For over a decade, millions of gallons of herbicides have been poured into Lake Okeechobee and other Florida freshwater systems under the banner of “aquatic plant management.” The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), along with the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, have overseen extensive spraying operations. Their stated mission is to control invasive plants like water hyacinth and hydrilla to protect navigation and ecology. In practice, however, the chemical assault has proven far more destructive. Year-round herbicide applications (primarily glyphosate and diquat) blanket thousands of acres of lake surface. On Lake Okeechobee alone, agency documents show tens of thousands of gallons of these chemicals applied annually. Statewide, more than 26,000 acres of hydrilla were treated with herbicides in a single recent year. While officials justify spraying as necessary maintenance, the reality is a devastated lake ecology caught in a cycle of decline.
A Chemical War on a Living Lake
FWC’s approach has essentially been a chemical war on Lake Okeechobee, treating this living ecosystem like a weed-choked swimming pool. Herbicides are sprayed from airboats across marshes and open water, killing any vegetation deemed “invasive.” Spraying is conducted year-round, often with little public notice, and targets everything from floating water hyacinths to submerged hydrilla. Officials claim this aggressive strategy protects boat navigation and restores ecological balance – but the lake’s conditions tell a different story. When acres of aquatic plants are chemically killed, they don’t magically disappear. The vegetation sinks to the lake bottom and decays, releasing a surge of nutrients (especially phosphorus) into the water. Those nutrients are the exact fuel that toxic blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) need to explode into massive blooms. Lake Okeechobee has suffered repeated algae outbreaks, and decaying sprayed plants only add to the phosphorus load already polluting the lake. The resulting blooms blanket the water in neon-green slime, suffocating fish, killing aquatic life, and producing potent toxins. These algal toxins can irritate eyes and lungs, poison pets or wildlife that drink the water, and even threaten human health if they enter drinking supplies. In short, the spray program designed to “clean up” the lake is, paradoxically, making the water more nutrient-rich and prone to poisonous algae infestations.
Collateral Damage: The Loss of Habitat and Biodiversity
The ripple effects of constant herbicide use on Lake Okeechobee’s ecology are devastating and far-reaching. Key species and habitats are caught in the crossfire of this chemical blitz. Some of the most significant collateral damage includes:
Endangered Everglade snail kites: These rare birds rely on a healthy mosaic of floating vegetation (like hydrilla mats and eelgrass) to hunt their primary prey, the apple snail. When spraying wipes out those vegetative mats, it collapses the snail kite’s food web. The loss of foraging habitat and snail populations further imperils a bird that is already on the brink.
Sportfish and native fish: Largemouth bass, crappie, bluegill, and other fish prized by anglers depend on submerged plants for spawning grounds, nursery habitat, and cover from predators. Herbicide treatments decimate these plant beds, leaving behind barren muck. Anglers report drastic declines in catch rates and fish size, as the lake’s once-rich fish habitat is reduced to an open-water desert.
Amphibians and reptiles: Frogs, turtles, and alligators all use shallow vegetated zones for feeding and breeding. When chemicals are sprayed into marshes and along shorelines, these animals are directly exposed to residues during critical breeding seasons. Eggs, larvae, and juveniles of amphibians can absorb toxins or lose shelter when plants die off, contributing to population declines.
Wading birds: Herons, egrets, limpkins, and other wading birds thrive in marshy shallows teeming with life. Spraying that strips areas of cattails, bulrush, and other emergent plants means these birds lose foraging sites rich in fish, frogs, and snails. The result is fewer birds and altered nesting patterns in areas that were once vibrant rookeries.
Each year of indiscriminate spraying peels away more of the lake’s biodiversity. Once-lush littoral zones have been transformed into open, sterile waters nearly devoid of the rich plant life that used to support entire food chains. The very features that made Lake Okeechobee an ecological treasure – sprawling marshes, tangles of swamp grass, vibrant beds of aquatic plants – are disappearing. In their place remains a degraded habitat, unable to fully support the wildlife that depends on it.
