The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District will continue its efforts to reduce water levels in Lake Okeechobee this dry season. The Corps plans to continue a push to send water south from the lake and maintain the current release rate to the Caloosahatchee River while making a slight adjustment in flows to the St. Lucie Canal to accommodate oyster spawning.
Starting Saturday, March 16, the Corps will maintain the current pulse release to the Caloosahatchee estuary at a 7-day average rate of 1,800 cubic feet per second from the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam (S-79). The Corps will reduce the flows to the St. Lucie estuary down to an average 7-day pulse release of 250 cubic feet per second as measured at the St. Lucie Lock and Dam (S-80). This decision will be reviewed again next week. Additional runoff from rain in the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie basins could occasionally result in flows that exceed one or both targets.