he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District has further reduced the amount of water flowing from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee Estuary.
The Corps began a new seven-day pulse release Friday (April 14) to the Caloosahatchee Estuary with a target flow averaging 300 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured at W.P. Franklin Lock (S-79) near Fort Myers. No water from the lake is being released through St. Lucie Lock (S-80) near Stuart. However, flows at either the Franklin or St. Lucie structures may occasionally be exceeded by runoff from rain that accumulates in the Caloosahatchee or St. Lucie basins—those flows will be allowed to pass through the spillway as necessary.
Today’s lake stage is 11.90 feet, placing it in the Operational Beneficial Use Sub-Band as defined by the 2008 Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS). When the lake drops into the Beneficial Use Sub-Band (elevation 12.60 feet), water allocation decisions are based largely on recommendations from the South Florida Water Management District.
For more information on water level and flows data for Lake Okeechobee, visit the Corps’ water management website at http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/WaterManagement.aspx.
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Release no. 17-016