Science Ignored, Warnings Unheeded
Ecologists and toxicologists have been warning for years that this chemical-first approach is fundamentally flawed. Peer-reviewed studies and field observations alike indicate that constant herbicide use throws natural systems out of balance in ways we are only beginning to understand. For instance, repeated glyphosate and diquat applications can alter microbial communities and sediment chemistry, potentially upsetting nutrient cycles in the lake. Research has documented how native plant recovery often stalls after spraying, while hardy invasive species like hydrilla or water lettuce quickly recolonize the cleared areas. In other words, blanket herbicide use can create a vicious cycle: it knocks back invasives temporarily but also knocks out natives and encourages a rapid rebound of the invaders, leading to more spraying in an ever-looping feedback. Scientists have likened this to “treating the disease in a way that kills the patient.” Instead of heeding these warnings and pumping the brakes, the agencies in charge have largely doubled down on the status quo. Despite the evidence that relentless chemical treatment breeds long-term instability, spraying remains the default tool across Florida’s waters. Alternatives like mechanical harvesting and strategic biocontrol (using natural plant-eating insects or fish) are often mentioned in plans but chronically underfunded in practice. Mechanical removal of weeds has repeatedly proven more ecologically sound – it physically removes the plant biomass (and the nutrients within those plants) from the water, rather than letting it rot in place. Yet mechanical harvesting operations receive only a fraction of the resources allocated to cheaper short-term herbicide fixes. Agency leaders often admit that non-chemical methods are preferable for the ecosystem, but they cite higher immediate costs and logistical challenges as excuses to keep leaning on the spray tanks. The result is an entrenched reliance on herbicides, even as the lake’s health flags and experts call for a smarter, more balanced strategy.
Public Outcry and Government Stalling
Public frustration with Florida’s aquatic herbicide program has reached a boiling point in recent years. In early 2019, grassroots pressure from anglers, boaters, and environmental advocates became impossible for officials to ignore. Complaints had been mounting on social media and at town halls about dying fish, sickly-looking water, and the overall decline of beloved lakes and rivers. Bowing to public outcry, the FWC took the unprecedented step of temporarily pausing all herbicide spraying statewide in 2019 and embarking on a listening tour. Dozens of meetings were held around the state, where everyday Floridians voiced their anger and pleaded for change. The message was loud and clear: people wanted restoration, not annihilation. They wanted clear water, living lakes, and rivers safe for swimming and fishing – not sterile waterbodies continually doused with poison. That pause in spraying, however, was short-lived. After a few months of public forums and reassurances, FWC resumed its spraying program with only minor tweaks. Agencies spoke of “adaptive management” and convened stakeholder workgroups, and FWC even created a Technical Assistance Group of citizens and scientists to advise on plant management. On paper, these steps acknowledged the concerns. In practice, the core approach remains unchanged: chemicals first, questions later. While there has been some increase in mechanical harvesting and a bit more transparency (such as posting treatment schedules online), the fundamental dependency on herbicides persists as strong as ever. This has led to a sense of betrayal among many citizens. As one protester bluntly put it at a 2025 public demonstration, the state’s aquatic plant management is *“killing what makes Florida Florida.” Protest signs reading “Stop Spraying Now” and “You’re Killing Wildlife!” have become common sights at FWC meetings. The public’s trust in the agencies tasked with stewarding Florida’s waters has been badly shaken, as people see promises of change result in little meaningful difference on the water.
The Long-Term Costs
What are the ultimate costs of Florida’s chemical war on aquatic “weeds”? They extend far beyond the plants that are killed. By continuously spraying our lakes and rivers, we are incurring long-term costs that will burden Floridians for generations:
Decimated fisheries and lost recreation: Lake Okeechobee was once a world-renowned bass fishery. As the habitat has degraded, fish populations have dwindled, impacting both the ecosystem and local economies. Fewer fish and smaller catches mean guides, bait shops, and tour operators lose business. The cultural heritage of fishing in these waters is fading as anglers go elsewhere in search of healthy lakes.
