Conservancy of Southwest Florida urges action on Lake Okeechobee plan
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida has issued a call to action on its website and through Southwest Florida calling for concerned citizens to urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to incorporate “critical changes into the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual (LOSOM) that will ensure protection of the Caloosahatchee and west coast communities.”
The manual, which has been heavily criticized by local political leaders and environmental groups for shifting more releases from Lake Okeechobee into Lee County and the Caloosahatchee River, is anticipated to be released with potentially new revisions to how flows will be optimized in the next week. After that, the chances for changes to be made based on local input will lessen although the plan will require federal regulatory approvals and is not expected to be adopted until next year in the fall.
The plan, as currently presented, shifts more of the burden away from the St. Lucie estuaries. The regulation schedule is being watched carefully as work on the C-43 West Basin Storage Reservoir is expected to last into 2023. The hope is that the completion of that storage reservoir will allow for the capture of more the runoff from Lake Okeechobee and divert unnecessary releases to the Caloosahatchee River and Lee County estuaries.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida considers the plan most recently selected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, known as Alternative CC, to be harmful to the Caloosahatchee River for the following reasons as stated on its website:
• It relies on the Caloosahatchee as the primary outlet for Lake Okeechobee, resulting in significant improvements to some stakeholders at the expense of the Caloosahatchee and west coast communities.
• It increases the total volume of nutrient-laden water that is delivered to the Caloosahatchee and coastal waters that would be available to harmful algal blooms like blue-green algae and red tide.
• It increases the number of days and duration of stressful and harmful flow events (flows greater than 2,100 cubic feet per second) to the Caloosahatchee, impacting salinity and the ecological health of our estuary.
In its call to action, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida is calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to:
• Measure all discharges to the Caloosahatchee Estuary at the Franklin Lock (S-79).
• Cap regulatory discharges made in Zone D, the primary operational zone, to a maximum of 2,100 cfs at S-79- consistent with the ecological performance targets for the Caloosahatchee estuary.
• Equitably distribute flows across all outlets -south, east, and west-when conditions are wet.
• Allow for beneficial dry season releases to the Caloosahatchee and the Everglades in all zones.
• Minimize or eliminate back flowing of nutrient-rich water from the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) and C-44 basins into the lake.
• Evaluate and improve upon modeling completed by the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) in sensitivity run 3.5 (SR3.5), which reduced the harmful high-volume discharges to the Caloosahatchee.
The Conservancy of Southwest Florida’s action page for the Lake Okeechobee System Operating Manual plan can be found at: https://conservancy.org/tell-the-u-s-army-corps-losom-must-be-balanced-for-all-stakeholders/