Lake Okeechobee is trending in the wrong direction, Army Corps says

LAKE OKEECHOBEE, Fla. (CBS12) — Discharges from Lake Okeechobee, which has been "trending in the wrong direction" in the last 30 days, are scheduled to happen early next week.

The decision has been announced during a Friday morning news conference held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The discharges may have to happen over a span of three weeks to get the lake level down a foot, said the Army Corps. The level of Lake Okeechobee stands at 16.02 above sea level, the big lake has risen more than a foot in just the past month.

"It's all about getting water off of the lake," said Col Andrew Kelly, commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Jacksonville District. "We are not out of the woods when it comes to Hurricane Season, and we have to get water off the lake."

Col. Kelly described the tough decision as "a delicate dance."

Lake discharges have not been released to the Treasure Coast since March of 2019.

As the Treasure Coast continues to recover from past devastating episodes of toxic blue-green algae, a pilot-scale project spearheaded by a research team at Florida Gulf Coast University has just been funded by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection for monitoring, predicting, and controlling harmful algal blooms that may impact Lake Okeechobee and the St. Lucie River.

The MPC-Buoy system first provides a complete overview of the water quality and algal biomass every 10 minutes thereby making it possible to modify the ultrasonic program to the specific water conditions and type of algae present. This way, it is possible to manage existing algae and prevent the growth of new algae.