STUART City officials are sounding the alarm to state water managers, claiming they re worried Lake Okeechobee s higher-than-normal elevation could prompt further damaging releases into the fragile St. Lucie River estuary.
Currently standing at 15 feet, 3 inches, Lake Okeechobee s level is over 2.6 feet higher than this time last year, according to data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Tropical Storm Eta s November rainfall helped fill the lake to this above-average height.
Now, as the threat of reopening the floodgates looms, city officials are urging the South Florida Water Management District to send excess lake water south into the thirsty Everglades and through state-managed stormwater treatment areas, or marshes.