More Lake Okeechobee releases to start Tuesday

Just keeping everyone up to date as Lake Okeechobee continues to dump east and west upsetting coastal residences and environmentalist.  

By Ed Killer (Contact) Sunday, September 14, 2008 TROPICAL FARMS — Another cycle of pulse releases from Lake Okeechobee will begin Tuesday, the Army Corps of Engineers announced Friday. The pulse releases, releases performed in a way similar to rain events, will occur through Sept. 29. Saturday was the final day of an 11-day run of pulse releases that discharged nutrient-heavy lake water into the St. Lucie River and Caloosahatchee River near Fort Myers. The purpose of the completed releases was to help stem the rate of rise of the lake following Tropical Storm Fay. "We are still trying to be consistent and maintain the lake within our normal operating range of 12.5 to 15.5 feet," said Steve Duba, chief of the engineering section for the Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District. "We're still only halfway through the hurricane season, so we're going to continue with low-level pulse releases to remain within the normal operating band and stay out of the high lake water management operating band." If it was later in the hurricane season, Duba said, the Corps would not be as concerned. New Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedules adopted in April require the Corps to manage the lake at a lower lake level through the year in part to protect the 71-year-old Herbert Hoover Dike that encircles the 730-square-mile lake. The lake's level stood at 15.12 feet above sea level Saturday. Since Monday, the lake's level has only fluctuated .05 feet. The Corps said another reason for the new round of discharges is to help alleviate stress on spike rush and bulrush-aquatic vegetation in the lake that grew back during the drought of 2006-07. The lake ecology and ecology of the estuaries downstream are weighed carefully along with needs for flood control and navigation, said Duba. "It's terrible news, but expected," said Karl Wickstrom of Stuart, one of the plaintiffs of the Rivers Coalition lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers to stop the dumping. "During the last pulse releases, they released 1 billion gallons a day. It's just one more shocking insult for the community." Wickstrom said that coastal residents know the discharges are coming and know there are many more to come until a system is developed to move the excess lake water south and back into the Everglades. "It's why everybody should support the state's buyout of the U.S. Sugar land south of the lake," he said. Luis Alejandro, the Corps' manager for the Kissimmee River Basin that drains into the lake, said the next releases will average slightly lower volumes. The St. Lucie Lock and Dam will see an average of 1,500 cubic feet per second (11,220 gallons per second) which includes rainfall runoff from the western Martin County watershed. A volume of 3,000 cfs will be released to the west at the Moore Haven Lock. SAVE THE RIVER RALLY St. Lucie River and Indian River Lagoon activists will have a "Save the River, Stop the Discharges" rally at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 27 at Shepherd's Park off U.S. 1 in Stuart. The event, sponsored by the Rivers Coalition and Florida Oceanographic, is designed to raise awareness and support for the plight of the rivers during periods of discharges from Lake Okeechobee. For more information call Florida Oceanographic at (772) 225-0505.