What’s That in My Shrimp Basket? How a Day at Lake Okeechobee Got My Goat

By Ed Killer for CAM

It was one of those warm, golden breezy Florida days the weatherman ordered up just for a special occasion. In Clewiston—America’s sweetest town—half the burgh seemingly showed up for the celebration.

It was a big day. The Army Corps of Engineers had invited scores of folks to help them mark the moment. The tent had 100 chairs under it. The flag stand was ready to hold the stars and stripes, Florida state flag and ones from the military branches. The posters were standing atop the dike explaining why everyone was there.

It was a big day. The Herbert Hoover Dike repair work was almost done. For 17 years and at a cost of almost $2 billion, the Corps contractors had worked to build a wall that would keep Glades communities safe from a dike breach.

There will be no flooding for Belle Glade, South Bay, Pahokee, Moore Haven or Clewiston for the next century. Good ol’ fashioned American ingenuity (actually German) will see to it that no harm come from floodwaters from Florida’s greatest lake.

The crowd gathered slowly eventually exceeding the allotted chairs by a few dozen. Army military personnel were dressed in battle fatigues. Representatives of Senators and Congressman sported blue blazers, as if they were also in uniform. Water management personnel had shirts emblazoned with logos. NGO reps mixed in with the state and federal employees.

To me, it seemed as if everyone wanted to claim a share of the credit. There had to be 20 of those oversized scissors to cut a symbolic ribbon with. The list of speakers was about seven speakers too long. What could anybody say about the immense infrastructure project that one person couldn’t cover with a few remarks?

I laughed to myself as the hard south wind wafted smoke from the burning sugar cane fields over the dike and behind the speakers. I also chuckled as every once in a while, the shouts of the nearby lock manager yelled down to a bass boat passing through into the lake to go fishing. Nearby, a speck fisherman quietly wondered to himself what was causing all the pomp and circumstance.

Three things that really got to me—three reasons I wrote this column—I can’t hold back anymore. It’s why I almost screamed out loud during the middle of the ceremony, but somehow kept my mouth shut.

One. Many speakers claimed the shored-up dike—the concrete and steel wall built 34 feet down inside the middle of the dike where we can’t even see it - will allow the Corps to hold water levels higher in the lake. Don’t bet on it. As they spoke, discharges to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Rivers were flowing for no good reason.

Two. Martin County commissioners Doug Smith, Stacey Hetherington and Harold Jenkins, and county manager Donald Donaldson were all