LEE COUNTY, Fla. -- The amount of water being released into the Caloosahatchee estuary is being further reduced, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
On February 22nd, the Corps began releasing water from Lake Okeechobee to establish lower water levels in the lake during the dry season, with hopes that it would reduce the need to dump water during the rainy season. They initially established a 7-day average pulse rate of 1,800 cubic feet per second into the Caloosahatchee River, and 500 cubic feet per second into the St. Lucie River.
On March 23rd, the pulse releases were decreased to 1,400 cfs to the Caloosahatchee and 250 cfs to the St. Lucie.
Now, the Corps says the average rate to the Caloosahatchee is being reduced again to 1,000 cfs, and 0 cfs to the St. Lucie, effective on March 30th.
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During these releases, the water levels in Lake Okeechobee have fallen nearly one foot, to 11.9 feet.
The Corps says they will continue to monitor conditions and adjust flows as necessary.
