Army Corps begins lowering Lake O’s water level; How will it affect the Caloosahatchee?

The Caloosahatchee is expected to swell when Lake Okeechobee will soon begin dumping enough water to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool every 22 seconds.

The lake is too high, and the Army Corps of Engineers have said they need to lower it.

The Franklin Lock and its dam, known as S-79, is the last lock before water from Lake Okeechobee flows freely through the Caloosahatchee.

Taking these measures isn’t an easy decision for the Army Corps.

Releases began on Saturday because the lake is too high. The lake is over 16 feet, and keeping it that high stresses the ecosystems inside it and threatens the integrity of the embankment.

To that end, they have to send water out.

To the south, Everglades restoration isn’t currently at the point where enough water can be stored and cleaned.

Instead, the water has to either go east through St. Lucie or west through the Caloosahatchee.

Both coasts fear the release because of the risk of harmful algal blooms and the threat to animals and plant life in the estuary.

Barry Rosen, a Water School professor at Florida Gulf Coast University, worked for the South Florida Water Management District in the ’90s to create the first water management plan with the rain in mind.

He said the Army Corps is trying to be proactive instead of reactive.

“We don’t have the big blooms to deal with, so better to get it out now and hope that we are being preventative,” said Rosen, “because what if this rainfall keeps happening? Because it’s El Niño, and the lake gets fuller and fuller, and we have greater and greater discharges. Eventually, it will be warm enough to support a good-sized algal bloom.”

While algal blooms are the first thing people often think of when it comes to releases, Rosen said the Army Corps’ primary focus on the West Coast is actually oyster spawning season. With that in mind, it’s important to get the freshwater out before blooms start because too much freshwater isn’t good for oysters.