ST. LUCIE COUNTY, Fla. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on Saturday plans to reduce releases from Lake Okeechobee to the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee River estuaries about 10%.
The Army Corps said releases to the Caloosahatchee River Estuary will target a pulse release at a seven-day average of 1,800 cubic feet per second from the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam (S-79), the agency said in a news release Friday. The current amount if 2,000 cfs.
The lake stage is 14.22 feet, approximately 10 inches lower than 30 days ago and 10 inches higher than it was one year ago.
“With help from mother nature, we have been able to bring the lake down almost a foot in the past 30 days,” Col. James Booth, Jacksonville district commander, said. “Our partners at the South Florida Water Management District have recommended an 1,800 cfs flow rate to the Caloosahatchee and zero releases to the St. Lucie, and we are in agreement with their recommendation. This reduced flow target will continue to bring the lake down in advance of the wet season, provide beneficial flows to the Caloosahatchee, keep the lake in the ecological envelope, and maintain good conditions for fish and oyster spawning, which recently started in the estuaries.”
This change will utilize the lake makeup releases banked after the storms last year when actual releases were less than the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual 2008 maximum allowed.
Since Jan. 20, the targeted pulse release was 2,000 cfs.
Because this target is measured at the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam, it includes local basin runoff, which may require flows at S-79 to temporarily go above the target release to maintain flood control along the C-43 canal, the Army Corps said.
Lake releases from the St. Lucie Lock and Dam will be reduced to zero cubic feet per second. This may require basin runoff to operate at S-80 to maintain flood control along the C-44 Canal, Army Corps said.
Booth said the Army Corps continually re-evaluates the conditions throughout the system and release schedules.
"We will continue to send as much water south as possible, while trying to lower lake levels before the onset of the wet season by making beneficial releases out of Lake Okeechobee,” Booth said. “The wet season usually starts between May 15 and June 15, but the exact timing is yet to be determined.”
When the wet season begins and they know the starting point, "we will develop a strategy for how we will operate,” Booth said. “It will likely be very similar to how we have operated during the wet season the last several years, but the timing, location and intensity of rainfall over the system will dictate the need to release out of the lake.”
For more information on water level and flows data for Lake Okeechobee, visit the Corps’ water management website at www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/WaterManagement.aspx [u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net]
