The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it will keep Lake Okeechobee flows at current rates over the next week.
Lake Okeechobee is now at 14.7 feet, but the goal is always to have it at 12.5 feet. Water continues to flow out and into the estuary through the St. Lucie Locks.
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Since early July, the Army Corps of Engineers has reduced lake discharges from more than 1 billion gallons a day to an average of about 425 million gallons a day.
On Wednesday, Florida Atlantic University hosted a seminar at it’s Fort Pierce campus to share findings from a study they’ve been conducting in the last year.
One suggestion made to reduce the algae problem on the Treasure Coast is to coordinate discharges with the tides. If the releases happen during outgoing tides, scientist says the estuary would flush out faster.
Scientists attribute the large algae blooms to the high discharge levels and nutrients in the water.
