The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District plans no changes to releases currently taking place at Lake Okeechobee.
The target flow for the Caloosahatchee Estuary remains unchanged at 4,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) as measured at Moore Haven Lock & Dam (S-77) located on the southwest side of the lake. The target flow for the St. Lucie Estuary remains at 1,800 cfs as measured at St. Lucie Lock & Dam (S-80) near Stuart. Additional runoff from rain in the St. Lucie basin could occasionally result in flows that exceed targets.
“Frequent rain in the area has caused the lake to resume its rise,” said Jim Jeffords, Jacksonville District Operations Division Chief. “Even though we’re releasing three billion gallons a day, the water is being replaced with inflows totaling nine billion gallons a day. We need the inflows to slow before we can look at cutting back on the releases.”
Today, the lake stage is 14.78 feet, up 0.38 feet since last week and more than a foot since the lake hit its low for 2016 of 13.64 on May 17. The Corps will continue to monitor conditions and adjust flows as necessary.
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. 16-043