The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District plans no change in flows from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee River.
On Friday (Dec. 18), the Corps will begin another seven-day pulse release of 1,500 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured at W.P. Franklin Lock (S-79) near Fort Myers. The Corps doesn’t plan to release water from the lake through St. Lucie Lock (S-80) near Stuart. However, runoff from rain in the Caloosahatchee or the St. Lucie basins could occasionally result in flows that exceed targets as the water passes through the spillway gates at the Franklin or St. Lucie structures.
“We continue to review conditions across the system,” said Jeffords. “The water level in the lake continues to rise at a time when it should be dropping. Areas south of the lake continue to deal with effects from heavy rain this month. If we can’t move the water south and the lake continues to rise, we’ll have to send more water east and west.”
Today, the lake stage is 14.79 feet, placing it in the Operational Low Sub-Band as defined by LORS. Under current conditions, LORS allows the Corps to discharge up to 3,000 cfs to the Caloosahatchee and up to 1,170 cfs to the St. Lucie.
The Corps is coordinating with the South Florida Water Management District on the use of Nicodemus Slough to hold water from the lake.
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. 15-102