Recovery Operations to begin for Lake O
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation reported that at the Rivers Coalition meeting on Nov. 21 in Stuart, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Maj. Cory J. Bell announced that the Corps would start Recovery Operations for Lake Okeechobee.
Recovery Operations are a strategy to lower the lake for the benefit of the lake’s ecology, including the health of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).
Starting this month, the Corps is expected to begin releasing 2,100 cubic feet per second (cfs) from the lake to the Caloosahatchee Estuary — up from the current 2,000 cfs — and 1,400 cfs to the St. Lucie Estuary. The aim is to lower the lake from 16 feet to 12 feet.
The 2,100 cfs is still the upper end of the optimum flow envelope for the Caloosahatchee Estuary, and the SCCF will monitor water quality conditions after the releases.
The Corps will evaluate the success of the releases, which can be altered based on changing conditions in the lake and estuaries.
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