Heavy rainfall pushes Lake Okeechobee water level close to 16 feet

Oct. 1, 2023 – Heavy rainfall over the weekend pushed the level of Lake Okeechobee higher. Some parts of Okeechobee County reported 4 inches of rainfall on Saturday and Sunday.

According to the South Florida Water Management District data, for the seven-day period ending Oct. 1, direct rainfall added 117,120 acre feet into Lake Okeechobee. Surface water inflows from the north added 92,140 acre feet.

Meanwhile very little water is leaving the lake as rainfall is taking up capacity south and west of the lake. During that seven-day period, evapotranspiration (a combination of evaporation and plant transpiration) removed 28,160 acre feet of water from the lake. Flow south accounted for 90 acre feet. No lake water was released east. About 470 acre feet was released west to the Caloosahatchee.

To see a graph of Lake Okeechobee levels and flows, visit this page on the CHNEP Water Atlas.