Tourism and property value declines: When thick mats of blue-green algae wash onto shorelines, or when lakes look and smell like chemical soup, people stay away. Tourists cancel vacations, and waterfront homeowners watch their property values sink. Florida’s reputation as a destination for boating and outdoor beauty suffers each time images of algae-choked waterways hit the news.
Higher water treatment and cleanup costs: All that algae and decaying muck eventually has to be dealt with. Municipalities drawing drinking water from affected lakes face added expenses to treat and filter out toxins. Likewise, any future restoration of these systems (removing muck, replanting vegetation) will be extraordinarily costly – a bill that will likely fall to taxpayers after years of cheap fixes have made problems worse.
Health risks to humans and wildlife: The health dangers linked to this situation are alarming. Algal blooms fed by nutrient runoff and plant decay release toxins that can cause respiratory issues, skin rashes, and even neurological damage in people (not to mention potential links to liver cancer from long-term exposure to microcystin toxins). Wildlife is suffering too. Disturbingly, researchers have found residues of the herbicide glyphosate in the blood of more than half the manatees they sampled in Florida – an indicator that these chemicals are pervading the food web. Such chronic exposure may harm manatees’ liver and kidney function and underscores the unseen toll on Florida’s iconic species.
Collapse of public trust: Perhaps the most damning cost of all is the loss of trust in public institutions. Communities feel unheard and deceived by agencies that continue business-as-usual despite clear evidence of harm. This erosion of trust makes it harder to collaborate on any future environmental solutions. When citizens view state agencies as adversaries rather than protectors of natural resources, the sense of stewardship and shared purpose is shattered.
In sum, Florida’s reliance on aquatic herbicides is not a harmless maintenance routine – it’s a slow-motion ecological crisis with economic, environmental, and social consequences that are now painfully evident.
Time to Change Course
It’s clear that Lake Okeechobee is not a nuisance that can be “fixed” with more poison. It is a living, breathing ecosystem – one of the oldest and most important freshwater bodies in America – and it has been pushed to the brink. If Florida is truly serious about protecting its waters, the era of indiscriminate spraying must end. The time has come to pivot to a more sustainable, science-guided approach that heals the lake instead of harming it. What would a better way forward look like? To start, mechanical harvesting and removal of invasive plants should be dramatically expanded and properly funded. This method physically takes out the problem plants (and excess nutrients bound in them) without adding toxins to the water. Modern aquatic harvesters and even manual removal crews could tackle many infestations, especially in sensitive habitat areas, if given adequate resources. Targeted biocontrols should also play a larger role – for example, introducing specific insects that eat invasive weeds or expanding the use of grass carp in closed systems to munch away hydrilla. Every tool has its place, but the guiding principle should be restoring ecological balance, not carpet-bombing the lake with chemicals. Additionally, Florida’s water managers need to invest in true habitat restoration. This means replanting native vegetation in areas where it can flourish, stabilizing sediments, and improving water quality through upstream nutrient controls so that the lake’s natural plants can rebound. It also means continuous transparency and community involvement in decision-making. No more unilateral spraying decisions without public input; local stakeholders should have a say in how their lakes are managed. Regular reporting on what exactly is being sprayed, where, and why should be mandatory, giving concerned citizens and scientists the information needed to hold agencies accountable. Finally, there must be accountability for outcomes. If practices are not achieving a healthier lake (and clearly, they are not), then those practices must be reformed or halted. Agencies like FWC and SFWMD should set measurable ecological goals – such as increases in native plant coverage, improved water clarity, and healthier fish counts – and report progress toward those goals. Funding should be tied not just to activity (acres sprayed) but to real improvements in lake conditions. Florida stands at a crossroads. Continuing the current course of action will all but guarantee further environmental and economic decline in our freshwater systems. But by embracing a new philosophy of lake management – one that treats the root causes of invasive overgrowth and nurtures the lake’s natural resilience – we can begin to undo the damage. Lake Okeechobee and other waterways can recover if given the chance, but only if we choose restoration over destruction. Anything less is a profound betrayal of one of America’s great ecosystems and of every Floridian who cherishes and depends on it. It’s time to stop the spraying, start the healing, and allow Lake Okeechobee to live again.