Corps increases flow from lake to Caloosahatchee

JACKSONVILLE – Releases from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee River will increase from 1,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) to 2,000 cfs on Feb. 13. In a Feb. 12 meeting briefing by Col. Andrew Kelly, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District, said the lake is about 2.5 feet higher than last year.

“We have seen some recession in the lake, but our analysis indicates we are potentially looking at starting the Hurricane Season this year with a lake around 14 feet, which increases that chance that we will need to make releases next summer when algal blooms are more likely to be present on the lake,” said Kelly. “Conditions in the Caloosahatchee have recovered over the past few weeks, and we believe after discussing with partners and stakeholders that this is a good time to bring flows up as long as we remain within the optimum range of flows for the Caloosahatchee.”

No lake water will be released east to the St. Lucie canal. Kelly explained releases are targeted west because the Caloosahatchee River is significantly larger than the St. Lucie River, has more capacity and needs more fresh water during the dry season.