Lake Okeechobee up to 14.50 feet

Today, Lake Okeechobee has hit its highest water level in the last 2 years at 14.50 feet.  Hurricane Gustav did very little in terms of adding water to the lake and its a waiting game for Tropical Storm Hanna which should make her move in the next few days.

If Hanna moves north of the lake off the coast of Florida,  the lake will be unscathed and hopefully no water will have to be released into the Saint Lucie Canal and/or the Caloosahatchee River.    It is always a double edged sword when releasing water form Lake Okeechobee, one benefit  is that it does help to combat salt water intrusion that has crept up the rivers from the ocean as a result of the last few years of drought.  The downside,  it can lead to depleted oxygen levels as industrial and agricultural runoff from Tropical Storm Fay and the churned up lake will flow to the ocean via the Saint Lucie.  Depleted oxygen levels has been attributed to fish kills and algae blooms.   As today marks the first day of Snook Fishing Season it is an ideal situation that the canals push water out to the ocean  as snook are attracted to fast moving water and it makes for fun and exciting fishing, unfortunately the same water that attracts the Snook can also kill them.     
  

Lake Okeechobee water level as of Sep 01, 2008
14.50 ft.