WQCS Local
(2005-10-10)
LAKE OKEECHOBEE
(WUSF) -
(AP) - Florida will expand water storage areas and construct treatment marshes to speed up the cleanup of Lake Okeechobee and lower the lake to prevent flooding.Governor Jeb Bush was at the south Florida lake to announce the $200-million recovery plan.
Lake Okeechobee is the largest freshwater lake in the Southeast and Bush says restoring its ecosystem is critical to the overall environmental health of South Florida.
Environmental groups are praising the action as long overdue. They say the key now is for the state Legislature to provide money.
The 2004 hurricane season generated unprecedented rainfall and the 730-square-mile lake rose by more than five and a half feet in less than three months. That made water murky and damaged the lake's fish and wildlife.
Freshwater discharges needed to lower lake levels have also hurt the Saint Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries.
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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