By: Ed Killer, Treasure Coast Newspapers
Did Gov. Rick Scott just save summer?
I guess it depends on how you look at it. I've heard a lot of different angles this week about what Scott did, what he didn't do and why he did what he did. And to a degree, everyone is probably correct.
In case you missed it, Wednesday, Scott made an unexpected and surprising announcement. He urged the Army Corps of Engineers and directed the South Florida Water Management District to "redirect the flow of water out of Lake Okeechobee to the south."
I'll admit, I had to read the press release more than twice. Thousands of clean water advocates have been pleading for years with the Governor to hear those words.
According to his statement, his reasoning was on point. The Lake Okeechobee discharges executed by the Army Corps since June 1 have been destructive to the estuaries tied to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers. Through Saturday, more than 21 billion gallons of lake water has been sent through the St. Lucie Lock and Dam. Three times that volume has gone west into the Caloosahatchee. And for two weeks prior to the Lake Okeechobee water flowing downstream, the waterways connecting the canals to the rivers were emptied, essentially priming the brackish estuaries with billions of gallons of freshwater…