Planning to dive West Palm on Sunday with my Nitrox Class...Any words on how bad the the outflow from Okeechobee is after yesterday's storm?
Okeechobee Out Flow
- Thread starter cudachaser
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
I'm diving WPB on Saturday, so... I'll try to let you know how the viz is...
OP
So far...things look good. Just talked to the WPer's...Think should be great
erparamedic
Vampire Girl......er Dork
Is the Okeechobee a lake, river, etc??? I'm from Indiana, and will be in WPB in December. Is this outflow a typical problem when it rains? Does it destroy the vis, colors? Any info is helpful. It may help us plan dives around the weather if this is a common issue.
Thanks!
Thanks!
SFLDiver
Contributor
Lake Okeechobee is a big water source for a lot of South Florida.
Whenever we gets lots of rain on/near that big puddle our water managers
at South Floriduh Water Management District usually open any number of
the water control gates to the many many canals that can route overflow
water from Lake O and/or the everglades drainage areas,
thus lowering the lake water levels.
They can also lower the lake in anticipation of a big wet one, be it a measely
tropical storm like Ernesto, or a hurricane.
Opening drainage gates typically results in an increased outflow of fresh water
from the Big O(keechobee), thru the canals, eventually into the Intracoastal
Waterway, and out thru the coastal inlets. I've seen it drain so much at one
point that the tide at Boynton inlet never came in for 2 days
- it was a constant outflow of nice brown brackish water.
Brown water ... makes coastal diving a bit of a mess, and it also drives up the
bacterial test counts in the coastal waters. If you hear of em draining or lowering
the big O, keep an eye out for local beach closings (rare)
but also dig around for bacterial count tests.
A good source ...
http://surfrider.org/waterquality.asp
Whenever we gets lots of rain on/near that big puddle our water managers
at South Floriduh Water Management District usually open any number of
the water control gates to the many many canals that can route overflow
water from Lake O and/or the everglades drainage areas,
thus lowering the lake water levels.
They can also lower the lake in anticipation of a big wet one, be it a measely
tropical storm like Ernesto, or a hurricane.
Opening drainage gates typically results in an increased outflow of fresh water
from the Big O(keechobee), thru the canals, eventually into the Intracoastal
Waterway, and out thru the coastal inlets. I've seen it drain so much at one
point that the tide at Boynton inlet never came in for 2 days
- it was a constant outflow of nice brown brackish water.
Brown water ... makes coastal diving a bit of a mess, and it also drives up the
bacterial test counts in the coastal waters. If you hear of em draining or lowering
the big O, keep an eye out for local beach closings (rare)
but also dig around for bacterial count tests.
A good source ...
http://surfrider.org/waterquality.asp
Actually, the Army Corps of Engineers control the lake. The problems all stem from the fact that the water should be flowing south into the Everglades. It is now released primarily into the Caloosahatchee River (which does not naturally flow from Okeechobee) and secondarily down man made canals to the east coast. This water contains algae that is very harmful to the environment resulting in massive fish kills. The water flow to the Everglades need to be restored.
erparamedic
Vampire Girl......er Dork
Wow! Thanks for the info.... I imagine that really could be quite the mess, and also dangerous.
I love SB... I would have never gotten this info anywhere else.
I love SB... I would have never gotten this info anywhere else.
SFLDiver
Contributor
Not horribly dangerous, but not recommended either.
Some of the grosser stuff might give you a rash, tummy-ache, ear infection, etc.
It's when the notorious fecal coliform bacteria counts get high
that they actually start closing beaches and parks.
Looking at some of the stats, the park with the highest incidences of closings :
Phil Foster Park.
Well, for starters it's pretty much in the Intracoastal Waterway,
and it's a popular place for boaters and swimmers, waders, party'ers alike,
so yeah the human waste factor .... well ... __it happens.
(beware of lobsters bearing brown marshmallows
Some of the grosser stuff might give you a rash, tummy-ache, ear infection, etc.
It's when the notorious fecal coliform bacteria counts get high
that they actually start closing beaches and parks.
Looking at some of the stats, the park with the highest incidences of closings :
Phil Foster Park.
Well, for starters it's pretty much in the Intracoastal Waterway,
and it's a popular place for boaters and swimmers, waders, party'ers alike,
so yeah the human waste factor .... well ... __it happens.
(beware of lobsters bearing brown marshmallows
Similar threads
