Lake Okeechobee

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.

The Chairman of the Lee County Board of Commissioners Kevin Ruane is sounding the alarm about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers new plan for Lake Okeechobee.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.

While Florida’s endangered snail kite has rebounded a bit, the native species of snail it lives off has not. So the snail kite is changing its diet and moving on from its long-time habitat in the Everglades and Lake Okeechobee.

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.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week in Florida and beyond.

We are all connected by the environment we share. The Earth is our home. This is the space where we share the environmental stories that caught our attention this week, in Florida and beyond.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has announced a plan to increase the amount of water being released from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee Estuary.