The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is reevaluating its operation plan managing Lake Okeechobee water levels and water releases from the lake.
Known as the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual, the Corps is hoping to approve a new plan by August 4 that will determine when and how much water is discharged from Lake Okeechobee, and where that water will go.
All of the proposals so far would raise the lake by at least a 1.5 feet, once the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completes nearly $2 billion in much-needed repairs to the aging Herbert Hoover Dike. Yet keeping the Lake’s elevation at 17 feet or higher has some in Lee County concerned. Others want more time to properly evaluate the plans.
Last month, Lee County Commission Chairman Kevin Ruane, with support from other county commissioners, sent a letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District Commander Col. Andrew Kelly, calling the Corp’s proposals devastating. One big concern is that, by keeping the Lake levels higher, even if the Herbert Hoover Dike can handle it, the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries cannot handle large volume releases, and low level releases are problematic, too.
"Right now, the plan calls for no more than 457 CFS (cubic feet per second) during the dry season, where we would look for 800 to 1000 CFS to have the right salinity purposes," said Ruane. "Balancing that, the reason everyone's concerned about the Lake is if you start off at the right place, then it's easier."
High volume releases of 10,000-14,000 CFS, are especially problematic, as past high volume releases have shown.
"It really was detrimental and probably contributed significantly to the red tide outbreak that we had during the summer of 2018," Ruane adds.
Col. Kelly is confident the Army Corps will be able to minimize damaging releases.
"You do see time periods when there are significant storms, or when the water is extremely high, then there are kind of extreme or, high volume releases, not only to the Caloosahatchee, but also to the St. Lucie. Those can absolutely be called devastating to use their words, or high-volume releases to use mine. And so we're working through kind of minimizing those times," Kelly says.
The Army Corps’ new plan for Lake Okeechobee is important, because current objectives do not take into account the massive restoration that has been done to the dike.
"We've got to balance an array of alternatives that improve Caloosahatchee performance," said Col. Kelly. "Our goal is to find the best balance that does the most good for the most people and we're committed to doing that all the way along the line."
While the Corps wants to commit to a new Lake O managing plan by August 4, some members of Congress and local community members in Palm Beach County have asked for a 90 day extension to review the data. Col. Kelly didn’t seem to think that was necessary.
"I think we've built the appropriate amount of time into the schedule to really get into it," Col. Kelly says.
Ruane said that of the Army Corps’ six proposals, two plans, called C-C and E-E-1 might be good solutions, if adjustments are made to them. In the interim, he says it is essential people become engaged on the project.
"Whatever your connection to your quality of life, water quality is an important ingredient to making sure we have the best quality of life that we want," Ruane said.