JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Feb. 27, 2012) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District has announced it will continue releasing water from Lake Okeechobee, sending additional fresh water into the Caloosahatchee Estuary.
The new release began today (Feb. 27). The Corps is making the release in a pulse-like manner to mimic a rainfall event, similar to releases that began on December 16. The target flow to the Caloosahatchee Estuary for this release is an average of 450 cubic feet per second (cfs) over a 10-day period, as measured at W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam (S-79) east of Fort Myers. The 10-day pulse release will allow relatively larger discharge rates during the first half of the 10-day period.
“The previous pulse release helped push back saltwater intrusion,” said John Kilpatrick, Chief of the Jacksonville District’s Multi-Project Branch, which has oversight of water management at the lake, “the salinity decreased at both I-75 and Fort Myers monitoring locations. We are hopeful this trend can continue with additional releases.”
Today, the lake stage is 13.00 feet. The lake is currently within the Operational Band of the 2008 Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (2008 LORS). The Corps and partner agencies will continue to closely monitor and assess system conditions, and may decrease releases if local basin runoff contributes to flows.
Release no. 12-018