Experts say new injection wells could cut back on harmful lake discharges

In the 50 years Juan Huggins has lived in Fort Myers, he’s seen the Caloosahatchee River at its best and worst.

“I used to fish here a couple years ago, but now I wouldn’t trust anything out of this water,” Huggins said. “I didn’t know where it came from at one time, but I was talking to a guy with the county and he was telling me it came from the lake, and you can tell the difference.”

Huggins hopes new deep injection wells will help clean up the water in the river. Experts say the wells will cut down significantly on discharges from Lake Okeechobee, which are needed to protect the fragile dike around it.

“Now, the amount of water we’re releasing is 650 cubic feet per second, averaged over seven days,” said John Campbell with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

It’s a number that can increase tenfold after a major hurricane hits the area.

“In 2017, the lake hit bottom at just under 12 feet, but we needed every available inch of storage because of Hurricane Irma which brought the lake up to 17 feet,” Campbell said.

The SWFL Water Management District says these discharges can be harmful as well. Which is where the wells could help out.

Projections show the harm can be reduced by 77 percent with the help of other restoration efforts, giving locals like Huggins a little hope.

“Anything has got to be better than the lake compared to what it looks like now,” Huggins said.

The South Florida Water District is in the process of receiving final approval for the two test wells. This would serve as phase one of the 10-year project.