Martin County residents worry about toxic algae blooms

Rick Scott declares state of emergency for communities affected by algae blooms

STUART, Fla. – People are often lured to Martin County by the availability of affordable land and because of the water that surrounds most of it, but the toxic algae blooms spilling into area communities from Lake Okeechobee mean that draw is all but gone.

Because there hasn't been a release from Lake Okeechobee since the end of June, much of the algae has cleared out of the waterways. But some of it remains, and some Floridians are worried about what may happen when those releases resume.

Jennie Pawlowsky has lived in Stuart for 13 years.

She and her husband moved there in part because of all of the water surrounding the area, and she even started teaching paddle board yoga.

But a few years back, she had to shut down her business and no longer goes into the rivers because of the water conditions.

"People that are here -- we are river people. We live in the water. Well, we used to," Pawlowsky said. 

The problem is that there is a large concentration of cyanobacteria in Lake Okeechobee, better known as blue-green algae, which can be toxic.

In fact, a satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that 90 percent of the lake has some concentration of the algae.

Meanwhile, in their efforts to keep water from overflowing into communities surrounding the lake, the Army Corps of Engineers has been releasing water into the Caloosahatchee River and the St. Lucie River, sending those algae blooms into eastern communities like Stuart and as far west as Cape Coral.

"And now it's getting to the point where we're fighting for our lives because this stuff is toxic," Pawlowsky said. 

Steps have been taken to temporarily clean up the water, but some worry it may be too little, too late.

"My husband and I are seriously thinking about moving in a year before it gets any worse," Pawlowsky said.

Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency for the communities affected by the algae blooms, which allows them to store more water south of Lake Okeechobee, preventing a spillover and preventing any more of the releases.

This also gives them a little more time to figure out how to prevent the algae blooms and find a long-term solution.