Continued discharges from Lake Okeechobee continue to take their toll on the St. Lucie and Indian River estuaries. With warnings to avoid St. Lucie waters between the Palm City and Evans Crary bridges because of high fecal bacteria counts, Stuart officials had little choice but to cancel the summer’s fishing camps for kids.

“No one wants to put their hands on a fish coming out of that water,” said Jeffrey Montpetit, the city’s supervisor of sports and athletics.

Apparently water that isn’t good for kids also has a chilling effect on seagrass. After surveying grassbeds from Taylor Creek in Fort Pierce to the St. Lucie Inlet this week, Florida Department of Environmental Protection aquatic preservation manager Laura Herron cited a lack of salinity and high levels of suspended silt for the poor recovery of grasses damaged by last year’s hurricanes.

“There wasn’t a lot of grass out there,” said Herron. “Freshwater releases are having an impact.”

FS