The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District announced Friday it will increase discharges from Lake Okeechobee to stem the recent rise in water levels and to reduce the probability of high-volume releases during the wet season.

Meanwhile, advocates for clean water in Martin County are questioning the Corps' decision and concerned about the effects the discharges will have on marine life in the estuary downstream.

Col. Andrew Kelly, Jacksonville District Commander for the Army Corps of Engineers, said Friday the decision to move water now will potentially prevent the need to move destructive amounts water in the summer rainy season.

Kelly said there will be 323 million gallons of water per day headed into the St. Lucie River beginning Saturday. More than 1.2 billion gallons of water per day will go towards the Caloosahatchee River. The discharges will continue for three weeks before the Corps evaluates the need to continue them again.

"The lake has risen more than a half-foot over the past month," Kelly said in a press release. "While we have moved more water south since the end of wet season, rain over the past few weeks has stopped the recession we saw in the lake levels earlier in dry season. We are taking this action to stem the rise in the lake and achieve a typical recession again so we can potentially avoid significant releases during the hot summer months."

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The level of Lake Okeechobee Friday measured 12.86 feet above sea level. The Corps said that level is within Operational Base-Flow Sub-Band, meaning the decision is not beyond the management instructions laid out in the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule 2008, commonly referred to as LORS-08. During the past week, lake levels rose 0.09 feet, with an overall 0.57 foot rise in the past 30 days.

That still puts the lake level 2.15 feet below where it stood on the same date a year ago, and 0.062 feet below where it stood in 2017. It is also 1.65 feet below the "period of record average" for the years 1965-2007.

According to LORS-08, the lake level the Corps attempts to achieve by June 1 each year — the start of rainy season and hurricane season in Florida — is 12.5 feet, just 0.36 feet lower than where it was Friday.

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Corps spokesman John Campbell said via email there is no target level for the lake the Corps is aiming for. The goal is to take it as low as possible in a responsible fashion.

Kelly said during a conference call that although no interests from the Glades communities were consulted before this decision, "we see no impact to water supply at this point, but will keep monitoring the situation daily."

Additional runoff from rain in the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie basins could occasionally result in flows that exceed one or both targets.

The goal of utilizing additional operational flexibility in the 2008 Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (2008 LORS) is to help lower the lake during levels during dry season. El Niño conditions, which have the potential to produce a wetter than normal dry season have developed in south Florida, fueling much of the precipitation that has occurred over the past month.

"We anticipate additional rain in the next week," said Kelly. "We know that oyster spawning season is coming, and we want to release water while we have the opportunity. We will consider this effort to be a success if we can get through the summer without having to make high-volume releases while harmful algal blooms are on the lake."

Kelly added: "In addition to the flows east and west, we are working with our partners at the South Florida Water Management District to send more water south from the lake.

We will continue to monitor conditions and adjust flows as necessary. However, assuming no adjustments are made, after three weeks we will review our progress and determine whether any changes are needed. Any changes in flows to the estuaries will be announced to the public."

Mark Perry, executive director at Florida Oceanographic Society in Stuart and lifelong advocate for the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon, said he wishes the Corps were planning to conduct pulse-style discharges instead of one lasting 21 days.

"The prolonged discharge events cause more damage to marine life in the estuary than the pulse releases designed to mimic rain events," Perry said Friday. "This week, the salinity in the St. Lucie River was nice and high. Fish are coming in. And we are getting into the time of year for oyster spawning."

Perry said there is a good chance this discharge event could result in lowering the salinity in the St. Lucie River to 0 parts per thousand which kills oysters in the river.

"Our estuary is still recovering from last summer," Perry said. "It needs time."

Perry said it's too bad the water could not be moved south into the stormwater treatment areas and water conservation areas which are showing to be relatively dry right now. Another alternative, Perry suggested, was to send the water meant for the St. Lucie River west into the Caloosahatchee River where it helps to prevent saltwater intrusion in wells.

"We don't need any discharges here," Perry said.

State representative Toby Overdorf said the St. Lucie River has been showing signs of healing from last year's Lake Okeechobee discharges.

"I was in the North Fork this week and there is 3-4 feet of visibility, which is good there," Overdorf said. "It's really unfortunate the Corps feels it has to do this now."

Previous release decisions

Starting Friday, February 1, a pulse release was implemented with a target 7-day average flows of 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured at W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam (S-79) near Fort Myers, continuing the use of Additional Operational Flexibility. The St. Lucie target remained at zero cfs.

A new release schedule began on Friday, January 25, with a constant release of 700 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured at W.P. Franklin Lock (S-79) near Fort Myers. The St. Lucie target remained at zero cfs.

Beginning on Friday, January 11, a seven-day pulse release schedule began with a target flow averaging 850 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured at W.P. Franklin Lock (S-79) near Fort Myers. The St. Lucie target remained at zero cfs.

Starting Friday October 5, the Corps began a gradual 3-week transition to reduce flows from Lake Okeechobee by implementing 7-day pulse releases with an average target flow for the Caloosahatchee Estuary of 2,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured at W.P. Franklin Lock & Dam (S-79) near Fort Myers, and zero cfs for the St. Lucie Estuary as measured at St. Lucie Lock & Dam (S-80) near Stuart. Average target flows to the Caloosahatchee were stepped down to 1,500 cfs on October 12, and 1,000 cfs on October 19, while the St. Lucie target remained at zero cfs.

The Corps had maintained the 7-day average pulse release schedule of 1,000 cfs to the Caloosahatchee Estuary since October 19.

For more information on water level and flows data for Lake Okeechobee, go to the Corps' water management website at www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/WaterManagement.aspx.

For more information regarding the upcoming public scoping meetings for the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM), go to: www.saj.usace.army.mil/LOSOM.



