Big Sugar, Lake Okeechobee, and Florida’s Water

Big Sugar, Lake Okeechobee, and Florida’s Water

Recent years have seen voter mandates to the Florida Legislature to deal with Everglades protection, dramatic videos of Summer time green slime outbreaks on both of South Florida’s coasts, and considerable infighting in the Legislature over whether or not to deal with the growing crisis in South Florida’s water flow.

A. Read these online stories and view the video as background prior to participating in his Forum. Do not participate in the discussion without having this background knowledge.

Big Sugar Hires 64 Lobbyists in Tallahassee
Bittersweet: The Sugar Industry in South Florida
Florida Legislature Passes Everglades Restoration Bill – May 2017
Lake Okeechobee: A Time Warp for Polluted Water
What is Eutrophication? (video)
U.S. Sugar Corporation home page

B. Now answer the following questions in your posting and number your responses B1 and B2 (worth 12 points).

1. How has cartoonist Doug MacGregor used the cartoon at the top of this page to illustrate the current status of the quality of South Florida’s water flow? That is, how has he used the map, colors, shapes, etc. to tell this story? (3 points)

2. Describe whether or not you think the illustration is accurate in its depiction. Use your textbook readings or the above articles/video to support your description. Describe and relate to current and past water flow patterns of South Florida. (3 points)

C. After you have posted, you must respond to at least one of your classmates right there on the discussion thread. This is worth 2 each = 4 points.

After creating a thread and posting your “Initial Post”, be sure to respond to at least two classmates’ posts. A response needs to be something substantial and contribute something significant to the conversation, not just saying “Good job.” or ” I like how you explained …”. Say something original and significant. Contribute some information, describe an example, share an experience, ask a thoughtful question, etc. If you are asked a thoughtful question, part of your significant response can be providing an intelligible response to that question. Each response should be at least a paragraph in length, that is, at minimum, 4-5 full sentences. Each response post is worth 2 points.

This discussion board is worth 10 points total and goes toward your “participation” grade.

Do your own work, do not copy or even paraphrase somebody else’s work. I’ll be on the lookout for such things as I grade and have various tools available to check for plagiarism. All college rules of Academic Dishonesty are fully in effect.

Links:

https://eyeonmiami.blogspot.com/2017/01/big-sugar-hires-64-lobbyists-again-in.html?m=1

http://wlrn.org/post/bittersweet-sugar-industry-south-florida

Florida legislature passes Everglades restoration bill

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article95442427.html

http://www.ussugar.com/

ANSWER

Big Sugar, Lake Okeechobee, and Florida’s Water

Q1)

The Cartoonist Doug MacGregor has illustrated Lake Okeechobee through a cartoon drawing that shows the current situation and quality of water. The map has a toilet has been used to represent the waste water that was discarded by individuals. The brown water in the toilet represents Lake Okeechobee and how it has been filled with phosphorous and nitrogen. The cartoonist has relied on the waste pipes to illustrate the flow coming from different parts such as cities around and sugar plantation irrigation within which pour the water into the coast of Florida.

The water flow in South Florida is in a mess with much pollution coming from the Big sugar. The Big sugar in this case refers to the South Florida companies that include U.S Sugar Corporation, Florida Crystals, Sugar Fanjuls among others. While looking at the map it is clear that contaminated water is flowing into Lake Okeechobee through two directions west and east from St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee which means that the Big sugar is contributing to high pollution levels in the lake. As a result, this is affecting the environment such as rivers, beaches, oceans and water animals such as fish. Therefore, it is essential to prevent the water crisis in Southwest Florida.

Q2)

The illustration is an accurate depiction since water quality degradation resulting from nutrient pollution has a great impact on environmental issues in South West Florida. Excess phosphorous and nitrogen levels in the water bodies have caused nutrient pollution, harm to aquatic ecosystems and influenced the public health. High amounts of algae are growing in Lake Okeechobee which means that there are high nutrient amounts and contamination in the water. Considerably, excess water into Lake Okeechobee is discharged into its estuaries St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee which carries toxins produced by algae which pose serious public health risks. Florida’s authorities need to advocate for comprehensive approaches that will restore clean water into the lake.