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.
On Feb. 4, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District reported that it will reduce the planned increase in Lake Okeechobee releases to the Caloosah
It's official: Lake Okeechobee discharges will end Saturday after nearly three months and roughly 75 billion gallons of water poured into the St. Lucie River.
Treasure Coast lawmakers aren t satisfied with the status quo of water quality, they agreed at a virtual summit on Lake Okeechobee discharges Thursday.
But how are they committing to funding projects and what tangible actions are they proposing to help reverse course, environmentalists asked.
The first-ever Fix the FLO Summit lobbed questions at lawmakers for 90 minutes about their top water priorities and upcoming legislative action to improve the St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon estuaries health.
The summit was hosted by Friends of the Everglades, the Rivers Coalition, the Florida Oceanographic Society and Indian Riverkeeper Mike Conner. Five state and federal lawmakers, each representing the St. Lucie River estuary, participated in the summit:
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