The relationship between water quality and Florida’s economy has never been more apparent than it is today. The lost summers of 2013, 2016, and 2018 were beyond challenging for the coastal communities situated along the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee estuaries. The countless images on social media of guacamole-like algae in our rivers and canals and piles of dead fish and other marine life scattered along our beaches do not begin to capture the very real impacts that poor water quality is having on our communities.





On Sanibel Island alone, we removed more than 850,000 pounds of dead marine life from our beaches. Our local Chamber of Commerce reported lost revenue from July through December of more than $46.8 million, with lodging cancellation rates at 78% during the same time- period. The City of Cape Coral endured months of toxic blue-green algae blooms that clogged up canals and incited public health concerns. Other communities in Lee and Martin counties experienced similar impacts. One of the most common questions that I receive from residents, business owners, and visitors is: How could the State of Florida and our federal government allow polluted water from Lake Okeechobee to be discharged to our estuaries ? The response that I often receive from water managers is: This is how the system was designed (part of the Central and Southern Florida Project) and nothing can be done until the projects outlined in the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) are completed. That answer is no longer acceptable! Our communities cannot wait another 20+ years.





There is an opportunity for near-term relief to the plight of our coastal estuaries. On February 5 th , the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers kicked off a series of public scoping meetings to gather input on development of a new Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS), now referred to as the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM). LOSOM will provide operational guidance to the Army Corps on how to manage lake levels for multiple purposes, including the ecology of the lake, water supply for agricultural, urban and environmental uses, and it will establish criteria for releases to the estuaries.





Lake Okeechobee discharges have the single greatest impact on water quality in our coastal estuaries during wet periods. Changes to the way the lake is managed could provide immediate relief to the coastal estuaries. The reality is, according to the current schedule, there is no single CERP project that will provide immediate relief from the harmful discharges. On the other hand, modifying the lake schedule to maintain water levels lower and providing beneficial water releases to the Caloosahatchee and other natural systems when it is needed would reduce the volume of water that must be discharged during the wet season.





Some interests would like to maintain the status quo or even exacerbate the water quality problems within the lake and our coastal estuaries by holding the lake higher. They propose going back to the Water Supply and Environment (WSE) Lake Regulation Schedule—the schedule that preceded LORS 2008. This would be a huge mistake for Florida’s economy, and the health, safety and welfare of the people that live, work and recreate on Lake Okeechobee and the coastal estuaries. The WSE schedule held the lake much higher than the current schedule, resulting in devastating impacts to the ecology of the lake and its water quality. It also cut off beneficial flows to the estuaries when conditions were dry, holding significantly more water in the lake for water supply. When conditions were wet, it allowed for higher releases to the coastal estuaries, compared to LORS 2008. For additional impacts see Audubon Florida’s: Setting the Record Straight – A Deeper Lake Okeechobee is More Dangerous, Dirtier, and Unhealthy .





The Corps is proposing completion of LOSOM in 2022. The health of our communities cannot wait until 2022! The LOSOM process must be accelerated and should not be held back by the completion of the Herbert Hoover Dike repairs—especially those components of LOSOM that reduce risk to the dike by maintaining the lake lower. As part of LOSOM, the Corps should also do a thorough evaluation and modeling of each of the lake water management bands, including the Beneficial Use and Water Shortage Management bands. We must reevaluate where flows are measured in the Caloosahatchee to ensure that watershed runoff is taken into consideration when distributing flows. The new schedule must be equitable for all affected communities and stakeholders.



