'Distinct possibility' St. Lucie River could get algae blooms

Article Posted on May 22, 2018

By: Tyler Treadway, Treasure Coast Newspapers

Even without Lake Okeechobee discharges, blue-green algae blooms in the St. Lucie River are a "distinct possibility," a marine biologist said Monday.

Heavy rains in Martin County and southern St. Lucie County for more than a week are adding algae-feeding nutrients and reducing algae-thwarting salinity in the river's estuary, said Edie Widder, executive director and lead scientist at the Ocean Research and Conservation Association in Fort Pierce.

All that's needed, Widder said, are some hot, sunny days after the rain finally stops.

From May 13 through 8 a.m. Monday, from 13 to 13½ inches of rain had fallen in western Martin County, said Kevin Rodriguez, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Station in Melbourne…


Click here to view original article