Some perspective on DeSantis' announcement yesterday:
1. We agree, the new Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual should send more water south during the dry season. We and @bullsugar have been advocating for just that for years. https://twitter.com/GovRonDeSantis/status/1391891437571149836

2. What DeSantis failed to address was the role his own @SFWMD can play in sending more clean water south during the dry season. Only 9% of water sent through the taxpayer-funded Stormwater Treatment Areas (which @SFWMD manages) came from Lake O over the past year.

3. Also important: @DeSantis did not discuss the need for enforceable water-pollution limits in Florida. Improved water management must be paired with improved water quality. The toxic algae blooms result from nutrient pollution into Lake Okeechobee.

4. Unfortunately, the state has yet to enact the most important recommendations of the Blue-Green Algae Task Force that @DeSantis created after he took office in 2019. In fact, the task force hasn't met since last November — even as the a toxic-algae crisis has been looming.

5. That's led us to where we are today: With microcystin toxin levels exceeding @EPA limits in and around Lake Okeechobee before the rainy/algae season has even started. The lake stands 2.5 ft higher than this time last year, which means big discharges to the coasts are likely.

6. Yesterday, before @DeSantis' media event, we joined @calusawater @CenterForBioDiv & others in asking the governor to to declare a state of emergency in Florida. Wil await his response. https://www.everglades.org/its-time-for-a-toxic-algae-state-of-emergency/