepage barrier"........where the hell does the narrator get his terminology from........IT'S KNOWN AS "A SPILLWAY". They've been using the same type of spillways all over Florida's freshwater lakes & river systems for decades, and probably in many other states as well. These spillways are nothing new. They act as a sort of "dam" that can be opened & closed at any time, and at any rate ( ie: all the way open, halfway open, barely open, or completely closed to hold or release water precisely. ) For those who may not know, these spillways are NOT "locks" that boats can pass through, or normal "dams".........although most dams do contain their own spillways for either water level control or to use the water as a power source to turn huge electric generators. But these spillways used in Florida's freshwater systems are used solely for controlling water levels and/or flood control.
I get what you mean about gov't doublespeak, but in this case, I think it is the right terminology. I have seen this on other newer projects where they call it an 'SBC cutoff wall' (Soil Cement Bentonite). I have worked highway-heavy construction for 35 years and just saw this for the first time about a year ago. It's basically a massive trenching machine that removes, mixes, and replaces soil with a barrier very deep (I saw it going up to 60' deep) in the levee to combat erosion. Levees are easily breached by something as simple as muskrats burrowing into them. Search: SBC Cutoff Wall Install at Edenville Dam' to see the vid. Pretty amazing process.
@@danlowe8684 No disrespect meant whatsoever, and thanks for the information you provided. But all the same: a spillway, is a spillway. I also know how fragile earthen levies can be: they frequently have to do major work to the levies that contain our famous Stick Marsh/Farm 13 trophy bass fishery near my home. High water levels & the added pressure it creates tends to weaken these earthen levies, and if they don't keep working & maintaining them, our beloved fishery would be lost in an instant if any one of the levies fail: the impoundment would become a massive shallow swamp almost instantly. Cheers.
We need to go against every incumbent Politician in the state. Mayors, commissioners, sheriffs, like Billy Woods who is also big in real estate. We need to "own"$$$ the politicians ourselves. Its not the burden of the environment to carry construction, development, and real estate for the rich. Florida is smaller than California but used in a more destructive way. In California there ar4e mountains that you can't economically develop. And californians care about the natural areas. People who moved down here that lived in sky scrapers and nasty environments love a 1/8th acre parcel. And tens of thousands of houses are 8' apart . And just 5 minutes to mow the yard. 2 swipes around and done. We cannot continue to build houses for a thousand people a week.!!!
We will suckle our aquifers dry if we over develop Florida. We just need one dry year to push us over the limit of our aquifers, especially now that Nestlé , Pepsi and Coke are sucking billions of gallons a day from out under water springs.
@visnuexe I have news for you. Florida is over developed by 70%. And has been for 10 years. We have to (Reverse) the effects of "Irresponsible government and Developers" and real estate companies. We also have to curb big sugar. Nobody needs sugar as bad as the US consumes it. Coke and Pepsi and the soft drink bottlers need to find healthy drink alternatives to produce. Pepsico made $91 billion dollars in 2023.
Much of that was chips "Doritos, Lays... And Lays needs to change a bit too. The super corporations are ruining the earth and our health for $$$ the dollar!!! I'm done! They are killing us with crap. Yellow die number 5! And a hundred other toxic ingredients as well. You all are going to have to fight corporate America if you want to live.
@bobdixon4998 I can't agree with you more! With bad weather threatening us ne t week, maybe people will wake up!
did Apopka residents find the ILLEGAL toxic waste dumps from the 59-60's
YT PBS, I don't think so.
Good documentary until the bullshit race card.
I thought the Great Lakes of Michigan were the largest lakes in north America…. Your telling Me that little dot on the Florida map is bigger than Lake Superior or lake Michigan?? Ok
people using pesticides to make thier yards look like a golf course ate killing our waters
SFWMD is destroying this beautiful gem with pesticides, and not allowing the natural flow into the glades, once again thank you big government for ruining something beautiful
Austism and Mental illness isn't the end. There is still hope for a loving and successful future. We all hope you get well and recover from your condition
What happens to projects like this under Project 2025...gone I suspect!
Why don't you guys leave Florida alone and let the natural water run through how it's supposed to instead of killing the Everglades like y'all are doing
Everything man touches to change for he thinks he knows better than God. I have been in Florida all my life. Man has ruined it.
Why are we talking about this, DeSantis 😊 took care of the problems many years ago.
It all balls down to too much fertilizer in the water, reduce that and solve the problem. All other solutions can be helpful but really difficult and costly. Do we need sugar cane and cattle and bad sewage systems around this lake? Is is worth the cost to the environment? I personally doubt it since really tourism is the engine that drives Florida and is most beneficial to many people, not a few . Just do the math! Similar situations are happening all over the world with the same lack of results, mostly because of strong political power from the responsible parties.
Lake Okeechobee isn't a Lake actually. Didn't even exist until humans created it😊
How so?
It was a lake but we modified it. Liaten to the history early in the video.
PBS is woke and we pay for it with our tax dollars
Lol...read much?
If you believe plume hunters wiped out the wading bird population than you are ready for reprogramming.
You make a mess out of it and then take credit for the clean up. Just not impressed with the vanity and foolishness that comes with humanity. The need to conquer and dominate is apparent, but futile😞!!!
It's the Indians water,let them manage it!!!!!!
😂
I live 20 miles from lake o. Big sugar is the big problem if big sugar was not there that lake would be clean and that’s ar3 drinking water
Test
"'Progress' came and took it's toll, in the name of flood control. They built a dam and they drained the land, now the Glades are going dry."
Its the tenth largest lake in the US. I mean off rip u got at least the GREAT LAKES first lol come on man
OK A STORM HIT 70 years ago what did they learn,look at mnow and move on and take care of now!!!!,
What about big sugar? Seems like a source of problems for Okeechobee and the Glades.
big sugar made sugar AFFORDABLE to the world...quit making them out to be Devils
Let’s see how biased this story is.
Do like Mexico and build Our Capitol There?
What a crock! You completely fail to detail the role of big sugar and big money impacting the everglades .