Army Corps releasing Okeechobee water as algae bloom on the big lake appears to be receding

The federal agency that controls Lake Okeechobee levels is holding steady releases to the Caloosahatchee River as an algae bloom that's festered on the lake for months appears to be receding. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will continue releasing 1,000 cubic feet per second of lake water to the Caloosahatchee River, which often needs water from the lake during the dry season. 

"We are looking good in terms of our recession rate," said Army Corps Col. Andrew Kelly, the agency's top officer in Florida on Friday. "May was about 30% of normal (rainfall)  so we ended up with a pretty dry May. The lake is 1.14 feet lower than it was a month ago and just over a foot higher than it was last year, but at this point in time the recession rate we saw in May was pretty positive."

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Kelly said 71% of all water being released (about 3,000 cubic feet per second) at this time is going south toward water conservation areas north of Everglades National Park. 

Since 2008 the Army Corps has worked to keep the surface of Lake Okeechobee at 12.5 to 15.5 feet above sea level to provide flood protection and water supply for urbanized areas and natural systems. 

The surface of the lake was at 12.78 feet Friday, Kelly said. 

Lake levels were high this past dry season as the 2020 wet season ended with heavy rains, and the tropics were active well into November. 

Those rains drove lake levels above 15.5 feet and caused the Army Corps to conduct relatively heavier releases earlier this year in hopes of getting the lake to 12.5 feet or below by the start of the rain season. 

Historically, the rainy season has started on May 15 and ended on Oct. 15, but the actual days on which it rains varies each year.

A blue-green algae bloom that started earlier this year still covers some of the surface of Lake Okeechobee.

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The bloom has manifested near the W.P. Franklin Lock and Dam in Alva and along other water control structures and is reportedly working its way downstream, toward the Fort Myers and Cape Coral areas. 

A blue-green algae bloom combined with a deadly red tide outbreak in the Gulf of Mexico wreaked havoc on local residents, visitors and the economy in the summer of 2018.

Local advocacy groups hope this year isn't the same. 

"I looked at (satellite imagery) yesterday and I was impressed that there appeared to be less detection by the NOAA satellites," said Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani. "And I'd like to go with that as the current trend, but we have had some windy weather and that tends to mix it into the water column." 

Cassani said he is still seeing bloom conditions in segments of the Caloosahatchee. 

Kelly said the recent dry spell has helped lake levels. 

Conditions have been dry in recent weeks, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, listed most of South Florida as being in a moderate drought in this week's report. 

"The wet season start didn’t come on terribly strong," Kelly said, although nearly 5 inches of rain fell in Fort Myers on Wednesday. "We didn’t wake up 1 June with a foot of rain onus. So the projection going forward there is potential by the fall to have enough storage on the lake to get through the wet season." 

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