Army Corps plan for Lake Okeechobee releases still causing concerns
A proposed Lake Okeechobee management plan is still drawing concerns from state water managers and the public as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to finalize what’s called the Lake Okeechobee System Operation Manual, or LOSOM.
The plan will be in place until at least 2030 and will guide lake releases to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers as well as south toward Everglades National Park and Florida Bay.
Ben Butler, a South Florida Water Management District governing board member, said Thursday that the plan, at this stage, won’t fix many of South Florida’s water problems.
“It looks like we’ve got more work to do,” Butler said. “Lake ecology is just going to suffer and we’re not going to see the (submerged aquatic vegetation) if the lake reaches these levels.”
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Currently the lake is managed under what’s called the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule, or LORS, and is typically kept between 12.5 feet and 15.5 feet above sea level to provide flood protection and water for urbanized areas, farms and water bodies like the lake and the Caloosahatchee River.
LOSOM, as it’s currently written, will send damaging, unwanted releases to the Caloosahatchee River during major rain events like tropical storms and hurricanes, or any time water levels in the system are too high.
Heavy discharges during the summer months can flood the Caloosahatchee estuary and send freshwater miles into the Gulf of Mexico.
Those conditions kill off aquatic grasses, oysters and other organisms that help filter water.
“We’re going to have more unwanted discharges to the estuaries,” Butler said. “LOSOM is not going to fix that.”
Lt. Col. Todd Polk, with the Army Corps’ regional office in Jacksonville, said the agency is focused on “optimizing” 12 variables, such as effects on the Caloosahatchee River estuary, water supply and lake levels.
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“That is one of the biggest factors we are concerned about because a healthy lake means a healthy system,” Polk said. “It’s a focus and a factor; and in many model runs it’s not the highest beneficiary, but we’re always focused on the health of the lake.”
A finalized version of LOSOM will be released in early November, with the plan being in place and operational by late 2022.
Suzanne Martin, executive director of Anglers for Lake Okeechobee, said she and other anglers are concerned that the famed fishery may be crippled under the new plan.
Lake levels of 17 feet or higher are expected during the LOSOM term.
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Aquatic plants necessary for water quality and wildlife habitat begin to die off before the lake reaches 17 feet, according to ecologists.
“After years of living around and fishing the lake, we know that the most optimal level this lake operates at is 12.5 to 15 feet,” Martin said. “Lake levels that are too low don’t serve us either. It’s important that we take into account all the issues.”
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