Army Corps to slow Okeechobee releases even as Lake O rises

Lake Okeechobee levels are rising, but the federal agency in charge of releases reduced discharges Friday to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will lower Okeechobee releases from upward of 6,000 cubic feet per second as measured at the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam to 3,000 cubic feet per second.

That means less Okeechobee water will be flowing toward the estuary and the Gulf of Mexico, both of which are experiencing toxic algal blooms.