SFWMD takes ‘unprecedented actions’ to lower water levels

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FORT MYERS, Fla. – Up to 96 million gallons of water per day will be moved into an emergency detention basin as part of a number of “unprecedented actions” by the South Florida Water Management District to lower regional water levels, the agency announced Friday.

The basin, located in Miami-Dade County, is a 900-acre impoundmentĀ area used for local flood protection.

SFWMD will also inject up to 5 million gallons of water per day into the Hillsboro Aquifer Storage and Recovery Pilot Well, located on the Hillsboro CanalĀ just south of the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge.

The actions come one day after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deniedĀ a request by the district to reduceĀ the amountĀ of water dischargedĀ from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie rivers, describing it as “not responsible.”

Recent rainfall has resulted in record water levels at the lake, forcing the Corps of Engineers to release maximum levels of brown, murky waterĀ into the aforementionedĀ rivers. The water has made forĀ an eyesore on Gulf beaches, which residents, local officials and environmentalists say has negatively impacted the areaā€™s economy and ecology.

Depending on the weather, it may be as early as April before the maximum discharges stop, the corps said.

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