The US Army Corps of Engineers plans to pause water discharges on the east side of Lake Okeechobee for 9 days.
Then they will resume pulse discharges.
"We will pause discharges to the east for a nine-day period to allow additional tidal flushing to take place within the estuary," Jacksonville District Deputy Commander for South Florida Lt. Col. Jennifer Reynolds said in a statement. "However, with the lake rising, we anticipate having to resume flows at previous rates."
The discharges will stop on June 30 and resume July 9.
"Water levels in the lake remain high for this time of year," Reynolds said. "The water conservation areas south of the lake are also above their preferred ranges. We continue to work with the South Florida Water Management District to move water through multiple canals to create storage throughout the region to handle the near-daily rainfall events we expect during wet season."
The Army Corps also said it is monitoring state water quality reports regarding findings of microcystis at locations in and around the lake.
The Army Corps said discharges for the Caloosahatchee Estuary remain unchanged at a 14-day average 3,000 cubic feet per second.
BREAKING: USACE taking pause on releases from Lake O @wptv
— Amy Lipman (@AmyLipman) June 28, 2018
Water discharges to pause for nine days on east side of lake then pulse releases after that @WPTV
— Amy Lipman (@AmyLipman) June 28, 2018
