Corps reduces releases to Caloosahatchee estuary

On April 2, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Jacksonville District reported that it will reduce flows from the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam (S-79) to the Caloosahatchee estuary to a seven-day average rate of 457 cubic feet per second (cfs) from the 650 cfs it had been releasing for much of the dry season.

Flows to the St. Lucie estuary remain at zero cfs as measured at the St. Lucie Lock and Dam (S-80).

The schedule will remain in effect until further notice.

Additional runoff from rain in the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie basins could occasionally result in flows that exceed one or both targets. The Corps will continue to closely monitor conditions and coordinate with its partners at the South Florida Water Management District to re-evaluate releases weekly.

March was one of the driest on record with only 10 percent of average rainfall and high evapotranspiration, driving Lake Okeechobee elevation down 0.77 feet for the 30 days leading up to April 1. The lake elevation on April 1 was 11.87 feet, only slightly above the Water Shortage Management Band of the 2008 Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule.