Water releases from Lake Okeechobee will be reduced beginning Saturday

Reporter: Nicole Lauren
Published:
Water being released from Lake Okeechobee into the Caloosahatchee River.

Water releases from Lake Okeechobee will be reduced beginning Saturday, March 23, in hopes of avoiding the algae crisis that plagued Southwest Florida last year.

The Army Corps is in control of how much water is released, and they have been dumping the water during the dry season to avoid having to release so much during the summer.

Water was released during the wet season last year and that led to the algae emergency in the Caloosahatchee River and canals in the Cape and North Fort Myers.

As of now, the canals are clear, but there is still algae upstream in the river. To continue to protect the waterways, the mayor of Cape Coral called a meeting Tuesday in order to inform the public about exactly what the Army Corps is doing, and where the water releases stand.

Mayor Coviello says these dry season releases are good because it gets the water out of Lake Okeechobee to prevent more releases with algae after the temperatures start to rise.

The Mayor also says he is pleased with Florida’s new Governor, Ron DeSantis, and the effort he’s put into the water crisis since taking office, noting that the emergency deceleration helped launch an important cleanup and research effort.

When Mayor Coviello was questioned about the testing being done in the canals now, he said the only results they have are on the bubble curtain, which he claimed proved to be successful. He said if the algae returns, the curtains are ready to be used.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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