Expert warns of potential for Lake Okeechobee discharges this winter

PORT MAYACA — This summer, experts braced for a flurry of discharges from Lake Okeechobee that would threaten local waterways on the Treasure Coast, including the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon.

However, because discharges were rare, Lake Okeechobee is about sixteen feet high right now. That's approximately a foot higher than normal, a cause for concern with the wet winter we've had so far.

“We’re experiencing El Niño conditions and during El Niño years, Florida gets a lot of rainfall. My big concern is that we’re going to see discharges this winter,” said Dr. Zack Jud, the Director of Education at the Florida Oceanographic Society.

Dr. Jud is encouraged that water from Lake Okeechobee — and the blue green algae within — hardly made it’s way into coastal estuaries.

“I’m more optimistic than I’ve been in awhile," he noted. "It’s positive that we made it through the wet season without discharges but unfortunately, the way the lake is being managed, (it) kept the lake too high going into the dry season.”

Hurricane season — a time that sees blue green algae at it’s worst and brings a large amount of rainfall — passed without a major storm to force massive discharges.

However, Jud says it caused another set of problems.

“A high lake is damaging to the plants that grow around the lake, and that has an impact on the bass fishing, the duck hunting and all the other aquatic animals that rely on wetlands," he explained. "The lake being held higher has had a negative impact on the health of the lake itself.”