Army Corps to release modeling data for new Lake Okeechobee plan later this month

The public will soon get a chance to see models the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been using to formulate a controversial Lake Okeechobee management plan that will be in place for more than a decade. 

The plan governs water releases and lake levels.

"The key things for folks on the West Coast is the release of the modeling information, and we’ll release that," said Col. James Booth, leader of the Army Corps' Jacksonville office. "The key is subject matter experts, and the public can look at the models and we’ll come together and discuss what we see in that information." 

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Called the Lake Okeechobee System Operation Manual, or LOSOM, the plan will be finalized later this year and operational by late 2022, Booth said Friday. 

"The LOSOM team continues their great work and we’ll have a project delivery team meeting around the 26th of October, and are excited to share the data with (the team) and the public," Booth said. "We will share the data we’re collecting and at the end of the meeting we’ll discuss the potential preferred alternative." 

LOSOM will replace what's called the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule, or LORS, which took effect in 2008. 

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Environmental groups, fishing interests and some scientists have said the new plan will harm the Caloosahatchee River during the summer months, pushing freshwater miles into the Gulf of Mexico and wrecking salinity levels. 

The plan, some worry, could lead to heavy summer releases, when algae blooms are most often present. 

"We have some concerns about how they're going to operate the lake in the context of harmful algal blooms," said Calusa Waterkeeper John Cassani. "We have a number of concerns that didn't come up at the meeting. We are interested in seeing the Corps do more to clarify in the context of harmful algal blooms and how that might impact endangered species and their critical listed habitat." 

Cassani said some of the endangered and protected creatures that could be impacted by the new schedule include the smalltooth sawfish, manatees and sea turtles, as well as the inland snail kite. 

"What the modelers seem to be telling us is that when the lake is in that high band it looks like they start to sacrifice the Caloosahatchee and balancing the rest of the outcomes," Cassani said. "The Caloosahatchee would be getting more than our share of the potential harm." 

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